Texas Monthly https://www.texasmonthly.com/ Covering Texas news, politics, food, history, crime, music, and everything in between for more than fifty years. Fri, 15 May 2026 10:00:10 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.6.4 The Daily Crossword: May 15, 2026 https://www.texasmonthly.com/games/the-daily-crossword-may-15-2026/ https://www.texasmonthly.com/games/the-daily-crossword-may-15-2026/#respond Fri, 15 May 2026 10:00:00 +0000 https://www.texasmonthly.com/?post_type=game&p=982278

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]]> https://www.texasmonthly.com/games/the-daily-crossword-may-15-2026/feed/ 0 Word Wrangler: May 15, 2026 https://www.texasmonthly.com/games/word-wrangler-may-15-2026/ https://www.texasmonthly.com/games/word-wrangler-may-15-2026/#respond Fri, 15 May 2026 09:59:00 +0000 https://www.texasmonthly.com/?post_type=game&p=982198

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]]> https://www.texasmonthly.com/games/word-wrangler-may-15-2026/feed/ 0 Two-Time James Beard Award–Winning Taco Editor José R. Ralat Earns Another Nomination This Year https://www.texasmonthly.com/press-room/jose-r-ralat-2026-james-beard-award-nomination/ https://www.texasmonthly.com/press-room/jose-r-ralat-2026-james-beard-award-nomination/#respond Thu, 14 May 2026 15:56:19 +0000 https://www.texasmonthly.com/?p=982983 The James Beard Foundation recently announced that Texas Monthly’s taco editor, José R. Ralat, has been nominated for the Jonathan Gold Local Voice Award, which honors writers for their enterprising food coverage in a specific region. The two other nominees in the category had their submissions published in the Los Angeles Times, the Richmond Times-Dispatch, and RVA Magazine.Three pieces penned by Ralat are in the running for the prestigious award. They include “The Taquerias Are Not Okay,” which is a sobering look at how the federal immigration raids have impacted some of the state’s top taquerias. Ralat’s “In El Paso, an Unlikely Cheese Reigns Supreme” is also being recognized. The insightful piece takes readers on a historical journey that explores how a cheese that originated…

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]]> https://www.texasmonthly.com/press-room/jose-r-ralat-2026-james-beard-award-nomination/feed/ 0 The True Story of “the Wickedest Town in Texas” https://www.texasmonthly.com/culture/boomtown-borger-wickedest-town-in-texas/ https://www.texasmonthly.com/culture/boomtown-borger-wickedest-town-in-texas/#respond Thu, 14 May 2026 11:00:00 +0000 https://www.texasmonthly.com/?p=980273 Adapted from Boomtown: The True Story of the Wickedest Town in Texas by Joe Pappalardo, by permission of St. Martin’s Publishing Group. Frequent Texas Monthly contributor Joe Pappalardo’s rollicking new book, Boomtown: The True Story of the Wickedest Town in Texas (St. Martin’s Press), uncovers the story of Borger, a small settlement in the northern stretches of the Panhandle that was renowned during the 1920s as a den of gambling, bootlegging, prostitution, and random violence. In this exclusive excerpt, the legendary Texas Ranger Frank Hamer—best known as the man who later headed up the successful manhunt for Bonnie and Clyde—arrives in town with a remit to set things right in the wake of the murder of a local law enforcement officer. It won’t go as…

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]]> https://www.texasmonthly.com/culture/boomtown-borger-wickedest-town-in-texas/feed/ 0 The Daily Crossword: May 14, 2026 https://www.texasmonthly.com/games/the-daily-crossword-may-14-2026/ https://www.texasmonthly.com/games/the-daily-crossword-may-14-2026/#respond Thu, 14 May 2026 10:00:00 +0000 https://www.texasmonthly.com/?post_type=game&p=982280

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]]> https://www.texasmonthly.com/games/the-daily-crossword-may-14-2026/feed/ 0 Word Wrangler: May 14, 2026 https://www.texasmonthly.com/games/word-wrangler-may-14-2026/ https://www.texasmonthly.com/games/word-wrangler-may-14-2026/#respond Thu, 14 May 2026 09:59:00 +0000 https://www.texasmonthly.com/?post_type=game&p=982194

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]]> https://www.texasmonthly.com/games/word-wrangler-may-14-2026/feed/ 0 Robert Downen on the Abuse Crisis and the Southern Baptist Convention https://www.texasmonthly.com/video/abuse-crisis-and-the-sbc/ https://www.texasmonthly.com/video/abuse-crisis-and-the-sbc/#respond Wed, 13 May 2026 19:53:37 +0000 https://www.texasmonthly.com/?post_type=video&p=982776 Robert Downen’s May 2026 feature on the Southern Baptist Convention explores one man’s rise, rule, and downfall. You might not know his name, but Paul Pressler helped ordain the marriage between white evangelicals and the Republican Party, all while accusations of sexual abuse piled up. As Downen reports, it’s a story about power and what those who want it will do for it. More than anything, it is the story of what happens to those left in their wake.

