Politics & Policy
June 4, 2020
The Hero Myth of Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo
He has become a national celebrity for publicly supporting the George Floyd protests. But Acevedo’s record is decidedly less progressive than his rhetoric.
Politics & Policy
Reporting and commentary on the Legislature, campaigns, and elected officials
Politics & Policy
June 2, 2020
How San Marcos Went From ‘Zero Tolerance’ Policing to Requiring That Officers Release Low-Level Offenders
Despite opposition from the local police union, the city passed Texas's most expansive ‘cite-and-release’ policy.
Politics & Policy
June 1, 2020
“I Can’t Believe This Is America”: On the Front Lines With the Volunteers Tending to Austin’s Injured Protesters
They thought they’d be treating heat exhaustion this weekend. Then police started firing rubber bullets and beanbag rounds.
The National Podcast of Texas
May 29, 2020
Congressman Michael C. Burgess on Balancing Public Health and the Economy
On a special edition of The National Podcast of Texas, the legislator and medical doctor weighs in on Texas’s reopening, masks, and Trump’s reelection chances.
Politics & Policy
May 29, 2020
The 29-Year-Old Bodybuilder Behind the Armed Effort to Reopen Texas
A month ago Philip Archibald was a frustrated small business owner locked inside his Dallas home. Now he commands a heavily armed network of anti-lockdown vigilantes, some with extremist leanings.
Politics & Policy
May 28, 2020
Texas Is Screwed More by the Electoral College Than Any Other State, Despite Our Size
The disparity is even more stark when you consider that Wyoming is just one of 35 states with a smaller population than the Dallas–Fort Worth Metroplex alone.
Film & TV
May 22, 2020
‘AKA Jane Roe’ Finally Gives Norma McCorvey the Nuanced Portrait She Deserves
A new documentary urges viewers to see McCorvey’s essential humanity, not just her role as a symbol in the abortion wars.
Politics & Policy
May 22, 2020
Recently Released Asylum Seekers Talk About Detention During the COVID-19 Pandemic
As the coronavirus first spread throughout the Texas's ICE facilities, migrants grew increasingly desperate for release.
Health
May 20, 2020
The Dr. Fauci of South Texas
Laredo cardiologist Ricardo Cigarroa is on the front lines of the COVID-19 crisis, making house calls and “dealing hard doses of truth.”
Politics & Policy
May 20, 2020
Can the ‘Texas Miracle’ Survive?
With a virus-infected economy and an oil bust to boot, the Texas model is facing an unprecedented crisis.
News
May 19, 2020
Texas Has Decided to Roll the Dice on the Coronavirus
Governor Abbott’s phase two reopenings signal a hope from leaders that maybe this all will just work out, somehow.
Politics & Policy
May 15, 2020
The Hunt for a Leaker at the Harris County District Attorney’s Office
While the rest of Houston’s legal community was adapting to COVID-19, DA Kim Ogg was determined to find who leaked an internal document.
Health
May 15, 2020
What Public Health Experts Are Saying About the Coronavirus in Texas Right Now
As our understanding of the disease has evolved, so have the models and advice from experts.
Politics & Policy
May 15, 2020
Why Does Attorney General Ken Paxton Want to Make Voting a Death-Defying Act?
The resignation of a key election official serves as a warning about the dangers of conducting elections in person during the coronavirus pandemic.
Politics & Policy
May 8, 2020
Arrested Dallas Hairdresser’s GoFundMe Launched Before She Even Reopened
As far as PR stunts go, this one has been lucrative.
Politics & Policy
May 8, 2020
Showdown at the Salon: How Hairdressing Became the Thing We Fight About in the Middle of the Pandemic
The Shelley Luther saga gave Texas politicians an excuse to change the conversation, and deflect blame.
Politics & Policy
May 7, 2020
The Best and the Bums: Who’s Doing Good and Who’s Not in These Crazy Times
From Mattress Mack to that Austin guy who pushed a park ranger into the lake, the pandemic is bringing out the best and worst in people.
Politics & Policy
May 5, 2020
Will Texans Be Able to Vote by Mail?
The question is making its way through the courts, after Attorney General Ken Paxton appealed a state judge’s ruling.
Books
May 1, 2020
Lawrence Wright on the Politics of the Pandemic
The Austin author says he wrote his new pandemic thriller as a "cry of warning," but he never expected it to be released during an eerily similar crisis.
Politics & Policy
April 30, 2020
Hours Before Businesses Can Reopen, Texas Reports Highest Daily COVID-19 Death Increase
Research suggests Governor Abbott’s statewide stay-at-home order was slowing down the coronavirus’s spread. What will happen now that he’s lifted it?
Health
April 29, 2020
Dr. Mark McClellan on COVID-19 and Reopening the Texas Economy
One of Governor Greg Abbott's top aides says more testing and contact tracing should have been in place before restrictions were lifted.
Politics & Policy
April 28, 2020
“Doctors and Data” Suggest Greg Abbott May Be Reopening Texas Too Early
The plan deviates considerably from what many public health officials say is needed for Texans to reopen businesses.
Health
April 24, 2020
The Majority Agrees: Lifting Stay-Home Orders Won’t Bring Normalcy (But It Will Get People Killed)
Despite the loud protests, very few Americans are ready to go back to work.
Politics & Policy
April 23, 2020
Bull Session—Dan Patrick Repeats: Let’s Get Busy Living (And Get Busy Dying)
Plus, Ted Cruz says skateboarding is not a crime, and Dan Crenshaw becomes the cool face of the GOP’s coronavirus response.
Energy
April 23, 2020
Tim Dunn Is Against the Nanny State—Except When It Might Help His Oil Business
The ultra-conservative financier wants the government out of the pandemic business, but is open to a bailout of the oil industry.
