Texas Monthly

Our October cover story, “The Man Who Can’t Forget,” tells the untold story of Forrest Welborn. Welborn spent a third of a century as one of the suspects in the infamous yogurt shop murders. It all but destroyed his life, until he was finally exonerated last year. Written by Michael Hall, the piece revisits the original yogurt shop murders investigation and shows all of the ways law enforcement got it wrong. But most of the story concentrates on Welborn himself, revealing his struggle to find his place in the world, a world where so many people viewed him as a killer. The good news: He finally found that place. The bad news: He still doesn’t feel free. 📬 Read the cover story: https://lnkd.in/gcdXawe8

This month, Texas Monthly explores an unfolding crisis facing the iconic Rio Grande. As early as next year, some of the 15 million people who depend on the storied waterway for drinking water could see their taps run dry. The water crisis would also disrupt a multibillion-dollar agriculture industry in the American Southwest and northern Mexico and could increase the possibilities of international conflict and a mass-migration event. To understand exactly what is at stake and how we got here, Texas Monthly contributor Jack Herrera and photographer Jordan Vonderhaar traveled the entirety of the Rio Grande’s 1,900 miles over seven months. You can find what they learned in our cover story, “The War for the Rio Grande,” and in a special episode and segment of Texas Monthly Presents: The Story. The episode is available now for streaming through PBS, and the segment will be available in a few weeks. The September issue also includes a feature about Herrera and Vonderhaar’s trek to the source of the river, in Colorado, and a series of personal essays from South Texans who share what the iconic river means to them. All three stories are available in Spanish too. 📬 Read the cover story: https://lnkd.in/e7tHP7jV 📺 Watch the episode: https://lnkd.in/gd6JC2zC 📍 Read Herrera’s account of trekking to the source the Rio Grande: https://lnkd.in/gHWvpqBx ✏️ Read the personal essays: https://lnkd.in/gZnX_rUc

Tonight, attendees of the season 2 premiere of The 23rd Street Mural Project at the Austin Film Society will get a chance to hear from one of our very own—the legendary true crime writer Skip Hollandsworth. The project showcases short documentaries about the people and places featured in Austin's first mural. Hollandsworth narrates one of the films featured in the project, A Moon Tower Mystery, which is about America’s first serial killer. It’s a puzzling case that Hollandsworth has written about before: https://lnkd.in/gcuY7Ypp. For more information about the screening: https://lnkd.in/gJRCNM9r

After an illustrious 47 years at Texas Monthly, our vice president of development, David Barr Dunham, is retiring. His last day will be January 1, 2027. Dunham has held many roles across the company: account executive, Southwest sales manager, associate publisher of development, publisher, and vice president of development. He’s landed and managed some of the magazine’s biggest custom projects for the company, like the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Outdoor Annual, H-E-B My H-E-B Texas Life, and work for other chambers of commerce of major cities. “David is and always has been the ideal ambassador for Texas Monthly. He’s Texan through and through, he believes in our editorial products to his core, and he is utterly at home in the advertiser and agency community and amongst folks that make things happen,” said Texas Monthly’s chief executive officer, Scott Brown. “His impact at Texas Monthly for nearly the entirety of our existence has been huge.” As David prepares for retirement, we congratulate him on an amazing career and thank him for all that he has done for Texas Monthly!

