Texas Monthly's National Podcast of Texas is officially one month old! In Episode #5, RG Ratcliffe examines Governor Greg Abbott’s curious behavior as he gears up for re-election, Abby Johnston and Doyin Oyeniyi introduce a new segment called "In Case You Missed It," and The Texanist offers his take on the friendly upthrust of the index finger.

Director Ty Roberts discusses his film The Iron Orchard, Taylor Kitsch talks about portraying Waco cult leader David Koresh, and a Hurricane Harvey update from Rachel Pearson.

Eric Benson talks about what makes Beto O'Rourke run, we get an update from Lagordiloca herself, and Tim Taliaferro talks to Gay Gaddis about her new book.

R.G. Ratcliffe discusses Ted Cruz "2.0," and the Texanist tries to get to the bottom of whether umbrellas are for sissies.

Join us this week for a behind-the-scenes discussion of the 2018 Bum Steer Awards, our much-anticipated annual rundown of Texans who behaved badly. Host Monte Williams talks with Deputy Editor Jeff Salamon, Senior Editor David Courtney, and contributor Rich Malley—the core team that collected, vetted, debated, and refined the list—about how the Steer sausage is made and who we picked as Bum Steer of the Year (Hint: we also happened to name him the most influential person in Texas politics last year).