The Daily Post
June 7, 2017
Rabbit’s Got the Gun
Kerry Max Cook, who spent almost twenty years on death row for a murder he maintains he didn't commit, sues the people who sent him there.
BBQ
May 24, 2017
Tyler Two-Step
The essence of Texas barbecue—past and present—is in the Piney Woods.
Music
May 2, 2017
Your Texas Music Calendar: May 2017
Here are your not-to-miss acts across the state.
The Daily Post
April 6, 2017
Louise Rowe: The Texas Playboy Who Wore a Dress
Louise Rowe was the only female musician to play with Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys. Now she's taking her own band to San Marcos.
The Daily Post
April 6, 2017
Richard Dreyfuss on Playing Kerry Max Cook
Oscar-winning actor Richard Dreyfuss talks to us about Kerry Max Cook, the Texan accused of brutal 1977 murder whom Dreyfuss played on stage.
March 29, 2017
Intelligence Quotient
The Supreme Court says Texas must change the way it determines who can be executed.
March 22, 2017
The Trouble With Innocence
For almost forty years, Kerry Max Cook did everything to clear his name after being convicted of a horrifying murder in Tyler. So when he was finally exonerated, why did he ask for his conviction back?
Health
February 14, 2017
The Faces of Obamacare
For many Americans, the controversial health law is government run amok. But for these people in San Antonio, it’s been a lifesaver.
True Crime
July 13, 2016
The Murders at the Lake
In 1982 three teenagers were killed near the shores of Lake Waco in a seemingly inexplicable crime. More than three decades later, the tragic and disturbing case still casts a long, dark shadow.
The Daily Post
June 6, 2016
Reversal of Fortune
Kerry Max Cook, a subject of The Exonerated, is finally exonerated.
The Culture
June 3, 2016
The Usual Suspect
Stunning new evidence in the case of Kerry Max Cook casts serious doubt on his 1978 murder conviction--and points emphatically at another man.
Politics & Policy
April 25, 2016
Max Soffar Dies in Death Row Hospital
The sixty-year-old spent 35 years on death row for a crime many believe he didn't commit. He died Sunday from natural causes.
Texas History
April 20, 2016
The Opera of Emeline
How one woman’s fight for freedom inspired Houston’s lawyers and artists more than a century and a half later.
Film & TV
April 15, 2016
A Different Kind of Horror Film
A new documentary tells the story of the San Antonio Four, a group of lesbians who were accused of sexually abusing two children in what many consider a modern-day witch-hunt.
The Culture
February 24, 2016
The City of the Eternal Boom
A hipster paradise, a high-tech nirvana, a festival wonderland. Today Austin barely resembles the sleepy college town I moved to in the seventies. How it changed is the story of a lifetime.
Music
January 19, 2016
RIP, Paul Ray
The host of the beloved radio show "Twine Time" on KUTX in Austin died Friday at 73.
Science
December 23, 2015
False Impressions
How the once troubled Texas Forensic Science Commission put the state at the forefront of the criminal justice reform movement.
November 23, 2015
RIP, Mack McCormick
The famed musicologist’s obsession with history made him one of the great chroniclers of American music.
Music
November 16, 2015
Music Monday: Cotton Mather Harnesses Ancient Chinese Wisdom In “The Book of Too Late Changes”
Cotton Mather translates the wisdom of 'I Ching' to Texas power pop.
The Stand Up Desk
October 30, 2015
The Mineola Child Sex Case Gets the Movie Treatment
”Booger Red,” a film by Berndt Mader and based on a Texas Monthly story, premieres at the Austin Film Festival.
Criminal Justice
October 21, 2015
The Outcast
A dark incident almost twenty years ago put Greg Torti on the sex offender registry for life. But the real story, he insists, is much more complicated.
Criminal Justice
October 20, 2015
Another Texas Exoneration Calls Bite Mark Evidence Into Question
Critics denounce this arm of forensic science as bogus and subjective.
News & Politics
September 14, 2015
Four Decades, Three Trials, Two Death Sentences, One Exoneree. Almost.
Thirty-eight years after Kerry Max Cook was convicted of murder, he continues to seek exoneration. And now he might finally have a chance to convince the courts of his innocence.
Music
September 14, 2015
Danny Barnes Proves That Playing the Banjo Can Pay
The banjo player from Belton recently won the Steve Martin Excellence in Banjo and Bluegrass award, a recognition of his “barnyard electronic aesthetic.”
Chat
July 23, 2015
True Grits
Innocence Project of Texas executive director Scott Henson says his organization is about more than DNA evidence.
Music
June 16, 2015
On the Porch With Robert and Lyle
Old friends Robert Earl Keen and Lyle Lovett talk about songwriting Texas music history, and the early days back in College Station.
