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Nov 4, 2024 | 
texasmonthly.com | Ben Rowen
Follow along here for live analysis and coverage of Texas elections and results. We’ll start adding to this story at 6 a.m. on Election Day.
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Aug 28, 2024 | 
psmag.com | Ben Rowen
By accident of Earth’s 23.5-degree tilt and the specific geography of our view of space, amateur astronomers and travelers who find themselves lost in the Northern hemisphere have long searched for Ursa Major, the great bear, whose torso is formed by the conspicuous Big Dipper. Amid the pandemonium of the night sky, the Dipper moonlights as outer space’s guide, revealing the locations of more obscure stars and constellations.
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Aug 13, 2024 | 
texasmonthly.com | Ben Rowen
The invention of sliced bread, for all the acclaim it occasioned, offered little more than an ergonomic advantage. It spared mothers’ fingertips and accelerated the proliferation of the PB&J, but the ingredients in the humble loaf remained the same: flour, water, salt, and yeast. The big disruption in dough—the one we will litigate in the culture wars in perpetuity—has been less celebrated.
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Jul 10, 2024 | 
texasmonthly.com | Ben Rowen |Sandi Villarreal |Allegra Hobbs |Dan Solomon |Michael Hardy |Russell Gold
So many cities; so many rivalries. Houstonians seem to view Dallas with contempt, while Dallasites claim not to think about Houston at all. Most San Antonians could happily live the rest of their lives without hearing anything else about Austin. West Texans would like folks along the Interstate 35 corridor to remember that they exist.
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Mar 5, 2024 | 
texasmonthly.com | Ben Rowen |Christopher Hooks |Forrest Wilder |Alex Samuels |Michael Hardy |Sasha von Oldershausen | +2 more
Howdy!Ben Rowen, 10:00 A.m. Welcome to the Texas Monthly primary live blog! Election Day is finally upon us, after a seemingly interminable campaign season. Electioneering started more than nine months ago, after the Texas House impeached Ken Paxton and rejected Greg Abbott’s school voucher program for the first time. Those two seismic events widened deep rifts in the GOP and inspired a spate of primary challengers. In the interim, our politics has gone full Mad Libs.
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Jan 2, 2024 | 
texasmonthly.com | Michael Hardy |Ben Rowen
What does it mean to be a Texas Republican? This year saw the state GOP tear itself apart over that question. The impeachment and subsequent acquittal of Attorney General Ken Paxton and a protracted fight over school vouchers—a program that would let parents use taxpayer dollars to subsidize their children’s private education—exposed schisms in the party that controls all three branches of the state government.
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Dec 6, 2023 | 
texasmonthly.com | Ben Rowen
In Texas, freedom of speech has recently been sidelined by a new liberty: freedom from speech. Novels are being pulled off the shelves of school libraries in suburban Houston; the Legislature is circumscribing drag performances across the state; universities are suspending professors for criticizing public officials. The owner of Defiance Press, an upstart publishing house, has seen enough.
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Dec 6, 2023 | 
dfwliving.com | Ben Rowen
In Texas, freedom of speech has recently been sidelined by a new liberty: freedom from speech. Novels are being pulled off the shelves of school libraries in suburban Houston; the Legislature is circumscribing drag performances across the state; universities are suspending professors for criticizing public officials. The owner of Defiance Press, an upstart publishing house, has seen enough.
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Oct 26, 2023 | 
texasmonthly.com | Ben Rowen
In the middle of the third quarter of the San Antonio Spurs’ home opener, the stands seemed to blanch. A wave of seats across the bleachers became vacant, covered only by the white T-shirts that had been given to everyone in attendance. Rookie phenom Victor Wembanyama was in foul trouble and was now consigned to the bench. Many took the opportunity to purchase hot dogs, water, team gear, or otherwise to walk off a growing sense of restlessness, the anxiety of delayed excitement.
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Aug 8, 2023 | 
texasmonthly.com | Ben Rowen
The hamburger belongs everywhere. It is named after a German town and has historically been served with French fries, which actually have their origins in Belgium. You can find one almost anywhere you travel in the world. But with the first bite of a Whataburger one recent Saturday afternoon, I am acutely in Texas. I need both of my hands to wrangle the burger, my sixth in as many days. The orange-and-white-striped bag it comes in features a silhouette of the state. My mind is ready to secede.
