News & Politics
September 13, 2021
Seven Texans on the Emerging Hispanic Plurality
Texas Monthly spoke with experts about how Tejanos are influencing everything in the state, from cuisine to pop culture to entrepreneurship.
News
Politics & Policy
September 9, 2021
Your Questions About Texas’s New Abortion Law, Answered
Who can be sued under Senate Bill 8? What is the “shadow docket”? When will the Supreme Court rule on the merits of the law?
News & Politics
August 31, 2021
Writing “Love Letters” Can Give Home Buyers an Edge—and Open the Door to Discrimination
As home prices skyrocket in Texas, buyers will try anything to stand out—and neuroscience shows these letters work. But housing experts say the implications are troubling.
Business
August 26, 2021
Elon Musk Wants to Sell Texans Electricity
Tesla has filed to become a Texas power retailer in a move that could shake up an already fast-changing market.
News
August 25, 2021
If a Mountain Lion Didn’t Kill Christopher Whiteley, What or Who Did?
The sheriff blames his death on a big cat—but animal experts aren’t buying that theory.
Art
August 19, 2021
Controversial Statues Are Falling Across the U.S., but This Texas Town Is Erecting New Ones
In Rockport, a celebrated artist is planning to install sculptures depicting the first contact between European explorers and the Karankawa. Is it a representation of a key moment in the area’s history, or a glorification of colonialism?
News & Politics
August 13, 2021
What the New Climate Change Report Means for Texas
Acclaimed climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe on reasons for alarm—and hope.
Politics & Policy
August 4, 2021
“I Don’t Believe Anything”: Among the Unvaccinated in One Central Texas Community
Bell County struggles with misinformation and conspiracy theories as the deadly Delta variant spreads like wildfire.
Politics & Policy
July 27, 2021
Greg Abbott’s Border Fence Is Rising in Bits and Pieces
Local officials in South Texas are scrambling to figure out what the governor is building in their communities.
News & Politics
July 24, 2021
Four Months Ago They Were Celebrating. Now Texas Doctors Are Once Again Preparing for the Worst.
Inside the state’s biggest hospitals, doctors say a surge of unvaccinated COVID patients is almost too bewildering to believe.
News & Politics
July 20, 2021
What It Was Like Watching Blue Origin’s Launch From Highway 54 in Van Horn
Residents of the small West Texas town welcomed a surge of space enthusiasts and media, as billionaire Jeff Bezos traveled 100 kilometers above the surface of Earth.
News & Politics
July 19, 2021
With Excess Doses, El Paso Is Giving the Vaccine to Mexican Truckers Crossing the Border
As El Paso tries to avoid a new COVID-19 wave, most Juárez residents can't travel into the States for the jab.
News & Politics
July 19, 2021
Texas Restaurant Workers Are in Short Supply—And That Gives Them New Leverage
Many owners blame staff shortages on laziness and government handouts. Employees reply that their bosses should behave like rational capitalists and boost wages and working conditions.
Politics & Policy
July 12, 2021
Behind the Scenes of the Latest Walkout by Texas Democrats Over Proposed New Restrictions on Voting
Out of options in Austin, House Democrats fly to Washington, D.C., where they plan to press Congress to pass federal legislation protecting ballot access.
Politics & Policy
July 9, 2021
New Texas GOP Chair Matt Rinaldi Is Likely to Keep the Heat on Greg Abbott and Other Republicans
The next party leader could continue to wage war on errant Republican elected officials or oversee a détente.
Food & Drink
July 3, 2021
The Cluck Stops Here: Texas Restaurants and Bars Struggle to Sell Cheap Chicken Wings
A surge in post-pandemic revelry and lingering aftershocks from the February freeze have made the ubiquitous bar snack a pricey delicacy.
News & Politics
June 29, 2021
Eric Berger Knows Which Way the Wind Blows
The meteorologist’s no-nonsense website Space City Weather has established a cult following in flood-prone, hurricane-battered Houston.
