The Ghosts of Mount Carmel
Ten years after eighty Davidians died in a government-led siege, a few surviving members of the sect have returned to the plains east of Waco, looking for something. And, in some cases, waiting for David Koresh to return.
Mike Hall writes about criminals, musicians, the law, and barbecue. Mike graduated from the University of Texas at Austin in 1979 with a degree in government. He wrote for various publications, including Trouser Press, Third Coast Magazine, the Austin American-Statesman, and the Austin Chronicle. In 1997, he joined Texas Monthly, where he has won two Texas Gavel Awards from the State Bar of Texas and four Stephen Philbin Awards from the Dallas Bar Association. He was named Writer of the Year at the City and Regional Magazine Awards in 2015. His stories have appeared in The Best American Magazine Writing, The Best American Sports Writing, The Best American Nonrequired Reading, Da Capo’s Best Music Writing, the New York Times, and Men’s Journal. Mike is also a musician and has played in Austin bands the Wild Seeds, the Setters, the Lollygaggers, and the Savage Trip. He pitches for the Burkas, the Texas Monthly softball team.
Ten years after eighty Davidians died in a government-led siege, a few surviving members of the sect have returned to the plains east of Waco, looking for something. And, in some cases, waiting for David Koresh to return.
By Michael Hall
HIGH FIDELITY Daniel Lanois was born in Hull, Quebec, Canada, in 1951 to French-speaking and musical parents. In addition to being an acclaimed solo artist, he is one of the top record producers in the business, working on albums with U2, Peter Gabriel, Bob Dylan, and Willie Nelson, among others.
By Michael Hall
Legend has it that an East Texas preacher's homemade flying machine took off in late 1902, nearly a year before Kitty Hawk. Are the history books wrong about who was first in flightor are they right, brothers?
By Michael Hall
‘TIS THE SEASON As the World Cup reminded us, soccer, where you kick the ball up and down the field, is really football. But when Americans talk about football, we mean more than feet. We mean hands, arms, heads; we mean hard-hitting blocks, bubbly cheerleaders, marching bands. We mean spectacle.
By Michael Hall
He was a ladies’ man who owned a tavern. He kept gators in a pool behind the place, into which he liked to toss small animals. He hired women to wait tables, and some of them disappeared. What happened? With Joe Ball, it was easy to believe the worst.
By Michael Hall
African Masks, two old steam locomotives, Lady Bird's childhood home-and miniature donkeys.
By Michael Hall
His cache of unpublished interviews and unreleased recordings is unrivaled—but both collector and collection are showing signs of age. Who will save the legacy of the man who saved Texas music?
By Michael Hall
Michael Hall bids farewell to a true Champ of the Texas music scene.
By Michael Hall
The life of Roky Erickson—one of the most influential Texas rock and rollers of all time—has been one calamity after another. His family and friends have taken care of him with the best of intentions, but you know what they say about the road to hell.
By Michael Hall
Michael Hall riffs about his rock n' roll days.
By Michael Hall
Picking up the trail of Walker Railey.
By Michael Hall
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By Michael Hall
The story behind this month's cover story, "Lance Armstrong Has Something to Get Off His Chest."
By Michael Hall
Andrew Lichtenstein spent six years taking pictures inside Texas’ vast prison system. The result is an anthropological study of a brutal culture.
By Michael Hall
Nine years after the brutal murder of four teenage girls in a yogurt shop rocked the city of Austin, the police say they have finally caught the killers. But they have no evidence and no witnesses—only two confessions that the defendants say were coerced. Which is why, when the case
By Michael Hall
Associate editor Michael Hall tells the story behind this month's cover story, "Viva Fort Hood."
By Michael Hall
Family values.
By Michael Hall
So says Don Baylor, the Austin native now managing baseball’s lowly Chicago Cubs. His players hear him loud and clear, but history has a way of repeating itself.
By Michael Hall
The places, people and stories behind Texas music.
Buddy Holly. Waylon Jennings. Carolyn Hester. The Hancocks. The Flatlanders. An oral history of the state's most storied music scene.
By Michael Hall
He looks like a cross between Ed Asner and Uncle Charley from My Three Sons, but don’t get Dave Hickey started on the subject of beauty— his own or anyone else’s.
By Michael Hall
Half the state hates them and secretly admires them. The other half admires them and secretly hates them. Such is the plight of the decade’s best high school football team.
By Michael Hall
In-Spur-ational.
By Michael Hall
How serial killer Rafael Resendez-Ramirez struck fear in the hearts of the men and women of Weimar, a tiny Texas town that will never be the same.
By Michael Hall
How the war in Kosovo turned an Austin online company into the Lone Star State Department.
By Michael Hall
Officially, the most famous atheist in the world is still missing. But the feds think she’s dead, and they think they know where her body is. They also think they know who’s responsible. And he says he didn’t do it.
By Michael Hall
Don’t hang their plaques at Cooperstown just yet, but do applaud the accomplishments of Kerry Wood and Ben Grieve. After all, not everyone is Rookie of the Year.
By Michael Hall
Folk singer Nanci Griffith thinks the Texas media have been mistreating her. The way she’s fighting back guarantees her trouble with the press isn’t going away.
By Michael Hall
The conspiracy theories: the Secret Service theory.
By Pamela Colloff and Michael Hall
The conspiracy theories: the Cuban exiles theory.
By Pamela Colloff and Michael Hall
The conspiracy theories: the Mafia theory.
By Pamela Colloff and Michael Hall
JFK was killed by (a) the mob, (b) Castro, (c) the FBI, (d) the CIA, or (e) none of the above? Decide for yourself.
By Pamela Colloff and Michael Hall
The conspiracy theories: the CIA theory.
By Pamela Colloff and Michael Hall
The conspiracy theories: the Vietnam theory.
By Pamela Colloff and Michael Hall
The conspiracy theories: the shadow government theory.
By Pamela Colloff and Michael Hall
The conspiracy theories: the LBJ theory.
By Pamela Colloff and Michael Hall
The conspiracy theories: the KGB theory.
By Pamela Colloff and Michael Hall
The conspiracy theories: the FBI theory.
By Pamela Colloff and Michael Hall
The conspiracy theories: the Castro theory.
By Pamela Colloff and Michael Hall
Grammy came home.
By Michael Hall
Cormac McCarthy’s birth date and birthplace are just two of the facts about him that have eluded his rabid fans—until now. A dossier on the most fiercely private writer in Texas.
By Michael Hall
More than a year after his death, he’s still being remembered as the best Texas songwriter of his time. This month’s star-studded Austin City Limits tribute shows why.
By Michael Hall
Who says it ain’t the good life? These sixteen clubs, lounges, and dives (including one Hole in the Wall) are the reason Austin is called the Live Music Capital of the World.
By John Spong and Michael Hall
An old opera house, Judge Roy Bean’s grave, ancient pictographs—and a drug blimp.
By Michael Hall
African masks, two old steam locomotives, Lady Bird's childhood home—and miniature donkeys.
By Michael Hall