
Desert Oracle Radio (Ken Layne)
Explore every episode of Desert Oracle Radio
Pub. Date | Title | Duration | |
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10 Mar 2023 | Awe & Fear in the Holy Wilderness | 00:28:00 | |
Apologies if you hear the wind whipping around on the roof of this little radio shack out here tonight. There’s some strip of metal the previous owners tacked down to cover a weak spot in the roof, and it’s slapping around the swamp cooler. And until your host robs a bank, well it’s going to stay that way because that's the only way to get the ten grand the roofing company wants. It’s all right. It’ll dry up in time. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | |||
18 Feb 2022 | Settle Down With Purpose | 00:28:01 | |
It's the prettiest time of year in the High Desert, with longer days and the last winter precipitation setting it all up for springtime. What will it look like, in a thousand years? Probably pretty much the same, minus the Airbnbs and vintage shops. New soundscapes by RedBlueBlackSilver with some drumming help on the last act by S.W. Lauden. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=26080998 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | |||
18 Aug 2023 | Hurricane Hilary in the High Desert | 00:28:00 | |
When you look at the big red danger zone in the middle of the Weather Service maps this evening, you will see that we are in it, right up at the north end of the highest predicted rainfall and flooding. Maybe that means we don’t get it as bad or for as long as our friends from the border zone up through Coachella Valley to Palm Springs and Desert Hot Springs, maybe it means nothing of the sort. Prepare for a lot of rain, maybe a couple of years worth of rain. Prepare for a lot of water in a lot of place we don’t often see it. And up here around Joshua Tree and Yucca Valley and 29 Palms, prepare to hang around for a while. You may not be able to get down the hill for a while. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | |||
03 May 2024 | Funeral for a Raven | 00:28:00 | |
Tonight we're talking ravens, fishes & loaves, and the soul-crushing indoor indoctrination of the Empire's State Religion. Sir James George Frazer, Pliny the Elder and the Gospel Mark are all involved, whether they like it or not. (And the "Bible Friends" podcast mentioned on this episode can be found here.) Thanks for listening to the show, and for supporting the show via our Patreon page or at our online store, DesertOracle.com. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | |||
21 Jan 2022 | Empty Churches For Fun & (Non) Profit | 00:28:01 | |
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 information. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | |||
25 Aug 2023 | The Dowsing Rod | 00:28:00 | |
Ever seen a water witch at work? It’s a beautiful thing to behold. We have ancient reserves of great power within us. This is Episode #198 of Desert Oracle Radio, after the hurricane. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | |||
06 Mar 2020 | The Other Room | 01:00:01 | |
New Mexico author and journalist Anna Merlin joins us for just the kind of late-night mind-bending radio conversation you probably need right about now. Mystery schools, prepper shopping, psychedelics, the collective unconscious/consciousness, conspiracy theory and new-age conventions. How do we reach the Other Room? Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=26080998 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | |||
29 Jan 2021 | Atmospheric River | 00:28:00 | |
There's a leak in the studio roof and the only way we know is because an atmospheric river is bearing down upon the American Southwest. So get a bucket or a cereal bowl or something and we'll all paddle to Hell together . . . . with new soundscapes by RedBlueBlackSilver to keep us company. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=26080998 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | |||
19 Jun 2020 | Those Mysterious Green Fireballs | 00:28:00 | |
Did you hear about the mysterious, silent green fireballs flying low and bright in the skies over Australia last week? Ever seen one yourself? Ever thought they were just some sort of meteor, as that's what the Experts claimed? Well the experts are pulling your leg, they don't know either. Come back to 1947 New Mexico with us, as we visit the strange mystery of the Green Fireballs. And don't forget to throw us a few bucks on Patreon, it's how we keep the studio going, the electricity flowing. http://patreon.com/DesertOracle Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=26080998 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | |||
16 Jul 2021 | Twentynine Palms, Twelve Dollars & Change | 00:28:01 | |
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: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=26080998 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | |||
08 Sep 2023 | Warriors, Poets & Ravens | 00:28:00 | |
Early September, Jupiter tucked under the 2/3 moon at midnight, heaviest of La Luna’s many forms and phases: low over the eastern horizon, like the Death Star under construction. The owls are hooting in three different octaves, a whole choir by relay, a choir of the night. The night air has turned cool again, the wind only whispering.This is Episode #199 of Desert Oracle Radio, broadcasting from Joshua Tree. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | |||
13 Mar 2020 | The Invisible Friend | 00:28:01 | |
When times are strange, shall we gather in the desert? Well that depends. It depends if you're bringing the Invisible Friend. But we'll get through these tribulations, mostly, eventually. And we will make use of the time at hand. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=26080998 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | |||
27 Oct 2023 | Samhain Stories For All Hallows' Eve | 00:28:00 | |
