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Brian D. Sweany

Brian D. Sweany's Profile Photo

Brian D. Sweany has been the editor in chief of Texas Monthly since July 2014. A native Texan who was born on Texas Independence Day, he began his career in journalism as an intern at the magazine in 1996, and in the intervening years, he held nearly every possible job in the editorial department. Before being promoted to his current post, he was a senior executive editor in charge of Texas Monthly's political coverage. Sweany has also worked as an assistant professor in the journalism department at Ithaca College, in New York, and as a senior editor at D Magazine, in Dallas. He is active in a number of civic and volunteer organizations, serving on the boards of the Texas Book Festival, the Texas Cultural Trust, and the Frank W. and Sue Mayborn School of Journalism at the University of North Texas, in Denton. He lives in Austin with his wife, two children, and an ever-growing manuscript for The Kingdom of the Saddle, a biography of Charles Goodnight to be published by Penguin.

462 Articles

Feature|
January 20, 2013

Over Time

Eleven years later, the Permian High School Panthers remember Friday Night Lights, the book that put them—and Odessa—on the map.

By

Sports|
January 20, 2013

Horns Aplenty

Will this be the year that the University of Texas Longhorns—the most talented college football team in the country—win their first national title since 1970? Yes. Hook ’em.

By

Politics & Policy|
January 20, 2013

West Toward Home

The Permian Basin is a place of pump jacks, big sky, generous neighbors, stinging sandstorms, and lonesome highways. For former first lady Laura Bush, it was the scene of an idyllic childhood—and a tragic accident that changed her life forever.

By

Politics & Policy|
January 20, 2013

Post-Office

Has it only been one year since George W. Bush left the White House? A snapshot of the forty-third president and his inner circle at the height of their power.

By

Politics & Policy|
January 20, 2013

The Republic of Chad

Eight years ago, the closest presidential election ever was settled in a political street fight. In this oral history of the Florida recount, the victors recall the unbelievable twists and turns that put George W. Bush in the White House.

By

Style & Design|
March 31, 2012

Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge, Dallas

“The Trinity River is the biggest problem you have in Dallas today,” declared landscape architect George Kessler in his comprehensive plan for the city a century ago. And so it has remained: an undeveloped flood-prone eyesore that requires an extensive system of levees to protect residents and property. On March

By

The Horse's Mouth|
October 31, 2011

Being a Hollywood Extra

Jesse Heiman on signing up at Central Casting, working with Leonardo DiCaprio, and still not paying his own phone bill.

By

Feature|
May 31, 2011

Outdoors 101

Nothing marks an expert camper more than a mastery of the essential skills, so study up on these backwoods tricks before your next expedition.

By

Art|
May 31, 2009

Art of the Weekend

Location: Dallas and Fort WorthWhat You’ll Need: Sketch pad, beretThe body of downtown Dallas has been prayed over more times than I can count. And while it may take an act of God to finally bring the Trinity River Project to life, there’s no question that when

By

Feature|
May 31, 2009

Court Order

Location:: East TexasWhat You’ll Need: Full tank of gas, love of graniteSo you’re the kind of person who doesn’t like to plan your weekends. You don’t want to worry about reservations. And you absolutely, positively don’t want to fool with timetables. Then I’ve got two words for

By

Feature|
January 1, 2007

The Permanent Campaign

Elections disappear into the history books, but the buttons and matchbooks and posters that exhorted us to vote for one candidate or another live on in our memories—and in the personal collection of the state’s biggest political junkie.

By

Sports|
August 31, 2006

Thank God It’s Friday

And Saturday. And Sunday. The arrival of fall means weekends spent watching football, up close and on-screen, and yet another opportunity to love the greatest game on earth for all the usual reasons. Forty-nine of them, in fact.

By Patricia Sharpe and Brian D. Sweany

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