The Texanist: How Do You Pronounce All Those Weird Texas Town Names?
A Dallas man is flummoxed by Quitaque. And Danevang, and Jiba, and Study Butte, and Zuehl . . .
A Four-Day, 65-Mile Walk Along the Texas Coast
As the state started shutting down, one man took to the coast in search of a different kind of solitude. And seashells.
The Texanist: What’s So Great About the Shape of Texas?
A Boerne woman wonders if other Americans are as smitten as we are with the outlines of their states.
The Texanist: Can We Put El Paso Back in the Central Time Zone?
A West Texas man seems to be tired of living on Mountain Standard Time.
The Texanist: To Pop or Not to Pop Fire Ant Bites?
How to handle the zit-sized pustule that those evil little @$*!%*#@%&!s leave behind.
Snap Judgment
Raise a Pearl beer to our ten greatest college football plays. Ever.
The Texanist: What Would the World Be Like if Willie Nelson Had Never Happened?
An Austin man ponders the unthinkable.
The Texanist: Has There Ever Been Any Violence at the Texas Capitol?
The recent, terrifying events in Washington have an Austin man wondering about mayhem closer to home.
The Texanist: Tell Me About This Magical Thing Called Texas Toast
A New York man wants to know everything there is to know about Texas toast.
323 Articles
Style & Design
December 6, 2023
The Texanist’s Guide to Texas-Shaped Holiday Gifts
Easy to love, if hard to wrap, these Lone Star State–shaped presents will please even the most discerning Texan.
The Texanist
November 14, 2023
The Texanist: What Would Happen if We Stopped Hunting Deer?
Hunters in Texas kill a lot of white-tailed deer each year. What would happen if they didn’t kill any at all?
Being Texan
November 3, 2023
Texans Should Embrace the Time Change. It’s One of Few Seasonal Markers We Have.
In lieu of fall foliage and chilly weather, at least we get to turn back the clocks.
The Texanist
October 17, 2023
Why Does Everyone Outside of Texas Call a Corny Dog a Corn Dog?
A Texan exiled in Arkansas is baffled by the misnaming of this beloved, meaty treat on a stick.
The Texanist
October 2, 2023
The Texanist’s Texas Trivia Test 3
Beans in chili, the Houston Oilers, and mutton busting: test your knowledge of all things Texan.
Being Texan
September 29, 2023
Sayin’ Howdy to Big Tex
The State Fair kicks off today. We celebrated by checking in with the big man himself.
The Texanist
September 12, 2023
The Texanist: What’s the Best Way to Beat This Crazy Heat?
A New York man wants to know the best place to live in Texas, weather-wise, and an Austin man asks for some cold-treat recommendations.
Sports
September 6, 2023
A Guide to Texas’s Best Public Golf Courses
From arid El Paso to the Piney Woods, Texas boasts outstanding links that don’t require an expensive membership.
The Texanist
August 15, 2023
The Texanist: What Happens to College Sports Mascots When They Die?
The California parent of a UT freshman wonders about Bevo’s ultimate fate when the final whistle blows.
News & Politics
August 14, 2023
We’re Number One!
. . . When it comes to producing renewable energy, winning golf tournaments, banning books, and closing rural hospitals. Why is Texas so darn great . . . and so darn awful?
The Texanist
July 18, 2023
The Texanist: Where Do All Those Cannons in Courthouse Squares Come From?
A Plano woman wonders why so many small towns have so many big guns.
Travel
July 12, 2023
These Booked-Up Hotels Offer Literary Respites
Guests-only libraries and themed bars beckon lovers of the written word to these three Texas hotels.
Texas History
June 29, 2023
The Texanist’s Texas Trivia Test 2
It’s time to find out just how much you know about the Lone Star State.
The Texanist
June 7, 2023
The Texanist: Why Did Texans Stop Telling Tall Tales?
A Weatherford man says we need to channel our penchant for lying into something productive—or at least entertaining.
The Texanist
May 16, 2023
The Texanist: What’s the Oldest Bar in Texas?
An Austin man wants to know whether Austin’s Scholz Garten or San Antonio’s Menger Bar can claim the title of oldest continually operating bar in the state.
The Texanist
April 11, 2023
The Texanist: Why Do So Many Texas Women Have Men’s Names?
A New Mexico resident is puzzled by all the female Jimmies and Johnnies.
Texas History
April 10, 2023
A Writer Revisits His Search for His Grandfather’s Darkest Secrets
Author John Phillip Santos’s 2010 “Tejano elegy” explores family secrets that reveal “the deepest mysteries of being human.”
The Texanist
April 7, 2023
The Texanist’s Texas Trivia Test #1
Are you ready to test your knowledge of all things Texan?
Meanwhile, in Texas
April 7, 2023
Meanwhile, in Texas: A Man Broke a Basketball Record You Didn’t Know Existed
Plus, somebody slapped an H-E-B employee and nobody opened a satanic-themed hotel in Plano.
Books
March 24, 2023
Her Grandfather Dug For Fossils in Big Bend. Now Her Photos Celebrate His Spirit of Adventure.
Sarah Wilson's ‘DIG’ combines photos, her grandfather’s Kodachrome teaching slides, and creatively staged paleontological artifacts.
The Texanist
March 14, 2023
The Texanist: What Makes a Vanity License Plate Offensive?
A Port Arthur resident wants to know what’s wrong with “BBQ*GNG” and “EAT@TACO.”
