Texas Icons
January 17, 2023
The Pastor of Dallas’s First Baptist on W. A. Criswell, Donald Trump, and God Himself
Robert Jeffress resuscitated a once powerful church—and courted controversy too.
Texas Icons
Texas Icons
January 17, 2023
The “Come and Take It” Flag Now Symbolizes Something It Never Stood For
On T-shirts and bumper stickers, the flag that flew during the Texas Revolution has had its cannon replaced by an AR-15. Would our ancestors approve?
Texas Icons
January 17, 2023
Why the Deer Are Bigger and the Hunting Is Easier in Texas
Wildlife biologist Larry Weishuhn explains the changes he’s seen in his lifetime of Texas woodsmanship.
Music
January 17, 2023
You Don’t Know Texas Music if You Don’t Know Flaco Jiménez
“I can talk to my accordion and make it respond to me; I can make it happy or make it cry.”
Texas Icons
January 17, 2023
Texas’s Big Ranches Are Still Selling for Big Bucks
Even when interest rates are high, people want a place where they can hunt actual bucks.
Texas Icons
January 17, 2023
The Age-old Levi’s vs. Wrangler Debate Has Finally Been Settled
And everybody won.
Texas Icons
January 17, 2023
The Great Texification of Dairy Queen
A stubborn and savvy group of franchisees turned the Midwest-based dessert chain into a Lone Star institution beloved for its steak fingers and Hungr-Busters.
Texas Icons
January 17, 2023
How the San Antonio Spurs Made Texas Safe for Basketball
The Spurs electrified a once sleepy city, paved the way for the Mavs’ and Rockets’ success, and won a few games along the way.
Texas Icons
January 17, 2023
Myrtis Dightman Is the Jackie Robinson of Rodeo
The Hall of Fame bull rider is the subject of an upcoming documentary and a Hollywood biopic—but if you ask him he’s “just a cowboy.”
Texas Icons
January 17, 2023
The Taco Welcomes All Into Its Fold
Nothing transcends culinary borders like the tortilla.
Texas Icons
January 17, 2023
The Texanist: What Will Texas Look Like Fifty Years From Now?
Some tasty lab-grown barbecue and a Dallas Cowboys postseason appearance may be in our distant future.
Texas Icons
January 17, 2023
How to Keep a Great Magazine Going
When I started writing for Texas Monthly in 1973, I didn’t expect it to last very long. But it’s still here, five decades later.
Texas Icons
January 17, 2023
Southwest Used to Do Everything Right. What Happened?
Before its recent troubles, the industry giant seemed like the airline to beat.
Texas Icons
January 17, 2023
What Does It Mean to Be a “Texas Actor”?
Jonathan Majors and Tommy Lee Jones don’t just have their home state in common.
Texas Icons
January 17, 2023
See How Texas’s Big-city Skylines Have Changed Over the Past Half Century
Why has San Antonio fallen behind Houston, Dallas, and Austin?
Texas Icons
January 17, 2023
We Asked Four Singers (and Ethan Hawke) Which Willie Nelson Songs They Love Most
Here’s what Steve Earle, Vince Gill, Margo Price, Kacey Musgraves, and the Austin-born actor told us to cue up—and why.
Texas Icons
January 17, 2023
And You Thought Feral Hogs Were Bad. Fire Ants Have Unleashed Chaos in Texas for Decades.
It’s easy to forget that fire ants are actually an invasive species.
Texas Icons
January 17, 2023
The Rise and Fall of the Bush Family Dynasty
You can’t blame Jeb.
Texas Icons
January 17, 2023
The U.S.-Mexico Border Is Not Just a Line on a Map
As a child, I experienced the boundary between Texas and Mexico as its own distinct place. Now I know why.
Texas Icons
January 17, 2023
Is Henry Camargo the Last of the Great Texas Bootmakers?
Perhaps not. But right now it feels to the South Texas craftsman like his profession is dying.
Texas Icons
January 17, 2023
A Letter to My Fellow Black Texans About Juneteenth
The day commemorating the emancipation of slaves in Texas says as much about our future as our past.
Texas Icons
January 17, 2023
Big Hair 4 Ever
The towering bouffant has gone out of fashion in Texas. But new styles of outsized tresses are taking its place.
Texas Icons
January 17, 2023
When the State Fair of Texas Turned Deep-fried
Melanie Linnear recalls the origins of the unhealthiest (but most delicious) competition in all the land.
Texas Icons
January 17, 2023
Dallas Was the Birthplace of the Microchip Revolution
If your dishwasher works properly, you probably have a long-ago Texas Instruments employee to thank.
Texas Icons
January 17, 2023
Why I Fought for Mexican American Civil Rights in Texas
José Angel Gutiérrez cofounded the Raza Unida Party, one of the most ambitious political forces to emerge from the Chicano Movement.
Texas Icons
January 17, 2023
Brisket Wasn’t Always King in Texas
Not that long ago, it was regarded by many barbecue aficionados as inferior to shoulder clod. Then things started heating up.
