It was the ‘80s, and I was a kid who had trouble sleeping. In the wee small hours of the morning, there was one station that remained on the air: PBS. Watching on my black-and-white TV with a screen no bigger than a deck of cards, I remember
A TikTok video with more than 100,000 views showed Kaleb Blain, a 35-year old trans man and pitmaster, standing at a folding table gesturing to a plate of freshly prepared chickens, ready for the BBQ smoker. The caption read “politics and cooking don’t mix.” But then the
This may be the sweetest GoFundMe ever created: The daughter of an incarcerated woman in Texas is trying to raise money to save a very sick orange cat who’s been keeping one of them going. Orange Julius, or OJ, is a cat suffering from a kidney infection and urgently
Every year around this time, people make New Year’s resolutions with the same confidence you hear right before someone says, “No, it’s fine, I know exactly where I’m going” and then immediately misses their exit To get a sense of what we actually resolve to do (and
This year was a year to remember, and for (mostly) the wrong reasons. Our voting power was diluted, disabled children were locked up, mothers were grabbed while taking their kid’s college, a midwife was arrested for doing her job, it got more dangerous to have a baby and to
If you’re reading this, congratulations!!!! You survived 2025. Truly, an achievement on par with running a marathon, passing calculus, or navigating I-35 through Waco without crying. The world right now feels like a group project where half the participants insist that gravity is a hoax, another quarter is
Let me start with Michelle Randolph. Congratulations on securing Cuffing Season’s #1 Draft Pick. I saw you in that TikTok two stepping with Glen Powell at Donn’s Depot. It feels like a scene out of one of the many romantic comedies, thrillers, and action films that Powell has
Dear Santa, Howdy from Texas, big man. Hope things are well up at the North Pole, where I assume the ice hasn’t melted, the power grid works, and y’all haven’t deported any elves. I’m writing because I have a few tiny Christmas wishes for next year.
The purest expression of a child’s heart must be the wishes sent to an imaginary man wearing a red coat with white fur. In all my childhood yearnings, I could not have foreseen just how queer my own future would be, full of genderbending shows, vivid parades, and loud
The year was 2015. I was not in a good place. I had quit my lucrative (ha) job in newspaper journalism to enter the equally lucrative world of local television, hosting a late-night comedy show on The CW in Austin. It was exhilarating, but I had no idea what
Everything is bigger in Texas, including holiday decorations. Millions of families across the state string up lights and inflatables in their yards for all to see — and can even achieve thousands in cash prizes or TikTok virality for extravagance. While some yard displays are beloved community staples, others can spark
At a bustling venue on Sunday, the speakers boomed with a remix of “Stayin’ Alive.” Heather Schenk and Ty Linhardt had traveled from Chickasha, Oklahoma, for the Big Queer Wedding Party in Austin, where ten couples came to get married and renew their vows in the sanctuary of a former