It was February 1974 in Houston, a city on a rocket ride of oil-fueled ambition. Inside the Astrodome, Elvis Presley was commanding the stage of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, creating a cultural earthquake. But the real story wasn't under the spotlights. It was outside, in a cold, muddy parking lot.

There, on a rusty flatbed trailer, an Oscar-winning movie star and a feared food critic sat poised to judge the first-ever World's Championship Bar-B-Que Contest. What began as a small, volunteer-led party—a grassroots cook-off between established pitmasters and a cocky crew of amateurs who claimed "You Can't Beat Our Meat!"—would ignite a fifty-year debate over the very soul of Texas barbecue.

"Houston's Smoke Ring" tells the story of how that humble party in a parking lot exploded into a multi-million dollar, exclusive mega-event. We trace its journey from a democratic celebration of smoke and community to a sprawling, corporate tent city with velvet ropes and private security.

Join us as we explore the clash between a populist Hollywood cowboy and a perfectionist critic, the stunning upset victory by a mystery man from Pasadena, and how the passion of a few became a massive industry. This is the story of what is gained, and what is lost, when a backyard party becomes the biggest in the world.

Houston in Story is made possible through the generous support of Rothberg Realty Group.

The chance discovery of a Tyrannosaurus rex with its skin miraculously preserved, unearthed not by a paleontologist but by a Montana rancher, ignites a Houston museum president's audacious dream. This launches a high-stakes, multi-million-dollar quest for money and scientific innovation, culminating in a revolutionary exhibit at the Houston Museum of Natural Science that would forever change how we see the most terrifying predator to ever walk the Earth.

Today's story is made possible by the generous support of Rothberg Realty Group.

You’re one of millions, a single drop in a river of steel and glass, heading into the heart of the city. You look up at the familiar, grimy railroad bridge you pass under every single day. But this time, something is different. Two words, painted in giant letters, simple and clean, seem to speak directly to you: BE SOMEONE. The story of those letters, today in Houston: In Story.