Dan Goodgame

When Texas Monthly bought the beloved Texas Country Reporter TV series two years ago, my colleagues and I were excited and also worried. We knew the popularity of the show, which tells engaging stories about folks along the back roads of Texas, was based in large part on the appeal of its cohosts, Bob Phillips and his wife, Kelli, who had decided they wanted to take on new adventures fifty years after Bob founded TCR. Luckily, the Phillipses agreed to continue to host the show for two more years…

Most journalists develop a specialty or two, accumulating knowledge of particular topics through their reporting and cultivating of expert sources. At Texas Monthly, for instance, executive editor Mike Hall, a law school dropout and rock-and-roll singer and guitarist who plays weekend gigs in Austin, writes often about both criminal justice and music. Executive editor Courtney Bond enthusiastically covers food and drink as well as Texas travel. But few writers anywhere display the range of senio…

Over the past several months, one publication after another has announced significant layoffs: Business Insider, the Los Angeles Times, National Geographic, the New Yorker, Sports Illustrated, the Texas Tribune, the Washington Post, and many others. Among the few journalistic organizations still growing in readers, listeners, and viewers, revenue, and editorial staff are the New York Times—and Texas Monthly. That distinction wouldn’t be possible without the diligence and creativity of TM’s ed…

Some of Texas Monthly’s most discerning readers regularly ask me, “When will y’all publish your next article by Sean O’Neal?” They look forward to Sean’s authoritative, witty takes on movies, TV, and music—and his occasional forays into the performative aspects of politics. (His first piece for us, in 2019, delved into the playlists at campaign rallies for Julián Castro and Beto O’Rourke.) Born and reared in Arlington, between Dallas and Fort Worth, Sean knows the state well. And his years spent…

Meet three members of our acclaimed art department who make each issue of Texas Monthly a treat for the eye.

In our most recent issue, the versatile writer profiles a best-selling author—and a rowdy coastal resort.

This month’s cover story, an oral history, explores the enduring impact of the Livestrong movement, once promoted by professional cyclist and cancer survivor Lance Armstrong to lend encouragement and support to others suffering from the dread disease. For the writer of our story, the topic hit close to home. Senior editor Emily McCullar was ten years old when she lost her mother to breast cancer, in 1996, eight years before Livestrong was born. Emily says, “My mother’s illness has very much info…

Writer-at-large Oscar Cásares infuses his work with the rhythms of tales he heard as a child of the borderlands.

The esteemed author behind our September 2024 cover story also pens novels and screenplays. And I hear he mows a mean lawn.

I’m stepping down as editor of Texas Monthly, with gratitude for you, our loyal and outspoken readers.