Texas Business and Culture from Texas Monthly

By: Michael Hall, Pamela Colloff, John Spong, Sonia Smith, Tom Foster

Narrated by: Matt Bull, Staci Snell, Bruce DuBose, Mallorie Rodak

In partnership with Texas Monthly, the following articles highlighting Texas business and culture are now available in a bundle as an audio download:

• "The Slow Life and Fast Death of DJ Screw" by Michael Hall, read by Matt Bull
• "Dreaming of Her" by Pamela Colloff, read by Staci Snell
• "He Ain't Going Nowhere" by John Spong, read by Bruce DuBose
• "A Home of Last Resort" by Sonia Smith, read by Mallorie Rodak
• "The Shelf Life of John Mackey" by Tom Foster, read by Matt Bull

"The Slow Life and Fast Death of DJ Screw" by Michael Hall is the layered story of one of the most influential cultural figures in Texas - a generous godfather to a generation of rappers, an entrepreneur of Houston's mean streets, and the master of a scene fueled by codeine cough syrup and hip-hop beats.

"Dreaming of Her" by Pamela Colloff is the exclusive oral history of Selena Quintanilla Perez, as recalled by her closest family and friends.

"He Ain't Going Nowhere" by John Spong profiles Guy Clark, the godfather of Nashville songwriters.

"A Home of Last Resort" by Sonia Smith reports on a doomsday community for the rich under construction in Ector, Texas.

"The Shelf Life of John Mackey" by Tom Foster is the exclusive story that led up to the momentous decision for Whole Foods to sell itself to Amazon.

©2018 Michael Hall, Pamela Colloff, John Spong, Sonia Smith, Tom Foster (P)2018 Random House Audio

interesting stories but had little to do with business

This was a collection of stories that didn't really pull through a culture of business in Texas. It was more a series of stories of individuals. While interesting, as a native Texan I found very little new insight. It seemed like an outsider's perspective upon visiting Texas rather than a true insight into how our culture interrelates. The description of the day Selena was murdered, for instance, was compared to how Americans felt the day Kennedy was assassinate. But that's a gross mischaracterization. The cultural impact was similar for a small segment of the population in Texas. But for most others it was more like finding out a local person was gone and finding out, posthumously, how wonderful that person was. In that regard her death is more closely related to someone like Vincent Van Gogh, who is revered in death but only reached local acclaim while alive. She was a wonderful person and gifted artist. But her legacy is greater because of her untimely death. She has since become woven into the fabric of South and Central Texas as an icon similar to Frida Kahlo. Nobody is claiming she had the impact in life of Kennedy. But in death many find her life story and struggle relatable and THAT is why she's important, because her death gave life and shone a light on the lives of others. It's mentioned, but I felt the same glancing blow to the heart of the culture with the others as well. To read the book you might think these were separate cultures. But a Texan feels them all as one interwoven fabric rather than a patchwork quilt. Screwed music carried the same sense of missed opportunity that Selena's death had. Again, good stories, but left as a collection of disconnected stories it falls short of just how connected each of these stories is and how they all make up the non-homogeneous yet connected subcultures that combine to form the sense of being Texan. But I still didn't get how the title connected to this compilation.