At a certain point it is hard not to take it very personally that no one has leaked me Paxton audio.
Robert Downen@robertdownen.bsky.social · 18h agoFifth recording just dropped. www.cnn.com/2026/10/09/p...
Sandi Villarreal
@sandivillarreal.bsky.social
executive editor at Texas Monthly
Robert Downen@robertdownen.bsky.social · 18h ago
The fight to stop the border wall in Big Bend is not over—but a federal judge's ruling has given activists a hard-won victory. https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/big-bend-border-injunction/
Inside the Legal Victory That Paused All Big Bend Border-Wall Construction
The fight to stop the border wall in Big Bend is not over—but a federal judge's ruling has given activists a hard-won victory.
texasmonthly.com
She was Ken’s greatest asset, the one who could talk about faith and family with authenticity; if she was standing by him—even driving the getaway truck—there must be something redeemable. Now she’s doing it one more time, for 30 seconds, without saying his name. www.texasmonthly.com/news-politic...
Angela Paxton Knows Exactly What She’s Doing
A new ad featuring Ken Paxton’s estranged wife was panned as “sad” and “desperate.” But the state senator is in control.
texasmonthly.com
This is a very good analysis of the Texas GOP's white supremacist-adjacent future, via @hooks.bsky.social. Read:
Texas Republicans Might Finally Lose. Will They Learn Anything?
This November could be the beginning of the end of Trumpism. The state GOP is adrift.
texasmonthly.com
The "elephant in the room" ad was based on talks Angela Paxton has already been quietly giving at small gatherings, confabs of women in whom real electoral power resides. They know her; many have been her. www.texasmonthly.com/news-politic...
Angela Paxton Knows Exactly What She’s Doing
A new ad featuring Ken Paxton’s estranged wife was panned as “sad” and “desperate.” But the state senator is in control.
texasmonthly.com
After the swing county’s top executive became mired in scandal, Republicans—with some unwitting help from a Democratic activist—installed one of their own. https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/fort-bend-county-gop-takeover/
Who Leads Fort Bend County? Not Even Fort Bend County’s Leaders Know.
After the swing county’s top executive became mired in scandal, Republicans—with some unwitting help from a Democratic activist—installed one of their own.
texasmonthly.com
like, read this story and tell me it's not a Coen Brothers movie - www.texasmonthly.com/true-crime/e.... (Also just a great story; Texas Monthly's crime stuff is exemplary)
The Problem With Erik: Privilege, Blackmail, and Murder for Hire in Austin
A spoiled heir to an auto-dealership empire responded to a blackmail attempt by ordering two murders. Four years and a jury trial later, what motivated his ruinous decision remains a mystery.
texasmonthly.com
BeijingPalmer@beijingpalmer.bsky.social · 2w agoFARGO really gets the reality of crime 99% of the time: criminals are dumb, childish, and self-involved.
Forrest Welborn spent three decades as a suspect in the infamous Austin murders. It all but destroyed his life. This year, he was finally exonerated. So why doesn’t he feel free? https://www.texasmonthly.com/true-crime/the-yogurt-shop-killer-who-wasnt/
The Yogurt Shop Killer Who Wasn’t
Forrest Welborn spent three decades as a suspect in Austin’s infamous yogurt shop murders. It all but destroyed his life. This year, he was finally exonerated. So why doesn’t he feel free?
texasmonthly.com
You should read this piece about Jim Crow theobros. It says a lot about the racial underpinnings that I talk about in my book White Evangelical Racism; The Politics of Morality in America. religionnews.com/2026/09/24/t...
The rise of the Jim Crow theobros
(RNS) — A group of Reformed pastors and influencers has wedded old-school segregationist theology with the hypermasculinity of the manosphere and the savvy of the attention economy to preach and sell ...
religionnews.com
At least 13 data centers are in development in the already drought-stricken Texas Panhandle. Darryl Birkenfeld, a former priest, preaches how to hold onto the water & land because, as Wendell Berry wrote, “without proper care for it we can have no life.” www.texasmonthly.com/news-politic...