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]]> https://www.texasmonthly.com/video/abuse-crisis-and-the-sbc/feed/ 0 First Look: A 100-Year-Old New Braunfels Hotel Just Got a Major Glow-Up https://www.texasmonthly.com/travel/faust-hotel-renovation-new-braunfels/ https://www.texasmonthly.com/travel/faust-hotel-renovation-new-braunfels/#respond Wed, 13 May 2026 11:00:00 +0000 https://www.texasmonthly.com/?p=981389 For almost one hundred years, the yellow-brick Faust Hotel has stood sentinel over New Braunfels’s Seguin Avenue, a witness to the town’s ebbs and flows of people and prosperity. The four-story Spanish colonial revival–style landmark opened as the Traveler’s Hotel two weeks before the stock market crash of 1929. Walter Faust, the determined financier behind the project, managed to keep its doors open throughout the economic woes that enveloped it; after he died in 1933, the hotel was renamed in his honor. With ornate wrought iron light fixtures, lavish chandeliers, and a ballroom, the Faust carried forth the spirit of 1920s decadence from which it was born.But over time, air-conditioning units stuck out from its facade like barnacles and the lobby’s colorful Spanish-tile floors lost…

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]]> https://www.texasmonthly.com/travel/faust-hotel-renovation-new-braunfels/feed/ 0 This Texan Country Singer Gives His Old School Sound a Gen Z Twist https://www.texasmonthly.com/culture/braxton-keith-debut-album/ https://www.texasmonthly.com/culture/braxton-keith-debut-album/#respond Wed, 13 May 2026 11:00:00 +0000 https://www.texasmonthly.com/?p=982703 In the latter half of Braxton Keith’s sold-out show at Stubb’s, in Austin, this past February, I heard him belt out the lines: “You say you got them boots from Paris / And you’re cousins with George Jones.” At the time I was backstage but quickly made my way back into the crowd for a better view of this up-and-comer performing “I Own This Bar,” a track he’d released earlier that day.Keith, who turned 26 in April, wielded a gold microphone as he strode in front of his band. He wore a twirled mustache, a black cowboy hat, and a hair-on-cowhide jacket over a black-and-red Western shirt. “You just turned 22 / You were supposed to be hangin’ with Beyoncé,” he sang. “Well,  I’m John…

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]]> https://www.texasmonthly.com/culture/braxton-keith-debut-album/feed/ 0 The Daily Crossword: May 13, 2026 https://www.texasmonthly.com/games/the-daily-crossword-may-13-2026/ https://www.texasmonthly.com/games/the-daily-crossword-may-13-2026/#respond Wed, 13 May 2026 10:00:00 +0000 https://www.texasmonthly.com/?post_type=game&p=982271

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]]> https://www.texasmonthly.com/games/the-daily-crossword-may-13-2026/feed/ 0 Word Wrangler: May 13, 2026 https://www.texasmonthly.com/games/word-wrangler-may-13-2026/ https://www.texasmonthly.com/games/word-wrangler-may-13-2026/#respond Wed, 13 May 2026 09:59:00 +0000 https://www.texasmonthly.com/?post_type=game&p=982189

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]]> https://www.texasmonthly.com/games/word-wrangler-may-13-2026/feed/ 0 The Rise of the Ribeye Taco https://www.texasmonthly.com/food/rise-of-the-ribeye-taco/ https://www.texasmonthly.com/food/rise-of-the-ribeye-taco/#respond Tue, 12 May 2026 11:00:00 +0000 https://www.texasmonthly.com/?p=981711 Ask someone to define a taco, and they may say meat is a requirement. Prod a bit more, and they might admit that carne asada is their ultimate protein of choice. And who can blame them: What’s more tantalizing than walking up to a taco stand and seeing a hunk of beef sizzling atop a grill lapped by flames rising from the charcoal? (I have had many a delicious vegetarian taco, but c’mon, this is hard to compete with.)But all too often, carne asada tacos fall flat. The beef is generally a cheap cut, such as top round or flank, and it’s usually cooked on a flattop. Then, when it comes time to serve, taqueros hack the meat into a cluster of asteroids—the idea being…

