Houston’s Historic Black Theater at 50
For five decades, the Ensemble has brought Houstonians together to laugh, cry, and talk back to plays representing all aspects of African-American life.
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Opinion ⋆
70 Years After Mansfield’s Desegregation Crisis, a New Debate over Representation
The time has come for this North Texas school district, and others like it, to move from an all-at-large board to a mix of geographic districts and at-large seats.
Opinion ⋆
How Texas Can Lead in Fighting Anti-Asian Racism
Bo French is dead wrong. Rather than demonize immigrants as forever foreigners, the Texan thing has been to document and celebrate their longstanding commitments to the state.
The State’s Bible-Only Reading List Is a Disservice to Texas Kids
A new required list doesn’t meet the need to learn about the major religious traditions that make up Texas today—and it could impair public schools’ ability to serve diverse populations.
Reviews ⋆
Can We Survive Naomi Klein’s Depiction of ‘End Times Fascism’?
Klein and co-author Astra Taylor’s new book is too bleak and unfocused for our shameless and sharp-edged political moment.
Politics ⋆
Free Tickets, Familiar Jokes, and an Unsettled Party Grasping for Unity—and a Fight
At the unusual midterm convention, Republicans pleaded with voters not to throw the baby out with the bathwater.
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Politics
In Laredo, a County Judge and MAGA Convert Seeks to Topple Henry Cuellar
Tano Tijerina, who prominently switched parties after Trump’s 2024 inroads in South Texas, is trying to cash in on political connections while also casting himself as the insurgent outsider.
One of the Top Texas House Races Could Come Down to a Single Issue: Water
As Corpus Christi reels from a severe water crisis, debates rage on at the city level and in a top targeted fight for state House District 34, currently held by a Republican.
Who Stands Between Texas and a Fascist Railroad Commission?
This man here—and a plurality of voters if he can find them
Border and Immigration
ICE Contractor for Controversial Camp East Montana Is Trailed by Fraud Allegations
To continue running the deadly El Paso detention center, the feds turn to a company that’s faced numerous lawsuits from labor unions and former employees and is actively fighting a whistleblower in court.
Mexico’s Deportation Capital
Tapachula, five miles from Mexico’s border with Guatemala, has become a principal destination for the world’s deportees. And in a cruel twist, even Mexicans expelled from the United States have found themselves there, regrouping after being deported—not home to Mexico—but first to Central America.
‘Living like Vampires’: ICE Surge Fractures Daily Life in Deep South Texas
“It’s gotten that bad: People don’t want to register their children to school. They don’t want to do groceries. They don’t even want to stop by the store for their morning coffee.”
Culture
Why Texans Live and Die by the Gun
At the firearms training center, fear becomes the foundation of the state’s violent obsession.
Kam Franklin Goes Solo
The accomplished Houston musician, known as lead singer for The Suffers, draws on surprising sources of inspiration and puts “the message into the music” in her new album, “Land of the Neon Sun.”
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September/October 2026
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