Sue Ellen's is the oldest lesbian bar in Texas and the last of its kind in Dallas. The place may have won in this category by default, but we have to shout it out on principle. For one thing, a business doesn't survive for 35 years on originality alone. Sue Ellen's has provided joy and refuge through the AIDS epidemic, a recession, COVID-19 and generations of prejudice. There are only 32 operating lesbian bars, meaning that spaces exclusively for queer women are few and far between. We're proud that Dallas is home to a great one.

"The Girl Who Works at the Box Office," as Vega is known on Instagram, goes above and beyond what you'd expect from a movie theater employee. She sells tickets, of course, but also publishes a zine, The Marquee Times, organizes creative events (such as screening The Twilight Saga: Eclipse during the solar eclipse) and works tirelessly to build upon Dallas' community of film enthusiasts. Her growing Instagram account is rife with film recommendations and dazzling photos of her extensive collection of DVDs and VHS tapes. In a world of pedantic film bros, Vega's earnest and passionate presence is a breath of fresh air.

Hadid has lived in Fort Worth since May, so we're jumping at the chance to claim her as a bona fide North Texan. While we admire her contributions to fashion and humanitarian causes, we're particularly fascinated by her status as a horse girl. She's a lifelong equestrian and recently put her modeling career on the back burner to focus on training for Western-style cutting competitions across North Texas. She's in her Bella Yeehaw-did era, if you will. While we don't know much about the sport, we think she looks cool as hell in her cowgirl gear.

Dallas was ready for its close-up last November when The Iron Claw, a film about Denton wrestling family the Von Erichs, premiered at the Texas Theatre. Stars Zac Efrom and Jeremy Allen White were present for the red-carpet event. The film went on to be considered a high point of 2023, earning rave reviews from both critics and audiences. It's nice to not only see a local story reach a wide audience, but for an iconic landmark like the Texas Theatre to be part of it. Here's hoping The Iron Claw will inspire more movies about Dallas and local premieres, because we live for the attention.

The up-and-coming Dallas alt-rock band has put out several compelling visuals this past year, but the dark and moody video for "Where Have the Angels Gone" is among their best work. The Luke Asper-directed visual has a gripping Southern Gothic aesthetic, centering on a fire-and-brimstone-preacher, his troubled congregation and the frontwoman Amethyst Michelle (the band's namesake) invoking icons like Paramore's Hayley Williams with her cutting voice and magnetic stage presence. Both the video and the band are ones to watch.

This café-bookstore-bar has been written about in the past (in last year's Best Of, we named it "Best Place for a First Date"), and it will almost certainly be written about in the future. But we would be remiss not to point out how special it is that Sir Richard Bishop, the guitarist and vocalist of Phoenix avant-garde and punk legends Sun City Girls, played the intimate setting last year. The Wild Detectives is also a great place to check out a who's who of regional talent, including Austin's own Little Mazarn and Thor & Friends and locals such as Aaron Gonzalez and Lily Taylor. The acts who often play The Wild Detectives won't be selling out Carnegie Hall any time soon, but if there were any divine justice, they would be. They are some of this state's supreme talents, and the world needs to know it.

If you've ever succumbed to FOMO from some of Rubber Gloves Rehearsal Studios' many FOMO-worthy shows, Denton videographer Larry Hill more likely than not has your eyes covered from the comfort of your own home (but still, go to shows.) His YouTube channel "Animals Mistaken for Monsters" includes roughly 4,000 uploads, including full concert footage of professional quality from the likes of Die Spitz, Xiu Xiu, Lightning Bolt, Chat Pile, Sunami, Melvins, Napalm Death and many more.

If you're into the D-beat, crust and powerviolence acts like Discharge, Anti-Cimex and Infest, and you peruse the subreddit r/jacketsforbattle, you will be pleased to know that a distribution site ships out patches and other merch for those bands and others. You can even get a whole sheet of patches for $12, whether they be the logos of Rudimentary Peni or Hannah Montana (seriously, they've got it.) And once you place an order with Slit Wrists Distro, you will see on the shipping label that the products are packed and shipped from Abilene. Not exactly Stoke-on-Trent, but it's nice to know that someone in that town is doing this kind of exceptional work.

The official podcast for the publication Texas Hemp Reporter Magazine is the Texas Hemp Show. It offers the latest and greatest news around all the happenings in the Lone Star State's hemp industry. The show is recorded every Thursday, 6–7 p.m., and is released on Fridays. Each episode ranges from 30 minutes to an hour with the hosts inviting guests to discuss their corner of the hemp market. Recently, the podcast celebrated its four-year anniversary and hosted discussions about possible bans on delta-8 and delta-9 products in Texas.

Dallas multi-instrumentalist Paul Slavens hosts the award-winning weekly radio program The Paul Slavens Show on 91.7 KXT. During the program, you'll hear a diverse mix of music from varying time periods and genres. From jazz to country, Slavens plays it all. Listeners can also suggest tunes in the comments section on KXT's website. This year, Slavens celebrates 20 years on the radio, starting out on the Sunday night shift on KERA 90.1. When KXT was formed, Slavens moved over to the station where The Paul Slavens Show was created. If you miss a song, don't worry. Slavens posts the playlist on his blog after each show. If you want to catch the magic that is Paul Slavens, tune into KXT at 8 p.m. every Sunday.