Being Texan
January 22, 2020
Small Towns, Big Money
Across the state, small towns are fading away. But in a few places, rich people are spending big to revive them. And that comes with its own set of complications.
Cover Story
Libations
October 16, 2019
The Great Texas Whiskey Boom
A decade ago, there was no Texas whiskey. Today, the state’s craft distillers are making world-class bourbons and single malts—and slick imitators are trying to stake a claim.
Texas History
September 18, 2019
The Battle to Rewrite Texas History
While a new generation of scholars is rewriting our history, supporters of the traditional narratives are fighting to keep their grip on the public imagination.
Being Texan
August 20, 2019
The Best Honky-Tonks in Texas
We traveled 3,000 miles to find the state’s best little country joints. Welcome to neon nirvana.
Politics & Policy
July 23, 2019
Trump’s Apostle
No matter how incendiary his latest tweet or policy might seem, Donald Trump can count on evangelical preacher and Fox News fixture Robert Jeffress to defend him. What’s behind the Dallas pastor’s unconditional embrace?
Where to Stay Now
May 22, 2019
The 10 Best New and Improved Texas Hotels
Where to Stay Now, 2019: Whether it’s a restored Dallas gem, a coastal B&B, or a pueblo paradise in the Trans-Pecos, it’s choose your own adventure, Texas-style.
BBQ
April 22, 2019
The Top 25 New Barbecue Joints in Texas!
Our 2019 midterm report of the best new places has a global feel. But don’t worry—we haven’t forgotten about the brisket.
Politics & Policy
March 12, 2019
Will Hurd Has Defied Both Liberals and Donald Trump. Is He the Future of the GOP or a Party of One?
The outspoken congressman left a promising career in the CIA and became a rising Republican star. But his political balancing act is dicier than ever.
Business
February 13, 2019
Buc-ee’s: The Path to World Domination
Beaver Aplin built the quirky convenience chain into a Texas empire. Will his tactics translate outside the state?
Politics & Policy
January 2, 2019
The Texanhood of George H. W. Bush
He built an oil empire, revitalized the state’s Republican party, gave rise to a political dynasty, and forever changed the Lone Star State. Yet the question dogged him his entire life: Was he a real Texan or merely a Yankee transplant?
November 18, 2018
The Power Issue: 31 Texans Taking Charge
From gymnast Simone Biles and Houston mayor Sylvester Turner to political megadonor Tim Dunn, here are 31 Texans who are changing the way we think about politics, education, food, philanthropy, and, well, pretty much everything else.
Recipes
October 16, 2018
Collection: Feast Around the World
We asked five of the state's top chefs to create festive meals to serve this season. What we got was a cornucopia of global flavors. Follow these recipes and your Texas table will never be the same again.
The Culture
September 19, 2018
‘Dallas’ at 40: The Inside Story Behind the Show That Changed Texas Forever
How the trashiest, campiest show on television revolutionized pop culture, rebooted Texas’s reputation, and helped bring down the Romanian government. (Maybe!)
Politics & Policy
August 22, 2018
Troubled Waters: A Year After Harvey, Has Houston Learned Anything?
A year after Hurricane Harvey brought Houston to its knees, the city is still wrestling with how to prepare for the next great storm. There’s no shortage of good ideas, but in Houston, that’s never been the problem.
The Culture
July 25, 2018
How a New Generation Is Reviving Small-Town Texas
Dismayed by sky-high rents and yearning for a slower-paced lifestyle, a new generation of Texans is ditching the big city and fostering a Rural renaissance across the state.
Feature
June 22, 2018
The Jackie Robinson of Rodeo
Five decades ago, Myrtis Dightman broke the color barrier in professional rodeo and became one of the best bull riders who ever lived. But his imprint on the sport was only just beginning.
Travel & Outdoors
May 23, 2018
Why We Should Go Back to the Coast
Port Aransas has always been a place for Texans to relax, play, and make lasting memories. Now, after Harvey, it needs us just as much as we need it.
The Culture
April 13, 2018
San Antonio at 300
A massive urban renewal project that’s reviving the plaza culture. An Alamo fight centuries in the making. Avant-garde Mexican food inspired by Maya trade routes. Three hundred years after the city’s founding, San Antonio might just be the most interesting city in America.
Travel & Outdoors
March 22, 2018
Ten Hikes That Will Take You to Another World
From the red-rock canyons of the Panhandle to the towering forests of the Piney Woods, some of the best parts of our state are accessible only by foot.
Music
February 21, 2018
Kacey Musgraves Has a Surprise for Nashville
The country music provocateur and East Texas native talks growing up, ”getting weird” onstage, and taking risks with her new album.
Texas History
January 23, 2018
A Brief History of Texas Innovators
Ours is a land of resourceful, imaginative, inventive, and self-reliant people. It has always been this way.
Politics & Policy
December 21, 2017
Does Beto O’Rourke Stand a Chance Against Ted Cruz?
The El Paso congressman is waging a long-shot campaign to prove a Democrat can win in Texas.
Being Texan
July 21, 2017
Love and Loss on the Great Plains
The day the fire came to the Franklin Ranch.
Business
June 14, 2017
The Shelf Life of John Mackey
The Whole Foods founder revolutionized the way Americans consume food. Now, with profits and the stock price down, and after a series of controversies ($6 asparagus water!), can he reinvent his company before Wall Street swipes it from him?
Food & Drink
May 22, 2017
The List: The Top 50 Barbecue Joints in Texas
Welcome to the golden age of Texas barbecue.
Sports
March 22, 2017
Star Rocket in Flight
With slick television ads promoting his signature Adidas, hip-hop songs dropping his name, a possible MVP award, and the most famous beard since ZZ Top, James Harden has arrived. In fact, he may just be the biggest name in Texas.
