The Texanist
February 2, 2020
The Texanist: Are the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader Uniforms Skimpier Than They Used to Be?
A San Antonio football fan wonders if the squad’s already small outfits have gotten even smaller over the years.
Being Texan
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.
Being Texan
January 22, 2020
Small-town Benefactors: A Gusher Begets Generations of Wealth
How ranching and oil families have kept Albany flourishing.
Being Texan
January 22, 2020
Small-town Benefactors: A Face-lift in the Desert
The philanthropic financier who restored a West Texas outpost.
Being Texan
January 22, 2020
Small-town Benefactors: The Merchant Prince of the Panhandle
High finance in the High Plains.
Being Texan
January 22, 2020
A Snowball’s Chance in South Texas
The Wall Street Journal investigates what happened to the snowballs people froze after a historic 2004 snowfall.
Meanwhile, in Texas
January 22, 2020
Meanwhile, in Texas: Two Therapy Dogs Got Married in a Ceremony at a Mansfield Hospital
Plus, a woman goes to a pharmacy and discovers she's dead!
Being Texan
January 22, 2020
Fredericksburg Is the New Aspen
The jewel of the Hill Country, my hometown, is lovelier than ever. I just wish more of the natives could afford to stick around and enjoy it. Scenes from a town transformed.
The Texanist
January 18, 2020
The Texanist: Is It Mean to Correct a Foreigner’s Wrong Ideas About Texas?
A Dallas man worries that he should have let a British couple continue to believe that cattle run rampant through the streets of his city.
The Texanist
January 13, 2020
The Texanist: Who on Earth Holds a Cookout at a Highway Rest Stop?
A Grapevine man is puzzled by those ubiquitous roadside grills.
Texas History
December 30, 2019
19 Moments That Shaped Texas in 2019
It was a long, eventful year.
Being Texan
December 26, 2019
What Growing Up in an Alief Tailor Shop Taught Me About Being Texan
A reflection on family and home, on the heels of my parents retiring from their longtime business.
Being Texan
December 24, 2019
Miss Girard’s Christmas Gift
When her former student was found wandering the streets a decade after she’d last seen him, Michell Girard immediately agreed to take him in. Then she decided to do far more, including give him the Christmas he’d never had.
The Texanist
December 21, 2019
The Texanist: Where Did the Phrase “Texas Leaguer” Come From?
A Lufkin man asks a sports-related question—and gets more answers than he bargained for.
Being Texan
December 18, 2019
We Were Always West Texas Sisters
Our lonely, difficult childhood—and our love of books—always connected us, despite the wildly different paths we took.
Meanwhile, in Texas
December 18, 2019
Meanwhile, in Texas: A Longhorn (The Four-Footed Kind) Sets a World Record
Plus, Pennywise the Clown has just the place for you!
Best Thing in Texas
December 18, 2019
The Best Things in Texas 2020
Last year, countless Texans acted in ways that brought honor to our state—or just made us grin. Here's a look at a few dozen of them.
Country Notes
December 18, 2019
The Art of Racing Pigeons
Lelton Morse races homing pigeons in Central Texas. He sends his birds hundreds of miles away, waits and watches, and knows they’re flying home.
The Texanist
December 14, 2019
The Texanist: Should I Stop Wearing My Stetson Now That They’ve Become So Popular?
A Dallas man worries that hipsters have commandeered his favorite style of hat.
Best Thing in Texas
December 11, 2019
The Best Things in Texas: The Year of Lizzo
The flute-playing, body-positive, take-no-prisoners breakout star transformed our ideas of what a pop icon looks and sounds like.
Best Thing in Texas
November 27, 2019
The Best Thing in Texas: The Unranked Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks Dramatically Defeat Duke’s Basketball Team
The underdogs beat college ball's powerhouse with an astonishing buzzer beater.
Texas History
November 22, 2019
JFK’s Assassination Only Grows More Distant at Dallas’s Sixth Floor Museum
Thirty years after opening, the museum approaches its dark history from an increasingly detached remove.
Meanwhile, in Texas
November 20, 2019
Meanwhile in Texas: If the Boat’s a-Rockin’ . . .
Plus, some people in Houston really, really want a Popeyes chicken sandwich.
Style & Design
November 20, 2019
The Power of Boots
The cowboy boot is more than a sturdy piece of workwear. It’s more than a fashion statement, too. It’s a vital piece of Texas culture, as complicated, diverse, and ever-evolving as the makeup of our state.
Style & Design
November 20, 2019
Behold the Art of the Cowboy Boot: Bolder and Better Crafted Than Ever
Across the state, custom bootmaking legends and their successors are building on a handcrafted tradition with a dizzying array of styles.
Style & Design
November 20, 2019
Texas Is the State of the Cowboy Boot. But the History Is More Complicated Than You Think.