Meanwhile, in Texas
March 10, 2023
Meanwhile, in Texas: Two Goats Made a Target Run in Spring
Plus, a man stole tamarin monkeys from the Dallas Zoo and creepy-looking snapper eels turned up near Port Bolivar.
Country Notes
February 27, 2023
Author John Graves Was a Literary Godfather to Texas Monthly
The author of Goodbye to a River and two-time National Book Award finalist helped create the magazine’s Country Notes column.
The Texanist
February 15, 2023
The Evolution of the Texanist, According to the Texanist
The magazine’s back-page columnist explains the subtle shifts in his “Fine Advice and Keen Observations,” from 2007 through today.
The Texanist
February 14, 2023
The Texanist: Did the Texas Capitol’s Pink Granite Come From Maine?
A San Antonio man is puzzled by a historical marker he encountered while visiting the Pine Tree State.
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
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.
The Texanist
December 13, 2022
The Texanist: Will We Get Relief From the Drought Anytime Soon?
A Johnson City man is worried that life is starting to resemble Elmer Kelton’s ‘The Time It Never Rained’ once again.
The Texanist
November 15, 2022
The Texanist: How Do You Become an Honorary Texan?
A Plano man wonders how the likes of Bob Dylan, Sarah Palin, and John Wayne qualified for this prestigious designation.
The Texanist
October 18, 2022
The Texanist: Do We Really Want Texas to Be “Wine Country”?
A Lubbock woman isn’t sure the state’s wildly successful vineyards fit with our Wild West image.
Tacos
October 6, 2022
The Great Hard-shell Taco Debate
Two Texas Monthly writers go head-to-head on the merits and inferiorities of tacos made with crispy shells vs. soft tortillas.
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The Texanist
September 13, 2022
The Texanist: Why Have the Six Flags Disappeared?
An Amarillo man is unhappy that the iconic banners no longer fly in front of the Texas Travel Information Centers.
The Texanist
August 16, 2022
The Texanist: Does a Texas Musician Need Three Names to Succeed?
A Fredericksburg man wonders how Willie Nelson ever prevailed in a state that brought us Ray Wylie Hubbard, Jerry Jeff Walker, and Jimmie Dale Gilmore.
The Texanist
July 29, 2022
The Texanist: Why Do Texans Call a Pig in a Blanket a Kolache?
A Lone Star State native living in Chicago insists that only small pastry squares filled with cooked fruit deserve that name.
The Texanist
July 19, 2022
The Texanist: Would a Real Man Wear a Pink Guayabera?
A Houston woman is miffed by her boyfriend’s reaction to a thoughtful gift.
The Texanist
June 21, 2022
The Texanist: How Much Should You Tip at a Barbecue Joint?
An Austin man wonders if the people who stand behind a counter and take our orders deserve the same remuneration as the waiters and waitresses of the world.
Travel & Outdoors
June 21, 2022
Paddling Down the Rio Grande in the Shadow of a Drought
My dream of navigating through Big Bend’s stunning canyons finally came true. I just had to start a little farther downstream.
The Texanist
June 6, 2022
The Texanist: Would There Be a ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ Without Texas?
Moviegoers have returned to theaters in droves to see the long-awaited sequel—and we have Texas to thank.
The Texanist
May 17, 2022
The Texanist: Will Fancy Italian Cowboy Boots Hurt My Texan Bona Fides?
An Austinite living in Washington, D.C., worries about the consequences of sporting pricey designer footwear.
The Texanist
April 12, 2022
The Texanist: Why Is El Paso Known as El Chuco?
A San Antonio man wonders how Sun City got its other nickname and learns about the nicknames of many other Texas cities.
The Texanist
March 16, 2022
The Texanist: What’s the Difference Between a Ranch and a Farm?
A New Braunfels man isn’t quite sure that he has a firm grasp on this fundamental aspect of Texas rural life.
Texas History
February 16, 2022
The Story Behind the Story: “The Coming of Redneck Hip,” November 1973
A pair of Texas Monthly writers chronicle an emerging scene that would end up defining a city and changing American music forever.
The Texanist
February 16, 2022
The Texanist: What Movies Get Texas Really, Really Wrong?
As it turns out, even the best films and TV shows about the Lone Star State have their share of gaffes. (Yes, even ‘Lonesome Dove.’)
The Texanist
January 18, 2022
The Texanist: What’s the Difference Between Tex-Mex and Mexican Food?
A transplant from California wades into an age-old culinary debate.
The Texanist
January 6, 2022
The Texanist: Why Doesn’t Texas Have an Official State Pastry?
A Fort Worth woman wants to know why we honor the bluebonnet and the pecan tree, but not the strudel or the sopaipilla.
The Texanist
December 6, 2021
The Texanist: What’s the Best Texas Christmas Song?
An El Paso woman is looking for the finest example of Lone Star holiday musical jollity. But can there only be one?
The Texanist
November 4, 2021
The Texanist: Where Did All These Bright Green Parrots Come From?
A longtime San Antonio resident is thrilled—but puzzled—by the presence of monk parakeets in her hometown.
The Texanist
October 15, 2021
The Texanist: Is Freezing Brisket a Mortal Sin?
An Arlington man wonders if his penny-wise buddy is being barbecue-foolish.
Being Texan
September 24, 2021
Big Tex on State Fair History, His Favorite Fried Foods, and His Size 96 Boots
A conversation with the big guy himself.
The Texanist
September 17, 2021
The Texanist: If You’re Not a Fan of Fruitcake and Canned Chili, What’s So Great About Corsicana?
A man now living in Fredericksburg wonders if his hometown really has anything to brag about.