Loon Star State: Utter Fantasies! Cartoonist Ben Sargent's hot take on the Republican succession movement—from the March/April 2024 issue. Texas Observer · Mar 22, 2024
An Open Letter to Richard Linklater on Our Texas Death Penalty Capital punishment ensnares us all in a labyrinth of our own making, as "God Save Texas: Hometown Prison" poignantly reveals. Texas Observer · Mar 21, 2024
A Bittersweet Portrait of a Photographer, Obsessed Great art has come at a cost for Dan Winters and his family, as revealed in an intimate documentary unveiled at SXSW. Texas Observer · Mar 20, 2024
A New Documentary Reveals the Real Eagle Pass Robie Flores' "The In Between" is a love letter to la frontera—and a humanizing refutation of GOP fear-mongering. Texas Observer · Mar 19, 2024
Gulf Coast Petrochemical Buildout Draws Billions in Tax Breaks For Polluters A new report by the Environmental Integrity Project compiled data on every U.S. plastics plant built, expanded or proposed since 2012, revealing massive growth in Texas. Texas Observer · Mar 18, 2024
Fort Worth’s Forgotten Lynching: In Search of Fred Rouse Retracing the steps of a Texan lynched in 1921 requires a trip through dark days in state history. Texas Observer · Mar 18, 2024
The Specter of Disinformation Haunts South by Southwest Artificial intelligence technologies are all the rage at SXSW. Is our democracy prepared? Texas Observer · Mar 15, 2024
‘The Queen vs. Texas’ Revisits the Battle over Lone Star Drag Raemonn James, better known as Hermajestie the Hung, teamed up with a filmmaker to tell a moving story of activism and queer culture. Texas Observer · Mar 14, 2024
‘Puro Pinche Palestina’ In the Alamo City, a community coalesces around support for Palestine. Texas Observer · Mar 13, 2024
Pregnant Workers’ Health and Livelihoods Face a New Threat A Texas federal court has struck down a 2023 law creating protections for pregnant state workers based on its paltry costs. Texas Observer · Mar 12, 2024
The Booksellers’ Revolt The READER Act would have required vendors to rate books on "explicitness" before selling to schools—and blacklisted those that didn't comply. Texas Observer · Mar 11, 2024
New Lake Will Fuel Petrochemical Expansion Blocked in Louisiana, Formosa Plastics looks to grow around Texas' Lavaca Bay, but it and other industrial plants are waiting for water. Texas Observer · Mar 8, 2024
Podcasting’s New Poirot: Broadcasting the Case of the Late Ivan Cantu P.I. Matt Duff spent four years investigating Ivan Cantu’s death row innocence claim and sharing his findings with tens of thousands. Texas Observer · Mar 7, 2024
A House Defeated? Abbott, Paxton, Patrick Bag Rebellious State Legislators The heavily contested GOP primaries brought about ousters and uncertainty in the state’s lower legislative chamber and highest criminal court. Texas Observer · Mar 6, 2024
Texas Observer · Mar 6, 2024 Houstonians Force Anti-LGBTQ Democrat into Runoff with Progressive Challenger Meanwhile, a long-term incumbent who backed a controversial state school takeover easily secures renomination.
Texas Observer · Mar 6, 2024 Colin Allred Easily Wins Chance to (Not Easily) Beat Ted Cruz The Dallas Democrat will now feature prominently in his party’s hopes to hold on to a razor-thin margin in the Senate this fall.
Texas Observer · Mar 6, 2024 In the Ogg House: Harris County DA Ousted in Primary Challenger Sean Teare handily took out the embattled two-term incumbent Kim Ogg.
Texas Observer · Mar 4, 2024 Uninsured Country: Affordable Health Care Eludes Many Family Farmers and Ranchers Americans who operate small family farms and ranches often cannot get adequate health care and insurance. A journalist who spent her summers on her family’s Texas ranch writes about family members’ struggles and the challenges rural residents face today.
Texas Observer · Feb 28, 2024 Will Cornyn Take McConnell’s Place atop Senate GOP? Texas’ senior senator re-embraces Trump as he vies to become the chamber’s top Republican. That won’t come easy.
Texas Observer · Feb 28, 2024 Texas Mother-Daughter Books Are More a Shot of Whiskey than a Sip of Tea Undoubtedly, mother-daughter relationships are as varied in the Lone Star State as anywhere else on the planet, but in my experience, Texas moms are tough.
Texas Observer · Feb 27, 2024 The Texas Observer Loses Three Editorial Staff, Plans to Grow Business Team On Monday, the board of directors of the Texas Democracy Foundation—the parent nonprofit of the Texas Observer—announced that Gabriel Arana is no longer editor-in-chief of the Texas Observer. Arana had led the Observer since he took over as interim editor-in-chief in 2021. He chose not to immediately comment on the…
Texas Observer · Feb 27, 2024 Texas-Style Money Laundering FinCEN’s proposed real estate rule could help investigators flag dubious deals—but there’s a big loophole.
Texas Observer · Feb 26, 2024 A Statement from the Texas Democracy Foundation On February 26, the board of directors of the Texas Democracy Foundation—the parent nonprofit of the Texas Observer—announced that Gabriel Arana is no longer Editor-in-Chief of the Texas Observer. Independently, the board announced that the Observer has been restructured to ensure its financial stability. As part of this process, two…
Texas Observer · Feb 22, 2024 ‘It’s the South’: Harris County Sends 15 Times More Black Men to Death Row than White Texas’ largest county remains the state’s deadliest when it comes to capital murder convictions, a new report says.
Texas Observer · Feb 21, 2024 ‘Their Knees Are Still on Our Necks’: Black Women in Higher Ed Female African American scholars still face significant obstacles in academia even without being slapped by Governor Greg Abbott’s regressive reforms.