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 wondering who the hell “Doctor Who” was. […]
Author Archives: Brian Gaar
Brian Gaar is a senior editor for The Barbed Wire. A longtime Texas journalist, he has written for the Austin American-Statesman, the Waco Tribune-Herald, Texas Monthly, and many other publications. He was also a writer and producer at the beloved Austin production company, Rooster Teeth.
Brian grew up in Wichita Falls and graduated from The University of Texas at Austin. He's a veteran Austin comedian and released a standup album that hit #2 on the iTunes comedy charts (thanks, Jim Gaffigan). He also hosted a late-night comedy show, ATX Uncensored(ish), on Austin's NBC affiliate.
Posted inNews
Woman Placed in Solitary After Viral Cat Fundraiser Is Back in Regular Housing, Texas Prison Officials Say
We’ve got an update on the Texas inmate who was thrown in solitary confinement after her daughter raised money to help a sick cat (yes, really): She’s finally back in regular housing. Texas prison officials confirmed that Sonya Reed, 53, is no longer in administrative segregation, which is a nice way to say “solitary confinement.” […]
Posted inNews
After a Prison Cat Fundraiser Went Viral, Texas Officials Put His Caretaker in Solitary Confinement
Just days after a fundraiser to save a sick stray cat at a Central Texas women’s prison raised nearly $11,000, Texas prison officials placed the incarcerated woman who cared for the cat into solitary confinement — despite the fact that she did not organize the fundraiser or receive any of the money. Sonya Reed, a […]
Posted inNews
‘I Didn’t Know So Many People Cared.’ How the Daughter of an Incarcerated Woman Raised $11,000 for a Sick Prison Cat.
In a place defined by razor wire, locked doors, and long sentences, a stray cat named OJ became something rare: a constant, living comfort for women who have access to very little else. And recently when OJ fell seriously ill inside a Central Texas prison, his survival came down to a small group of incarcerated […]
Posted inNews
The Daughter of an Incarcerated Woman Is Crowdfunding a Vet Visit for Her Beloved Cat Named Orange Julius
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 needs veterinary treatment, according to the […]
Posted inOpinion
We Asked About Your New Year’s Resolutions. Y’all Are Trying Your Best.
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 never quite pull off) I asked people to […]
Posted inCulture
Yes, Everything’s on Fire. But People Are Still Helping Each Other.
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 trying to monetize gravity with crypto, and […]
Posted inCulture
Dear Santa, Can You Give Texas a Break? We’ve Tried Nothing and We’re All Out of Ideas
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. Nothing huge. Just small, achievable miracles on par with, […]
Posted inOpinion
A Moment With Rob Reiner That Meant Everything
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 I was doing. I was the […]
Posted inOpinion
Remember the ‘War on Christmas’? I Kinda Miss It.
Remember the “War on Christmas”? Yes, that early-2000s fever dream when Fox News convinced half the country that “Happy Holidays” was basically Sharia law in a festive font. A time when the right blamed “secularists” for everything, but everyone understood the subtext: post-9/11 panic, a dash of Islamophobia, and a preview of the endlessly escalating […]