Libations
June 17, 2021
A Hot and Thirsty Texan’s Guide to the Most Refreshing Shapes of Ice
When ERCOT doesn't want you to turn your thermostat below 82, frozen water is all you have.
Heat
Style & Design
October 4, 2019
Your ACL Style Guide for the Apocalyptic Heat
The October music festival is still landing smackdab in the middle of a Texas summer. Here’s how to dress.
Being Texan
October 3, 2019
The Summer That Wouldn’t Die
I left Texas after the brutal summer of 2011, only to return in time for the hottest September on record.
Being Texan
September 13, 2019
Legends of the Fall
Those wistful end-of-summer photos on Instagram have us deeply envious.
Politics & Policy
June 10, 2019
South Texas Was Hotter than Death Valley Last Week
Falcon Lake hit a balmy 116 while the heat index in Brownsville was an eyeball-melting 128 degrees, nine degrees warmer than Death Valley.
The Texanist
July 21, 2018
The Texanist: If You Can’t Take the Heat…
A Montanan turned Houstonian’s first summer in Texas isn’t going all that well.
Critters
June 21, 2017
Leaving A Dog in a Hot Car Can Get You in Trouble
A Manor man who left his puppy in the car in a Walmart parking lot is facing Class A misdemeanor charges.
The Culture
March 23, 2015
How to Survive the Summer
When I was a teenager growing up in Wichita Falls, which is regularly hailed as one of the hottest cities in the state (and sometimes the country), I spent my summers smelling like roadkill. The moment I stepped outside my house, sweat began sliding like syrup down my back.
Politics & Policy
June 2, 2014
The Heated Battle For Cooled Texas Prisons
Extreme heat has killed nearly twenty people housed in correctional facilities. Now, inmates and guards have banded together to fight for improved conditions.
January 21, 2013
Texas Prison’s Water Problems Attract National Attention
Gawker got wind that the Texas Department of Criminal Justice's Connally Unit recently was shut down due to "chronic staff staffing shortages and water outages."
January 21, 2013
Lawsuits Over Prisoner Deaths in Hot Texas Prisons
Last summer, four prisoners died from heat-related causes in Texas's sweltering prisons.
Energy
November 2, 2011
Should Everyone Have Air Conditioning?
As the state gets hotter, one former Midland resident thinks air conditioning should be required by the city building code.