A generation ago, most Americans would not have been able to tell you who Krampus was. Now, the horned figure has become almost as much a part of Christmas as Santa Claus and Frosty the Snowman. It’s hardly surprising that Krampus would see a major resurgence here in Texas.
Visiting the new Vincent Valdez career retrospective, Just a Dream, at the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston is like admiring a sunrise, only for the sunrise to admire you back. It’s gargantuan, liminal, and positively radioactive in its impact. Born in San Antonio in 1977, Valdez has long been one
For many women in Texas, obtaining birth control is surprisingly difficult. It often involves a doctor’s visit, a prescription, and monthly refills. But there’s a company that’s trying to make that easier. Pandia Health was founded in 2016 and is now one of the largest online health
The Texas Legislature is set to reconvene on January 14. And when that new session arrives, Texans can expect even more rightward shifts on several issues including immigration, abortion, and education. Perhaps no issue is going to dominate the session as much as vouchers that would allow parents to send
Saba Razvi likes to write in airports, which is good because she flies out of George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH) or William P. Hobby Airport (HOU) once a month. A poet, writer and critic who teaches at the University of Houston Victoria, she finds airports to be spaces full of
Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared on Deceleration and was coproduced with Truthout, a nonprofit news organization dedicated to providing independent reporting and commentary on social justice issues. “The hostility has always been there,” Paul told me. “But I feel like it truly began to ramp up like 2020.
Yesterday’s election was a bitter disappointment for Texas Democrats. While there was some optimism that the state could potentially elect a statewide Democratic candidate for the first time in nearly thirty years, Texas lurched farther to the right. Ted Cruz easily won his re-election by over ten points. Former
Late one evening in February 2022, Chinar Sediqi touched down at San Antonio International Airport for the first time. He was with his wife, Noorafshan, and their five children, the youngest only one year old. The older children gathered their backpacks and the family retrieved three boxes filled with belongings
It’s a scary time to be LGBTQ+ in Texas, but the state’s horror authors are using their voices to make sure the terror is felt both ways. Gabrielle Faust is among the loudest queer horror voices in Texas. Since 2008, she has released twelve novels and anthologies. Her
A Forgotten Texas History EL PASO – The most militant offshoot of the Irish Republican Army had plans to move weapons south across the Texas-Mexico border and to smuggle its leader north from Mexico into the United States. This fact came out in testimony in the 2003 Dublin trial of Mickey
To say that the last few weeks for Christy Stratton have been overwhelming is likely an understatement. When I simply asked the longtime television writer, and Fort Worth native, how she was doing, she sounded almost philosophical as she pondered her answer. That’s not surprising because it’s only
The Texas Legislature is set to reconvene on January 14. And when that new session arrives, Texans can expect even more rightward shifts on several issues including immigration, abortion, and education. Perhaps no issue is going to dominate the session as much as vouchers that would allow parents to send
Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared on Deceleration and was coproduced with Truthout, a nonprofit news organization dedicated to providing independent reporting and commentary on social justice issues. “The hostility has always been there,” Paul told me. “But I feel like it truly began to ramp up like 2020.
Yesterday’s election was a bitter disappointment for Texas Democrats. While there was some optimism that the state could potentially elect a statewide Democratic candidate for the first time in nearly thirty years, Texas lurched farther to the right. Ted Cruz easily won his re-election by over ten points. Former
With the Election just days away, Ted Cruz is making his final pitch to voters. As part of his last appeal Cruz is banking on bigotry and transphobia. His biggest ad buys this campaign season have involved commercials claiming his challenger Colin Allred supports men in women’s sports, and
Thirty years ago this month, the San Jacinto River caught fire. Storms thrown off Hurricane Rosa in Mexico resulted in heavy rains in Houston, flooding the city and rupturing a 40-inch gasoline pipeline. Fuel poured into the river and quickly caught flame. Waves of fire flowed down the water, destroying
Earlier this year Texas Signal published an introduction to Project 2025, also known as the Presidential Transition Project. From now until the Election we will be highlighting how Project 2025 would impact the lives of everyday Texans. This week we are taking a deep dive into the chapter on the
Contrary to its name, The Railroad Commission of Texas has nothing to do with trains (at least not anymore). Instead, this state agency is critically important as it oversees the oil and gas industry. The Commission is comprised of three members, which were initially appointed by the governor, but now
On Tuesday July 9, Texans in the wake of Hurricane Beryl had their first full day to assess the damage of the Category 1 storm. Millions of customers remain without power as temperatures are expected to rise to a heat index of 105 degrees. Beryl made landfall near the small
Earlier this year Texas Signal published an introduction to Project 2025, also known as the Presidential Transition Project. From now until the Election we will be highlighting how Project 2025 would impact the lives of everyday Texans. This week we are taking a deep dive into the chapter on the
For many families in Texas, this week has been dominated by the excitement and jitters of the first days back to school. Even though the temperature is hovering in the triple digits throughout the state, school districts are back in Fall form. For many educators and school employees, this year
In June, Greg Abbott released a semi-annual campaign finance report that showed eye-popping figures from two school voucher advocates: Jeff Yass and Jim Walton. The donations, totaling $4.2 million, are a continuing saga in Abbott’s overtures towards school choice backers. Texas is the largest red state that has
With the runoff elections in Texas over, Greg Abbott has been touting school vouchers as a major priority for the state. Earlier this year, the pro-voucher agenda received a boost after several rural Republicans lost to school choice candidates. Before that Abbott had called four special elections to try and
For many women in Texas, obtaining birth control is surprisingly difficult. It often involves a doctor’s visit, a prescription, and monthly refills. But there’s a company that’s trying to make that easier. Pandia Health was founded in 2016 and is now one of the largest online health
Last night on 60 Minutes, the long running news program aired a segment about the grim ramifications of being in a state with a near-total abortion ban. The story, which included the dire warnings of doctors in the state, aired just days after reporting from ProPublica described how two pregnant
As Election Day gets closer and closer, audiences in Texas and around the country have been raving about a documentary that puts a human face on abortion bans, and the men and women working every day to try and reverse them. Zurawski v Texas, from independent filmmakers Maisie Crow and
It has been over three years since Texas has been under what is essentially an entire abortion ban when Senate Bill 8 was enacted on September 1, 2021 (months before Roe v. Wade was overturned). Many reproductive rights organizations warned that the consequences would be dire: overall healthcare would be