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Desert Oracle Radio

Storytelling Podcasts

Desert Oracle Radio is a weekly road trip through the weird American desert from the publisher of Desert Oracle, the pocket-sized field guide published in Joshua Tree, California. Hear tales of mysterious lights, missing tourists, lost mines, venomous creatures, weird history and weirder people. Hosted by editor Ken Layne and featuring a cast of intriguing mystics, oddballs, scientists and artists, Desert Oracle Radio is your soundtrack for a desert night. The program is broadcast on Friday nights at 10 p.m. on KCDZ 107.7 FM in the Mojave high desert, with field reports from around and across the desert lands, and is distributed by Public Radio Exchange (PRX).

Desert Oracle Radio is a weekly road trip through the weird American desert from the publisher of Desert Oracle, the pocket-sized field guide published in Joshua Tree, California. Hear tales of mysterious lights, missing tourists, lost mines, venomous creatures, weird history and weirder people. Hosted by editor Ken Layne and featuring a cast of intriguing mystics, oddballs, scientists and artists, Desert Oracle Radio is your soundtrack for a desert night. The program is broadcast on Friday nights at 10 p.m. on KCDZ 107.7 FM in the Mojave high desert, with field reports from around and across the desert lands, and is distributed by Public Radio Exchange (PRX).

Location:

United States

Description:

Desert Oracle Radio is a weekly road trip through the weird American desert from the publisher of Desert Oracle, the pocket-sized field guide published in Joshua Tree, California. Hear tales of mysterious lights, missing tourists, lost mines, venomous creatures, weird history and weirder people. Hosted by editor Ken Layne and featuring a cast of intriguing mystics, oddballs, scientists and artists, Desert Oracle Radio is your soundtrack for a desert night. The program is broadcast on Friday nights at 10 p.m. on KCDZ 107.7 FM in the Mojave high desert, with field reports from around and across the desert lands, and is distributed by Public Radio Exchange (PRX).

Language:

English

Contact:

7609207099

Episodes

Empty Churches For Fun & (Non) Profit

1/21/2022
Sure are a lot of mostly abandoned churches out here in the California desert. A lot of good community real estate. How do you take over churches? Like the little old run-down church—a religious non-profit—just sitting there. Nobody’s using it. Maybe all you’ve got to do is find the person who runs the joint. Maybe it’s down to the last person, the organist or whoever. The fourth deacon .... Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=26080998 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy...

Duration:00:27:59

A Hymn To Sekhmet, Creator of the Desert

1/14/2022
How long has Sekhmet ruled over humanity? Five-thousand years! That’s when She is first known to us, appearing in something like her current form, in Upper Egypt, 2,930 B.C., worshipped by the multitudes in her great temples until the coming of the Coptic Christians and then the followers of Allah, when her cult went underground. But it never went away, and now is Her Time. PLUS: Strange tales from the RV parks of the Southwest, as delivered to our friends at Club Congress in Tucson. New...

Duration:00:28:00

The Light Saw Me

1/7/2022
Take a look around, the void is closing in. Jason Boland joins us from Texas to talk about The Light Saw Me, the tale of a cowboy taken up into the sky—a tale told by Jason Boland and the Stragglers on their new record, which features some narration from our host Ken Layne. As Hank Williams sang, "I saw the light." But what are those strange illuminations seen from Joplin, Missouri, to Marfa, Texas? And what crashed in Aurora a century ago. And just what did they bury up on Boot Hill? Desert...

Duration:00:28:00

Wintertime Tales for a Stormy Night

12/24/2021
Live from the Philosophical Research Society in Los Angeles, here's our final show of the 2021 Tour, with your host Ken Layne and live solstice soundscapes by RedBlueBlackSilver. Occultists and mystics, cultists and coyotes, all gathered together in uneasy alliance on this Christmas Eve. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=26080998 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Duration:01:06:57

Run For the Desert Hills

11/19/2021
Like the beaver, we can change parts of our environment. Like the birds, we can move to other lands or at least try. And sometimes those Other Lands are the arid lands, the American Desert. PLUS: Kendra Atleework, author of the wonderful book about the Owens Valley/Eastern Sierra called Miracle Country, joins us for the second half of the program. AND: New eerie soundscapes by RedBlueBlackSilver. Tickets now on sale for our Desert Oracle Radio Live tour: California, Arizona, New Mexico,...

Duration:00:28:00

Huehuecoyotl & the Canine Gods

11/12/2021
Looking for God in the world? Watch the coyote. Huehuecoyotl, that’s its Holy name. Old, old coyote. Lord of the arts, god of music and dance, our guide through adolescence and onward to adulthood. King of the Prank, patron of the promiscuous, lord of the Friday night party. Canis latrans is the new name, from the 1800s. Coyotl is the ancient American name. Tickets on sale now for the Desert Oracle Radio 2021 Tour: San Diego, Tucson, Austin, Dallas, San Antonio, Galveston, New Orleans,...

Duration:00:28:00

Crimes of the Desert Cultists (Plus: Tour Dates!)

11/10/2021
Here's a bonus episode recorded around the campfire at Halloween a while back, with a new intro & close recorded Halloween 2021 for our local radio station, KCDZ 107.7 FM in Joshua Tree. Desert Oracle Radio is ON TOUR 11/26-12-17, tickets on sale now for a night of strange tales & weird sounds with Ken Layne. 11/26/2021 • San Diego, CA / Bridges • Buy Tickets 11/27/2021 • Tucson, AZ / Club Congress • Buy Tickets 12/02/2021 • Austin, TX / Stateside Theater • Buy Tickets 12/04/2021 • Dallas,...