Politics & Policy
April 22, 2020
The Construction Industry’s Latest Challenge: Taking the Coronavirus Threat Seriously
After Greg Abbott's executive order deemed the industry essential, workers have been struggling to abide by health protocols.
Border & Immigration
April 21, 2020
Children Grappling With Remote Asylum Hearings? With COVID-19, That’s Now the Norm.
Many immigration attorneys have called for hearings to be delayed, but cases are nonetheless proceeding by phone and video.
Health
April 17, 2020
In Restarting the Texas Economy While Promising to Keep COVID-19 at Bay, Greg Abbott Faces a Precarious Balancing Act
The governor tries to address coronavirus concerns in the face of lobbying from his most conservative supporters.
Politics & Policy
April 16, 2020
Bull Session: Louie Gohmert Has a Cure for the Coronavirus—Imagination!
Plus, the Texas Freedom Caucus projects its own dangerous fantasies, and even more stir-crazy pols.
Politics & Policy
April 13, 2020
A User’s Guide to How Texas’s Top Elected Officials Are Handling the Coronavirus
In the best of times, our politicians can be a frustrating bunch. How are they doing in an unprecedented crisis?
Politics & Policy
April 13, 2020
The State’s Ban Isn’t Stopping Texans From Getting Abortions
Governor Greg Abbott's order, closing abortion clinics through April 21, has sent many out of state to seek the procedure—in the middle of the pandemic.
Politics & Policy
April 13, 2020
How to Erase a Neighborhood
The East End neighborhood of Freeport was once a thriving community. Today, the few remaining residents are about to be pushed out by the port. What happened?
Politics & Policy
April 10, 2020
Still Fearing Violence, Migrants Subject to Trump’s Remain in Mexico Policy Are Now Bracing for a Pandemic
With nearly 2,500 asylum seekers living in close quarters in a Matamoros migrant camp, doctors say the conditions are ripe for an outbreak.
Politics & Policy
April 9, 2020
Dental Procedures, Groceries, and Dart Boards: How Texans Plan on Spending Their Stimulus Checks
To combat economic downturn from the coronavirus pandemic, the IRS is sending Americans money. Many struggling Texans say it won’t be enough.
Politics & Policy
April 9, 2020
Bull Session: Ted Cruz Says the Press Is “Giddy With Glee” Over Pandemic
Plus, Texas pols take pains to prove they’re still working, Rick Perry finds a new calling, and more.
Politics & Policy
April 8, 2020
Evictions Have Stopped, But Texas Renters Will Face a Crisis in the Months Ahead
As the state's unemployment numbers skyrocket, many Texans don't know how they'll be able to honor their leases without rent relief.
Politics & Policy
April 7, 2020
Seeking to Represent Sugar Land, Kathaleen Wall Decides to Run Against China
The candidate is running in a district that’s home to more Asian Americans than anywhere else in Texas. Her newest campaign ad blames the People's Republic for the coronavirus pandemic.
Politics & Policy
April 3, 2020
Greg Abbott Promised to Get Masks for Texas. Many Doctors Say They Are Still Facing Shortages.
Family care physicians say they still don’t have enough personal protective equipment. So they’re seeking other solutions.
News
April 3, 2020
Don’t Read Too Much Into Data-Driven Attempts to Explain the Coronavirus Right Now
Attempts to make sense of the spread of the virus can lead to some misunderstandings.
Politics & Policy
April 3, 2020
Struggling Texas News Outlets Try to “Keep the Ship Afloat in the Apocalypse”
Layoffs, furloughs, closures: news organizations across the state face a moment of reckoning.
Politics & Policy
April 2, 2020
Bull Session: We Could All Use a Distraction
Texas politicians, from Ted Cruz to Briscoe Cain, are riding out the coronavirus with movies and TV, like the rest of us.
News
March 27, 2020
Why Is Texas So Far Behind Other States in Responding to the Coronavirus?
While other governors have taken an aggressive approach to curbing COVID-19, Greg Abbott has favored smaller measures.
Politics & Policy
March 26, 2020
Bull Session: John Cornyn Will Just “Blah Blah Blah” His Way Through This
Plus, Chip Roy demands this pandemic set an end date already.
Politics & Policy
March 25, 2020
Clay Jenkins Is Leading the COVID-19 Response While Governor Abbott Stalls
The Dallas County judge drew national acclaim for his Ebola response. The coronavirus is proving to be a bigger challenge.
Politics & Policy
March 24, 2020
Dan Patrick to Dan Patrick: Drop Dead
The Texas lieutenant governor is among a growing number of politicians who are willing to trade lives to save the economy. It’s a false choice.
Health
March 23, 2020
How Hurricane Harvey Prepared Houston for the Coronavirus
We’re going to need that same neighborly, can-do spirit to get us through the COVID-19 pandemic.
Politics & Policy
March 23, 2020
Texas’s Coronavirus Response Is Leaving Homeless People Stranded
Lack of hygienic access, overcrowded shelters, and limited funding for social services all threaten the state's homeless population.
Politics & Policy
March 20, 2020
How Will Texas Conduct Elections in the Wake of the Coronavirus?
Governor Greg Abbott is letting counties decide whether to postpone certain May elections. For the general, expanded vote by mail may be necessary.
Politics & Policy
March 19, 2020
Bull Session: Not Even a Pandemic Can Change John Cornyn or Louie Gohmert
The Texas senator and congressman, along with Chip Roy, remain incorrigible in the face of the coronavirus.
Politics & Policy
March 18, 2020
Is Climate Change Denial Thawing in Texas?
Surprising statements by oil industry leaders have grabbed headlines. But the bigger change is underway more quietly, among young Republicans.