What we know today as the cowboy boot is a distinctive offshoot of styles favored by Genghis Khan, the Duke of Wellington, and myriad other horsemen throughout history.
Style & Design
November 20, 2019
Texans and Their Boots: Reflections From a Few of Our Favorite People
The stories, the traditions, and the deeper meanings of the boots in their lives.
Style & Design
November 20, 2019
An Inside Look at the Making of a Great Cowboy Boot
The master bootmakers at Little’s, in San Antonio, demonstrate what goes into a fine boot.
Texas History
November 11, 2019
“We Cannot Forget About Them”: A Southwest Pilot Brings His Father’s Remains Home to Dallas
Roy Knight Jr. was killed in action in Vietnam, and his remains were missing for decades. Now his family has finally found closure.
Being Texan
November 4, 2019
The National Media Hilariously Misunderstands Texas Geography
All the news from the “Dallas suburb” of Marfa and the “adjacent” regions of El Paso and the Rio Grande Valley.
Being Texan
November 1, 2019
See How Our Readers Celebrate Día de los Muertos
We put out a call for stories about Texans memorializing the Mexican holiday.
Texas History
October 30, 2019
A Final Toast to the Quirkiest Little Dive Bar in the Piney Woods
Ray Gene, proprietor of Longview’s singular It’ll Do Tavern, passed away last weekend.
Best Thing in Texas
October 16, 2019
The Best Thing in Texas: Trae tha Truth, Houston Hero
The rapper continues to lift up those in need in his hometown.
Meanwhile, in Texas
October 16, 2019
Meanwhile in Texas: Five Baby Alligators Were Found in a Hamlin Backyard Pool
Plus, two Amazon drivers were accused of stealing a dog in Parker County.
Country Notes
October 16, 2019
A Lone Postman Delivers the Mail to the Far Reaches of the Big Bend
Not many people will drive the mail to places the U.S. Postal Service won’t. Seventy-one-year-old Gilbert Lujan is one of them.
Best Thing in Texas
October 11, 2019
The Best Thing in Texas: It’s Cold
After the longest summer we can remember, the seasons are finally changing.
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.
Best Thing in Texas
September 27, 2019
The Best Thing in Texas: Tony Romo Is a Legit Professional Golfer
He’s good at everything!*
Texas History
September 24, 2019
Dallas’s Newly Reopened Holocaust and Human Rights Museum Calls Visitors to Action
The institution has changed its mission to also acknowledge traumas experienced by other groups.
The Texanist
September 22, 2019
The Texanist: How Can You Be a Texan If You’re a Liberal?
An unnamed person from an unspecified place has an unsavory point of view.
Best Thing in Texas
September 20, 2019
The Best Thing in Texas: Imelda Edition
The storm’s consequences have been serious, but people affected by it have found ways to be joyful nonetheless.
Texas History
September 18, 2019
‘Big Wonderful Thing’ Author Stephen Harrigan Explains Why Davy Crockett Was the Taylor Swift of His Day (Sort Of)
The Austin author on his fascination with H.L. Hunt, his inability to hate Santa Anna, and how he met the challenges of writing a history of Texas for the twenty-first century.
Country Notes
September 18, 2019
Long Live the ‘Big Bend Sentinel.’ Viva ‘El Internacional.’
Small-town papers often serve as bearers of civic pride. But the former owners of Marfa’s Big Bend Sentinel and Presidio’s International learned long ago that writing the news meant looking out for their neighbors.
Texas History
September 18, 2019
The New Texas History
Stephen Harrigan’s ’Big Wonderful Thing’ sweeps away decades of mythmaking. Are we ready to remember the Alamo—and the Texas Rangers and the Civil War—differently?
Meanwhile, in Texas
September 18, 2019
Meanwhile, in Texas: A Cow Rang a Doorbell in Mansfield
Plus, a school district accidentally auctioned off its students’ private information.
Texas History
September 18, 2019
‘Big Wonderful Thing’ Excerpt: “Sediciosos”
In the early twentieth century, long-simmering tensions in South Texas erupted into a grim and brutal race war.
Texas History
September 18, 2019
‘Big Wonderful Thing’ Excerpt: “Savage Ware Fare”
After breaking away from Mexico, the combative Republic of Texas took its fight against Native Americans to the heart of Comanchería, led by a group of militiamen who called themselves Rangers.
Texas History
September 18, 2019
‘Big Wonderful Thing’ Excerpt: “Reason Had Left Its Throne”
As the Civil War violently divided the nation, Texan turned against Texan.
Texas History
September 18, 2019
Américo Paredes vs. J. Frank Dobie
For years, the great folklorist convinced many scholars and activists that the vaunted “Texas Man of Letters” was an anti-Mexican racist. Maybe it’s time to reconsider that judgment—as Paredes himself eventually did.
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.