The Banality of Border Evil
What a long-dead, cartoonishly corrupt Texas bureaucrat can tell us about the nature of immigration enforcement and the U.S.-Mexico divide
Reviews
Unmasking the Klansman
A new book reveals the untold story of a Ku Klux Klan member’s literary double life.
How Less-educated Whites Fell Behind and Blamed Race
In Clinton, Arkansas, a reporter examines the effects of a stagnant economy on the place she came from.
‘American Born Chinese’ and the Limits of Cultural Representation
The young hero in the new Disney+ show follows a familiar journey for colonized people, as predicted by theorist Frantz Fanon.
The Who Behind ‘Where Wolf’
A crowdfunded story of furries, journalism and murder: Film programmer-turned-comic book artist Robert Saucedo tells us about his creation.
The Texas Observer Lives!
After a terrifying near-death experience, we live to muckrake another day.
Confronting Queer Oppression in Moscow … And America
Queendom, a documentary that recently premiered at the SXSW film festival, should leave viewers—especially LGBTQ+ viewers—shaken.
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True Crime’s Ethical Dilemma
What begins as a search for a murder ends as a hard look at the murky ethics of "nonfiction" crime storytelling.
A Border Crossing with the Devil
Hail Mary, which premiered at this year’s SXSW Film Festival, reframes the immigration crisis through a supernatural, biblical lens.
Haunting the Border
"Deadland," which premiered at SXSW, is a surreal father-son migration movie that will linger with you.