Forging Their Own Way: Kaye Northcott on Texas Observer History

Kaye Northcott learned from her favorite teacher that journalism was about calling out bullshit, which she began doing with enthusiasm as editor of her high school newspaper in Houston. She continued to do so as editor of the University of Texas at Austin’s Daily Texan and later the Texas Observer, which she co-helmed with Molly […]

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Thu, 28 Mar 2024 08:00:00 AM CDT


‘The Hobby’: A Love Letter to Board Gamers like My Son

My 12-year-old son creates some wacky board games. When he was younger, there was Pillow Fight, where players spin a wheel to collect pillows to smack people, build a fort, or knock down pins. Then there was Chick-fil-A vs. Canes, a game where players collect coins by buying, selling, and promoting menu items from Texas’ […]

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Wed, 27 Mar 2024 08:00:00 AM CDT


Dade Phelan’s Efforts to Expand Healthcare Still Leave Many Struggling in His District

Three years ago, Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan unveiled a set of bills that he declared would improve the health of millions of Texans, largely by expanding access to healthcare. The measures, authored by Republicans and Democrats, were applauded by health advocates such as the Texas Medical Association. This month, an updated version of one […]

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Tue, 26 Mar 2024 08:00:00 AM CDT


Clearing the Air

Most people survive the Coronavirus with their kidneys intact. But not 34-year-old Austin resident Vanessa Ramos.  An experienced community organizer with nonprofits like the Sierra Club, Ramos was healthy and active before she got infected. Then she caught the COVID-19 virus in December 2021, and symptoms lingered through the new year despite her efforts to […]

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Mon, 25 Mar 2024 08:00:00 AM CDT


Loon Star State: Utter Fantasies!

To see more political cartoons from Ben Sargent, visit our Loon Star State section, or find Observer political reporting here. Read more from the Observer:

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Fri, 22 Mar 2024 08:00:00 AM CDT


An Open Letter to Richard Linklater on Our Texas Death Penalty

Dear Richard, Your movie “God Save Texas: Hometown Prison,” which debuted recently on HBO, was joyfully upsetting for me. Kudos to you for loving Huntsville, the complex setting of your formative high school years. Kudos for not moving on, for coming back time and again to the life and culture there in your many films. […]

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Thu, 21 Mar 2024 08:00:00 AM CDT


A Bittersweet Portrait of a Photographer, Obsessed

Good photography and good cinema are cousins. So a new documentary about legendary Austin photographer Dan Winters has a built-in advantage. It can weave Winters’ own striking pictures into the telling of his backstory; it can show us a master of the form arranging and taking a shot, then reveal the photo itself, braiding the […]

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Wed, 20 Mar 2024 08:00:00 AM CDT


A New Documentary Reveals the Real Eagle Pass

The Flores siblings were supposed to leave their small Texas border town and make films together. Robie Flores, a self-described “awkward Tejana” teen who just wanted to “get the fuck out” of Eagle Pass to reinvent herself, had dreams of making movies with her brothers, Paco, Alex, and Marcelo.  But their dreams were crushed when […]

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Tue, 19 Mar 2024 08:00:00 AM CDT


Gulf Coast Petrochemical Buildout Draws Billions in Tax Breaks For Polluters

A booming petrochemical buildout on the Gulf Coast has drawn billions of dollars in public subsidies from state tax abatement programs despite regular violations of pollution permits, according to a new report released Thursday.  The Environmental Integrity Project, an environmental nonprofit based in Texas and Washington, D.C., compiled data on all U.S. plastics projects built, […]

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Mon, 18 Mar 2024 11:06:44 AM CDT


Fort Worth’s Forgotten Lynching: In Search of Fred Rouse

They burned his coat before they killed him. This was in Fort Worth, in 1921, during a strike at a packinghouse: A Black worker, excluded from the whites-only union, crossed the picket line. After his shift, he was confronted by white strikers. What I know of the story comes from century-old newspaper accounts that I […]

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Mon, 18 Mar 2024 08:00:00 AM CDT




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