Look, I’m a crier. I get misty-eyed at adorable babies and beautiful brides, so you can imagine what a nightmare it is to sit near me when I report on tragedies. Still, I was gobsmacked when I began to write my year-in-review piece — a simple assignment! I’ve done dozens of them over my career! […]
Category: Editor’s Letter
Posted inEditor's Letter
Texas Is a Lot More Queer Than You Think. I Am Too.
I think I need to start at the beginning, because I’ve never talked about this publicly. During freshman orientation at McGill University, I ended up on a pedestrian-only stone street strung with pink decorations: The Gay Village in Montreal, Canada. There’s a Saint-Pierre-Apôtre Church with a Chapel of Hope dedicated to AIDS victims. Rainbows. Murals. […]
Posted inCulture
Oscar Wyatt Was Houston’s Oil-Slicked Gatsby. Step Inside His ‘Tower of Terror.’
Late last week my mom texted me, “Only the good die young.” Then, “Oscar Wyatt.” The 101-year-old oil tycoon was primarily famous for turning an $800 loan in 1955 into a pipeline company that became the Coastal Corporation — a national energy conglomerate that earned him billions. He passed away in Houston last week “peacefully […]
Posted inEditor's Letter
Best of The Barbed Wire 2024: Video Games, Peyote Gardens, and Millennial Revolutions
In the four months since we launched, we have (hopefully!) made you laugh and think with clever and hard stories. In 2024, over 123 working days, our small team of three full-time editors published approximately 252 stories under 29 bylines — short and long; silly and serious; essays, features, and exclusives. The majesty, absurdity, diversity, […]
Posted inOpinion
What’s Wrong With Our Men? And What Can We Do About It?
Editor’s note: Visit the state’s Family Violence Program Resources page for a directory of shelters and support services. The National Domestic Violence Hotline can be reached at 800-799-SAFE (7233) or by texting “START” to 88788. If you or someone you know is in crisis, there is help available. Call or text 988 to reach the […]
Posted inOpinion
Are You There, Texas? It’s Me, Olivia.
Welcome to The Barbed Wire. If you’re reading this and live in Texas — or used to live in Texas or care about Texas — you’re in the right place. Here’s what we’re offering: We would like to make you laugh and tell you hard stories. We want to inform, to engage, and to help you […]