Politics & Policy
June 1, 2022
How COVID Has Changed Homelessness in Texas
Pandemic relief funds provided a “once-in-a-generation opportunity” for homeless support programs. But what happens when the money dries up?
COVID-19
Health
March 21, 2022
Your Pets Have Been Getting COVID-19 Too. Here’s Why That Matters.
A team of scientists at Texas A&M has been testing cats and dogs throughout the pandemic. The CDC is furry interested.
Health
February 23, 2022
This $14,000 Air Filter Promises to “Kill” COVID. Is It Worth the Price?
Taxpayers have spent millions for purifiers promoted by former governor Rick Perry. Could they have gotten the same benefits for far less money?
Style & Design
February 12, 2022
Across Texas, Love Conquers All at Smaller Weddings
The newly engaged can learn a lot from the microwedding trend of the past two years.
Politics & Policy
February 12, 2022
Don Huffines Won the War of Ideas. Did It Cost Him a Chance to Unseat Greg Abbott?
He decided to mount a GOP primary challenge when COVID-19 policy was animating Texas’s right wing. But the governor stole his thunder.
By
Ben Rowen
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Health
December 1, 2021
How More Efficient Health Care Has Worsened COVID Surges in Texas
A drive toward optimization and hospital consolidation has left the state with less capacity per capita.
Health
November 1, 2021
Doctors Gave Her a Choice: Let COVID-19 Kill Her Child, or Amputate His Limbs
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.
Politics & Policy
October 28, 2021
Greg Abbott’s Pandemic Approach Almost Worked. Then He Launched a Crusade Against Vaccines.
In the beginning, Greg Abbott took a hands-off approach that kept Texas ahead of other large states in mitigating cases and deaths. But when he tried to appease right-wing Republicans, the story changed.
By
Ben Rowen
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Health
October 21, 2021
The Making of an Anti-vax Warrior
A few months ago, Jennifer Bridges’s refusal to abide by Houston Methodist’s vaccine mandate thrust her into the national spotlight. Now she’s become a purveyor of conspiracy theories that have fueled the pandemic’s continuation.
Food & Drink
September 20, 2021
Restaurant Workers Are Sick and Tired of Asking Politely
With delta infections surging and local governments unable to enforce mask regulations, restaurant personnel have become reluctant de facto enforcers.
Business
September 1, 2021
The Delta Variant Is Denting Texas’s Construction Industry
Supply-chain disruptions and an increase in COVID-19 cases at job sites are slowing down employment in building.
Health
August 18, 2021
“A Recipe For Disaster”: Two Viruses Surge as Texas Children Return to School
A highly unusual summer outbreak of RSV and an increase in COVID-19 cases among kids have overrun hospitals.
Politics & Policy
August 4, 2021
“I Don’t Believe Anything”: Among the Unvaccinated in One Central Texas Community
Bell County struggles with misinformation and conspiracy theories as the deadly Delta variant spreads like wildfire.
News & Politics
July 24, 2021
Four Months Ago They Were Celebrating. Now Texas Doctors Are Once Again Preparing for the Worst.
Inside the state’s biggest hospitals, doctors say a surge of unvaccinated COVID patients is almost too bewildering to believe.
News & Politics
July 19, 2021
With Excess Doses, El Paso Is Giving the Vaccine to Mexican Truckers Crossing the Border
As El Paso tries to avoid a new COVID-19 wave, most Juárez residents can't travel into the States for the jab.
Health
May 19, 2021
She’s Leading the Fight Against Mandatory Vaccines in Texas. She Also Happens to Be a Nurse.
Jennifer Bridges says she isn’t anti-vax, but she's now a cause célèbre among skeptics for threatening to sue her employer for requiring employees get the jab.
Health
May 6, 2021
The Baffling Experience of Living With Long COVID
My symptoms lasted for months and changed my life in ways large and small.
Health
April 30, 2021
Why a Former Anti-Vax Influencer Got Her COVID-19 Shot
As vaccination rates slow, a Dallas woman who once garnered hundreds of thousands of social followers by expressing doubt about the safety of inoculations now says, “I trust the science.”
News
April 24, 2021
Private Jets, “Shopping Homes,” and WhatsApp: How Mexico’s Elite Accessed Texas’s Vaccine Supply
As vaccination rollout in their country has been slow, wealthy Mexicans have spent thousands on expensive trips abroad to get inoculated.
News & Politics
March 12, 2021
In Dallas, an Activist Brings Hope to Vaccination Deserts
Racial disparities persist in the distribution of COVID-19 shots, but Leslie Cannon has been working for months to close the gap.
Sports
March 10, 2021
The Texas Rangers Plan to Fill Their Stadium, Pandemic Be Damned
The team finished in last place in front of cardboard fans in 2020, but it’s the first in American pro sports to reopen to full capacity.
By
Dan Solomon
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Food
March 8, 2021
“A Matter of Life and Death”: Latino Food Workers Are Terrified as COVID-19 Restrictions End
They fear that the end of the mask mandate and the influx of spring break crowds is a recipe for danger.
Politics & Policy
March 2, 2021
Greg Abbott Celebrated Texas Independence Day by Ending COVID-19 Restrictions
The vast majority of Texans have yet to receive a single dose of vaccine, but the state is done imposing public health measures.
By
Dan Solomon
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Health
February 24, 2021
“Scheduling Angels” Are Scouring the Internet to Book Vaccine Appointments for Strangers
Volunteers across Texas have stepped up to help seniors, non-English speakers, and others in need navigate an opaque system.
