Rose Cahalan
By Rose Cahalan:
The Texas Observer’s Best Features of 2018
Our favorite longreads of the year.
The Texas Observer’s Best Features of 2018 Our favorite longreads of the year. – by Rose Cahalan and Forrest Wilder December 26, 2018 Like children, it’s always dangerous to pick one’s favorite stories. They’re all special and an editor’s affection … Read More
Strangest State: December 2018
Weird news from far-flung Texas.
DAINGERFIELD // The hunt for Bigfoot continues at Daingerfield State Park, where rangers held a weekend of events dedicated to the mythical forest giant. The Longview News-Journal reports that campers gathered for a screening of the 1972 film The Legend … Read More
Our 10 Favorite Texas Books of 2018
Politics, immigration, poetry, LSD, art and yes, vampires: There’s a little something for everyone on this list.
If there’s a bright side to the fact that, politically speaking, we spent 2018 still deep in what people on Twitter wearily call “the darkest timeline,” it’s the abundance of great books said timeline has produced. The Observer reviewed (or … Read More
Strangest State: October 2018
Weird news from far-flung Texas.
SAN ANTONIO // Thieves smuggled a shark out of the San Antonio Aquarium by hiding it in a baby stroller. The San Antonio Express-News reports that Miss Helen, a 16-inch female horn shark, went missing for two days. Meanwhile, security … Read More
Strangest State: August 2018
Weird news from far-flung Texas.
SAN ANTONIO // A former master plumber put his collection of more than 1,300 decorated toilet seats up for sale. Barney “King of the Commode” Smith has operated the Toilet Seat Art Museum out of his Alamo Heights garage since … Read More
A New Documentary on Texas Labor History Offers a Much-Needed Infusion of Hope
“A Strike and an Uprising” chronicles two big wins for labor activists facing long odds.
There’s a scene in A Strike and an Uprising (in Texas), a new documentary on labor history, in which three cafeteria workers sit in an empty classroom at Stephen F. Austin University. They’re watching footage from 1987, when their predecessors … Read More
Strangest State: June 2018
Weird news from far-flung Texas.
SAN JACINTO COUNTY // A man selling a rifle on Facebook apparently hoped that posting a photo of the weapon next to a live alligator would garner more attention — and it did, but not from potential buyers. A tipster … Read More
Author Michael Pollan on the Power and Promise of Psychedelics
A rigorous, nerdy, funny and deeply moving book, "How to Change Your Mind" makes a strong case that LSD and mushrooms can do just that.
I admit to feeling an illicit thrill when I opened Michael Pollan’s new book. The third page bears a stern disclaimer, warning that “This book relates the author’s investigative reporting on, and related self-experimentation with, psilocybin mushrooms, the drug lysergic … Read More
The Ghosts of Abandoned Texas Buildings Rise Up in an Eerie New Photo Book
"Lost, Texas" features starkly beautiful photos of once-thriving rural Texas towns.
The Ghosts of Abandoned Texas Buildings Rise Up in an Eerie New Photo Book “Lost, Texas” features starkly beautiful photos of once-thriving rural Texas towns. – by Rose Cahalan @RoseCahalan May 14, 2018 In 2009, driving home to Austin after … Read More