back on the godbeat www.texasmonthly.com/news-politic...

"If only I were that cow, I think, I, too, could launch a flare into the Texas night." This story, about @sashavonawesome.bsky.social's quest to learn to burp, is so good.

"Why are people who've never been to Big Bend going to tell us how to solve a crisis that doesn't exist?" In far West Texas, landowners say a proposed border wall could upend their lives--and they're struggling to get answers. @texasmonthly.bsky.social www.texasmonthly.com/news-politic...

Battered by nightmares, survivor’s guilt, and life-altering grief, many Mystic campers want to return to the very place that traumatized them. Now the question of whether or not the camp will reopen is ending lifelong friendships between parents and fueling a growing rift in the community.

A heartrending, sensitively told account of the two factions that have formed around the question of Camp Mystic's future. by @peterjholley.bsky.social in @texasmonthly.bsky.social www.texasmonthly.com/news-politic...

“If I stand where they stood when they passed on, I feel like I’m connecting with heaven.” —10yo Mystic camper She’s one of hundreds of girls and parents who want the camp to reopen, a decision that’s ripping apart a community. ✍️ by @peterjholley.bsky.social www.texasmonthly.com/news-politic...

A Texas businessman believes he was divinely chosen to help usher in the Second Coming of Christ—by finding unblemished red heifers and getting them to Israel. https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/red-heifer-prophecy-texas-ranch-byron-stinson/

Since 2024, Dems have been focused on how to win back an enigmatic set of voters: young bros. Ben Rowen checks in on how they’re doing. www.texasmonthly.com/news-politic...

"Rehmet believed the core message of his campaign—working-class solidarity—could be the glue in a winning coalition of unions, progressives, blue-collar voters, and disaffected Republicans. Early analysis indicates just how much that was true."

ICYMI: This Saturday, progressive Taylor Rehmet squares off against a billionaire-funded Christian nationalist for a +17 Trump state senate seat in Tarrant County, a hub of the far right. Rehmet already over-performed, and is confident he’s on the verge of a stunning upset in a bellwether county.

Anyways, did you know that for $25 a year - yes, a year - Texas Monthly will send 12 print issues anywhere in the country, and give you full access to our daily digital content + 50 years of archives? Truly, we are the best deal in journalism. subscription.texasmonthly.com/pubs/TZ/TXP/...

“The political questions facing Texas A&M are the most important questions facing the nation as a whole," writes Christoper Hooks. Inside state leaders’ efforts to remake one of our finest institutions: https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/meltdown-at-texas-a-m-university/

If you’re looking for the definitive story on the mess @ Texas A&M, one of our state’s finest institutions (regardless of the long history of feelings my Longhorn family, and this Baylor Bear may have), we pubbed our Feb cover story by @hooks.bsky.social early— www.texasmonthly.com/news-politic...

From the compa @jherrerx.bsky.social for @texasmonthly.bsky.social: "In the year since Trump has taken back the White House, border crossings have not stopped. What’s changed are the types of border crossings the Border Patrol is seeing."

Outside the Texas family detention center where U.S. Representatives Joaquin Castro and Jasmine Crockett went to check on five-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos, a quiet protest found its voice. https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/dilley-detention-jasmine-crockett-joaquin-castro/

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has boasted that border crossings have dropped to zero. That’s not true. https://www.texasmonthly.com/article/who-is-still-crossing-the-border-trump-noem-buoys/

”The outsized religious presence was deliberate. Several had just returned from Minneapolis, where ministers have led many of the organized protests. 'We hope that the presence of clergy reminds these agents of the state of their better natures.'” www.texasmonthly.com/news-politic...

Right after pubbing this story on ICE releasing refugees from Minnesota onto the streets of Houston and El Paso, and the refugees' lawsuit, we learned that a fed judge granted a TRO—blocking new refugee detentions and ordering release of those in custody. www.texasmonthly.com/news-politic...

Union-backed Dem Taylor Rehmet nearly pulled off a stunning upset in November — almost winning a deep-red TX Senate seat over two billionaire-funded Republicans. He's now in a runoff with a fixture of the Texas far right. My latest, from Tarrant County, a bellwether and hub of Christian nationalism:

In a runoff election for Texas Senate District 9, which has not elected a Democrat since 1991, Taylor Rehmet is betting his pro-labor message can flip disillusioned voters. https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/tarrant-county-senate-race-taylor-rehmet-seeks-upset/

A few other quick shots from the protest:

Saying Texas isn't a Republican state it's a nonvoting state is cope www.texasmonthly.com/news-politic...

