In 2024, Senate BIll 17 took effect, banning DEI programs at Texas public universities. Through hours of interviews with nonprofit workers — along with current and former students — The Barbed Wire catalogued the law’s damaging effects on LGBTQ+ Texans. thebarbedwire.com/2026/02/05/c...

Brad Pritchett, CEO of the nonprofit Equality Texas, said many students are now “left without the tools they need to thrive.”

My latest at @thebarbedwire.com ... I spent weeks interviewing current and former students, faculty, nonprofits and others about the way queer campus life has suffered over the past 2 years and how, in some cases, community members have stepped up to help.

The kids in Tejas are alright.

“The queens are still out everywhere, period, whether people like it or not,” said Deja Dubois, a drag queen who graduated from UT Arlington in 2022 and performs for the Dallas Opera. “Walking their streets, walking the halls everywhere.” thebarbedwire.com/2026/02/05/c...

EXCLUSIVE: When Senate Bill 17 went into effect in 2024, Texas universities were forced to enact anti-DEI policies. Since then, 12 queer resource centers or programs have closed — along with layoffs or transfers of at least 100 people. thebarbedwire.com/2026/02/05/c...

“Have the Kyle, TX police arrested this racist white man who attacked Hispanic girls and other high school students who were protesting against ICE?” U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro asked on Tuesday. thebarbedwire.com/2026/02/05/m...

A 45-year-old man has been charged with two counts of assault after getting into a fistfight with a group of Texas teenagers who were protesting Immigration Customs and Enforcement. thebarbedwire.com/2026/02/05/m...

“An adult bears a clear responsibility to exercise restraint, especially in the presence of children,” Becerra wrote. “Violence or intimidation directed at a minor — particularly during a lawful, peaceful demonstration — has no place in a constitutional republic.”

2 weeks ago, the El Paso Medical Examiner ruled the death of a Cuban ICE detainee a homicide. This time, when a 32-year-old Nicaraguan man died, ICE bypassed the county medical examiner in favor of a military facility. They won’t publicly release a ruling. www.texastribune.org/2026/02/03/t...

1,200 missing kids have been saved by the Amber Alert system developed in 9-year-old Amber Hagerman’s honor, but her murder remains unsolved. Police told The Barbed Wire they believe advancements in DNA technology may one day help catch her killer. thebarbedwire.com/2026/01/13/a...

NEW: @joaquincastrotx.bsky.social is calling for Dilley Immigration Center to be “shut down immediately.” Dilley released Liam Ramos. But hundreds of children who remain in the facility are facing a measles outbreak. The highly contagious disease can be deadly. thebarbedwire.com/2026/02/02/h...

“One young girl who kept coming up to me, a little girl who was hugging my leg, asking us to help get her out of there.” - Rep. Joaquin Castro

Let us guide you through the “fucking dumpster fire” surrounding the upcoming Democratic Senate primary in Texas thebarbedwire.com/2026/02/03/c...

After a content creator made serious claims about an off-the-record conversation she had with state House Rep. James Talarico, former Congressman Colin Allred chimed in with condemnations, and, well — all hell broke loose. thebarbedwire.com/2026/02/03/c...

Rep. @joaquincastrotx.bsky.social told reporters that there were about 1,100 detainees currently housed at the facility. That includes hundreds of other minors all the way down to a 2-month-old infant.

UPDATE: Texas state Rep. James Talarico has responded, claiming the comments being discussed were "a mischaracterization of a private conversation" and that he was describing Congressman Colin Allred's "method of campaigning as mediocre" — not his life or service.

Praising a Black woman while tearing down a Black man? Not during Black History Month.

Experts have described Dilley as “a hellhole” and decried the lack of proper medical care. Court records claim food is filled with worms, and the water is undrinkable. As a result, reports have spread of children are hitting themselves in the face and wetting themselves long after potty-training.

It’s still possible to get paid for reporting on food, style, culture, travel and wellness! Learn from journalists like @taylorcrumpton.bsky.social, contributor to @thebarbedwire.com, at this year’s IIJ Freelance Conference: theiij.com/sessions-26

NEW: @joaquincastrotx.bsky.social is calling for Dilley Immigration Center to be “shut down immediately.” Dilley released Liam Ramos. But hundreds of children who remain in the facility are facing a measles outbreak. The highly contagious disease can be deadly. thebarbedwire.com/2026/02/02/h...

Why is a Columbia University protester still in a detention center in Texas? Texas Democrats are accusing the president of holding Leqaa Kordia as a "political prisoner." thebarbedwire.com/2026/01/30/t...

NEW: Rep. Salman Bhojani said lawmakers were denied entry to Prairieland Detention Center, where Leqaa Kordia has been running “a high fever for several days” due to what he called inhumane conditions. In May, her cousin said she had already lost 50 lbs. thebarbedwire.com/2026/01/30/t...