News & Politics
June 29, 2021
Hundreds of Places in Texas Still Bear Offensive Names—Especially Against Native Americans
Earlier this month, a federal board removed the word “Negro” from sixteen locations in Texas, but the state map is still rife with slurs.
News & Politics
June 28, 2021
Dear Austinites, You Have Permission to Move to an Affordable, Weird City: Houston
If you’re trying to buy a home, then you’re probably a grown-up. You deserve a grown-up city—the city of Houston.
News & Politics
June 28, 2021
Why Is Texas So Short on Lifeguards This Summer?
The cascading effects of COVID-19—including a job-seekers’ economy and recruitment delays—are mostly to blame.
News & Politics
June 24, 2021
“When Do They Leave?”: Border Residents Bear the Latest Surge of DPS Troopers
Governor Greg Abbott has sent a thousand state cops into Texas border communities to combat smuggling. But many locals complain that they are more of a nuisance than an effective crime-fighting force.
News & Politics
June 15, 2021
David Leebron Regrets Nothing
The Rice University president recently announced his retirement after eighteen years of advances and controversies.
News & Politics
June 12, 2021
What Webb County’s Medical Examiner Has Learned From the Dead
Along the border, forensic experts such as Corinne Stern have dealt with a surge in migrant deaths during the Biden administration.
Politics & Policy
June 1, 2021
Inside the Texas Democratic Walkout That Derailed Senate Bill 7
After weeks of debating how to best combat the voting-restriction legislation, Democrats find a rare, though likely temporary, victory.
Sports
May 28, 2021
Houston’s Most Fireworks-Prone Lawyers Face Off in the Deshaun Watson Cases
Tony Buzbee, who is representing the plaintiffs, and Rusty Hardin, who is defending the Texans quarterback, are trying to navigate deftly in the #MeToo era.
News & Politics
May 24, 2021
A Brief History of Texans Finding a Message in a Bottle
A 2018 note from a Canadian teen washed up on a Port Aransas beach this month, reminding us of other writings found on Texas shores.
Energy
May 20, 2021
Haunting Images of the Permian Bust
Famed portrait photographer Dan Winters shifted his focus to a new character, the Permian Basin, as the storied region weathered a historic oil bust.
News & Politics
May 19, 2021
Appeals Court Finally Exonerates Lydell Grant—Two Years After DNA Evidence Cleared Him
And 18 months after the police, district attorney, and trial judge all declared the Houston man innocent.
Business
May 18, 2021
AT&T’s “Cowboy Swagger” Led to Its Hollywood Misadventure
With its WarnerMedia announcement, the Dallas-based telecom tacitly admits its latest bold acquisition—by a Texas company built on them—was a mistake.
Film & TV
May 7, 2021
Historic 6666 Ranch Almost Twice the Size of Chicago Gets the Perfect Steward
Imagine all the westerns filmmaker Taylor Sheridan could shoot on 266,000 acres of property.
The Stand Up Desk
May 7, 2021
Texas Monthly Celebrates Latest Awards and Nominations
This week the magazine earned five National Magazine Award nominations and won nine City and Regional Magazine Awards.
Meanwhile in Texas
May 6, 2021
Texas GOP Chair Allen West Challenges Tardy Reporter to Drop and Give Him Thirty
He challenged a reporter to perform the calisthenics, then decided to do them himself.
Border & Immigration
May 1, 2021
Ed Gonzalez Has Spent Years Fighting ICE. President Biden Just Nominated Him to Run the Agency.
The Harris County sheriff has been overshadowed by more-vocal Houston officials, but he’s earned a reputation as an effective reformer.
News & Politics
April 29, 2021
What Good Is a Posthumous Pardon for George Floyd?
Seventeen years after Floyd’s arrest by a notorious Houston cop, his family is seeking a pardon.
