Cover Story
Think Outside the Sauce
Beyoncé might brag about hot sauce in her bag, but Austin’s condiment aisle is considerably more interesting. From hot honey made with Texas’ only native pepper to German-style mustard potent enough to clear the sinuses, these five small-batch creations are redefining what a spicy condiment can be beyond the tried-and-true bottle of Tabasco. Two Hives…
News
West Texans Travel to Austin to Protest Big Bend Border Construction
Hundreds of people gathered outside of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department headquarters in Southeast Austin last Wednesday, Aug. 19. As they do just once a year, the state commission that oversees Texas’ national and state parks was about to open a hearing for public comment. This year, Texans traveled to Austin from border towns…
Council Begins Process of Banning Large-Scale Data Centers
It’s the perfect moment for an easy vote. The Austin City Council just came through a tough budget-writing process. It’s only weeks removed from the controversial decision on the Dog’s Head development. Taking a vote to ban large-scale data centers must feel quite comfortable by comparison. And banning large-scale data centers is definitely the plan.…
The Week’s Biggest News in Brief: Aug. 20-26
Ellis’ Petition Falls Short: On the deadline day to file as a candidate for this year’s City Council elections, Council Member Paige Ellis was at the city clerk’s office submitting petitions she gathered to run for a third term. Due to city policy, Council members are limited to two terms, except in special cases where…
Dueling Audits Create Confusion Ahead of November Election
If it’s a midterm election year with a ballot packed with federal and state races, rest assured Austin voters will find an equally crowded local ballot, with City Council races, two bond propositions, and several proposed charter amendments – including a citizens initiative calling for an independent citywide audit. The audit measure, Proposition I, hearkens…
What Would Abbott’s Deregulation Plan Mean for Austin Energy Customers?
One day after Gov. Greg Abbott announced a moratorium on new data centers until an audit of their strain on natural resources is completed, he pitched another part of his Keep Texas Affordable agenda: that municipally owned utilities in Texas should be opened up to market competition. He called Austin Energy and San Antonio’s CPS…
Music
Farewell to Frank Beard, Beardless Drummer of ZZ Top
Frank Beard, legendary longtime drummer of ZZ Top, died on Monday, August 17. Born in Frankston, Texas, the famously beardless backbone of the Southern boogie rock group spent time living in Austin and Houston, viewing the former as a second home: He recounted stories of raucous shows at Armadillo World Headquarters and lovely Lake Travis…
Music Notes
Sweet Limb Day Friday 28, Soundspace at Captain Quack’s Sweet Limb’s solid 2026 run continues as the Chris Robinson-fronted alt-R&B project celebrates its city-proclaimed day. Each artist on the lineup lent a feature for the group’s May release, Axis: Fak3 5miles, Street Peach, and Wes Denzel support. School Supply Drive Saturday 29, Flamingo Cantina Co-founder…
Arts + Culture
Austin Latinx Micro-Book Festival Highlights Lone Star Lit
Resistance is the root of nonprofit Red Salmon Arts and their Casa de Resistencia Books store – it’s right there in the name. This year’s Austin Latinx Micro-Book Festival is a celebration of community, connection, and creativity, and it’s also inherently an act of political defiance. RSA Executive Director Lilia Rosas says the event is…
The Many Sides of Future Front
“I know about the Front Market, but I didn’t know Future Front did that.” Unprompted variations of this phrase filled my ears again and again while reporting this column. In its 10 years as an arts nonprofit, founded by and for women and LGBTQIA+ creatives, Future Front has made a name for itself as an…
“Somos Animales Poéticos” Weaves Nature, Memory in Photographs
With the deft fingers of a skilled weaver, photographer Cristina Velásquez spins stories from captured images and archival materials, anchored by textiles and rich textures. “Somos Animales Poéticos,” her exhibit now on display at the Dougherty Arts Center’s Julia C. Butridge Gallery, features works from her recent book by the same name, released via Dusk…
Arts Review: “Gestures of Care” at ICOSA Collective
Divine Feminine is a nifty term. I’m picturing a little fairy fluttering through a brightly lit forest; then I blink, and a burlap-clad tradwife appears in my mental viewfinder. The biblical dog whistle gives some a sense of moral superiority, while others are just fine as spiritual underdogs. But what about those caught in the…
Screens
Idiots Review: The Curse and Comedy of Self-Deception
“Are you familiar with the philosophy that everyone, everywhere is always doing the best that they are able to in that given moment?” If seemingly irredeemable but ultimately harmless scumbag Mark (Dave Franco) is right when he muses this thought to a motel manager, then he’s in real trouble because his best is not that…