Music
March 23, 2015
The Playlist
Oh, the endless arguments about Texas music. But don’t feel the need to master it—no one really can. Instead, here are ten songs to help you hold your own at almost any party.
The Culture
March 23, 2015
The Prettiest Li’l Drive You’ll Ever See
Head west on FM 170 through an astounding wilderness of shallow canyons, ancient riverbeds, and craggy limestone hills.
Music
February 12, 2015
Plains Sound
Twenty-year-old Hayden Pedigo is making the most innovative, audacious music in the country. So why is he still in Amarillo?
Politics & Policy
January 9, 2015
The Reformer
Texas’s criminal justice system has seen some staggering changes in the past decade. Thank Cathy Cochran.
The Daily Post
December 3, 2014
RIP, Ian McLagan and Bobby Keys
A day after a legendary Texas saxophonist died, a legendary Texas keyboard player has also breathed his last.
Politics & Policy
December 3, 2014
Why Did the Conservative Fifth Circuit Stay Panetti’s Execution?
Maybe it had something to do with the dissent written last week by Judge Tom Price, of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.
Politics & Policy
November 21, 2014
Will Rick Perry Grant Clemency to Max Soffar?
More than 115,000 people think he should.
Religion
November 13, 2014
Man on Fire
The Reverend Charles Moore ardently dedicated his life to the service of God and his fellow man. But when he couldn’t shake the thought that he hadn’t done enough, he drove to a desolate parking lot in his hometown of Grand Saline for one final act of faith.
Politics & Policy
October 9, 2014
Governor Perry, Have Mercy on This Man
Max Soffar is dying on death row, where he sits for a crime I'm certain he didn't commit. Maybe this letter will convince you to let him spend his last days at home with his family.
Politics & Policy
July 15, 2014
“I Believe It’s a Heroic Calling”
A conversation with the criminal defense lawyers of the year.
Politics & Policy
June 9, 2014
Richard LaFuente Is Finally Free!
For 28 years, parole officials tried to get him to confess to a crime he didn’t commit. He refused—and never wavered. This is why he is the bravest man I know.
The Culture
June 6, 2014
The Strings of the Father
How Johnny Gimble became one of the greatest fiddlers of all time—and showed me and my son a thing or two about playing music.
Music
April 29, 2014
Master Nelson Receives His Black Belt
Willie, who turns 81 today, proves that age is just a number.
Travel & Outdoors
April 16, 2014
A Summer Weekend in Houston
A tour of the city’s rich musical legacy (and some two-stepping).
Music
January 6, 2014
The Greatest Music Producer You’ve Never Heard of Is . . .
Tom Wilson, a Harvard-educated Republican from Waco who helped launch the careers of Bob Dylan, Simon and Garfunkel, Lou Reed, and a few other musicians you might have heard of.
Criminal Justice
November 27, 2013
Wrongfully Convicted Grandma Freed
After Fran Keller spent 21 years in prison based on allegations by children who said they were sexually abused in a satanic ritual at her and her husband's day care, she was finally released.
The Daily Post
November 19, 2013
The San Antonio 4 Are Finally Free
Four women spent more than thirteen years in prison because of bad science and scurrilous tales told by children who had been coached by an adult. They’re free now, but who else is sitting behind bars based on these types of false accusations?
Mineola Case
November 10, 2013
Foster Mother Whose Children Testified in the “Mineola Swingers Club” Case Now Accused of Abuse
Eight years ago Margie Cantrell pushed law enforcement to investigate allegations of abuse by a group of adults in Mineola. Seven people were convicted of child sexual abuse, and the scandal rocked East Texas. Now, two of those same children are alleging Cantrell physically abused them.
Criminal Justice
September 17, 2013
Pardon Me, Mr. President
Dear Mr. President: Richard LaFuente just filed a petition for executive clemency. I urge you to read it—and to commute his life sentence.
Sports
February 12, 2013
The Man Who Fell to Earth
After decades as one of the most admired athletes on the planet and one of the toughest competitors ever to ride a bike, Lance Armstrong is facing a new challenge: how to come back from a very public disgrace.
Austin
January 23, 2013
An Ode to Mount Bonnell
Taking Austin in from the city's most iconic summit.
January 21, 2013
The Problem With Eyewitness Testimony
How badly do we mess up when doing something as fundamentally human as using our eyes, words, and memories? In the case of some eyewitness IDs, very badly.
January 21, 2013
The Last Man Exonerated
Kerry Max Cook walked off death row in 1997, but he was never officially exonerated. At least not yet. He just filed a DNA motion he hopes will clear his name.