For forty years, Paul Burka has been a part of Texas Monthly. His retirement officially begins today, on Texas Independence Day. His legacy will live on in Texas Monthly’s list of the best and worst legislators, and his celebrated career has made an impact on Texas politics. But what few know
Andrea Valdez and the making of our digital identity.
Katharyn Rodemann, Barça, and the making of a great issue.
Brian D. Sweany on taking the reins at Texas Monthly—and always carrying a pen.
Congratulations, Texas Monthly, you're the Bum Steer of the Month.
A collection of some of our favorite photos from yesterday’s Texas Monthly Barbecue Festival: [View the story “TMBBQ Fest 2013” on Storify]
A Czech potato chip manufacturer has created a flavor of specifically grilled meats in their Bohemia line. Their plan is to export it to the US, and they want to begin in Texas. From their press release – “Where else should we test the new flavor of
To create the lettering for our June barbecue issue, creative director TJ Tucker spent six long hours playing with barbecue sauce.Aaron Franklin graciously provided the sauce, and to achieve the right look, we thickened it with agar, an edible hydrocolloid that is used much like flour or cornstarch. It
In June we’ll publish our every-five-years list of the top 50 BBQ joints in Texas, which is always one of the most hotly anticipated issues we put out. It will be on newsstands on May 22, and we’ll be releasing the names of the joints on the list later this
Is it the best job in America? From the New York Times to Bon Appetit, everybody seems to think so.
The American Society of Magazine Editors announced its nominees for National Magazine Awards yesterday. And the National Magazine of Texas did pretty well.
Forty years ago, as the very first issue of Texas Monthly was being put together by Bill Broyles & Co., Life magazine folded. Though it would later resume publication (before finally folding again in 2007), and though it continues on today as a pretty
A sneak peek of the cover of our fortieth anniversary issue and an important announcement regarding the future of TM Daily Post.
In the October issue of EveryDay with Rachael Ray – on stands now – the El Naranjo food trailer is mentioned in “From Wheels to Walls,” a feature article that showcases a handful of food trucks that have added a brick-and-mortar space to their concepts. In case you don’t rememeber, El
Welcome to the new Texas Monthly.
Our forthcoming issue, on newsstands next week, tackles this subject, but we couldn’t wait any longer to share the cover of this special issue. Caution: Cute babies ahead.
The beloved Texas writer recently received the Texas Institute of Letters' Lon Tinkle Award for Lifetime Achievement. In his acceptance speech, he offered up a bit of advice for budding writers.
Back in February 1973, in the very first issue of this magazine, founding editor William Broyles wrote, by way of introduction, “If our readers have ever finished the daily paper or the six o’clock news and felt there was more than what they were told, then they know why
Get your general admission tickets to the Texas Monthly BBQ Festival on Wednesday, starting at 10 a.m. But if you are in or around Austin, we can also feed you sooner. Come downtown at lunchtime for the final TM BBQ Hunt, where we’ll pick four winners in
One of the best—and the hardest—parts of being a magazine editor is deciding what goes on the cover every month. There is nothing else quite like that little rectangle of real estate. Book jackets and album covers are quieter, movie posters are less integral to the product, billboards are more
Michael Quinn Sullivan has a bone to pick with me. I am the subject of a blog post by Sullivan published on the Empower Texans web site yesterday under the headline, “Texas Monthly: Disclosure-Free Zone.” Sullivan objects to the fact that in an April column about
Only a few years ago, the word was understood (if it was used at all) to mean chicken wings or jalapeño poppers or nachos. That time is gone forever. As even the proudest Luddite now knows, an “app” is something you download onto your handheld device or tablet, a helpful
Showing a new intern the tricks of the trade.
You can access the full story on texasmonthly.com (subscriber-only), but here’s the list, just to get your tastebuds revved up. Also, there are lots of related burger sidebars that we couldn’t squeeze into the magazine. Check them out. The list is ranked in order of our preference from one to
The following is a release from Representative Debbie Riddle, concerning her appearance on the Ten Worst list. I will reserve my remarks until the end.
