In 1926 Etta Randall, a young black woman from deep East Texas, set off for a lawless boomtown in the Panhandle, where she found unexpected success not in the oil fields but in an old concrete pit.

Pioneering Pitmaster Etta Randall

A Texas Monthly podcast highlighting the best barbecue in the world, hosted by barbecue editor Daniel Vaughn.

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The original Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders squad burst onto the field back in 1972—the same year Title IX passed, the same year Deep Throat came out, and a year before Roe v. Wade. Sarah Hepola digs into the untold stories behind the global pop culture phenomenon, from the stripper who allegedly inspired the squad’s creation, to a scandalous Playboy cover shoot that was partly a battle over fair wages, to the ongoing debate about sexuality and women’s bodies in a post-#MeToo world. The result is a vibrant mix of history, cultural criticism, and storytelling, featuring interviews with New Yorker writer Jia Tolentino, award-winning novelist Ben Fountain, Oscar-nominated director Dana Adam Shapiro, local television sports legend Dale Hansen, folk-writing hero Joe Nick Patoski, and a whole bunch of cheerleaders whose names you don’t know yet—but should.

New from Texas Monthly: America's Girls

How LeAnn Mueller and Ali Clem - the only wife-and-wife team in Texas - finally brought Austin's la Barbecue indoors, and why Los Angeles doesn't know what it's missing.

La Barbecue is Feminizing Barbecue One Brisket at a Time

The East Texas chain of Bodacious Bar-B-Q joints lost its founder, Roland Lindsey, in September. His son-in-law Jordan Jackson looks to not only carry on the brand's barbecue legacy, but improve it one location at a time.

The Resurgence of Bodacious Bar-B-Q

Sam Greenberg's family has been smoking turkeys the old-fashioned way since 1939 in Tyler, Texas, and he sees no reason to change things at Greenberg Smoked Turkeys.

Gobble Gobble

Miguel Vidal of Valentina's Tex-Mex BBQ in Austin provides a preview of his dish at the Texas Monthly BBQ Fest, and we discuss how his San Antonio upbringing informs his current Tex-Mex BBQ menu.

Pioneering Pitmaster Etta Randall

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