Introducing Lone Star Lore: The Myths, Truths, and Untold Stories of Texas
Series Premiere Sunday, November 2, 2025
About Lone Star Lore: Lone Star Lore Official Page
Lone Star Lore is a new podcast hosted, produced, and edited by Matthew Thornton and Griffyn.Co Productions, written by Joleene Maddox Snider, and featuring rotating guest voices from Texas history experts and storytellers.
The series uncovers the myths, truths, and untold stories of Texas—not to rewrite the past, but to widen the lens. Through immersive narration, expert guests, and cinematic storytelling, Lone Star Lore blends historical research with multiple perspectives to explore how the stories we inherit still shape who we are today.
Maybe there’s more than one Texas; and maybe the truth isn’t about choosing one over the other—but learning how to live in the tension between them.
About the Series:
Lone Star Lore explores the myths, truths, and untold stories of Texas through sound-rich storytelling and layered perspectives. Hosted by filmmaker Matthew Thornton, the series pairs historians, writers, and artists with immersive narration and sound design, weaving together the emotional and intellectual fabric of Texas’s past and present.
From the legends of the Comancheria to the politics of the modern classroom, Lone Star Lore doesn’t take sides—it invites listeners to think deeper, question assumptions, and rediscover Texas through fresh eyes.
The debut episode, “Texas: The Land,” explores how geography, grit, and imagination forged the foundation of Texas identity.
What to Expect:
- New episodes released monthly
- Conversations with historians, artists, and storytellers
- Stories that separate fact from folklore—grounded in Texas soil
- A blend of cinematic sound design and documentary-style realism
Launch Information:
Listen Starting November 2, 2025
Available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Podcasts, and more.
You can also subscribe to our email list for updates via Griffyn.Co.com or follow @griffynco on social media.
About the Host of Lone Star Lore:
Matthew Thornton is a Texas-based filmmaker and Creative Director at Griffyn.Co Productions. His work explores art, place, and identity across film, sound, and story—connecting timeless subjects with modern perspectives.
Thornton’s projects include the feature documentary Ullberg: Wind in the Sails and the podcast Creative Moonlighting, both blending cinematic style with deep storytelling and a reverence for craft.
About the Writer of Lone Star Lore:
Joleene Maddox Snider is a native Texan and acclaimed historian whose work explores the intersections of history, identity, and memory in the American South and Southwest.
She completed her academic work at Southwest Texas State University (now Texas State University) and The University of Texas at Austin. In 1969, her master’s thesis became the first revisionist work on slavery in Texas, marking a pivotal shift in the field’s understanding of Texas history.
A celebrated educator, Snider has earned numerous teaching awards from Texas State University and is the author of Claiming Sunday: The Story of a Texas Slave Community, among other works that bring depth and humanity to Texas’s often-overlooked narratives.
Listen to Episode 1 — “Texas: The Land”
We open with Texas as both place and idea: a state whose geography set the stage—then technology, migration, and culture rewrote the script.
Dr. Benjamin H. Johnson — environmental and borderlands historian, Loyola University Chicago, and the author of Texas: An American History — traces how size, soils, horses, cotton, oil, and cities shaped Texans—and how Texans, in turn, shaped America.
In this episode:
- How geography and “non-human actors” like horses, corn, and oil transformed destiny
- Migration and the U.S.–Mexico border as a living, two-way story
- Myth vs. reality—why the 19th-century rural myth endures
- Pride without erasure and why “revisionism” means honest history
- From ranching to tech: the frontier under the asphalt
- A 50-year hope for a more democratic, inclusive Texas
You can find Dr. Johnson’s latest book — Texas: An American History – using the link below:
🔗 Texas: An American History — Yale University Press
Benjamin H. Johnson specializes in environmental, borderlands, and Latino history.
His other works include Revolution in Texas (2003), Bordertown (2008), Escaping the Dark, Gray City (2017), and his newest, Texas: An American History (2025), which re-examines how Texas’s myth, geography, and diversity have shaped both the nation and the modern world.
