A Fond Farewell
Bidding adieu to the greatest honor of my professional career.
Brian D. Sweany has been the editor in chief of Texas Monthly since July 2014. A native Texan who was born on Texas Independence Day, he began his career in journalism as an intern at the magazine in 1996, and in the intervening years, he held nearly every possible job in the editorial department. Before being promoted to his current post, he was a senior executive editor in charge of Texas Monthly's political coverage. Sweany has also worked as an assistant professor in the journalism department at Ithaca College, in New York, and as a senior editor at D Magazine, in Dallas. He is active in a number of civic and volunteer organizations, serving on the boards of the Texas Book Festival, the Texas Cultural Trust, and the Frank W. and Sue Mayborn School of Journalism at the University of North Texas, in Denton. He lives in Austin with his wife, two children, and an ever-growing manuscript for The Kingdom of the Saddle, a biography of Charles Goodnight to be published by Penguin.
Bidding adieu to the greatest honor of my professional career.
Introducing the new owners of Texas Monthly.
After Trump’s stunning win, Texas’s Republican leaders still face a critical choice.
A sneak peek at the fascinating folks in the November 2016 issue of Texas Monthly.
Being a sports fan is like falling in love. Sure, it’s a form of madness, but it’s one you can’t explain.
How the Boy Scouts came to matter to me once again.
Quanah Parker, Stonewall Jackson . . . and Hal Mumme?! Why S.C. Gwynne took a break from historical epics to tell the story of the Texas coach who changed football.
For Tony Romo and the Dallas Cowboys, it’s now or never.
My all-time favorite hamburger came from the Country Burger, my family's beloved neighborhood restaurant in Plano.
How I came to love Larry McMurtry.
Two tales of fathers and sons.
Playwright Robert Schenkkan talks Vietnam, Bryan Cranston, and Donald Trump.
All the Way playwright Robert Schenkkan on Donald Trump, George Wallace, and why Bryan Cranston makes a great LBJ.
What doesn’t the governor know, and how long hasn’t he known it?
Musings on a presidential campaign.
How guns are central to our—and my—identity.
How do you depict the "new Austin" on a magazine cover? By painting a mural on South Congress and photographing it, of course.
Texas Monthly gets an exclusive look inside the iconic Main House of the King Ranch.
The grandson of a president. The nephew of a president. And the son of a candidate who’s currently on the stump. Such is the reality for George P. Bush, the state’s first-term land commissioner and the newest face of the family dynasty. But what course is he setting for himself?
Blue Bell put its competition in the deep freeze and took home the dubious award.
Our exhaustive (and tasty) list of Texas's best tacos.
Are You Ready for the 120 Tacos You Must Eat Before You Die?
Buyers today are seeing tremendous change, just as my parents did, but they all still want the same thing: the chance to own a piece of the Texas dream.
After retiring from a celebrated career in the Navy, William McRaven takes on a new fight: the battle over higher education.
Baylor, bared.
Our policy and how you can follow it.
Learning to love—or at least respect—the Houston Texans when your heart is in Dallas.
LBJ, voting rights, and a complex legacy.
The recent decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court show how far Texas has fallen from the mainstream. The recent reactions by our leaders only make it worse.
New guv, new lite guv, new attorney general, new committee chairs: the Eighty-fourth Legislature had a lot to prove. So how well did its members do?
A preview of the ten best and ten worst legislators of the Eighty-fourth Legislature.
Michael Hall and his perfect game.
Our legislator in chief assesses a spring marked by pre-K budgets, the open carry debate, border security, and a certain kerfuffle over Jade Helm.
Greg Abbott emerged this session as the state’s uncontested leader—despite a few missteps along the way.
Blue Bell and my empty freezer.
Could the state’s refusal to expand the program ultimately cost billions of dollars?
His passing marks the end of an era in Texas.
Lost in Big Bend.
If you find out what Greg Abbott is up to, let the rest of us know.
Few things make Texans happier than a full tank of gas and an open highway. You’ve got a lot of ground to cover, but I propose you start with these four trips, each originating at Brady, the geographic center of Texas. You’ll be saying “y’all” and offering the hi sign
A word about these four destinations: most native Texans visited them on their elementary school field trips. They are essential, so if you haven’t seen them yet, you’d better get cracking. Just remember, this is only the start.
A guide to three great Texas museums.
An ode to the national sport of Texas.
The unrivaled legacy of Paul Burka.
James Baker says politics has changed since his White House days. For the worse.
Who will lead the flagship campus when Bill Powers leaves in June?
There’s one thing we can all agree on when it comes to Dan Patrick.
His death is a loss to Texas.
As the organization marks its second anniversary, the real question is: does it have a future?
An inside look at Pamela Colloff’s cover story on the fight for marriage equality.