Bear with me, here. We at Texas Monthly are asking you, current and future readers, to read a very long story. It's called "The War for the Rio Grande." It's by writer Jack Herrera and photographer Jordan Vonderhaar. It is a complicated narrative, involving ecology, international politics, violence, physics, greed, and human thirst. It begins in an idyllic setting in Colorado, travels through New Mexico and along the border of Texas and Mexico and ends—well, we're not quite sure. I think you'll be stunned to find out where the water goes, where it disappears entirely and where it recharges along the way. And why the river is in crisis. The river is long. The story is long. At a time when it is very difficult to get people to sit with a story (or put it down and come back to it), we are asking you to commit. No publishing organization takes that request lightly in 2026. I think this story is worth your time. I know it's worth publishing. And, at the risk of seeming like a huckster, it is itself worth the price of a subscription to Texas Monthly. Texas Monthly gives life to ideas in every which way there is, but we will never abandon our mission to serve those of you who want excellence in reporting and narrative and are willing to commit time to experience it. Before this post itself gets too long, I want to make a couple of promises: We will always make stories that will change the way you see the land and the people around you (even if you're not reading, watching, or listening to us in Texas). We will make stories you will want to talk about with your friends. This is one of those stories, and so many more are on the way. https://lnkd.in/ge5vZ7FK

Texas Monthly’s celebrated journalism is returning to your screens this month. 📺 The second season of the award-winning series, Texas Monthly Presents: The Story, will air on Texas PBS stations and in select nationwide markets starting on Sunday, August 23. Season 2 will take viewers even deeper into the magazine writers’ captivating reporting journeys across the state, and for the first time, into Mexico. The program will continue to show that the storytelling process can be just as illuminating as the story itself. The season begins with “The Away Team,” a powerful episode about Afghan women soccer players in Houston, where viewers are offered an intimate portrait of the players rebuilding their lives after leaving their country. To view the show’s broadcast schedule in Texas or beyond, check your local listing. Episodes are also available for streaming anywhere in the U.S. through the PBS app. Special thanks to this season’s underwriters, Rambler Sparkling Water, Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation, and Texas Rural Funders for helping to make this show possible. The show is presented by Texas PBS, and station relations are managed by Artemis Independent.

Today the short film Thank You for Listening, which is presented by Texas Monthly, is now exclusively available for streaming on Yahoo. The film chronicles country artist Joshua Ray Walker’s journey of hope, healing, and resilience following a life-altering cancer diagnosis. Thank you for Listening was one of twenty films selected for global recognition and distribution by Yahoo Media Group and the Nonfiction Hotlist. The film is directed by Emmy- and Peabody-winning filmmaker Gene Gallerano and critically acclaimed filmmaker Bob Ray. It’s executive produced by Texas Monthly’s own Megan Creydt and story director J.K. Nickell; Peabody- and duPont-Columbia Award–winning producer Daniel J. Chalfen; Emmy- and Peabody-winning filmmaker Pagan Harleman; and Emmy-nominated producer and director Ben Selkow. Texas Monthly is honored to have played a part in Walker’s storytelling journey. To view the documentary on Yahoo, visit https://lnkd.in/ggQRRcCN. 

Texas Monthly is #hiring for three exciting roles across our portfolio! We’re looking for a Deputy Editor, a Producer for Texas Country Reporter, and a Staff Writer. All three positions are full-time and based in Austin, Texas. Visit our jobs page to learn more about these opportunities: https://lnkd.in/gtJ8zitR.

Today we’re celebrating National Intern Day by recognizing our talented Summer 2026 interns! This summer, our interns have gained hands-on experience working across our editorial, sales and business teams bringing curiosity, creativity, and fresh perspectives to everything they've worked on. Thank you to our interns for all of your hard work and enthusiasm throughout the summer. And thank you to all of our colleagues and mentors who have helped guide them this summer. We are so grateful to have such talented young professionals as part of the Texas Monthly Team and we can’t wait to see what’s next for each of you!

📺 Texas Monthly’s PBS Docuseries Expands to National Audience, Adding Flood Anniversary Episode ‘Texas Monthly Presents: The Story’ has made its nationwide debut after its inaugural year on Texas public television. The half-hour documentary series has captivated audiences with its unique storytelling and won four Lone Star Emmy Awards in its first season. This weekend, the series will premiere a special episode ahead of the July 4 anniversary of the Guadalupe River flood, exploring themes of grief, recovery, community, and hope as Texans reflect on what happened last summer and how to move forward. Read on for more details about the upcoming episode and series expansion. https://lnkd.in/gQmcDwp9