On this edition of Road Gang Radio, hosts Jimmy Mac and Lindsay Lawler talk with Daniel Vaughn, Texas Monthly’s renowned Barbecue Editor and host of the new PBS special “The State of BBQ: A Texas Monthly Special.”

For the first time, the special reveals how Texas Monthly creates its legendary Top 50 BBQ Joints List, often called the “Olympics of Barbecue.” The list is published once every four years and can transform a small BBQ joint into a nationally recognized name overnight.

Daniel has visited over 2,500 barbecue joints across Texas, averaging 50 per month, to find the state’s best smoked meats. In this interview, he shares how barbecue reflects Texas’s changing culture, highlighting pitmasters whose flavors and stories define modern Texas cuisine. 

Watch the PBS special here: https://www.pbs.org/show/the-state-of...

Featured BBQ joints from the special include:

• Hallelujah! BBQ (El Paso) – Employing homeless staff and serving up hope.

• Smoke ‘N Ash (North Texas) – Fusing Ethiopian cuisine with Texas barbecue.

• La Barbecue (Austin) – Carrying on the legacy of the Mueller family.

• KG Barbecue (Austin) – Founded by Egyptian-born pitmaster Kareem El-Ghayesh, who traded finance for fire.

The show captures the heart, smoke, and stories that make Texas barbecue one of the state’s most powerful cultural traditions.

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Website: https://www.texasmonthly.com

PBS: https://www.pbs.org

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Instagram:  / pbsfood 

YouTube:    / @pbs 

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