News
April 24, 2021
Private Jets, “Shopping Homes,” and WhatsApp: How Mexico’s Elite Accessed Texas’s Vaccine Supply
As vaccination rollout in their country has been slow, wealthy Mexicans have spent thousands on expensive trips abroad to get inoculated.
Politics & Policy
April 14, 2021
How Greg Abbott Became the Most Powerful Governor in Texas History
The state’s top elected official used to have limited sway. But Abbott has steadily seized authority from the Legislature and governing boards—a process accelerated by the pandemic.
Meanwhile in Texas
April 13, 2021
Meanwhile, in Texas: Baker Mayfield Spots a UFO
Plus, a man pretends to be conducting a CIA investigation at a Longview children's museum.
Politics & Policy
April 3, 2021
Forty-seven Days Without Running Water After the Winter Storm—and Counting
In Houston’s Third Ward, where some residents’ homes were extensively damaged, a fight for repairs has reached a breaking point.
Politics & Policy
April 2, 2021
Natural Gas Producers Are Getting a Pass From the Lege After the Blackouts
Many industries bear a portion of the blame for the failure of Texas’s electric grid. But one seems to be escaping strict requirements to better prepare for future storms.
Politics & Policy
April 1, 2021
Meet “Big Dan” Rodimer, the Jersey Guy Who Wants to Be a Texas Cowboy (and Congressman)
You ain’t a cowboy till your stunt double’s been bucked off.
News & Politics
March 29, 2021
This Is How Big the Ship That Got Stuck in the Suez Is, in Texas Terms
It’s hard to grasp just how massive the Ever Given is. Fortunately, scale is something our state does well.
The Stand Up Desk
March 29, 2021
Community Guidelines
We welcome your respectful thoughts, concerns, questions, and anecdotes, but ask that you keep conversations civil and productive on our site.
Business
March 26, 2021
H-E-B Is Coming to DFW, and People Are Like OMG
The beloved supermarket chain, which has carefully guarded its intentions in North Texas, dropped a bombshell on Friday.
Politics & Policy
March 25, 2021
Briscoe Cain Has Proved Ineffectual at Chairing the House Elections Committee. So Why Does He Have the Job?
Governor Greg Abbott has identified passing “election integrity” bills as one of his priorities for this legislative session, but the man in charge of ushering such legislation through the Texas House seems not up to the task.
News & Politics
March 23, 2021
They Just Moved Into an Austin Neighborhood. Now They Want to End One of Its Traditions.
Car clubs have gathered for decades at “Chicano Park” in the East Cesar Chavez neighborhood. But residents of a new luxury apartment building have started calling the police to stop them.
Politics & Policy
March 19, 2021
Why Is Dan Patrick All in on Repricing Electricity Overcharges?
The lieutenant governor has long responded to crises with more talk than legislation. But is something different this time as he deals with the aftermath of the blackout?
News & Politics
March 18, 2021
A Fatal Error Inspired a Plan to Reduce Friendly Fire, but the Military Isn’t Interested
Thirty years ago, Ralph Hayles fired the missiles that killed two American soldiers in Iraq. Ever since, he has worked to develop technology that could prevent similar deaths, while the military has looked elsewhere to address the problem—with little success.
Politics & Policy
March 17, 2021
They Couldn’t Show Up to Court in Person. Their Evictions Proceeded Anyway.
Houston has become a hot spot for pandemic removal proceedings. For tenants such as Evelyn Powers, relief has been hard to come by.
Business
March 16, 2021
Some on Wall Street Profited off Texas Blackouts. In a Private Call, a Top Regulator Pledged He Would Try to Protect Their Windfall.
Public Utility Commission chairman Arthur D’Andrea apologized to investors last week for the “uncertainty” around its profits.
Food & Drink
March 16, 2021
An Austin Chef-and-Farmer Duo Bring Locavore Love to Bastrop
With a new restaurant and farm, Sonya Cote and David Barrow hope to spread their magic a little farther east.