Texas Icons
January 17, 2023
Texas Football’s Greatest Rivalry Will Return—But at What Cost?
With the Texas Longhorns set to join the Southeastern Conference no later than in 2025, UT will play Texas A&M for the first time in more than a decade.
Texas Icons
January 17, 2023
Big Bend, Big Crowds
What happens when hundreds of thousands of people go to the same place looking for a little quiet time? One of our two national parks is finding out.
Texas Icons
January 17, 2023
Nolan Ryan Threw as Hard as He Could for as Long as He Could
The most strikeouts ever. The most no-hitters ever. With those records, Nolan Ryan could afford to take it easy in retirement. But he never left the game behind.
Texas Country Reporter
January 17, 2023
“Wouldn’t People Like Some Good News?”: The Lasting Popularity of ‘Texas Country Reporter’
Host Bob Phillips reflects on how fifty-year-old ‘Texas Country Reporter’ became a state institution.
Texas Icons
January 17, 2023
But It’s Not a Dry Heat, Actually
State climatologist John Nielsen-Gammon says we need to be ready for more triple-digit days and more humidity.
Texas Icons
January 17, 2023
How the Texas Rangers Became One of the Most Powerful Forces in the State
Texas’s elite police agency has evolved from a frontier organization to one famed for its expert interrogators. But some high-profile cases have tarnished that reputation.
Texas Icons
January 17, 2023
It’s Time to Reexamine One of the Most Beloved Books About Texas
Regarded by many Texans as a classic work of history, T. R. Fehrenbach’s ‘Lone Star’ contains racist ideas that shouldn’t be ignored.
Texas Icons
January 17, 2023
More Than 600 Episodes in, ‘Austin City Limits’ Is Still an Austin Show at Heart
Decades after Willie Nelson performed on the pilot, the show is now a national institution—but not too national.
Texas Icons
January 17, 2023
Sixteen of the Most Influential Texas Business Icons of the Past 50 Years
The names have changed over the decades, but through it all, Texas remains a place where money gets made—and spent.
Texas Icons
January 17, 2023
One of the Greatest Programs in Texas High School Football History Faces Its Final Season
With the city consolidating its school district, Wichita Falls High—and the six-time state champion Coyotes—will be no more.
Texas Icons
January 17, 2023
Sixteen of the Most Influential Texas Political Figures of the Past 50 Years
From John Connally to Lina Hidalgo, these leaders have made Texas the bellwether state for the nation.
Texas Icons
January 17, 2023
In the Decades Since Farrah’s Iconic Poster, Texas’s Beauty Standard Has Evolved
Fawcett set the standard in the 1970s—blond, thin, and smiling. Thankfully, that’s changed.
Texas Icons
January 17, 2023
Lynn Wyatt Is Still the Best Little Socialite in Texas
At 87, Houston’s global style icon is as dazzling as ever.
Texas Icons
January 17, 2023
No Store Has Grown More Than H-E-B
Why the grocery chain’s rise has proven unstoppable.
Texas Icons
January 17, 2023
The Birth of Texas Monthly Is a Very Texan Story
On the occasion of our fiftieth anniversary, we reflect on how far we’ve come—and where we’re headed.
Texas Icons
January 17, 2023
Sixteen of Texas’s Most Influential Cultural Figures of the Past 50 Years
From George Jones to Attica Locke, these Texans have made lasting cultural impacts on the state.
Texas Icons
January 17, 2023
The Daughters of the Republic of Texas Haven’t Left the Alamo
The organization may have lost the right to manage the historical site, but key members still have a major influence on its future.
Texas Icons
January 17, 2023
The Texas Beer Industry Is Bubbling Over
We still love our Shiner, Pearl, and Lone Star, but our options are now bubbling over, thanks to hundreds of craft breweries across the state.
Texas Icons
January 17, 2023
The Astrodome’s Decline From Eighth Wonder to Eighth Blunder of the World
Once a symbol of Houston’s wealth and ambition, the now-empty stadium no longer represents much of anything.
Texas Icons
January 17, 2023
We Just Don’t Know How to Quit Cowboy Hats
Even people who have never put their boot in a stirrup keep finding new reasons to don these stylish toppers.
Texas Icons
January 17, 2023
The Dallas Cowboys Used to Sell NFL Dynasties. Now They Sell Drama.
It’s been almost thirty years since America’s Team last played in the Super Bowl, yet fans remain hooked on Jerry Jones’s soap opera.
Texas Icons
January 17, 2023
Comparing Two of the Most Powerful Lieutenant Governors in Texas History
Like Bill Hobby, Dan Patrick has made the most of an inherently powerful position.
Texas Icons
January 17, 2023
“We Lived a Wacko, Crazy Life” on Caddo Lake
Dottie Carter shares her memories of life in Uncertain, Texas.
Texas Icons
January 17, 2023
The Commercialization of Space: The Final Frontier
How the aeronautical industry’s profit motive achieved escape velocity.