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Get in-depth coverage of news, reviews and conversations about Texas barbecue. It's basically Christmas every day for barbecue-lovers.

i am ready, warden documentary stillSmriti Mundhra had no desire to make an anti–death penalty film when she began looking into the story of John Henry Ramirez, a convicted murderer on Texas’s death row. Mundhra, a Los Angeles TV and film creator, wasn’t an activist, and Ramirez wasn’t innocent. There was no doubt that, back on July 14, 2004, Ramirez, 20, high on drugs and alcohol, stopped at a Corpus Christi convenience store to rob it—and found clerk Pablo Castro, 45 and a father of nine, taking out the trash. Ramirez attacked Castro, stabbed him 29 times, and walked off with $1.25. He fled to Mexico and was caught, put on trial in Texas, and sentenced to death.When Mundhra finally met Ramirez, in 2022—through the window of one of the…

The post ‘I Am Ready, Warden’ Is a Gripping Examination of Vengeance and Redemption on—and Off—Texas’s Death Row appeared first on Texas Monthly.

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zeke's craft bbq trailer photoClay Stewart’s late grandfather called him Zeke. No one else in the family used the nickname, and none of them knew where it came from. When Stewart opened a barbecue trailer in Huntsville with his wife, Sara, in 2022, the couple wanted a meaningful name that was catchy. “In honor of my grandpa, we named it Zeke’s,” Stewart said. With Zeke’s Craft BBQ emblazoned in neon pink on the truck, Zeke is now what most of Stewart’s customers call him, and he stopped correcting them long ago.Stewart isn’t new to the restaurant business. He worked for Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. in Miami, Florida; Colorado; and Maui in the early 2000s. Stewart came back home to Texas in 2007 to attend the Art Institute of Houston’s…

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Before coming to this magazine six years ago, I worked for a company that gave its top leaders access to executive coaches. The one I chose was Kelley Freeman, based in Helotes, near my home in San Antonio. Kelley had cowritten an insightful book called C.O.A.C.H., whose thesis was stated succinctly in its subtitle: The final act of leading is leaving. Kelley emphasized that when you take on a new job—especially if it might be your last—you should start with the end in mind. What would a successful exit look and feel like? In what condition would you want to leave your team and your organization?I’ve thought a lot about Kelley’s advice over the past couple of years, as I looked toward my seventieth birthday,…

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Get in-depth coverage of news, reviews and conversations about Texas barbecue. It's basically Christmas every day for barbecue-lovers.

Essential-Tejano-Songs-Artists-Johnny-Canales-ShowFor more than four decades, Johnny Canales hosted his eponymous TV show, elevating musicians from around the globe. The bands, songwriters, instrumentalists, and virtuosos that crossed his stage ranged from traditional artists to genre provocateurs. As a constant champion of those looking to cut their teeth in the industry, Johnny relished the variety of sounds—from cumbia to country—that new and veteran acts would bring to his program. But the beloved host, who died earlier this year, is best remembered for showcasing artists who helped define tejano music.The launch of The Johnny Canales Show in the early 1980s coincided with a creatively fertile moment in Texas. Musicians across the state were adding keyboards to polka tunes, giving them especially danceable beats and infusing them with Tex-Mex sensibilities.…

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Chris WrightIf an airplane hadn’t skidded off the runway at the old Sloulin Field International Airport in Williston, North Dakota, I wouldn’t have stumbled on Liberty Resources’ innovative drilling approach. And I wouldn’t have found myself on the phone with Liberty’s chief executive, Chris Wright, whom Donald Trump has nominated for secretary of energy.The minor aviation mishap shut down the airport, diverting my flight from Houston to Minot, two hours to the east of Williston. This set off a scramble for a small number of rental cars. The guy next to me on the plane secured one and offered me a ride to Williston. On the drive, we talked about our jobs. I was an energy reporter at The Wall Street Journal; he was Liberty’s operations manager…

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kacey musgraves deeper well tour outfit photoIt all started with the Eras Tour for me. I’d secured my tickets for the soon-to-be-enormous Taylor Swift show after a sweaty hour of fumbling with Ticketmaster. My TikTok feed was soon flooded by videos of fellow concertgoers dressed to the nines, often dressing as either Swift herself or an obscure lyric from one of her songs. That’s when I realized that just-purchased tour T-shirts were no longer going to cut it for pop-show fashion.Since then, I’ve gone out of my way to dress my best for my favorite divas on the road. I bought clips festooned with purple butterflies for Olivia Rodrigo and printed red lipstick onto my body with Saran Wrap for Sabrina Carpenter. I saw similarly costumed fans at Harry Styles’s Love…

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BTT: Texas Woman Donates 700 Gallons of Breastmilk, Sets World RecordWHO: Alyse Ogletree, 36, of Flower Mound.WHAT: A Guinness World Record–breaking donation of enough breast milk to feed 350,000 babies.WHY IT’S SO GREAT: Ogletree admits that she’s a “little competitive,” but that may be an understatement. When she heard there was a Guinness World Record for the largest quantity of breast milk donated by an individual, she made a careful plan for how to break it, and then she did just that—twice.Ogletree’s donation journey started in 2010, when her infant son caught a virus that caused a stroke. She continued to pump milk while he was in the hospital, hoping that she would be able to feed him with it in the following months. A nurse suggested she donate some of the extra to a…

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KANVAS Deep EllumAs a Dallas-based historian whose work has recently revolved around the Deep Ellum neighborhood, I came across a business this summer that piqued my interest: Kanvas Sport + Social, a high-end sports bar and restaurant that opened in June. Of course, a new eatery isn’t uncommon in this part of town, which is known for its vibrant nightlife. But Kanvas is significant because it’s reminiscent of an age a hundred years ago, when Black-owned dining and drinking establishments thrived in the area and carried on important social traditions, from preserving certain cuisines to providing places for music to thrive.Kanvas owner Kevin Kelley, a native Dallasite who’s an attorney by day, opened his first local restaurant, Kitchen + Kocktails by Kevin Kelley, in 2020, serving nostalgic yet elegant…

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december roar ted cruz spread photoJudging a Magazine by Its CoverShame on you for giving Ted Cruz the cover before the election. It doesn’t matter what was written in the article [“Ted Cruz Would Like to Reintroduce Himself,” October 2024], because seeing Cruz on the cover of a respected publication holds weight in the eyes of voters. Words can’t describe how disappointed I am by your decision. I’m a longtime subscriber and now gone forever. Rachel Hodges, Richardson I appreciate Michael Hardy’s grilling of Cruz, but he didn’t go far enough. Contrary to what the senator and nearly every other Republican says, the majority of migrants who have crossed the southern border in recent years have entered the country legally by applying for asylum. Most have followed the rules, just like Cruz’s…

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UT-A&M Football RivalryI come to you with a warning: Right here in Texas, there are trolls among us. And they are everywhere.They are your local business owners. They are CEOs. They are your spouses, your grandparents, and your children’s teachers. But online, they wear different masks. They adopt new identities. They risk everything—and for what, exactly? Go ahead. Check your loved ones’ internet search histories. You’ll find a pattern that some might consider troubling.Longhorn fans on Aggie message boards.Aggies on a website called Orangebloods.“I’m not going to lie,” one Texas A&M alum told me. “During the peak of the season, it could be fourteen hours a week that I spend on those sites.” (This source, along with many of the other fanatics interviewed for this story, asked…

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