For more than fifty years, the state I call home has repeatedly surprised me. The Texas of 2023? Well, it’s got me thinking a lot about how far we have, and haven’t, come.
2022 was an up-and-down year—well, maybe more downs than ups—but Texas, as ever, brought out the best from scatological artists, beastly athletes, game-show brainiacs, natural-born nature lovers, and costumed Samaritans.
Forget the trendy emphasis on so-called authentic neighborhoods and instead focus on the magnificent art and architecture of this bustling world capital.
The Munns became a national curiosity after five of them were indicted for participating in the insurrection. But the full scope of their malignant behavior is little known—including to the federal prosecutors tasked with investigating their crimes.
Brad Lomax was stoked until he found himself fighting Mother Nature and supervising 1.5 million babies.
Austin attorney Jamie Balagia, a.k.a. “the Dude,” thought that he’d finally hit the big time. Then everything fell apart.
Celebrities, influencers, and high-end shoppers are among the throngs that descend upon the tiny town’s biannual antiques fair, which has flourished—even during a pandemic.
A bitter feud is pitting Hondo Crouch’s descendants against longtime locals as well as encroaching developers.
Our first midterm report indicates that all over the state, tradition abides while creativity flourishes.
To his 650,000 Instagram followers, he’s a pioneering “grandfluencer.” But to his adoring second-grade students, he’s simply Mr. Randle.
The humble material has long been used to build homes in the desert. But working with adobe isn’t so simple anymore.
Jahmicah Dawes opened his idiosyncratic outdoors shop, in Stephenville, hoping to inspire people from all walks to explore natural spaces. Then a brush with viral fame changed everything.
Dallas brothers Hal and Ted Barker, who have spent decades studying Korean War deaths, believe the wall is riddled with omissions and errors.
Disemboweled zombies, gritty female crime investigators, harrowing tales of family dysfunction—today’s crop of Texas novels has something for everyone.
The Fifth Circuit is led by four judges who got their start in Texas politics. For these activists, overturning the right to an abortion is only the beginning.
After an abandoned well began spewing toxic, salty water onto her Permian Basin land, Ashley Watt would stop at nothing to determine the cause—and to hold Chevron accountable.
The Texas gambler has been winning at poker for seventy years—long enough to become an icon and watch an outlaw’s game become an industry.
He’s pushing ninety and still saddling up at the Four Sixes Ranch. Just don’t call him the last cowboy.
On the 50th anniversary of his eponymous 1972 record, five renowned singer-songwriters—including Jimmy Buffett and Lyle Lovett—celebrate Willis Alan Ramsey.
Salt caves! Sensory deprivation chambers! A massage in a sky loft! Far-flung destinations! Open up and say spaaahhh.
Organized crime! Illicit booze! The beach! In this exclusive excerpt from her new novel ‘Last Dance on the Starlight Pier,’ Sarah Bird explores Galveston at the end of the twenties, a setting she calls “a gift to a novelist.”
At Elsik High School, students from Honduras, Senegal, Houston, and most places in between form the best boys soccer team you've never heard of.
Almost 25 percent of severe injuries at mills in the state since 2017 have occurred at a single facility, owned by members of the Church of Wells.
A decade after losing one of their own, the former residents of an Austin housing project reckon with their upbringing and the tragedy that changed them.
Patio dining has become a necessity during the pandemic. Here are some of the best places to get your alfresco on.
Even during the worst of times, Texas keeps producing top-flight beverages.
Despite everything, new restaurants are still opening. Here are a few we’re looking forward to this year.
Attorney Mark Mueller promised a caring, new age workplace. But former employees tell of drum-and-smoke ceremonies and explicit text messages.
Eighteen months after notifying USA Gymnastics and its investigative arm of the coach’s alleged abuse, the women are still waiting for a resolution.
Inside the $37.5 million University Park mega-mansion a couple is building on spec.
What pushed an East Texas mother to kidnap at gunpoint the director of the famed college drill team and her nineteen-year-old daughter?
2021 may not have been the best of times, but thanks to countless kindly Texans, it didn’t always feel like the worst either.
Last February’s deep freeze and the blackout that followed were brutal. But without the selfless actions of countless Texans, the situation could have been much worse.
Houston housing director Tom McCasland bravely spoke out against suspicious city hall deals—and paid the price.
The rapper and freshly minted Texas Southern University graduate lassoed up trophies and brand deals and gave plenty of Houston shout-outs.
A year ago, in this very space, we referred to 2020 as “perhaps the craziest, stupidest, Bum Steeriest year in Texas Monthly’s history.” The unspoken assumption—or perhaps it was a desperate wish—was that 2021 would prove to be at least marginally saner than that misbegotten election year. And how
An A-to-Z list of 25 Lone Star State residents who disgraced themselves last January 6.
Ted Cruz had a very, very, very bad year. Maybe he’ll blame it on his daughters.
Six years after he became governor, we still don’t know what Greg Abbott wants to accomplish—except, as this year made clear, to hold on to office, no matter how many Texans get hurt.
Oil-field medics face long hours, grisly accidents, desolation, and low pay. So why do they do it?
In “the trial of the century,” a Houston socialite was accused of plotting her husband's murder—and of having an affair with her nephew. But Candace Mossler was only getting started.
The record influx of recent arrivals from all over might be exactly what the state needs. That includes Californians. (And no, they’re not turning Texas blue.)
Good luck finding a Texan who’s lived a more complete football life than Westlake High School coach Todd Dodge. Now in his final season before retirement, the six-time state champion is looking to add one more trophy to his mantel.
After surviving a devastating accident that left her disabled, Amber McDaniel felt like she could overcome anything. Then her ten-year-old son contracted a rare condition associated with COVID-19.
The Houston social media influencer is a gay Black man with a gift for the absurd and a passion for platform heels. He’s also a star dancer in one of the world’s most rigid, gendered, and segregated art forms.
You love your pet. You love her so much that if you could, you’d buy an exact copy of her. Well, you can! Take it from Blake Russell, president of ViaGen Pets & Equine—and owner of a very unusual horse farm.
Yes, there are at least 100 very good barbecue joints in Texas.
There's a new generation of pitmasters in Texas, and many of them aren't satisfied with simply doing things the same old way. (Though fear not, staunch traditionalists: plenty of them are.)
Move over, potato salad—there’s a new starch in town.
A funny thing happened on the way to the barbecue joint . . .