In the Texas Panhandle, a Former Priest Believes He Has a Solution to the Water Crisis
Darryl Birkenfeld is preaching about miracle basins as an answer to the sputtering Ogallala Aquifer.
texasmonthly.com
Wrote a bit more about Bo French's long history of racism, why Republicans are finally calling it out - and what his candidacy says about the current state of the GOP. Gift link: www.texasmonthly.com/news-politic...
Robert Downen@robertdownen.bsky.social · 4w agoAfter months of staying quiet on his gutter racism, top Texas Republicans are now condemning a post in which Bo French, candidate for Texas Railroad Commission, posted a photo of brown UT students at yesterday's game and said "the problem is now obviously far worse than anyone imagined."
anyway, here’s a gift link if you want to read the whole thing and then yell at me, or greg casar, or the ai company CEOs, or anybody else really! www.texasmonthly.com/news-politic...
Congressman Greg Casar Wants to Stop AI From Killing Us All
The Democrat from Austin talks to Texas Monthly about his bill to prevent the development of superintelligence, which experts warn poses existential risks to humanity.
texasmonthly.com
i’m extremely tired of hearing about ai but given that the congressman from my neighborhood is the one who introduced the “ban ai superintelligence” bill, i figured i should at least talk to him about it
As we wrote back in July, Bo French has a long history of posting fascist and white supremacist rhetoric. By and large, Republicans have stayed quiet about it.
Robert Downen@robertdownen.bsky.social · 3mo agoIn the last week, a GOP nominee for statewide office: -Apparently invoked the conspiracy theory that led to the Holocaust -Called to round up Chinese people -Quoted an obscure white nationalist novel -Called the nonworking "low IQ parasites" We asked GOP leaders to respond. None did. (Gift link).
After months of staying quiet on his gutter racism, top Texas Republicans are now condemning a post in which Bo French, candidate for Texas Railroad Commission, posted a photo of brown UT students at yesterday's game and said "the problem is now obviously far worse than anyone imagined."
How did the Texas AG's office get this way? Or ... Why is Ken Paxton—and Greg Abbott before him—like this? www.texasmonthly.com/news-politic...
Paxton Led the Texas Attorney General's Office to the Front Lines of the Culture Wars. Is There Any Going Back?
Greg Abbott and Ken Paxton transformed the role. What comes next?
texasmonthly.com
Since I guess we’re still talking about it ... (And by ”we," I mean Ken Paxton's latest AI-generated attack ad.) www.texasmonthly.com/news-politic...
The Texas Senate Race's Biggest Question: Is God Male?
Republicans have pounced on an old statement as they seek to make gender politics the focus of the Senate campaign.
texasmonthly.com
Man, @dansolomon.com cooked here. Multiple instances of what I can only describe as genuine guffaws
Donald Trump Urges Texans to Elect Sloppily Dressed Schlub Ken Paxton
Does Ken Paxton dress as terribly as the president says? A Texas Monthly investigation.
texasmonthly.com
On abortion politics, in a high-stakes election, in state where it's illegal, via @allegrahobbs.bsky.social www.texasmonthly.com/news-politic...
What Gina Hinojosa’s Deeply Personal New Campaign Ad Doesn’t Say
The Democratic candidate for Texas governor highlights her reproductive choice—without noting that choice no longer exists in the state.
texasmonthly.com
Every morning, Elsa Hull sits overlooking a San Ygnacio park, watching to make sure construction workers don't encroach. She's in the middle of a massive fight—over the town's history, who owns the land, and the logic of building a giant wall in a floodplain. www.texasmonthly.com/news-politic...