Health
February 22, 2021
The Winter Storm Set Texas Far Back in COVID-19 Vaccinations
Infectious disease expert Dr. Peter Hotez describes last week’s statewide disaster as a harmful delay “in the face of an advancing enemy.”
By
Dan Solomon
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Health
February 15, 2021
Has a UT Professor Found a Way to Stop COVID-19 Vaccines From Spoiling?
The pharmaceutical industry may not be ready for a coronavirus medicine you can chew like fruit leather.
Health
February 1, 2021
Newly Vaccinated Boomers Are Ready to Get Down
While much of the under-65 population awaits their COVID-19 vaccines, the generation that invented sex, drugs, and rock and roll is about to run amok.
Health
January 22, 2021
Millions More Texans Have Had COVID-19 Than We Like to Pretend
The official case count doesn’t reflect the pandemic’s reality. I found the satisfaction of ferreting out the actual number to be cold comfort.
By
Dan Solomon
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News
January 9, 2021
Greg Abbott’s Politics Create a Vaccine Stampede
After his denying local authorities tools to combat community spread, it’s no wonder Texans are desperate for vaccinations to save us from COVID-19’s renewed surge.
Arts & Entertainment
January 8, 2021
With Theaters Closed, Austin Thespians Embrace Audio Dramas, Drive-through Musicals, and Plays by Mail
The city’s resourceful artists are connecting with audiences everywhere but on stage.
Being Texan
January 1, 2021
“This Pandemic Isn’t Finished With Us Yet. Until Then, I’m Sleeping With One Eye Open.”
Chefs, musicians, gardeners, and one very enthusiastic librarian tell Texas Monthly about their New Year’s rituals and plans for 2021.
Health
December 22, 2020
San Antonio’s Bus Drivers Have Stepped Up During the Pandemic
Watch the video to follow Bobby Richardson and others as they deliver food, and support, to the families along their routes.
Politics & Policy
December 22, 2020
“You See So Much in Our Field You Wouldn’t Believe”: San Antonio School Bus Drivers Have Become Relief Workers
Food insecurity has soared during the pandemic, but Alamo City bus drivers came up with a solution: get food to the hungry.
Politics & Policy
December 16, 2020
Bum Steer Awards 2021: The COVID Nineteen
The not-quite-twenty Texans who spectacularly disgraced themselves during the pandemic.
Best Thing In Texas
December 16, 2020
The Best Things in Texas 2021
Not everything that happened last year was terrible. Here are a few reasons we kept hope alive.
Sports
December 7, 2020
Why Boxing’s Biggest Events Have Found Their Way to Texas During the Pandemic
The answer can be found in the large crowd that attended DeSoto native Errol Spence's win over Danny Garcia.
Health
December 3, 2020
The COVID-19 Vaccines Are Coming. Is Texas Ready?
Escaping an unprecedented health crisis will require an unprecedented effort for the state’s chronically underfunded public health system.
Health
December 2, 2020
How a Llama and a University of Texas Lab Led to the Most Promising COVID-19 Treatment Yet
Researchers Daniel Wrapp and Jason McLellan owe a scientific honor they won this week to a Belgian camelid named Winter.
By
Dan Solomon
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Health
December 2, 2020
This ER Doctor and Brownsville Native Is Advising Biden’s COVID-19 Response
Robert Rodriguez tended to patients in the Rio Grande Valley as cases surged last summer, and he’s taken that experience to serving on the president-elect’s pandemic task force.
News & Politics
November 25, 2020
For Grandparents Raising Grandchildren, Social Distancing Is Not an Option
How Texas grandfamilies navigated the school reopening process during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Health
November 17, 2020
COVID Is Everywhere, Even in “the Last COVID-Free County”
In Loving County, residents still feel the specter of the pandemic.
Health
November 17, 2020
El Paso Natives Face a Holiday Season Far From Home as Their City Suffers
For those who hail from the COVID-19 hot spot, isolation from family this Thanksgiving and Christmas is especially painful.
Health
November 11, 2020
Texas Hits 1 Million COVID-19 Cases—More Than Any Other State
A new surge in infections is underway, though transmission rates are down in some areas, and new treatments are reducing the death rate.
Border & Immigration
November 6, 2020
El Paso’s COVID-19 Spike Is a Binational Problem
Leaders on both sides of the Rio Grande claim border crossings, an aspect of daily life in the region, have contributed to the recent surge in infections.
Politics & Policy
October 12, 2020
Virtual or Viral? Candidates Face Tough Choices About How to Campaign During a Pandemic.
An all-virtual election bid might be the right thing to do. But will it cost some Democrats their races?
Tacos
September 22, 2020
How to Get Your Taco Fix Safely During the Pandemic
Nine tips for sampling the state's taco scene without jeopardizing your health or anyone else’s.
Health
September 15, 2020
Desperate for a Coronavirus Cure, Uninsured San Antonians Flock to Healers and Psychics
As COVID-19 spreads, some Hispanic San Antonians are relying on sage, psychics, and prayer.
Politics & Policy
August 4, 2020
UT’s Plan for Reopening Is to Hope College Students Stop Acting Like College Students
UT-Austin hit students with a request that at any other time would have seemed ridiculous: before classes start, would they please spend 14 days in self-quarantine?
By
Dan Solomon
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Music
July 30, 2020
On Texas Time: David Ramirez, a Prolific and Heartrending Austin Musician
The songwriter on creativity in a time of crisis and how he’s seeking camaraderie in isolation.
Politics & Policy
July 30, 2020
Congressman Gohmert Has Had a Louie of a Week
The East Texas Republican tested positive for the coronavirus after refusing to wear a mask—which almost made us forget about his supporters allegedly beating up his opponent’s campaign manager.
