Wacowabunga! Why California Surfers Are Descending on Central Texas
Some of the best waves in the world are found at the Waco Surf water park, far away from any ocean.
Ben Rowen is a senior editor at Texas Monthly for News & Politics. Before joining the magazine, Ben worked as an editor and fact-checker at Pacific Standard and the Atlantic. In addition to Texas politics, he’s written about Californians, internet religions, and baseball.
Some of the best waves in the world are found at the Waco Surf water park, far away from any ocean.
By Ben Rowen
Millions of eligible Texans don't vote. That doesn't mean they're liberals-in-waiting.
By Ben Rowen
They’re self-obsessed and believe themselves exceptional. In other words, they fit right in. Plus, Texas needs ’em.
By Ben Rowen
He decided to mount a GOP primary challenge when COVID-19 policy was animating Texas’s right wing. But the governor stole his thunder.
By Ben Rowen
At the sprawling North Texas community college, four professors say they were let go for speaking their minds. They’re not going quietly.
By Ben Rowen
On top of Mt. Aggie, the only slope in the state, it’s all downhill from here.
By Ben Rowen
A Texas Monthly roundtable discussion.
Donald Trump and Joe Biden cruised to victory, the Democrats chose Colin Allred to challenge Ted Cruz, and Dade Phelan is heading to a runoff.
Politicians have labeled the battle over Ken Paxton’s impeachment as one between centrists and the far right. It’s not, according to our analysis of legislators’ voting records.
By Michael Hardy, Ben Rowen and Alexandra Samuels
Texas's Defiance Press publishes conservative broadsides that border on fiction. But it’s the company’s actual novels that are truly strange.
By Ben Rowen
Foul trouble slowed the San Antonio Spurs rookie in Wednesday’s loss to Dallas, but Wembanyama’s flashes of brilliance still shone bright.
By Ben Rowen
When I first arrived in Texas, I didn’t get the fawning over Whataburger. I tried to understand by eating 21 straight meals there.
By Ben Rowen
Some of the best waves in the world are found at the Waco Surf water park, far away from any ocean.
By Ben Rowen
A right-wing First Amendment lawyer is representing a plaintiff suing representative Jeff Leach of Plano for harsh tweets about a TEXIT backer.
By Ben Rowen
Our man picks a fight with a San Antonio icon. Maybe they should settle this on the court—or in the 2024 election?
By Dan Solomon and Ben Rowen
Legislators and staffers have been cavorting in one of Austin’s most dimly lit establishments.
By Ben Rowen
Booted from one locale amid outcry, the “Rally Against Censorship” proceeded—with an airing of familiar right-wing grievances.
By Ben Rowen
The lame-duck congressman looks to leave a mark, while his colleagues float a big border plan and do some culture warring.
By Ben Rowen
Every two years the Democrats claim they will win by turning out new voters. Every two years they fail.
By Ben Rowen
Texan legislators in Washington keep their eyes on the important things. Texas Monthly rounded up the latest.
By Ben Rowen
Millions of eligible Texans don't vote. That doesn't mean they're liberals-in-waiting.
By Ben Rowen
Texan legislators in Washington keep their eyes on the important things. Texas Monthly rounded up the latest.
By Ben Rowen
Texans have stood by their attorney general through two criminal indictments and a host of other scandals. Is there any misdeed that might stick to his Teflon coating before the November election?
By Ben Rowen
Marco who? This is the ultimate water game.
By Ben Rowen
Justin Berry was running a sleepy state House race against Ellen Troxclair before his policing at George Floyd protests came to the fore.
By Ben Rowen
At the sprawling North Texas community college, four professors say they were let go for speaking their minds. They’re not going quietly.
By Ben Rowen
On top of Mt. Aggie, the only slope in the state, it’s all downhill from here.
By Ben Rowen
He decided to mount a GOP primary challenge when COVID-19 policy was animating Texas’s right wing. But the governor stole his thunder.
By Ben Rowen
At the former president’s Saturday evening rally in Conroe, even candidates whose opponents he’d endorsed were out in full force.
By Ben Rowen
Don Huffines, Chad Prather, and Allen West had plenty to say about the governor’s failings—all in perfect unison.
By Ben Rowen
They’re self-obsessed and believe themselves exceptional. In other words, they fit right in. Plus, Texas needs ’em.
By Ben Rowen
In the beginning, Greg Abbott took a hands-off approach that kept Texas ahead of other large states in mitigating cases and deaths. But when he tried to appease right-wing Republicans, the story changed.
By Ben Rowen
As the president’s supporters launched a violent insurrection in Washington, D.C., about three hundred demonstrators gathered at the Texas Capitol to call for the election results to be overturned.
By Ben Rowen
A resolution calling on four other state legislatures to override the will of their voters passed after electors in those states had already confirmed Biden’s win.
By Ben Rowen
We surveyed a range of Texas politicians in competitive races to see how they’re addressing the demands of the movement.
By Ben Rowen
Social distancing mandates have been instituted to slow the pandemic’s spread—a necessity that also coincides with a loneliness epidemic.
By Ben Rowen
The Legislature added an option for voters without valid IDs per a court order, but for the homeless population it might not be enough.
By Ben Rowen