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]]> https://www.texasmonthly.com/food/rise-of-the-ribeye-taco/feed/ 0 Did Texas Cross a Constitutional Line After It Caught the Gold Bug? https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/gold-coins-redbacks-bullion-depository/ https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/gold-coins-redbacks-bullion-depository/#respond Tue, 12 May 2026 11:00:00 +0000 https://www.texasmonthly.com/?p=982363 It looks sort of like a euro banknote. It’s daintier than a dollar. The marvel of the Modern Texas Redback is its weight and sheen, heavy like cardstock and metallic like a fun house mirror. Attorneys for the State of Texas insist it’s not real money—more akin to Disney dollars than legal tender—even if the bills hold intrinsic value. Each is inlaid with a tiny bit of 24-karat gold, meaning they’re literally worth their weight in bullion.Issued in three denominations—containing five, twenty, and one hundred centigrams of gold—the bills bear images of Texas icons: a Longhorn, the state capitol dome, and the Alamo. The smallest note, the only one I could reasonably afford, currently sells for about $15. The price fluctuates with the value of…

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]]> https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/gold-coins-redbacks-bullion-depository/feed/ 0 One of the Country’s Most Important Fashion Collections Can Be Found in Denton https://www.texasmonthly.com/culture/inside-texas-fashion-collection-unt/ https://www.texasmonthly.com/culture/inside-texas-fashion-collection-unt/#respond Tue, 12 May 2026 11:00:00 +0000 https://www.texasmonthly.com/?p=982484 A gaggle of naked mannequins stand in various graceful poses—hands on hips or arms in a balletic curve, with the right foot pointed out. Mannequins are always a little disconcerting, and these fiberglass humanoids stored inside a freezing cold research room on the University of North Texas campus in Denton are no different. They serve a purpose, though, same as a flesh-and-blood model. They help make gorgeous clothes come to life.“If I could pick one thing to grab if there was a fire, it would probably be this,” says Annette Becker, curator and director of the university’s Texas Fashion Collection (TFC). She snaps on a pair of blue surgical gloves and shows me a cream-colored cotton twill Western shirt embroidered with purple butterflies and flowers.…

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]]> https://www.texasmonthly.com/culture/inside-texas-fashion-collection-unt/feed/ 0 The Daily Crossword: May 12, 2026 https://www.texasmonthly.com/games/the-daily-crossword-may-12-2026/ https://www.texasmonthly.com/games/the-daily-crossword-may-12-2026/#respond Tue, 12 May 2026 10:00:00 +0000 https://www.texasmonthly.com/?post_type=game&p=982210

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]]> https://www.texasmonthly.com/games/the-daily-crossword-may-12-2026/feed/ 0 Word Wrangler: May 12, 2026 https://www.texasmonthly.com/games/word-wrangler-may-12-2026/ https://www.texasmonthly.com/games/word-wrangler-may-12-2026/#respond Tue, 12 May 2026 09:59:00 +0000 https://www.texasmonthly.com/?post_type=game&p=982180

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]]> https://www.texasmonthly.com/games/word-wrangler-may-12-2026/feed/ 0 The Making of the New LeRoy and Lewis Cookbook https://www.texasmonthly.com/bbq/new-school-barbecue-cookbook/ https://www.texasmonthly.com/bbq/new-school-barbecue-cookbook/#respond Mon, 11 May 2026 11:00:00 +0000 https://www.texasmonthly.com/?p=982428 Before Paula Forbes was Texas Monthly’s dining critic, she worked as a cookbook author and recipe tester. She penned The Austin Cookbook, coauthored Cured with San Antonio chef Steve McHugh, and tested the recipes in Texas Monthly’s The Big Texas Cookbook. Tomorrow, her latest collaboration, New School Barbecue, with LeRoy and Lewis co-owner and pitmaster Evan LeRoy, comes out, with around a hundred recipes that include some of the restaurant’s classics, such as cauliflower burnt ends and beef cheeks, and newer dishes like smoked banana pudding and smoked and seared duck. Cooking barbecue—a long, intensive process that requires fire-management skills and heavy-duty equipment—was a new challenge for Forbes. From writing a sixteen-page brisket recipe to never wanting to cook whole hog again, she takes us…

