(Note: This conversation originally aired earlier this year.) History is one thing; mythology is another. And at times, of course, these two can overlap, or blur, or get confused. Such is the case with the Alamo, as our guest argues. Longtime journalist Chris Tomlinson is a columnist for The Houston Chronicle and The San Antonio Express-News, and he's one of the authors of a book titled "Forget the Alamo: The Rise and Fall of an American Myth." As was noted of this work in Publishers Weekly: "Substantive yet wryly humorous.... Skillfully drawing on primary and secondary sources, the authors show that Stephen F. Austin, who established a colony of American settlers in Texas in the 1820s, fought to protect slavery from Mexican legislators' desire to abolish it, and that the independence movement was focused on preserving Texas's slave-based cotton economy. Enriched by its breezy tone and fair-minded approach, this is an essential look at the Alamo from the perspective of today's racial reckoning."