How Residents of a Tiny Texas Town Stopped Trump's Border Wall
Seventy years ago, San Ygnacio stopped the government from seizing its land along the border. Locals are hoping history repeats itself.
texasmonthly.com
Every morning, Elsa Hull sits overlooking a San Ygnacio park, watching to make sure construction workers don't encroach. She's in the middle of a massive fight—over the town's history, who owns the land, and the logic of building a giant wall in a floodplain. www.texasmonthly.com/news-politic...
How Residents of a Tiny Texas Town Stopped Trump's Border Wall
Seventy years ago, San Ygnacio stopped the government from seizing its land along the border. Locals are hoping history repeats itself.
texasmonthly.com
When is a river no longer a river? In the case of the Rio Grande, this isn’t some existential riddle. The state’s most iconic geographic feature is one of the most threatened rivers in the country. Read our in-depth investigative report here: https://bit.ly/4i39Rns
"The Rio Grande is one of the most threatened rivers in the country—more imperiled than the Colorado, which tends to generate all the headlines. The crisis is worse—significantly worse—than most realize." Urgent, propulsive reporting by @jherrerx.bsky.social www.texasmonthly.com/interactive/...
Millions Depend on the Rio Grande for Water. Some Could Run Out as Early as Next Year.
The Colorado River crisis has been in the headlines this year, but our diminishing border river is in an even more severe state of collapse. This is the story of a water crisis without precedent in Am...
texasmonthly.com
Republican officials in a major battleground Texas county voted Tuesday to slash Election Day polling locations by 30% for the November midterm elections. www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/...
‘A deliberate barrier’: Texas battleground county cuts 30% of midterm voting locations
Outraged Tarrant County voters showed up at Tuesday’s county commissioners meeting in force, more than filling two overflow rooms and holding signs with a clear message about the Republican local offi...
democracydocket.com
A stunning story about an unprecedented and imminent water crisis. Reported brilliantly by @jherrerx.bsky.social and photographed by Jordan Vonderhaar all along the river's 1,900 miles. Spend some time with this today. www.texasmonthly.com/interactive/...
as someone who lives here, the irony of tcu football (which plays at amon g. carter stadium) banning the newspaper created by amon g. carter ain’t lost on me
gwen howerton@kissphoria.bsky.social · last mo.Feels like we should all be talking about TCU banning the Fort Worth Star Telegram from covering the program after the FWST broke the news that Jacob Fields hospitalized another player in a locker room fight www.texasmonthly.com/news-politic...
What the hell is going on in Big Bend? @allegrahobbs.bsky.social talks with senior writer @forrest4thetrees.bsky.social and Big Bend Sentinel's Sam Karas to answer some of the open questions. Watch their illuminating convo here: www.texasmonthly.com/news-politic... (Gift link)
Watch: What’s Actually Going On in Big Bend?
Amid a flurry of fast-changing news and misinformation, it can be hard to keep track of the border-security plans in the Big Bend region. We’ve got you covered.
texasmonthly.com
Gift link: www.texasmonthly.com/news-politic...
Robert Downen@robertdownen.bsky.social · last mo.Long before the other scandals - the divine intervention at a Dairy Queen, affairs, indictment, impeachment - Ken Paxton took another lawyer's $1,000 pen. The incident has, for whatever reason, become Texas lore. Now, the man behind the infamous pen is speaking out. An interview with Mr. Montblanc:
Long before the other scandals - the divine intervention at a Dairy Queen, affairs, indictment, impeachment - Ken Paxton took another lawyer's $1,000 pen. The incident has, for whatever reason, become Texas lore. Now, the man behind the infamous pen is speaking out. An interview with Mr. Montblanc:
Ken Paxton Took His $1,000 Pen. He Has Not Forgotten.
Fourteen years ago, Paxton was caught on camera taking attorney Joe Joplin's Montblanc from a security tray. The incident has become the stuff of Texas politics lore.
texasmonthly.com
New poll has James Talarico up six points on Ken Paxton, buoyed by majority support from independents (51%) and significant crossover from Republican voters (12%).