It Ends Review: The Road to Nowhere May Lead to Enlightenment
There’s a Zen koan about a monk, hanging off a cliffside on a vine being chewed by mice, with a tiger above him and one below. In the middle of this peril, he sees a wild strawberry, plucks it, eats it, and announces to no one in particular, “Ah, how sweet!” Like all koans, it’s…
Coyote vs. Acme Review: When Cartoons Take Corporations to Court
Between their hilarious debut in 1949’s “Fast and Furry-ous” and the end of their golden era run in 1966 with “Sugar and Spies,” Warner Bros. released 40 animated shorts featuring the Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote. That the modern incarnation of the studio famously tried to bury their first feature-length collaboration, Coyote vs. Acme,…
Late Fame Review: The Old Guy’s Still Got It
Given Coyote vs. Acme’s tortured history (that Warner Bros. Discovery anvil drop) and Late Fame’s winding festival flight path, it’s unlikely the two films’ shared screenwriter, Samy Burch (May December) anticipated them both arriving in movie theatres at the same time. Could you get much further apart in terms of tone and content? Maybe not,…
Colony Review: The Next Evolution of the Zombie Film
South Korean director Yeon Sang-ho doesn’t just make zombie films, but they’re the part of his filmography that has made the biggest international impact. His debut feature, Train to Busan, and its animated prequel, Seoul Station, and live-action sequel, Peninsula, established his reputation as a horror director. Now he’s returned to the genre with Colony,…
The Dog Stars Review: The End of the World, Again
The most generic post-apocalyptic plotline imaginable can be boiled down to “isolated hero leaves his fortress of solitude, sets off in search of some magical place where the old world survives, and discovers that the real civilization is the friends he made along the way.” The Dogs Stars, director Ridley Scott’s film of the 2012…
Food
Hot Stuff
Christian Alquiza Chef/Host, First We Feast’s Hot Kitchen Christian Alquiza is an Austin-based chef, content creator, and certified heat seeker who has built a career around big flavors, good times, and food that doesn’t play it safe. A nearly 20-year culinary veteran, Christian currently hosts First We Feast’s Hot Kitchen, turning the internet’s most famous…
Columns
Qmmunity: Au Revoir, August
As August dwindles to just a hot month in the rearview, I’m looking toward the fall season and all it promises. For one, cooler weather is at least a possibility – though a pretty slim one, at least until October – and for two, the pressure to really rainbow it up will become a little…
The Luv Doc: A Husky Lumberjack
Dear Luv Doc, A couple months ago, my husband of seven years brought up the idea of us becoming swingers. He mentioned hearing about it online, and said it would be a great way to “spice things up” for us. At first, I laughed off his suggestion because he’d always make crude remarks like that;…
Day Trips: Longhorn Ballroom, Dallas
The Longhorn Ballroom in Dallas has a colorful history and a bright future. The music venue opened in 1950 as a home base for the Western swing legend Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys. Originally called Bob Wills’ Ranch House, the music complex on an island in the Trinity River included a restaurant and a…
Feedback: August 28, 2026
Vote Courageously Dear Editor, I would like to thank President Trump – not for leadership, but for clarity. It is my opinion that he has revealed the bubbling cauldron of petty grievances, bullying, and bragging that fuels his politics every day. He has shown me how divided we have become as a nation, a division…
Opinion: There Is No Such Thing as a Dangerous Book
In a recent social media post, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick made this statement: “Parents should never have to worry about vulgar material being purchased with their tax dollars and placed in their children’s schools. I’ve fought to give Texas parents a stronger voice in their children’s education and to keep inappropriate books out of our…
Fun + Games
Mr. Smarty Pants Knows
Centripetal force is a real, inward-pulling force that keeps an object moving in a circular path. Centrifugal force is a “fake” outward force you feel when moving in a curve, which is actually just your body’s inertia trying to travel in a straight line. Swifty the Spot Cleaner ran for mayor of Staines, England, last…
Free Will Astrology
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): The coming months could be a legendary turning point you will celebrate in the future: a pivotal time when you finally outsmart an old adversary and untangle a knotted inheritance, clearing the way to pursue your true calling with undiluted devotion. Or, on the other hand, the days ahead could be…