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]]> https://www.texasmonthly.com/bbq/new-school-barbecue-cookbook/feed/ 0 John Cornyn’s Inexplicably Deep-Lore Campaign Against Ken Paxton https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/john-cornyn-obscure-campaign-ken-paxton/ https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/john-cornyn-obscure-campaign-ken-paxton/#respond Mon, 11 May 2026 11:00:00 +0000 https://www.texasmonthly.com/?p=982469 United States Senator John Cornyn is currently locked in a primary battle for his political life against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who polling suggests is likely to retire Cornyn in the May 26 runoff election. Cornyn’s approach to the campaign has been focused on a hyperspecific strategy: attempting to humiliate Paxton, whose scandals range from a rare impeachment by his own GOP colleagues in the Texas House for corruption (he was acquitted in the Senate) to a well-publicized extramarital affair that led to a divorce filing on “biblical grounds” from his longtime spouse, state Senator Angela Paxton, to taking another lawyer’s fancy pen after passing through security in a North Texas courthouse. There’s political hay to be made from all of those improprieties, of course—but…

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]]> https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/john-cornyn-obscure-campaign-ken-paxton/feed/ 0 The Daily Crossword: May 11, 2026 https://www.texasmonthly.com/games/the-daily-crossword-may-11-2026/ https://www.texasmonthly.com/games/the-daily-crossword-may-11-2026/#respond Mon, 11 May 2026 10:00:00 +0000 https://www.texasmonthly.com/?post_type=game&p=981536

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]]> https://www.texasmonthly.com/games/the-daily-crossword-may-11-2026/feed/ 0 Word Wrangler: May 11, 2026 https://www.texasmonthly.com/games/word-wrangler-may-11-2026/ https://www.texasmonthly.com/games/word-wrangler-may-11-2026/#respond Mon, 11 May 2026 09:59:00 +0000 https://www.texasmonthly.com/?post_type=game&p=982164

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]]> https://www.texasmonthly.com/games/word-wrangler-may-11-2026/feed/ 0 The Daily Crossword: May 10, 2026 https://www.texasmonthly.com/games/the-daily-crossword-may-10-2026/ https://www.texasmonthly.com/games/the-daily-crossword-may-10-2026/#respond Sun, 10 May 2026 10:00:00 +0000 https://www.texasmonthly.com/?post_type=game&p=981530

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]]> https://www.texasmonthly.com/games/the-daily-crossword-may-10-2026/feed/ 0 Word Wrangler: May 10, 2026 https://www.texasmonthly.com/games/word-wrangler-may-10-2026/ https://www.texasmonthly.com/games/word-wrangler-may-10-2026/#respond Sun, 10 May 2026 09:59:00 +0000 https://www.texasmonthly.com/?post_type=game&p=981565

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]]> https://www.texasmonthly.com/games/word-wrangler-may-10-2026/feed/ 0 The Daily Crossword: May 9, 2026 https://www.texasmonthly.com/games/the-daily-crossword-may-9-2026/ https://www.texasmonthly.com/games/the-daily-crossword-may-9-2026/#respond Sat, 09 May 2026 10:00:00 +0000 https://www.texasmonthly.com/?post_type=game&p=981527

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]]> https://www.texasmonthly.com/games/the-daily-crossword-may-9-2026/feed/ 0 Word Wrangler: May 9, 2026 https://www.texasmonthly.com/games/word-wrangler-may-9-2026/ https://www.texasmonthly.com/games/word-wrangler-may-9-2026/#respond Sat, 09 May 2026 09:59:00 +0000 https://www.texasmonthly.com/?post_type=game&p=981562

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]]> https://www.texasmonthly.com/games/word-wrangler-may-9-2026/feed/ 0 Senior Editor Aaron Parsley Offers Window Into Life After the Flood in New Podcast, Cover Story https://www.texasmonthly.com/press-room/aaron-parsley-update-new-story-podcast/ https://www.texasmonthly.com/press-room/aaron-parsley-update-new-story-podcast/#respond Fri, 08 May 2026 19:04:41 +0000 https://www.texasmonthly.com/?p=982419 On Friday, Texas Monthly published its June cover story online, a follow-up to last year’s heartrending feature by senior editor Aaron Parsley about his family’s fight for survival during the 2025 Central Texas floods—a story that millions read around the world and that recently earned him a Pulitzer Prize.In “The Guadalupe Swept Us Away. This Is the Story of All That Came After.,” Parsley resumes his story in the moments after his brush with death. Though grateful to be alive, he, like so many Hill Country flood survivors, finds himself grappling with the weight of uncertainty and caught in a “loop of despair, hope, and acceptance.” Parsley takes readers along on a months-long journey in which he navigates life after a devastating tragedy—a journey marked…

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