What Is This?

Welcome to Dispatches From Texas— the realest damn thing you'll read about Texas life.

This isn’t a travel blog. It ain’t a politics site. And it sure as hell isn’t some influencer's digital scrapbook of barbecue joints and cowboy cosplay.

This is the dispatch from inside the beast — a raw, unfiltered, boots-on-the-ground exploration of what it's actually like to live in Texas.

Written by a native sixth generation Texan who is a lifelong observer, wanderer, and opinionated bastard with a camera, a pen, and a chip on his shoulder, this publication exists for the lost, the curious, and the newcomers who’ve been sold a dream without the fine print.

What You’ll Get

  • Street-Level Truth: No bullshit takes on Texas politics, culture, history, and daily life.

  • Expat Orientation: If you’re new here, I’ll help you understand what you’ve walked into. If you’ve been here, I’ll remind you why it’s so gloriously screwed up.

  • Personal Journalism: Stories that bleed. Rants with teeth. Observations with soul.

  • Rogue Advice: Taxes, counties, land, attitudes, unspoken rules — the stuff no one warns you about.

Black and white portrait of a man wearing glasses and a button-up shirt, seated indoors with a focused expression.

WHY THIS EXISTS

  • Because Texas is being mythologized, misunderstood, and monetized into something it’s not.

  • Because people are moving here by the thousands with zero clue what they’re stepping into.

  • Because someone has to say what’s actually happening — not from a studio, not from a think tank, but from inside the damn story.

    The Matt Pierce Blog is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

WHO THIS IS FOR

  • New Texans with questions and zero answers

  • Old Texans tired of fake narratives

  • Curious Americans watching the state reshape the nation

  • Anyone who prefers raw insight over clickbait

    Dispatches From Texas | Matt Pierce Blog is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

To learn more about the tech platform that powers this publication, visit Substack.com.

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Welcome to Dispatches From The Edge— the realest damn thing you'll read about Texas. This isn’t a travel blog. It ain’t a politics site. And it sure as hell isn’t some influencer's digital scrapbook of barbecue joints and cowboy cosplay. It's real.

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I've been a freelance journalist for over 20 years. I do my own thing and always have. I never fit in well with the American media post-2000.