For two years, I've been investigating claims that Texas A&M University has been overtaken by the forces of gay race communism. The truth is a little more complicated: www.texasmonthly.com/news-politic...

“The federal government cannot lock someone up because they don’t like what she said at a protest,” said @genefortexas.bsky.social. “This is un-American, illegal political persecution, and it’s happening right in our backyard.” thebarbedwire.com/2026/01/30/t...

On Friday, the weather in Alvarado was in the 30s, and officials at a 10 a.m. press conference outside Prairieland were wrapped in scarves and heavy jackets. “She does not even have clothing that fully covers her body,” said Bhojani.

NEW: Rep. Salman Bhojani said lawmakers were denied entry to Prairieland Detention Center, where Leqaa Kordia has been running “a high fever for several days” due to what he called inhumane conditions. In May, her cousin said she had already lost 50 lbs. thebarbedwire.com/2026/01/30/t...

lol how long before A&M just nullifies my degree www.nytimes.com/2026/01/30/u...

If you are donating to organizations in solidarity of with the strike, think carefully about who you're donating to. @charitywatch.bsky.social has some tips for donating. Our investigation on RAICES was also featured on their blog about charity scandals. thebarbedwire.com/2026/01/07/r...

Leqaa Kordia was during the Columbia University protests for Palestine on March 13, 2025. She is still in ICE detention in Texas. Tomorrow, 34 Texas state legislators will hold a press conference to demand the her release. Here's what we've reported so far thebarbedwire.com/2025/10/27/l...

I was an avid PBS watcher when I was growing up in Iowa. I remember seeing Brian Blessed in Flash Gordon when I was in high school and telling my friends, "Hey, that's the guy from I, Claudius." And they were like, "What are you talking about?"

PBS shaped me like nothing before or since. From my Sesame Street days on down to quoting Blackadder with fellow drama nerds, and well beyond. When I wax nostalgic about television, sure, a lot of it is from the cheap UHF stations, but KERA 13, just at the edge of the dial, was reliably there.

Iowa Public Television had Doctor Who in the early 70s, as well as Monty Python, Red Dwarf, and Masterpiece Theatre. I never realized how lucky we were to have access to these shows, just took it for granted when I was young.

same. rural Texas, Gulf Coast

It was the same for me in rural Missouri. Especially when I only had an antenna that only allowed me to pick up PBS and two other local channels reliably.

The timelines during the Guadalupe Flood are excruciating. A true “flash” flood. #AMS2026

In October, Sam Judy spoke to Leqaa Kordia about her case in a comprehensive piece for @thebarbedwire.com This coming Friday, 34 Texas state legislators will hold a press conference at the Prairieland Detention Center to demand her release. Read more here: thebarbedwire.com/2025/10/27/l...

THere's a YouTube video of (most of) Monty Python in Dallas for a fund raising drive just pre-Holy Grail but I think the PBS representative is the floor manager and not the elder Mr. Wilson.

basically what it was like out towards shreveport as well, i owe louisiana public broadcasting so much

omg

There are men with pick axes chipping away at inches of ice on the super steep Torchy’s exit ramp down the street

This is a must-read, beautiful essay about how important PBS is to kids. “It was a cultural life vest,” said Lawrence Sonntag, who grew up in Azle, Texas. “It felt like looking at the world’s vibrance and beauty through a straw, but that made it the most important straw.”

“For families like mine in Wichita Falls, Texas, @pbs.org was oxygen,” writes @briangaar.bsky.social . “It was proof that humor could be silly, intellectual, and a little dangerous all at once. thebarbedwire.com/2026/01/28/p...

UPDATE: Two 16-year-olds died while taking part in dangerous "truck sledding" trend. thebarbedwire.com/2026/01/26/t...

Texas is finally beginning to thaw out after a winter storm swept through the country over the weekend. Here’s how the wintry weather is still affecting Texans, by the numbers. thebarbedwire.com/2026/01/27/t...

404 media but for bbq

Agents arrested Génesis and her mother, Karen, at their Austin home earlier this month. Karen called Austin PD at 4:30 a.m. for help. A man — whom she had an expired restraining order against — had showed up at their house. They’ve since been deported to Honduras. thebarbedwire.com/2026/01/15/a...

I wrote about my childhood friend Alexi Pretti. Please read it and share it and remember him as a human being. @theverge.com

This thread is something else! Lol at Ted Cruz putting daylight btwn him and Trump but not John Cornyn. Still hoping for that endorsement that is 💯 going to Paxton.

🧵 As a rare storm blanketed the Texas state capital in frost Monday, Texas Republicans joined a chorus of criticisms against the DHS, its Secretary Kristi Noem, and ICE for terrorizing American cities in Trump’s second term. In short, Hell has frozen over.