Inside the New AI Slop Era of Texas Politics
As synthetic attack ads blur the line between political satire and deception, the Lone Star State is becoming a testing ground for the limits of election law and free speech.
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The Latest
Opinion ⋆
Black Texans Built More than 400 Schools When the State Would Not
What we can learn from Rosenwald schools and Jeanes teachers today
Reviews ⋆
‘After the Genocide, the Genocide’: A Houston Doctor’s Record of Gaza
Fady Joudah’s latest work, “Exhibit G,” charts complicity and erasure with medical precision.
Politics ⋆
Why Aren’t Texas Democrats Talking About Abortion?
Once seen as a crucial issue after the fall of “Roe,” candidates here are now largely ignoring it altogether.
Politics ⋆
Poll: Bobby Pulido Appears Poised to Flip the 15th Congressional District
The South Texas-based district went for Trump by 18 points in 2024.
Texas Continued Permitting Data Centers After Abbott’s Pause, Report Finds
FracTracker and Public Citizen identified 35 permitting actions taken by regulators in Texas in the weeks after Governor Greg Abbott ordered a moratorium.
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Politics
Is Brandon Gill the Future of MAGA in Texas?
The young-ish right-wing Republican has rapidly gone from freshman lawmaker to one of Trump’s top attack dogs.
School Vouchers Take Center Stage in Texas’ Most Flippable State House District
On San Antonio’s South Side, a progressive Democrat faces off with an architect of the new private school voucher program.
A ‘Politically Motivated Cover-Up’: Why the State’s Maternal Death Report Was Pushed Until After Midterms
Advocates and lawmakers warn the state health agency’s decision to delay releasing the annual report will further harm women—and make it harder to enact necessary laws in 2027.
Border and Immigration
What Will It Take to ‘Get ICE the Fuck Out of Austin’?
Shootings by federal agents are proliferating since Donald Trump took office in 2025, several of them in Texas. To stop it from happening again, local elected officials and prosecutors are hunting for options that aren’t already foreclosed.
Santa Ana’s Last Stand
Congress repeatedly shielded the Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge from the border wall. Now, construction has begun—and an irrigation district lawsuit may be the only option left to buy time for lawmakers to act.
ICE Contractor for Controversial Camp East Montana Is Trailed by Fraud Allegations
To continue running the deadly El Paso detention center, the feds turn to a company that’s faced numerous lawsuits from labor unions and former employees and is actively fighting a whistleblower in court.
Culture
Houston’s ‘Living Archive’ of Migration
At Fresh Arts, photographer Violeta Álvarez created a space where immigrant families in Houston can see their own histories reflected back to them.
Houston’s Historic Black Theater at 50
For five decades, the Ensemble has brought Houstonians together to laugh, cry, and talk back to plays representing all aspects of African-American life.
Can We Survive Naomi Klein’s Depiction of ‘End Times Fascism’?
Klein and co-author Astra Taylor’s new book is too bleak and unfocused for our shameless and sharp-edged political moment.
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November/December 2026
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