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
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
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
It’s 1974, and in Round Rock, Texas, the devil is about to die a gruesome death. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre* released in theaters, and horror has never been the same. The occult almost completely dominated the horror film scene of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Just a
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
On Friday night, Vice President Kamala Harris touched down in Houston for a rally at Shell Energy Stadium. The crowd in Houston was well over 20,000 and it was often raucous: dancing to songs spun by a DJ before the main programming started. For many in the large crowd
With less than two weeks until Election Day, Texas likely remains just on the edge of being a true battleground state. Still, Vice President Kamala Harris is en route to Houston for a rally with Beyoncé, Willie Nelson, and candidates like Colin Allred. It’s the first time in decades
The mask is a cornerstone of Halloween. Some people wear them to frighten others, enhancing the spooky nature of the season. Others use them as a form of trickery or roleplay, paying homage to the idea that Halloween is a time when the veil between worlds thins. Something about the
In Texas, early voting is officially underway. On the presidential level, Texas is not considered one of the major battleground states. But in 2020 Donald Trump won the state by 5.6 points against Joe Biden. That was the closest margin in decades. With Vice President Kamala Harris now at
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
The first and likely only debate for the Texas Senate took place in Dallas last night. As Congressman Colin Allred and Senator Ted Cruz entered the stage they shook hands. And that’s about when the pleasantries ended. As the challenger, Allred got right to the point in his introduction,
Dr. Austin Dennard is an OB/GYN from Dallas who was forced to leave the state for an abortion after a devastating diagnosis during a pregnancy. She was a plaintiff in the lawsuit Zurawski v. Texas, which sought to clarify the medical exceptions to the state’s abortion ban that
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
Houston’s oldest movie theater, the River Oaks, opened its doors again for the first time since 2021 on October 3. Under new direction and local ownership by Culinary Khancepts, it’s poised to become the beating heart of film in the city as it was over most of its
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
Ken Paxton has been on a particularly litigious spree lately. Especially when it comes to voting. That’s likely no surprise given the proximity of the November election and that early voting in Texas starts in three weeks on Monday, October 21. Paxton’s legal maneuvering has taken many forms.
As he campaigns to return to the White House, Donald Trump has attempted to distance himself from Project 2025, also known as the Presidential Transition Project. Project 2025 is a set of policy recommendations pertaining to government agencies that runs nearly 1,000 pages and is essentially a blueprint for
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
Every sports fan in Texas is familiar with the expression “the momentum has shifted.” It comes when a team that has been down and out mounts a comeback, and the announcers react to the changing narrative on the field (or court, rink or pitch). As Texans gear up for another
This week one of the country’s largest Latino advocacy organizations released a new election survey about Texas that showed some unexpected findings. With less than fifty days until the election, 52 percent of Latinos in Texas report they have not been contacted by either the Republican nor Democratic party
This week Democratic State Rep. Ana-Maria Ramos announced she was running for Texas Speaker of the House, joining a crowded field that already includes several Republicans looking to challenge embattled current Speaker Dade Phelan. An attorney, Ramos entered the legislature after flipping a north Texas district in 2018. In an
In his capacity as Texas Attorney General, nobody could accuse Ken Paxton of keeping a light schedule. In this last month he has filed a flurry of lawsuits: ranging from attempts to stop Texas counties from sending out voter registration applications; to suing the Biden Administration over a federal rule
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
As he is running for re-election in a race that many polls are predicting could come down to the single digits, Ted Cruz keeps trying to tout bipartisan credentials. He specifically has repeated a claim that the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024 is the one hundredth piece of legislation he
In July Ted Cruz’s re-election campaign launched a major ad blitz focused on Hispanic voters in Texas. Axios reported the buy would include both broadcast and digital ads targeting Latino voters in Texas. As the ads have started rolling out, though, it’s clear the authentic portrait of Texas