Hi, it's Katie Vine. I'm a writer here at Texas Monthly, and I want to tell you about something new at the magazine.

You've got a new podcast series just for Texas Monthly audio subscribers that'll bring you even closer to the stories and the latest issue.

The show is called TM Out Loud. Every other week, you'll hear new conversations with writers and editors about their work,

immersive audio from our reporting, and expanded interviews with people at the center of Texas

monthly coverage. In the first episodes, you'll hear longtime Texas Monthly restaurant critic Pat Sharp,

looking back on 50 years with the magazine. My timing was perfect, it turned out, because the Texas dining scene was taking off.

It wasn't long before a group of charismatic young chefs in Dallas, Houston, and San

Antonio were in on the act.

The creative spirit that started with the pioneering chefs of Southwestern cuisine 40 years

ago is just getting stronger.

Kitchens are sending out astonishing dishes every day, and I'll miss being one of the lucky few

to try them all. We human beings are hardwired to break bread together, whether that happens

in a dining room, a taqueria, a cafe, or a picnic table beside a food truck. A dispatch from an ultramarathon in a state park, surrounded by alligators.

Yeah, there's just so much preparation that goes into this, both physical and mental.

There is some fear with the alligators.

I've not on purpose, but gotten pretty close to them, just running around a blind

corner and coming around to see one.

You can go around either end of them and stay safe.

Prefer the tail.

And a behind-the-scenes look at Texas Monthly's list of the state's top 50 barbecue spots

and the latest trends in Texas barbecue.

I think we had such distinct styles, such distinct regional styles and micro-regional styles,

...