Politics & Policy
September 22, 2023
Winners and Losers in the Ken Paxton Impeachment Saga
The attorney general’s acquittal affects an upcoming legislative session on school vouchers—and the civil war within the Texas GOP.
55 Articles
Politics & Policy
September 15, 2023
“The Most Important Choice You Have Ever Faced”: The Texas Senate Decides the Fate of Ken Paxton
After eight days of arguments and testimony, senators deliberate on whether to convict the embattled Texas attorney general.
Border & Immigration
September 12, 2023
Who Wore It Best? We Rate Politicians on Their Border Photo Ops
Rick Perry rides a gunboat. Ted Cruz goes militiaman. Ron DeSantis and George P. Bush try their best.
By Forrest Wilder![Forrest Wilder's Profile Photo]()
![Dan Solomon's Profile Photo]()
Politics & Policy
September 11, 2023
Here’s What You Missed on Day Five of the Ken Paxton Impeachment Trial
The attorney general’s affair finally took center stage. Plus, testimony on a meeting at Galaxy Cafe, a red car, and a Bible verse.
Politics & Policy
August 28, 2023
Who’s Killing Jacob’s Well?
For the second year in a row, the iconic spring-fed swimming hole has stopped flowing, the consequence of drought and overpumping.
Politics & Policy
August 10, 2023
Ain’t From Around Here: Is Texas A&M a “Military School in the Lone Star Hinterlands”?
The Guardian thinks so and, weirdly, so do many Aggies.
Politics & Policy
July 27, 2023
Fahrenheit 105: Why I No Longer Love the Texas Heat
I like to think I am Texas Tough when it comes to the heat. But lately, my fortitude has been tested.
Politics & Policy
July 11, 2023
Could Texas Really Eliminate Property Taxes?
The Legislature took a big step Monday, but further efforts could come with great costs: a sky-high sales tax, decimated public schools, and defunding the police.
Politics & Policy
July 5, 2023
This Democrat Is Back in the Texas Lege After 40 Years. He Can’t Believe How Bad Things Are.
On property taxes, school funding, and more, “Democrats are not even in the conversation,” Dallas representative John Bryant says.
Parks & Recs
June 16, 2023
What Should Texas Do With $1 Billion for State Parks?
Lawmakers just authorized lots of money to acquire new parkland. We asked advocates and conservationists to dream big.
Best and Worst Legislators
June 13, 2023
2023: The Best and Worst Legislators
Our scorecard of the Eighty-eighth Texas Legislature’s noisy scoundrels and quiet heroes.
News & Politics
June 6, 2023
Rural School Districts Are Facing Financial Ruin. Some State Officials Prefer It That Way.
The conservative, gun-toting superintendent of Fort Davis Independent School District is fed up: “I’m not patient enough to spend time with assholes in Austin, and I’m not rich enough to buy any votes.”
Politics & Policy
May 15, 2023
How an Airbnb Party House Near Austin Became a Legislative Priority for a West Texas Politician
Rarely are special-interest bills in the Texas Lege quite so special as in Brooks Landgraf’s bill targeting the tiny town of Volente.
Politics & Policy
April 25, 2023
Dan Patrick Tries Out a Trumpy Nickname for Texas Speaker Dade Phelan
Amid a debate over competing property tax–relief plans, the lieutenant governor isn’t holding back. But is “California Dade” a good insult?
By Forrest Wilder![Forrest Wilder's Profile Photo]()
![Dan Solomon's Profile Photo]()
Politics & Policy
March 30, 2023
The Lege Could Unravel a Hard-Fought Patchwork of Protections Against Predatory Payday Lending
In the ongoing push to preempt progressive policies at the local level, the GOP-controlled Legislature could undo protections against predatory payday lending.
Politics & Policy
March 16, 2023
Preaching to the Choir: Greg Abbott Tours Private Christian Schools (Exclusively) to Make the Case for Vouchers
The governor has promoted “school choice” at seven religious academies around the state. Why there?
Travel & Outdoors
March 1, 2023
Saying Goodbye to Fairfield Lake State Park
I stopped by for a hike on the park’s final day. Its 1,420 acres are set to become luxury homes.
Critters
February 27, 2023
West Texans Are Learning What It Means to Live in Bear Country
Scientists are using GPS collars to gather surprising data—including on one bear that walked 35 miles to dumpster dive.
Politics & Policy
February 16, 2023
No Media, No Cellphones, No Questions: Greg Abbott Finds a Safe Space for His State of the State Speech
In an address that resembled a campaign ad, the governor issued seven priorities for the Legislature, including a push for “school choice.”
Politics & Policy
February 14, 2023
How a Brazen School-Voucher Scheme in Texas Got Derailed
Internal documents offer new insights into an unprecedented ploy in Wimberley to divert public-education dollars to private schools.
Hunting & Fishing
February 9, 2023
My Quest to Lasso an Aquatic Bronco
The first rule of catching a carp: don’t expect to catch a carp.
Hunting & Fishing
February 9, 2023
Carp Diem! Where to Try and Catch Texas’s Most Underappreciated Fish
Three good spots around the state to fly-fish for Cyprinus carpio.
Politics & Policy
January 26, 2023
How to Survive the Texas Legislature
The ways of the Texas Legislature are confoundingly weird. Here’s a guide to the madness.
By Christopher Hooks![Christopher Hooks's Profile Photo]()
![Forrest Wilder's Profile Photo]()
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.
Critters
January 12, 2023
Pray for the Predator
Proposed regulations have prompted an intense backlash from hunters, trappers, and landowners.
