Texas’ Hotbed of Taiwanese Nationalism
For decades, Houston families like mine have helped keep the flame of independence burning.
Featured Stories
The Latest
The Phones Are Still Ringing
Lou Dubose edited the Observer for longer than anyone before or since. He expanded the publication’s coverage south of the border and later co-authored books with Molly Ivins.
The Trump Picks Who Could Decide Our Climate Future
It’s not just the EPA. From Elon Musk and RFK Jr. to Marco Rubio and Doug Burgum, Trump’s choices to lead key agencies are poised to set a very different climate agenda.
Texas Uranium Mining Portends Nuclear Revival
State leaders want nuclear reactors to provide power to large industrial facilities. But South Texas locals worry that a uranium boom could affect their groundwater.
Revealed: the Operators Behind Four Major Neo-Nazi X Accounts
Anonymity has long been a tactic used by extremists to spread their ideology while avoiding social consequences, from Klansmen hoods to online pseudonyms.
What Trump 2.0 Could Mean for Public Education
Houston native and education expert Diane Ravitch urges a fight for “the future of Texas, and for the future of the children” under Trump’s proposed reforms.
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Politics
‘They Bought a Legislature’: What the GOP’s Gains Mean for Vouchers in Texas
Republicans nearly ran the table in state House races, shoring up Governor Abbott’s school voucher majority for the 2025 session.
Texas House Dems Trip Over Their Own Low Bar
On Tuesday, the most modest of boasts became famous last words for the lower chamber’s dwindling Ds.
Texas Goes All Red for Ted
Maybe Dems need to recover the lessons of Beto 2018. Or maybe the sun will die before the state turns blue.
Border and Immigration
How Texas Jails Built Migrant Incarceration
Following a 1925 investigation, immigrant detention in the Galveston County Jail was declared “a crime against humanity.”
She Fled Mexico as a Child. Now, She Teaches Migrant Kids in Tamaulipas.
“When I see a mom with her child trying to cross, it’s like I see myself in her.”
The Deep Roots of Deportation
In a divided political climate, many now hold their breath, waiting to see if deportation rhetoric becomes reality.
Culture
When the Prophetic City Fails
The unexpected fate of Houston’s Northside holds lessons that the city’s boosters may not wish to hear.
Seeing the Unseen
New collections of fiction and nonfiction build on Dagoberto Gilb’s long career as chronicler of the working-class Southwest.
Did the First American in Space Take an Extra Golf Ball to the Moon?
A new book reveals the secrets of moon memorabilia and the friendship between a famous Texas astronaut and his barber.
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November/December 2024
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