Art
December 6, 2021
Black Southern Music and Art Merge in “The Dirty South”
This revelatory show at the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston finds the beat between gospel, blues, jazz, and visual art.
Arts & Entertainment
Sports
December 6, 2021
A Masterpiece Season for Baylor Football and Coach Dave Aranda
After last year’s 2–7 campaign, the Big 12 champions are sitting pretty thanks to their coach’s low-key, high-character style.
Sports
December 3, 2021
The Hidden All-Texas Flavor in Tonight’s Conference USA Championship Game
Officially, UTSA faces Western Kentucky in Friday's title matchup. But the Hilltoppers' high-octane offense is fueled by transfers from Houston Baptist.
Film & TV
December 3, 2021
Filmed During Lockdown, ‘Red Stone’ Is a Return to Normal, Mediocre Thrillers
Fort Worth writer-director Derek Presley overcame unprecedented odds to make his otherwise unremarkable thriller about a tormented hit man.
Music
December 3, 2021
Jason Boland & the Stragglers’ New Album Is a Galactic, Time-Traveling Journey
‘The Light Saw Me’ is maybe the weirdest, most unexpected post-pandemic album to come out of the Red Dirt country scene. Just in time for Omicron!
Film & TV
December 1, 2021
Sean Baker’s Provocative ‘Red Rocket’ Gets Down and Dirty in Texas City
The latest from the director of ‘The Florida Project’ sees a scheming former porn star wash up along Texas’s Gulf Coast.
America’s Girls
November 30, 2021
Announcing Our New Podcast, ‘America’s Girls’
Inside the wild, glamorous, and complicated saga of the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, an institution that changed sports, entertainment, and countless childhoods of boys and girls like me.
Sports
November 30, 2021
561 Million Reasons to Believe the Rangers Are Committed to Winning
With the blockbuster signings of Corey Seager and Marcus Semien, the woeful Texas Rangers just fast-tracked their franchise rebuild.
Sports
November 26, 2021
The First-Ever All-Texas College Football Playoff Matchup Is Here
Season got you down? (Not you, UTSA.) Why not spend Saturday watching the first-round FCS game between Stephen F. Austin and Incarnate Word?
Music
November 26, 2021
A New Dawn for Horizon, the Groovy Granddaddy of San Antonio Funk
The near-forgotten River City boogie-funk band has reunited and a fresh anthology gives a new generation a chance to enjoy this sequin gem of a band.
Music
November 23, 2021
Scholar Emcee Mexstep Drops Some Lessons on ‘Vivir’
University of Texas at San Antonio professor Marco Cervantes mixes history, activism, and hip-hop on his latest album.
By Katy Vine![Katy Vine's Profile Photo]()
Sports
November 23, 2021
Texas Longhorns Football Is in Free Fall, and It Still Hasn’t Hit Rock Bottom
Clumsy administrators. Meddling boosters. Blown double-digit leads. A six-game losing streak. And a home loss to lowly Kansas. What's next?
Arts & Entertainment
November 22, 2021
Houston Grand Opera’s ‘The Snowy Day’ Celebrates Black Joy
An evocative adaption of the beloved 1962 children’s book casts aside stereotypes and focuses on wonder more than trauma.
Music
November 20, 2021
The Go-Go’s’ Big Night at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Austin's Kathy Valentine takes us behind the scenes at the star-studded ceremony, which debuts on HBO this month.
Music
November 19, 2021
‘The Willie Nelson Family’ Takes Us to Church
The Nelson clan’s new gospel album meets the grief and trauma of the pandemic with spirit and hope.
By John Spong![John Spong's Profile Photo]()
Art
November 19, 2021
EAST Austin Is Over. What’s Next for an Art Scene That’s Losing Its Nucleus?
An annual tour of artist studios opts for a wider map as cost of living blows up the east side of the city.
Film & TV
November 19, 2021
Season Two of ‘Love Life’ Has Nothing New to Say
Dallas native William Jackson Harper is a romantic lead who's prone to repeating mistakes and slow to mature.
Books
November 19, 2021
How the Alamo Drafthouse Turned Trash Cinema into a Cultural Institution
A new book tells the sweeping tale of the Alamo’s Weird Wednesday series, the American Genre Film Archive, and Austin’s custodians of cult.
Film & TV
November 19, 2021
Mckenna Grace Is the Only Thing Alive About the New ‘Ghostbusters’
The rising Grapevine star brings fresh spirit to a movie that’s fatally preoccupied with reviving the dead.
Sports
November 18, 2021
The Guy Who Asked Steve Sarkisian That Endless Question Explains Himself
Terry Middleton of ‘Horns Illustrated’ tried to be positive during Monday’s Longhorns press conference. He didn’t know he’d get dragged for it.
By Dan Solomon![Dan Solomon's Profile Photo]()
Music
November 18, 2021
How a Band of Hippies and Potheads Kept Western Swing Alive
Asleep at the Wheel (belatedly) celebrates fifty years of championing a genre once considered all but dead.
By John Spong![John Spong's Profile Photo]()
Sports
November 17, 2021
Get Ready for the Best College Hoops Season in Texas History
With six top-25 teams among the state's men's and women's programs, there's never been a better time to be a basketball fan in Texas.
Film & TV
November 16, 2021
The Legendary Flop of ‘The Legend of the Lone Ranger’
How an Amarillo oilman stole the mask right off the Lone Ranger’s face, and made one of film’s most infamous failures in the process.
Sports
November 15, 2021
Curl Austin’s Bet: If You Freeze It, They Will Come
The boozy winter pastime that Senator John Cornyn once deemed “the most obscure Olympic sport” is on the rise—even in Texas.