Readers are invited to comment and/or submit questions about the Ten Best and Ten Worst selections, as well as Honorable Mention and special awards. The full article is here. I suppose it may seem strange for me to request, after putting these folks on the Ten Worst list,
Kino Flores was on Texas Monthly's list of the Ten Worst legislators that was released today. Since he chose to issue a response, I felt that he was entitled to have his concerns appear in this space. We have had our say about why he is on the Ten Worst
The floor is now open for nominations for the Ten Best and Ten Worst lists. Readers should try to make a case for their nominees. Information about unethical conduct is always welcome, but please refrain from gratuitious personal comments about members.
A writer for the online Texas Republic News ("Dios, Libertad, y Tejas") has discovered that Texas Monthly once advocated that the state secede from the Union. It's true. The cover story ("Is Texas Too Big for its Britches?") ran in January 1975, and we sold a lot of
My good friend Laura Kelso, queen of Dishola.com, sent this report on yesterday’s barbecue demo and “crash course,” held at Emo’s as a satellite SXSW event (what it had to do with music, I don’t know, but there you go . . .). It was organized by Dishola.com
If times weren’t so darned tough, I’d predict that La Condesa was going to take off like a rocket. I mean, the space is crazy contemporary, the drinks are awesome, the food is by and large excellent (based on, oh, about eight apps and dishes). The only thing
The poll was conducted by Voter Consumer Research between December 7 and December 9. The telephone survey included 601 general election voters and 466 Republican primary voters. The margin of error for the general election survey was +/- 4.1%, and +/- 4.6% for Republican primary voters. Favorability: * 67% of
Over the past thirty years, I’ve edited or written more than 28,000 restaurant reviews for this magazine. That’s a lot of crème brûlée under the bridge, folks. So what’s my life been like, exactly? And how have I stayed this thin? Good questions.
BILL WITTLIFF IS A RENAISSANCE hombre. An author, a publisher, a film producer, and an arts patron, the longtime Austinite is best known for his screenplays, including The Black Stallion, Raggedy Man, Legends of the Fall, and Lonesome Dove; his adaptation of the latter revived both the miniseries and the
How Texas—and Texas Monthly—has changed.
BEFORE SHE BEGAN putting together finely detailed service pieces for magazines like this one, Suzy Banks was occupied with another kind of construction. “I graduated from college in 1981 with a useless degree in film, but I didn’t want to leave Texas,” says the 39-year-old, who lives in Dripping
Lights! Camera! Acknowledgments! Presenting the lensmen and lenswomen who made this issue possible.
Texas Primer Who’s been on our cover the most times? Ross is boss.
Why our pictures are worth a thousand words.
Senior editor Joe Nick Patoski provides readers with what you used to get at your local gas station: full service. Writing so-called service pieces—mini-guidebooks that offer readers do-it-yourself instructions and suggestions for trips and other leisure activities—has taken the 46-year-old resident of Wimberley all over Texas. Says Patoski: “I’ve
Over the past twenty years Texas Monthly contributing editor Michael Ennis has written about F-16 jet fighters, Houston topless clubs, and the Dallas Apparel Mart. But what he’s focused on mostly is art, as he does in this month’s story about “outsider” artists (see “Folks,”). “I wanted to
We didn’t know it at the time, but there was something karmically appropriate about asking senior editor Mimi Swartz to write about riding around the state with Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Victor Morales in his dented white pickup truck (see “Truckin’,”). At first, it seemed to make sense
Texas Monthly sports a brand-new look this month. The thorough resesign includes many reader-friendly changes, which were overseen by deputy editor Evan Smith, art director D. J. Stout, and associate art director Nancy McMillen. Around the State, for example was reorganized by city instead of subject, and State Fare
