I’m Dante Motley, a reporter from Austin covering the public institutions and sociocultural forces shaping daily life in Texas. My work includes everything from breaking news to in-depth stories. I’m especially interested in stories where power and identity intersect, like a city promise that never gets fulfilled, a policy that ripples through people’s bodies, or an everyday system that reveals what a place values when it’s under stress.

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I’ve reported across Texas for the Austin American-Statesman and The Texas Tribune, and previously worked in California as a reporting intern at The Sacramento Bee. I’m also a longtime home cook and often use food to read a place. I interned with José Andrés’ media company, working on cookbooks, TV and podcasts — experience that trained me to notice texture and detail, but also the human infrastructure, like who grows, cooks, serves, curates and gets to be seen.

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I studied anthropology. So I’m curious about how meaning gets made, and that curiosity shapes how I report. I strive to listen, follow the rituals, take people seriously on their own terms, and write with enough clarity that someone outside Texas can understand what’s happening and why it matters.