Shaq, Dick-Riding and Rogan: The Most-Read Culture Stories in 2022

Every year, we list our most-read stories in the culture section, just to help our competitors know what's working for us. Aren't we the nicest? This year, the news in Dallas was varied, to say the least, but our readers seemed to most enjoy our stories on reality TV, sex, fights and the truly broad range of news happening in the world of radio — from Mike Rhyner's un-retirement to DJ Clo's sexual abuse charges to Joe Rogan's endless well of stupidity. Here are the most-read culture stories this year:

10. The Old Grey Wolf Returns: Mike Rhyner Is Back on Radio As the Head Freak in Charge at 97.1 by Kelly Dearmore
Radio legend Mike Rhyner left a huge void in the hearts of Texas listeners when he announced he was retiring. But Rhyner would fill that same void months later by announcing his comeback on radio station The Freak. Stop playing with our feelings, Mike.

9. Freakonomics Radio Wants to Know Why the Hell Everyone Is Coming to Dallas. So Do We. by Danny Gallagher
We're not sure exactly why Dallas has become the new Colorado — you know, the place you move to when you want your life to change, but not that much — yet here we are stuck with coastal city rent prices without any frickin' coast. An NPR show investigated why Dallas suddenly got so popular without having to take any clothes off. We all wanted to know.

8. 'How To Ride Dick' and the Best Sex Classes You Can Take in Dallas by Alex Gonzalez
It's important to never stop learning in life, and Dallas readers clearly have a scholarly bent. We found the best places to learn how to dance burlesque or on a pole, how to have tantric sex and get "orgasmic frequency coaching." Mystery solved, NPR. This is why everyone wants to take Dallas to the prom.

7. Shaquille O'Neal Can't Stop Giving Away Money and Gifts To His New Carrollton Neighbors by Desiree Gutierrez
In July, famed BFG (relax, it means "Big Friendly Giant") Shaquille O'Neal made nice with his new neighbors in Carrollton by treating them to gifts, money and random acts of kindness — big shoes, huge heart, as they say.

6. The Curtain Has Closed Forever on the Last Dollar Movie Theater in DFW by Danny Gallagher
Back in January, another childhood staple became a distant memory when Cinemark Hollywood USA Movies 15 in Garland hung up its marquee, officially closing North Texas' last dollar movie theater. Call us romantic, but the silver screen days of $1 movies shared with crying toddlers on seats greased with popcorn butter were really Hollywood's Golden Age.

5. A Vicious Fight at Arlington Mall Goes Viral and Turns Into Rumors About a Shooting By Danny Gallagher
This year, before Waffle House employees in Austin recreated D-Day with a massive brawl that captivated Twitter, a similar fight broke out in an Arlington Mall. Police officers used pepper spray to break up the fight among a small, but quite aggressive, group of people. Several videos of the altercation went viral, prompting rumors of a mall shooting.

4. DFW Radio Personality Charged With Producing Child Pornography by Jacob Vaughan
Glenn Raborn, a 49-year-old radio personality known as DJ Clo, who appeared on 97.1’s The Russ Martin Show, was charged with producing child pornography. He has since been sentenced to 24 years and four months in prison for the sexual abuse of a child.

3. The Dumbest Things Joe Rogan Has Said by Danny Gallagher
After Joe Rogan caused a mass exodus of rock stars from Spotify (such as Joni Mitchell and Neil Young, who refused to share the streaming platform with Rogan's frequently anti-science, anti-logic podcast), we set out to find out exactly why everyone seemed to have had it with the comedian. Props to writer Danny Gallagher for successfully narrowing down the dumbest things Joe Rogan has said to only five.

2. A Father Addressed the Grapevine/Colleyville ISD Board, Referenced Semen and 'Woke-Tards' by Danny Gallagher
Father-of-two Scott Western (how perfect is that?) addressed the Grapevine/Colleyville ISD Board this year in a wild, homophobic rant against transgender students, among other "grievances." Western's unhinged speech referenced the "LGBT Mafia" and "fantasy pronouns," and ended with the closer: "We're gonna keep coming so hard, the only thing these woke-tards got to figure out is whether it's on their face, back, butt or thigh! Whooo! Get some!"

1. God Help Us: The New Love Is Blind Was Filmed in Dallas by Eva Raggio
As soon as we learned that Season 3 of Love Is Blind was shot in Dallas, we knew it would be a shit show, but it was actually a Woodstock-sized shit festival with more toxic layers than Chernobyl. The contestants once again reminded jaded singles of what's really lurking behind those Tinder matches: infidelity, gaslighting, a variety of abuse and endless narcissism. Cameron and Lauren were sort of a miracle, and it's best that we all just accept it and move on from the show.