Duration:00:27:59

The Witching Hour

10/29/2021
Well look at that, it’s Halloween again. Remember when they said on the news or whatever how Halloween was finished, because this was no time for a holiday that, uh, remembers the dead? Tonight we're joined by New York Times-bestselling author Tod Goldberg, who has written such acclaimed desert crime thrillers as The Low Desert, Gangsterland, Gangster Nation, and Living Dead Girl. New spooky soundscapes by RedBlueBlackSilver. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=26080998 See...

Duration:00:27:59

Halloween Campfire Stories, 2018 A.D.

10/24/2021
We release this dubious beast from the Patreon secret tapes of the year past, to celebrate the holy season of Halloween, the time when the veil is thin between the realities. Desert Oracle Campfire Stories, Halloween 2018 C.E., was recorded live around the campfire at the Ace Hotel in Palm Springs, Calif. The instrumental soundscapes you hear along with the crackling campfire and the murmurs of the assembled campers were recorded by our own RedBlueBlackSilver out of Joshua Tree, Calif....

Duration:00:43:31

The Jaws of Darkness Do Devour

10/15/2021
The ill counsel of a desert place, that would be howled out in the desert air . . . . Night has fallen on the desert, in this spookiest of seasons. Tonight we travel by the power of darkness and disinformation to Archuleta Mesa, in the Jicarilla Apache town of Dulce, New Mexico. We're going down, beneath the mountain, to see if the reptilian aliens and the gray aliens and the Air Force disinfo agents are really having gunfights down there, again. Strange new soundscapes from...

Duration:00:28:00

The Time of Mourning

10/8/2021
Rain on the ground, a chill in the air, ghosts on the prowl. We're back from the Midwest with strange tales from the desert to the cornfields. Hosted by Ken Layne with soundscapes by RedBlueBlackSilver, with some of our Pygmalion Festival appearance for good measure. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=26080998 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Duration:00:28:00

Harvest of Souls

10/1/2021
We're back from the road with a new episode to celebrate the most glorious time of year: October, Autumn, Harvest, Fall, whatever you all it. With new nocturnal gospel music from RedBlueBlackSilver and strange tales phoned in from our listeners, recorded live in Chicago at Illuminated Brew Works Lodge #1. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=26080998 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Duration:00:28:00

Blessed are the Doomed

9/17/2021
Congratulations, you people! It is Fall. You made it. Might take another month or two, until you really notice, but summer is officially over. It's a new episode for a new season, with new soundscapes by you-know-who (RedBlueBlackSilver). Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=26080998 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Duration:00:28:00

Be Like the Birds

9/3/2021
It's officially Autumn, at least if you believe the meteorologists -- Meteorological Fall began this week on September 1. Portents and signs, everywhere we look. But signs of what? Oh, the usual: plague, disaster, but at least we have social media to make it worse. New sounds by RedBlueBlackSilver, hosted by Ken Layne. Desert Oracle Radio (c)(p) 2021 http://DesertOracle.com Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=26080998 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Duration:00:28:00

Faces in the Windmills

8/20/2021
Summer's in the rearview but robots are blocking the road. What kind of world is this? The world of the Future. It's time for Episode #136 of Desert Oracle Radio, with your host Ken Layne and soundscapes from RedBlueBlackSilver. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=26080998 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Duration:00:28:00

Twentynine Palms, Twelve Dollars & Change

7/16/2021
Tonight we come to you from Theatre29 in sweltering Twentynine Palms, California. Flash floods, heat domes, weird animals, RedBlueBlackSilver, what else could you want? Other than a livable planet, we mean. Thanks to everyone who came out for the live shows, and everyone who supports the show on Patreon or through magazine subscriptions or however you do it. Stay hydrated but please don't attempt that by getting in the flash flood waters. Support the show:...

Duration:00:28:00

Crooked Rain, Summer Dream

7/2/2021
Heat domes and sultry Palm Springs mornings, weird ravens and odd dreams of wildlife appearances. The brain boils in the desert summer. It boils our very thoughts. Plus: A late edition of the Desert Oracle Mailbag, and all you need to know about our July 10-11 2021 live shows at Theatre29 in Twentynine Palms. (Soundscapes by RedBlueBlackSilver.) Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=26080998 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Duration:00:28:00

Straight To Hell

6/18/2021
Night has fallen on the desert, the desert at its most brutal. The punishing desert, the earthly purgatory, the sun-blasted wilderness so many heroes had to get across alive. Or die trying: Moses, Laurence of Arabia, C-3PO and R2D2, Beavis and Butthead, Allan Quartermain, Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. New soundscapes by RedBlueBlackSilver and a survival-training presentation by our friends at the U.S. Air Force. And yes we are returning to the stage, July 10-11, that's a hot-as-hell...

Duration:00:28:00

When Everything Goes Wrong

6/11/2021
What happens when the perfect solo day hike becomes the ultimate disaster? How do we arrange things better, so that we don't wind up feeding the vultures? Author Claire Nelson joins us to talk about her harrowing fall and long, long wait for help -- a story of fear and bravery and figuring out your life, told in her new memoir, Things I Learned From Falling. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=26080998 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Duration:00:28:00

The Heat Monster

6/4/2021
Well it finally happened, just like every year. All the sudden, it’s hot again. A week ago, it was pleasant out. Now, we cry in the frying pan. Or we will cry, in the weeks to come. October's somewhere on the horizon. Unless it's a mirage. Plus: The Legend of Tahoe Tessie, which you can read here in Alta Magazine. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=26080998 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Duration:00:28:00

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