If you only listen to pundits on national news, you'd believe the Rio Grande River was simply the backdrop of the fiercely argued immigration debate. For Texans, it is so much more than that. It's the lifeblood for agriculture. It's the source of drinking water for rapidly growing cities. It's the livelihood for tour guides. It is a delicate ecosystem for wildlife all along its length. @jherrerx explored its full length from the headwaters in Colorado all the way to its mouth near Boca Chica in this wonderful special for @TexasMonthly. youtube.com/watch?v=PBaMGnxt…

I interviewed @bobbypulido425 on election day in 2024. I was there to talk Tejano music. After the interview we grabbed lunch and talked about our predictions for the election and he told me he fully expected the RGV to vote for Trump. He believed that an old-school conservative Democrat could win back the valley and turn the political tide. He then told me he planned to be that candidate. He was right about Trump in 2024. Will he be right about his own candidacy next week when polls close? Eric Benson captures the Tejano excitement and south Texas nuance of Pulido's candidacy in this piece for @TexasMonthly. texasmonthly.com/news-politi…

Binge-releasing shows is the reason shows don't leave marks anymore. The week between airings used to give you something to argue about. Created recap culture. Spurred office discussions. And it created monolithic viewing moments. Breaking Bad's pilot had a little over 1.4 million viewers. By the 2013 finale it had grown to 10.3 million viewers. The release schedule allowed it to cook. But the pacing matters too. The average gap between seasons of streaming original shows is currently 21 months. In 2020 it was 12. I'm old enough to remember the anger Mad Men garnered for taking 17 months between seasons in 2011. By today's standards it was quick. Not to mention that there isn't a recap in the world that can carry 21 months of plot fading in our brains. I've stopped watching shows I previously loved because I couldn't remember the plot lines. The weekly release schedule just works.

Is the path to profitability in the room with us?

I am regularly blown away by how many movies with massive budgets make it to Netflix and I never hear about them. Apple TV, which has a much smaller user base, seems to have a much better track record of off-platform promotion of their blockbusters like F1. Seems like Netflix has been blowing a lot of money on movies without a lot to show for it.

Last week, I learned that my hometown school district, La Porte ISD, named me one of this year’s three Distinguished Alumni honorees. I couldn’t be more honored, especially since I’ll be inducted alongside two of my legendary teachers, Kerry and Steve Regan, who played a huge role in shaping me as a teenager. I’m a big supporter of public schools and attribute so much of who I’ve become to the teachers who invested in me when I was younger, many of whom I still stay in contact with. I started my visual storytelling career in LPTV, shed my shyness in theatre, and learned carpentry and welding right alongside the regular academics. Thanks to the supportive community it serves, LPISD is a model for what a balanced education should look like. La Porte as a city is a special place and anyone who knows me knows that I always make a point to highlight its influence on me when I can. To be “seen” by my hometown like this just hits different. So thank you to the folks who nominated me, including my brother Chris Sauceda. And thank you to Walter Jackson and the School Board (Melissa Hager Crutcher Karen Hall Danny Hanks and others) for the unanimous vote. I so appreciate y’all!

Shout out to all the other central Texans who welcome the cooler weather this cold front brought and suffer through the allergies it sets off.

Heck, Houston is at least an hour from Houston.

Ags getting that oversized check ready after this

Longhorn here. Also former corporate comms/pr guy, now media guy. It seems like bad form to go after one of the key fan base forums in a loss like today’s.

Enjoyed my second year emceeing and giving a keynote at @txtravelnews

Nothing builds trust in the news like a sportsbook sitting next to the anchor desk. Up next: live odds on the weather segment.

MulletReview is in Texas and I don’t know what to do with myself. It’s like having a State Visit but for internet royalty.

Realizing my kids feel about 90’s music the way I felt about music from the 60’s makes me feel like the Crypt Keeper. If you’re in your 40s you know what that means. If you’re younger than that, it means I’m oldmaxxing.

I am not joking when I say this. Traveling is over. Google Street View is now very, very good. You just don’t know yet because all the street views you’ve seen are from 2-3 generations ago. Google Street View has solved infinite personalized travel.

I saw diesel selling for $5.99 near my house this weekend. All I could think about was how many semi-trucks I'd have in and out of my warehouse this time of year when we still owned our 3PL. Sept/Oct inbound restocking was around the clock as we prepped for the holiday season. Trucks coming in from the ports. Trucks leaving to retailers. Parcel trucks from carriers stopping by once every hour or two en route to homes. Diesel costs are up. Spot rates are up. Parcel fuel surcharges are up. Hard not to imagine Christmas being a pocket punch for retailers and families.

My colleagues in the @TexasMonthly AV Club were nominated for 6 Lone Star Emmys. The work they do on Texas Monthly Presents is phenomenal. That brings TM to a total of 9 Emmy noms between TCR and TM Presents. Banner year!