Cat Cardenas is based in Austin, covering entertainment, politics, and Latinx culture. Her work has appeared on the covers of Rolling Stone and Dazed, as well as in Vogue, W Magazine, Variety, GQ, Elle, Harper's Bazaar, and others.
Immigration
In a viral post on Instagram, 5-year-old Génesis Ester Gutiérrez Castellanos smiles brightly in front of iconic Austin street art. She’s wearing purple sneakers with pink laces. In big yellow lettering, the post reads: “URGENT: 5-YEAR-OLD US CITIZEN DISAPPEARED BY ICE.” Before dawn on Jan.
Immigration
In early July, an asylum seeker from Nicaragua arrived for a routine hearing at the immigration court in Harlingen, Texas. Inside the nondescript, tan brick building, Carlos went through his case, explaining that he’d been in the U.S. for the last five years. In that time, he’d
Culture
Last month, my mom sent me a video of a little girl named Galilea from Dallas. She’s sitting on her gray couch, clutching a brown plush dog, remembering her mom’s voice, her clothes, and the way she would say goodnight. “My mom is supposed to be with us,
Culture
The energy shifts when Beyoncé is back in Houston. Her hometown showed up and showed out for the Texas dates on her Cowboy Carter and the Rodeo Chitlin' Circuit Tour: nightclubs and bars hosted Beyoncé-themed dance parties and drag shows, the airports welcomed fans with "Cowboy Carter
Culture
Life was a little different when HBO’s “The Leftovers” premiered in 2014. Carrie Coon wasn’t an A-lister. Joe Rogan hadn’t brought a certain type of attention to Austin. No one had heard of Covid-19. But the show, based on Tom Perrotta’s novel of the
Culture
Austin drag queen Brigitte Bandit knew she’d draw attention at the Texas Capitol last week. While speaking against Senate Bill 18 — which would withdraw state funding from any municipal library that hosts drag queen story hour events — she wore a Texas flag top with a white skirt listing the
Culture
In recent years, Texas has become an epicenter of the rapidly-spreading book banning movement. This year alone, our state lawmakers lead the nation with at least 31 proposed bills that the American Library Association says would effectively restrict librarians’ abilities to do their jobs. One such bill, Senate Bill
Culture
Every March, the start of South By Southwest signals the arrival of thousands of tourists, sponsors, actors, artists, musicians, and countless takes about whether this might be the end of South By Southwest as we know it. The panic reached a fever pitch last weekend when organizers announced changes to
Culture
Ahead of his 92nd birthday in April, Willie Nelson is showing no signs of slowing down. The country music legend has had a lot to celebrate, from the launch of his new THC drink, Willie’s Remedy+, to the upcoming premiere of the Austin City Limits 50-year special, where
Culture
With the help of some of the state’s film buffs, critics, and cinephiles, The Barbed Wire has rounded up a list of love stories as big as Texas. Whether they were filmed here, set here, or brought to life by some Texas-raised talent, we’ve curated a selection
Culture
For nearly thirty years, husband-and-wife duo Gerardo “Jerry” Diaz and Staci Diaz have traveled the country showcasing their skill on horseback. Through their touring performances and tightly-choreographed Mexican Rodeo Extravaganzas, they bring audiences a blend of the two different cultures of riding they were raised in. A
Culture
Over the course of her 35-year-career, Beyoncé has continually raised the bar. She’s changed the way artists release their music, revolutionized the album format, and defied the confines of genres to produce work that has received a whopping 99 Grammy nominations — the most of any artist in