Books
November 15, 2021
Five Gripping New Texas Thrillers to Keep You Up at Night
You won't be able to put these down.
Film & TV
November 11, 2021
How the Pandemic Showed Me a Different Way to Watch Movies
Over one hundred movies later, a virtual movie club learned some surprising things about classic movies—and about friendship in dark times.
Music
November 10, 2021
Bushwick Bill Was One of Houston’s Most Provocative Rappers. A New Documentary Reveals the Man Behind the Outrage.
As one third of the Geto Boys, he pushed the boundaries of hip-hop. But the group’s lyrics often clashed with his own values.
Sports
November 9, 2021
Can New Texas Tech Coach Joey McGuire Build a Winner in Lubbock?
The Red Raiders’ hire is beloved by former players at Baylor and Cedar Hill High School and is known as one of the top recruiters in Texas.
Art
November 9, 2021
Portrait of the Artist as a Borderland Working-class Hero
A Luis Jiménez exhibition in Austin focuses on Southwestern themes in the art of the late, great El Pasoan.
Style & Design
November 9, 2021
How a Texan’s Jewelry Line Attracted Celeb Fans From J-Lo to Gwyneth Paltrow
Brownsville native Beth Bugdaycay takes the concept of a good luck charm to a whole other level with her Foundrae line of handmade gold chains, medallions, and more.
Music
November 9, 2021
The Last Ballad at the Dry Creek Cafe
For 68 years, hippies, rednecks, and college kids drank beer at the Austin roadhouse, which received a final sendoff from famed country group Freda and the Firedogs.
By Michael Hall![Michael Hall's Profile Photo]()
Sports
November 8, 2021
How Did All Three Texas MLS Teams End Up Stinking This Season?
It was a rough campaign for FC Dallas, Austin FC, and Houston Dynamo FC, but there's good reason to hope that next year will be better.
Music
November 8, 2021
After the Astroworld Disaster, a Reckoning for Music Festivals
International crowd-safety experts say better planning could have prevented the eight deaths and dozens of injuries at last week’s Travis Scott concert.
Sports
November 3, 2021
After World Series Loss, Houston Faces the Possible End of an Era
Five straight winning seasons, three trips to the World Series, one title—but can the Astros keep it up if Carlos Correa leaves town?
Film & TV
November 3, 2021
‘The Harder They Fall’ Is a Fun, Stylish Revisionist Western
Dallas-raised actor Jonathan Majors leads a star-studded cast as outlaw Nat Love seeking revenge.
Art
November 3, 2021
The Must-see Art Show of the Fall Is in . . . Waco?
Reclusive mailman and genius autodidact Kermit Oliver shows himself to be a hidden gem of Texas painting.
Film & TV
October 29, 2021
Richard Linklater’s ‘Waking Life’ Is Still a Long, Weird Trip Worth Taking
He made the low-budget film at a low point in his career—but twenty years later, it stands the test of time.
Sports
October 29, 2021
The 6–1 UTEP Miners Are the Surprise of the College Football Season
Fourth-year head coach Dana Dimel's team has won more games this season than it did over the previous three years combined.
Sports
October 28, 2021
Meet the Media Upstarts Behind Those “H-Town vs. Everyone” Shirts
How Apollo Media won over Astros fans by embracing hometown pride and telling Houstonians there's no shame in supporting this team.
Film & TV
October 28, 2021
‘Student Bodies’ Remains Texas’s Strangest Contribution to Horror Movie History
The 1981 slasher spoof prominently features Houston and a future Texas politician, but that’s not all that’s notable about it.
Music
October 28, 2021
Keep Austin Spoon
With its tenth album, ‘Lucifer on the Sofa,’ the city’s signature indie-rock band has made its most Austin record yet.
Sports
October 27, 2021
How Mattress Mack Pays For His Sports-Related Mega Giveaways
If the Astros win the World Series, buyers win free mattresses—and Mattress Mack cashes the biggest winning ticket in sports-betting history.
By Dan Solomon![Dan Solomon's Profile Photo]()
Books
October 27, 2021
The Tall Tale of the Sabine River Goat Man and the Haunted Cemetery
Things unseen moved along the river bank, slithered or crawled or pranced between the thick growths of trees that ran for miles.
Best Thing in Texas
October 26, 2021
A Divine Presence Could Propel the Astros to a World Series Title
Houston is 2-0 in the MLB postseason with local furniture magnate Mattress Mack's "Rally Nuns" in attendance.
Sports
October 25, 2021
In This Year’s World Series, It’s Houston vs. Everybody
The Astros have faced every kind of taunt imaginable this year—and it has only brought the team and its city closer together.
Style & Design
October 22, 2021
In San Benito, Homecoming Mums Are an Over-the-top Texas Tradition
This South Texas community has embraced the extravagant corsage. Whether a mum is DIY or professionally made, it’s all about the sparkle.
Sports
October 22, 2021
The Great Burkburnett Football Field Feud of 1972
Decades after the Wichita County town saved its stadium from an oilman’s plan to drill at midfield, the structure has been condemned—after pipes once donated by oil companies rusted out.
Music
October 22, 2021
Can Paul Cauthen Make Tyler . . . Cool?
The outlaw-country star joins an unlikely cultural movement in the Rose Capital of Texas.
Books
October 21, 2021
Eight Great Texas Book Festival Reads
There’s something for every Texan on this list.
Film & TV
October 21, 2021
‘The French Dispatch’ Is Wes Anderson at His Most Self-indulgent
The Houston filmmaker’s latest is a valentine to defiantly idiosyncratic storytellers like Wes Anderson.