Politics & Policy
December 9, 2022
Austin Powers: A Republican Lawmaker Wants the Texas Legislature to Take Over the Capital City
Representative Jared Patterson is following a long legislative tradition of trying to troll Austin.
Travel & Outdoors
November 21, 2022
After a 52-Year Fight, El Paso’s Castner Range Is Now a National Monument
It's a big win for a city that often feels neglected by Austin and Washington, D.C.
Sports
November 16, 2022
Most Sports Figures Were “Paranoid Assholes” to This Writer. Mike Leach was “Fabulous.”
Author S. C. Gwynne calls his 2009 profile of the pirate-obsessed former Texas Tech coach part of the “golden era” of his journalism career.
Politics & Policy
November 9, 2022
GOP Gerrymandering Made the Texas Midterms Kind of Boring
Only a handful of the state’s 219 legislative and congressional races were competitive. That was by design.
Politics & Policy
October 20, 2022
Why the Truth About Uvalde May Not Be Known for Years, If Ever
DPS director Steve McCraw could legally release mountains of evidence tomorrow. Instead, he is hiding behind a veil of secrecy.
News & Politics
October 18, 2022
Inside the Secret Plan to Bring Private School Vouchers to Texas
Political operatives descended on the Hill Country town of Wimberley with a scheme to send taxpayer dollars to private schools. Now they’re shopping the same blueprint elsewhere.
Politics & Policy
October 3, 2022
Is Dan Patrick Campaigning—Or Auditioning to Be a Travel Influencer?
The lieutenant governor’s rural bus tour looks more like an extended vacation than a reelection bid.
Politics & Policy
September 30, 2022
Friday Night Sound Bites: The Debate Between Beto O’Rourke and Greg Abbott Happened, but Did It Matter?
It’s become a Texas tradition to hold brief gubernatorial debates during high school football prime time.
News & Politics
September 23, 2022
Bearing Witness at Texas’s First Execution by Lethal Injection
In 1982, Dick J. Reavis chronicled the first government-led lethal injection in world history—and the last moments of Charlie Brooks's life.
Politics & Policy
September 1, 2022
An Iconic Texas Spring Was Dry for Months. Is Mother Nature or Man to Blame?
Plans were underway to revive tourism at Fort Clark Springs in southwest Texas. But then, in a scenario increasingly common across the state, the water stopped flowing.
Politics & Policy
July 25, 2022
Is This a Typical Texas Heat Wave or the Coldest Summer of the Rest of Our Lives?
Across the state, Texans are experiencing record-high temperatures, but we might be recalling this summer fondly someday.
Politics & Policy
July 21, 2022
What Happens When Texans Protest Their “Mind-boggling” Property Taxes?
Homeowners in hot housing markets got a nasty surprise when their appraisals arrived this spring. Here’s what happened when some of them tried to get reductions.
Travel & Outdoors
June 21, 2022
Three Great Boomerang Paddle Trips on Texas Streams
How to get the adventure and scenery without having to spend days in your kayak or canoe.
Travel & Outdoors
June 21, 2022
Reeling in the Years at a Cabin in the Laguna Madre
My family’s shack on an island in the world’s largest hypersaline lagoon has brought us closer to the fishing—and to one another.
News & Politics
June 17, 2022
Will We Ever Know the Truth About Uvalde?
Texas authorities bungled the facts about the law enforcement response at Robb Elementary School. Then they went silent.
Being Texan
June 7, 2022
Toad Stranglers and Sudden Summers: A Guide to Texas Weather Words
Texas has wild weather. We need a lexicon to match.
Politics & Policy
May 27, 2022
“It Will Happen Again”: Texas Leaders Have No Plans to Prevent the Next Uvalde
Defenders of limitless guns are out of ideas but full of excuses.
Politics & Policy
May 24, 2022
The Bush Stops Here: George P.’s Loss Brings an End to the Family Dynasty
In the Republican runoff for attorney general, incumbent Ken Paxton—not to mention Donald Trump—got his wish.
Politics & Policy
May 19, 2022
Jeb to the Rescue? George P. Bush Gets a Cash Infusion from His Family’s Donor Network
Please clap.
Politics & Policy
May 4, 2022
What the Bleep Is Going On With Texas Property Taxes?
No, sorry, we can't blame the Californians. Here's more than you ever wanted to know about your home’s skyrocketing appraisal.
Politics & Policy
April 5, 2022
Bad News for George P.—Lots of Texas Republicans Just Don’t Like Bushes
Two-fifths of Texas Republicans say they would never vote for a Bush.
Texas History
March 28, 2022
The Texas Monthly Writer Who Set Out to Find “Real” Texas—in Marfa
Over several years, Richard West spent two months in seven Texas locales. His reporting eventually won the National Magazine Award.
Texas History
March 24, 2022
Tayhlor Coleman Didn’t Know How Hard Texas Made It to Vote—Until She Started Living the #Vanlife
The seventh-generation Texan is roaming the state in her van, registering voters—and digging into her family's history in the long struggle for voting rights.
News & Politics
March 17, 2022
Seven Texas Teachers on the State of Education: “I’m Tired of Getting Punched.”
After two years of hell, Texas teachers are burned-out, angry, tired—and sounding the alarm about public education.
By Forrest Wilder![Forrest Wilder's Profile Photo]()
Politics & Policy
March 14, 2022
How a 27-Year-Old Texan Became the Face of Russia’s American TV Network as It Imploded
The Russian-funded network may have folded, but Texas native Rachel Blevins is still propagandizing for Putin.