"Could this strange, wise boy with the gentle cadence of a preacher be the one to deliver Democrats from damnation? Or at least from decades of unabated loserdom?" Great profile of James Talarico via @allegrahobbs.bsky.social

"In Mexico and Central America, new mothers are given the drink, which is traditionally believed to help stimulate breast milk production. After a death, it’s often served to mourners during the nine days of praying the rosary."

Esther Phillips was singing and recording country music long before Beyonce or Mickey Guyton were even born. Here’s the story of the greatest country album you’ve never heard. www.texasmonthly.com/arts-enterta... @texasmonthly.bsky.social

He went in search of a better life for his family. His brother refused to let him go alone. Only one of them survived the journey. Inside the deadliest immigration-related disaster in American history: https://www.texasmonthly.com/interactive/san-antonio-53-migrant-deaths/

According to a memo obtained by Texas Monthly, Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick is behind changes to the new museum’s narration of slavery, Native Americans, and colonialism. https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/alamo-rewrite-dan-patrick/

The humans love him, and so do the canines. What happened when ICE took Seyre Mussa Traore away: https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/austin-dog-trainer-asylum-seeker-detained-by-ice/

How Christian Nationalist school board members in Texas campaigned vs. how they did

Rogers says she feels compelled to tell her story because of the public attacks on her “integrity and character” and the “disappointing and hurtful” way she was dismissed. “It makes me very sad because the Alamo deserves better.” ✍🏼: @forrest4thetrees.bsky.social www.texasmonthly.com/news-politic...

NOW HIRING: open fact-check position at @texasmonthly.bsky.social, come work with us and potentially save me and my colleagues from ourselves www.texasmonthly.com/about/jobs-a...

“This is no longer a fringe movement. Christian nationalism is here, and it is deeply entrenched in our government in ways that should concern all Americans, regardless of their views on religion.”

"Religion doesn’t live outside of politics. It lives downstream.” Charlie Kirk's death has fueled new pressure on churches to not only speak on politics - but reaffirm what their congregants already believe. I spoke to one pastor caught in the middle.

”The Ten Commandments says nothing about guns, but Deans said the Bible supports his belief in an armed public. When asked about Jesus’s instruction to 'turn the other cheek,' his reply was swift and simple: 'F— that ... This is fighting the good fight.” www.texasmonthly.com/news-politic...

If Stephenville's new Art Briles Stadium is anything to go by, the disgraced former Baylor coach is still a local hero. https://www.texasmonthly.com/arts-entertainment/art-briles-stadium/

Great story about an Austin church that helps the unhoused- and is now being targeted by Attorney General Ken Paxton. Notably, this is the second church in Paxton's crosshairs; last year his office investigated + tried to shut down a church that assists migrants, sparking religious liberty concerns.

While many abortion funds help w the cost of travel out of state—a practice under scrutiny in Texas—“there is also the social, emotional, and spiritual component” of the experience, Rev. Erika Ferguson says. That's where her group of volunteers steps in. www.texasmonthly.com/news-politic...

at the end of may i went to fredericksburg and went to 14 wineries in 5 days and wrote many words about it you can read them here

Volunteers accompany travelers by handling logistics for the early-morning flight, driving to the clinic, guiding women past protesters, grabbing snacks at a recovery center, getting on a same-day return flight, sometimes offering prayer or an ear along the way www.texasmonthly.com/news-politic...

Eating disorders are most often associated with well-off young women. But among an unexpected population in San Antonio, a Trinity University researcher found an unmet need. https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/eating-disorders-san-antonio-food-bank/

”The Trinity is like an overdrawn savings account. Far more water is being withdrawn than is being replenished through rainfall, and bankruptcy is at hand.” @forrest4thetrees.bsky.social, w/ the best explainer on wth is going on with Texas water, or lack thereof www.texasmonthly.com/news-politic...

The IRS says churches can endorse politicians. The result will be an intensification of American religious polarization — and some $8 billion in political donations to be routed through churches, which are already tax-exempt and have almost no financial disclosure requirements. My latest:

christian scripture/evangelicals interpreter, reporting for duty.

“I don’t know how long it took—ten seconds, maybe fifteen—for the house to come apart." During the early-morning hours of July 4, the Guadalupe River pulled senior editor Aaron Parsley and six members of his family into its waters. Read his firsthand account:

"Amid tragedy, some of those objects—like a bracelet made by a lost camper or an aged photo of a grandparent along the river—have transformed into priceless treasures." Beautiful reporting from @peterjholley.bsky.social www.texasmonthly.com/news-politic...

Writers and PR folks, I say this with the utmost respect and appreciation for your work: please consider your topic and timing when pitching editors in Texas right now.

Paul, in his letter to the Romans, lists the things that cannot separate us from the love of God: neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons ... “Not floodwaters, not loss of life, not catastrophic storms,” added senior pastor David Payne. www.texasmonthly.com/news-politic...