An Unofficial 'The MeatEater Podcast' Reading List

Ep. 740: The Gunfighters

July 28, 2025

Description

Steven Rinella talks with Bryan Burrough, Randall Williams, Brody Henderson, Phil Taylor, and Corinne Schneider.  Topics Discussed: Bryan's book, "The Gunfighters: How Texas Made the West Wild" is...
Read more here

Books Referenced

Barbarians at the Gate

Author: Bryan Burrough

Context:

Steve Rinella is listing Bryan Burrough's published works at the beginning of the interview, mentioning this as one of his eight books and four New York Times bestsellers.

Public Enemies: America's Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI, 1933-34

Author: Bryan Burrough

Context:

Steve Rinella continues listing Bryan Burrough's published works, describing this book about crime during the 1930s.

The Big Rich: The Rise and Fall of the Greatest Texas Oil Families

Author: Bryan Burrough

Context:

Steve Rinella lists another of Bryan Burrough's books about Texas oil families.

Forget the Alamo: The Rise and Fall of an American Myth

Author: Bryan Burrough

Context:

Steve Rinella mentions this book and later discusses it with Burrough, asking about its main argument regarding slavery's role in Texas independence.

The Gunfighters: How Texas Made the West Wild

Author: Bryan Burrough

Context:

This is the main book being discussed in the interview, about gunfighters in the American West and Texas's role in that history. Steve mentions he's halfway through reading it and loves it.

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

Author: Ron Hansen

Context:

Steve asks who wrote this book, and after some discussion, they confirm the author is Ron Hansen (not Robert Hansen). Steve describes it as 'the hell of a book' and discusses details from it about Bob Ford's death.