Politics & Policy
January 25, 2017
The Power Behind the Throne
In his second session as lieutenant governor, Dan Patrick has become the most influential person in Texas politics. Will his attempt to legislate who uses which bathroom slip him up?
Bum Steers
January 3, 2017
The 2017 Bum Steer Awards
Proceed with caution: steers ahead.
Food & Drink
November 23, 2016
Knives Out
There are certain dishes that every good Texan knows and loves. But do you really know how to grill a flawless ribeye? Season that cast-iron skillet in your cupboard? Make sure your dough rises? We asked experts around the state to share some how-tos and a few recipes that will
Health
October 19, 2016
The Iconoclast
Jim Allison has always gone his own way—as a small-town-Texas kid who preferred books to football, and as a young scientist who believed the immune system could treat tumors when few others did. And that irreverence led him to find a potential cure for cancer.
Business
September 21, 2016
Are You Ready to Meet Your Fixer Uppers?
How Chip and Joanna Gaines are renovating Waco’s reputation, one home at a time.
Sports
September 11, 2016
The Last Best Hope of Tony Romo
After a decade of hard-won victories and brutal setbacks, the 36-year-old quarterback—and every Cowboys fan—knows this: 2016 is the year he will write his legacy.
Books
June 22, 2016
The Minor Regional Novelist
Texas may have inspired Larry McMurtry to become a writer, but there is no writer who has inspired an understanding of Texas quite like Larry McMurtry. At age eighty, our most iconic author still has work to do.
Travel & Outdoors
April 18, 2016
Where to Stay Now 2016
A lavishly repurposed brewhouse. A sophisticated B&B. A chic former jail cell. Put your feet up at the ten best new (or newly renovated) hotels and hideaways in the state.
The Culture
February 24, 2016
The City of the Eternal Boom
A hipster paradise, a high-tech nirvana, a festival wonderland. Today Austin barely resembles the sleepy college town I moved to in the seventies. How it changed is the story of a lifetime.
Texas History
January 27, 2016
The King’s Palace
The descendants of Richard and Henrietta King do hereby invite you into the King Ranch with these exclusive photographs of the one-hundred-year-old Main House.
Bum Steers
January 3, 2016
The 2016 Bum Steer Awards
The Great Texas Meltdown of 2015 started slowly. In fact, things were looking mighty good for perennial favorites the Dallas Cowboys when they made the playoffs last January, and they could have gone all the way if it hadn’t been for a controversial call by the refs that cost them
Being Texan
October 21, 2015
G-G-Ghost Stories
All Hallows Eve, which descends from the grand Celtic festival of the dead, was stirring up a cauldron of supernatural activity long before kids started donning costumes to harvest candy from the neighbors. But, alas, for some time, Halloween and the belief in spirits of the departed have
Real Estate
October 20, 2015
Can You Afford to Live Here?
You know you’ve seen it: condos multiplying, home prices tripling, realtors scrambling, buyers overbidding. Does our state’s fevered real estate craze make us the country’s best housing market—or the most overvalued? I went on a tour of our four largest cities to find out.
Libations
September 17, 2015
Drink Like a Texan
Texans are a thirsty bunch, and our drinks package has everything you need to imbibe like Sam Houston's watching.
Sports
August 13, 2015
Mega Watt
He’s the best defensive player in the NFL but writes his own Christmas cards. He has thousands of fans who’d love to party, but he goes to bed at seven-thirty. He could be the league’s next MVP but enjoys buying his own groceries. Is Houston’s J. J. Watt for real?
Environment
July 23, 2015
The Calm Before the Storm
Seven years since it was last ravaged by a hurricane, Galveston is doing as well as ever. Will it always be so fortunate?
Music
June 11, 2015
The Secret History of Texas Music
This state has been shaped by its songs. And as these 25 tales show, the stories behind them are often as great as the songs themselves.
Film & TV
May 14, 2015
‘Urban Cowboy’ Turns 35
It was part musical, part dance movie, and part love story, and in June 1980 it unleashed an unprecedented fervor for country music, Western wear, and, yes, mechanical bulls. More than three decades later, the film’s stars (including John Travolta, Debra Winger, Mickey Gilley, and Johnny Lee) and many Gilley’s regulars recall the movie that made America fall in love with Texas.
Being Texan
March 25, 2015
Welcome to Texas!
Every day more than a thousand people move to the Lone Star State. Lucky enough to be a new arrival? This crash course will get you thinking, eating, and talking like a native in no time. (Lucky enough to already be a native? You’ll be reminded of all the reasons
Politics & Policy
February 6, 2015
To Love and to Cherish
In a 5–4 ruling on June 26, the U.S. Supreme Court declared that the Constitution guarantees the right for same-sex couples to marry across the country. Here is the story of two women who fought for that historic decision in Texas—and helped to make it a reality.
Bum Steers
December 5, 2014
Bum Steers 2015
From arrogant announcers to zany zygotes—and everything in between—it was a banner year for the Bum Steers.
Food & Drink
November 14, 2014
Eat Stay Love
Rural Texas has more to offer than chicken-fried steak and quaint motels. Our guide to ten far-flung places where you can enjoy first-class dining and sleep in style.
News & Politics
October 21, 2014
The Creation of Baylor
Never has the Waco university been so big, so rich, so athletically powerful, or so committed to becoming the country’s first elite Protestant university. What does its ambition mean for its identity?
Travel & Outdoors
September 22, 2014
Let’s Go Wild
Most of Texas may be privately owned, but that doesn't mean it's tame. From McKittrick Ridge and the Guadalupe River to Maravillas Canyon and Lake Crockett, here are eighteen places where you can revel in the most natural, untouched—and, yes, savage—aspects of our state.