A TikTok video with more than 100,000 views showed Kaleb Blain, a 35-year old trans man and pitmaster, standing at a folding table gesturing to a plate of freshly prepared chickens, ready for the BBQ smoker. The caption read “politics and cooking don’t mix.” But then the video cut away to a series of photos […]
Tag: Waco
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 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
Where Have You Gone, George W. Bush?
On Oct. 10, former President Barack Obama stepped back into the political fray. Former President Donald Trump had spent weeks dominating news cycles with lies about Haitian-born immigrants eating neighbors’ pets in Ohio, lies about Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris being a Marxist, and still more lies about the 2020 election being rigged against him. […]
Posted inCulture
Will the Real Dr Pepper Please Stand Up?
You might not love Dr Pepper, but — if you live in Texas — you have to respect it. Sure, it’s not Coke or Pepsi, but it’s ours. (And not to brag, but Dr Pepper passed Pepsi last year to become the number two soda brand in the U.S.) For Texans, we’re honor-bound to stan […]
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 […]