‘Earth Has No Sorrow’: Visions of a Caldwell County Long Gone
The Observer resurfaces a 50-year-old collection of fine arts photography and unique oral history.
Culture
Mythbusting Texas’ Reactionary Past
A new book doesn't romanticize our state's history, but it does establish a neglected throughline of solidarity.
A Wall That’s Worth Defending
Some evangelical Christians are hammering away at the very church-state separation that allowed them, and other believers, to first flourish in America.
American Citizenship and Other Myths
We shouldn’t ignore the protofascism brewing on the JD Vance-aligned right. But the status quo ante isn’t good enough either.
Consider the Rattle
In a state that still hosts grisly “rattlesnake roundups,” human Texans should learn to see something of themselves in their ancient, slithering kin.
In El Paso, a Homecoming Marred by Violence
A native El Pasoan reflects in a new book on her bustling Texas border city’s roots—and one of the most tragic days of its modern life.
Oh, Texas Our Texas,
We are living here...
A Reporter’s Religious Quest in Houston Suburbia
At a Hindu temple hidden in Pearland, I found lessons about community, womanhood, and alienation.
Austin’s Willy Baltazar Is a Man of Many Masks
From Veracruz to Texas, he keeps a centuries-old tradition alive.
In Dallas, Spanish-Inflected Shakespeare Adaptations Experiment with Language
Two plays challenge their source material and speak to today’s audiences.