On the morning of Wednesday, November 7, 2018, I was sitting in my office at the Texas AFL-CIO building, square between the Texas governor’s mansion and the state capitol, ruminating on what had been one hell of a weird election night. On the one hand, progressives had picked up nearly a dozen seats in the […]
Category: Opinion
Posted inOpinion
I Can’t Believe It’s Not Heroin!
(Editor’s Note: If you or a loved one struggle with substance abuse disorder, visit findtreatment.gov to learn about options for treatment and help. And don’t try any of this at home.) When I was 29, there was a vape shop by my apartment where I bought nicotine pouches. They sat on the shelf to the […]
Posted inOpinion
The Wildest, Worst — and Best — Gun Laws Texas Politicians Want: A Comprehensive Guide
In the almost two centuries since the Battle of the Alamo, Texans’ love for guns has been well documented in dime-store novels and Hollywood westerns. However, in the Texas Capitol, the issue has become a political purity test that often prioritizes the whims of primary voters and special-interest groups over sound judgment and public safety. […]
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 inMusic
‘Beyoncé Bowl’ NFL Halftime Performance Was a Master Class in Black Joy & Authenticity
“As Black people, the world is a lot more surreal,” Tony- and Emmy-nominated multidisciplinary artist Daniel J. Watts told me in 2023. “You have to pay attention to it enough to acknowledge — awareness — and you can’t stare too directly at it, or it’ll steal your ability to do anything. So, it’s threading the […]
Posted inTexana
The Most Delicious Winter Beverage Is Hot Dr. Pepper & Lemon
My dad, now 70, grew up working on farms and in oil patches in South Texas, where the only true choice of tonic during a scorching day was a crisp, cold Dr Pepper from the service station. “They had ice crusted on the edges,” he says. “But you don’t drink cold drinks in the winter.” […]
Posted inOpinion
In Texas, Bipartisanship Is on Life Support. Republicans Could Pull the Plug.
It’s old hat to say everything is bigger in Texas. True connoisseurs know that things in the Lone Star State are also often wilder and weirder than what you see on the evening news. Every two weeks, Steven Monacelli will explore the dystopic, desperate, and despicable realities of contemporary Texas and channel the sense of […]
Posted inOpinion
I’m a Muslim High School Student. I Fear the New Bible-Infused Curriculum.
“But not everybody is Christian,” my 10-year-old sister said. “Who allowed this?” We learned last month that Bible lessons could become part of her elementary school curriculum starting in 2025. For 10 minutes, she sat in disbelief, voicing the same questions on a loop. “Who allowed this?” “Why did they let this happen?” “What about […]
Posted inPolitics
National Republican Morons Are Mad About the Texas House Speaker Race
The race for speaker of the Texas House continues to get stupider as one candidate has dubbed himself “speaker-elect” (which is not a real thing) and national Republicans weighed in this week. To catch you up, there’s been a scramble for the top state House post after the current speaker, state Rep. Dade Phelan, R-Beaumont, […]
Posted inPolitics
Texas Republicans Are the New Big Government Establishment
It’s old hat to say everything is bigger in Texas. True connoisseurs know that things in the Lone Star State are also often wilder and weirder than what you see on the evening news. Every two weeks, Steven Monacelli will explore the dystopic, desperate, and despicable realities of contemporary Texas and channel the sense of […]