Author David Griscom and The Myth of Red Texas

Author and political commentator David Griscom will be at The Garden District Book Shop on April 17 to celebrate the release of his debut book The Myth of Red Texas: Cowboys, Populism, and Class War in the Radical South.

The evening will begin at 6:00 PM. Griscom will be joined in conversation by fellow political commentator and editor of Current Affairs Nathan Robinson. After their discussion Griscom will be available to personalize copies of his book and answer guest’s questions. The event is free and open to the public but interested parties are encouraged to RSVP and reserve their copies of The Myth of Red Texas ahead of time on Eventbrite.

ABOUT THE BOOK

In blood-red states such as Texas, politics operates under the fallacy that these places were always conservative, so that it would be foolish, even utopian, to propose a progressive alternative. The Myth of Red Texas reassesses this misconception, arguing that the Lone Star Left must embrace its hidden past to reach a brighter future.

Cowboys on strike, socialists on the ballot, farmers fighting tooth and claw for what they termed the “cooperative commonwealth”—Texas was once a wellspring of radicals hell-bent on taking power from the robber barons who ruled the day. With a careful eye for history, Griscom demonstrates how Texans’ left-wing parties, from the populists to the socialists, organized against the Right and often won—and how reclaiming that tradition can help today’s Left break the political deadlock in Texas and beyond.

David Griscom is a writer and political commentator from Austin, Texas, with deep roots in the working-class experience. His work bridges Southern history and politics with the broader traditions of leftist thought and activism.

As the host of the podcast Left Reckoning and former producer of The Michael Brooks Show, David has become a prominent voice in political commentary. His incisive writing on politics and working-class history has appeared in Jacobin Magazine.