White Hats
White Hats is a Texas Monthly podcast about the Texas Rangers, the legendary law enforcement outfit known as los Diablos Tejanos. Host Jack Herrera traces the true history of the rangers, from famed figures like Jack Coffee Hays and Frank Hamer to their role in the popular imagination. The series examines how the white hats came to symbolize justice and protection for many Texans. It also confronts the violent history remembered by many Mexicans and Mexican Americans as the work of los Rinches. Released around the Rangers' 200th anniversary, the show asks what the rangers' real place in Texas history should be.
Episodes
Introducing White Hats
From Texas Monthly comes a story of the Wild West, the first American superheroes, the legendary riders in white hats, Los Diablos Tejanos—the Texas Rangers. “White Hats” tells the true history of these larger-than-life rangers, who have become one of the defining symbols of the state. Join host Jack Herrera as we explore the fantastical tales of Ranger legends like Jack Coffee Hays, who rode into
1. Rangers and 'Rinches'
On the first episode of “White Hats,” we visit the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum in Waco, searching for how the Rangers became such enduring Texan symbols. Then we drive to the Rio Grande Valley, where historian Trinidad Gonzales recalls the Rangers' role in a century-old family tragedy and discovering how his family history was part of the bigger story of Texas. For more on the story, plea
2. Ghosts of the Wild West
To understand how the Texas Rangers’ legend took hold, we explore three stories about their early conflicts with Native and Mexican American people. First, we follow the footsteps of Ranger Captain Jack Coffee Hays, up Enchanted Rock to the site of his famous shootout with Comanche warriors. Then, the Comanche scholar Dustin Tahmahkera explains the abduction story of Cynthia Ann Parker, and the li
3. La Hora de Sangre
After the outbreak of the Mexican Revolution, as fighters crossed into Texas to raid ranches, Texas hired hundreds more Rangers to defend the state—many with hardly any qualifications. The atmosphere of suspicion and fear between Anglo and Mexican Texans gave rise to an era of state-sanctioned violence by Rangers, vigilantes, and other officials. It reached its peak at a massacre in the West Texas
4. The Cold Case
One year after the Porvenir massacre, the Texas Rangers are a subject of an inquiry at the Texas capitol led by state representative J. T. Canales. In this episode, we hear testimony from the hearings about the Rangers’ violence, as well as attempts by Rangers backers to discredit Canales and his effort. After the hearings, the Rangers only become bigger heroes in popular movies and TV shows. But
5. Bias Toward Action
Today’s Texas Rangers make a hard distinction between themselves and the men who rode alongside Jack Hays, J. M. Fox, or even Frank Hamer. But the hat and the badge—the Ranger mystique—still count for something. How does that Rangerness affect their approach to policing? How does it affect the people they’re investigating, tracking, and interrogating—the guilty . . . and the innocent? For more on
6. Memorials and Monuments
In the past decade, historians and descendants of victims of La Hora de Sangre have raised awareness of the violence against Mexican Americans in the 1910s—including with new historical markers placed by the State of Texas. But organizers of the Texas Rangers’ bicentennial in 2023 want to remind Texans of the virtues that made Rangers legends in the first place. For more on this story please visit
Introducing Viva Tejano
Introducing the latest podcast from Texas Monthly, "Viva Tejano.” Latin music is ascending in the U.S., and, in some surprising ways, much of the story behind the trend begins in Texas. On Viva Tejano, host J.B. Sauceda talks with legendary tejano artists and well-known tejano music fans about how the music has shaped their lives. It’s a nostalgic journey and a close look at the influences behind
Introducing TM Out Loud
Subscribe to Texas Monthly Audio today for access to exclusive new audio productions based on the latest issue of the magazine, in our new podcast feed TM Out Loud. Visit texasmonthly.com/audio for more.
Introducing the Final Flight of Captain Forrester
A woman’s search for her father—a pilot who disappeared during a mission in Vietnam—collides with the fight over what we owe those who never returned from war. From the producers of "White Hats," "America's Girls," and "Tom Brown's Body," and hosted by Texas Monthly writer Josh Alvarez, "The Final Flight of Captain Forrester" is out now.Texas Monthly Audio subscribers get early access to the show,
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