Night has fallen on the desert, and here comes the ancient festival of Halloween, as the world begins to die again ... as it does at the tail end of every year. The leaves fall and decay, the green things wither, the sun hides away. And we remember the Dead. Tonight: Samhain tales of changelings and fire, and the Holy Mountain along the Mexican-American borderland. New (& classic!) soundscapes by RedBlueBlackSilver. Written & hosted by Ken Layne. Desert Oracle Radio (c)(p) 2017-2023 https://DesertOracle.com Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | |||
18 Jul 2020 | Communiqué 100: The Voice of the Desert | 00:28:00 | |
From our secure, undisclosed Mojave Desert radio studio, tonight we bring you our 100th episode, with strange tales of the Amboy Ghost Lights and an uncomfortable visit from Brendan Maze, local businessman. http://DesertOracle.com (c)(p) 2020 Desert Oracle Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=26080998 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | |||
18 Oct 2022 | John Lennon's UFO (Some Time In New York City) | 00:28:00 | |
Happy October, friends. This episode comes to you from the West Village, NYC. We'll see you next in Oakland (10/21/2022) and Portland (10/23/2022). Thanks to RedBlueBlackSilver for the magical soundscapes & to you for supporting this independent radio show via our Patreon page. Keep the desert in your hear & your money in your front pocket. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | |||
19 Apr 2025 | The Vanishing Boy of Yavapai County | 00:28:00 | |
Here’s how the Channel 12 news in Phoenix began the story, Thursday night on the 10 o’clock news: “God sent that dog to rescue my son.” These words were spoken by the toddler’s father, Corey Allen, outside the family’s home on the west side of rural Seligman, Arizona. Corey Allen says he was working on the roof, Sarah Allen was inside with their youngest. And two-year-old Bodin Allen went outside to play. But when Bodin Allen’s mom called for him, he didn’t answer. He wasn’t there. And after an hour of frantic searching beneath a darkening sky, the Allens called the Yavapai Sheriff’s Department and before long there were dozens of search-of-rescue volunteers and deputies searching the area. Helicopters with spotlights scoured the plateau, the pilots reporting two mountain lions prowling the territory. A rancher named Scotty Dunton discovered the blond-headed toddler, seven long miles away from home, deep into the backcountry to the west. The boy was coming up the driveway, along with Scotty Dunton's big ranch dog, Buford the Anatolian Pyrenees. This is EPISODE #141: THE VANISHING BOY with soundscapes by RedBlueBlackSilver. Written & hosted by Ken Layne. Thanks for supporting this advertising-free program on our Patreon.com/DesertOracle page. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | |||
28 Jan 2023 | Encounters With Coyote-Man | 00:28:00 | |
For as long as people have lived in the desert southwest, they have told stories of Coyote, that peculiar personality that's both a common wild canine and the devious trickster god who created the world. Also: A lot of people are seeing coyotes stand up and walk away like a man. This is EPISODE #179 of Desert Oracle Radio. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | |||
15 Jul 2023 | The Witch Beat | 00:28:00 | |
Tonight we are talking about witches. And interesting religions, new & old. And especially California's incredible occult countercultures—the esoteric stuff that Los Angeles Times reporter Deborah Netburn covers for her official newspaper beat: "Faith, Spirituality and Joy." Some of the interesting tales we will discuss tonight:
New soundscapes by RedBlueBlackSilver. Thanks for supporting this advertising-free podcast via our Patreon page! Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | |||
01 May 2020 | Back to the Barrooms | 00:28:01 | |
We've about had it with the cabin fever and now we've got the ramblin' fever. So let's pour a couple of drinks and enjoy some saloon time on this fine desert night. Maybe get a beer back, too. And six more for the road. Our Phoenix friend Jason P. Woodbury joins us at the bar. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=26080998 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | |||
23 Feb 2024 | Make It Sacred | 00:28:00 | |
Nothing is sacred unless we set it aside as sacred. As Americans rapidly abandon organized religion — and the formerly sanctified church and temple sites go up for sale as designer homes — where are the places that are truly sacred? The places set aside for contemplation, meditation, festivals, the rituals of life? There ain’t much. Not nearly enough. But that can be fixed. New soundscapes by RedBlueBlackSilver. Written & hosted by Ken Layne. Thanks for supporting this advertising-free podcast at Patreon.com/desertoracle. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | |||
16 Aug 2024 | Hot August Bites | 00:28:00 | |
A summertime tour through "strange and weird places," where they held their annual rituals. This is Episode #228. It's on the level. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | |||
23 Jul 2022 | Guidestones of the End Times | 00:28:00 | |
The Hoover Dam, already dealing with a severe lack of water on the reservoir side, suffered an explosion and fire this week. And somebody predicted the Hoover Dam was "next" after the mysterious Georgia Guidestones were blown up by some anonymous Taliban cosplayers. Welcome to another summer on Earth! At least we have the sanctity of the night, if we allow ourselves the luxury. Being a night owl might even mean you're some kind of tortured genius, so that's good. Maybe. It's Episode #165 of Desert Oracle Radio! Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=26080998 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | |||
16 Jun 2023 | Strange Things Happening Every Day | 00:28:00 | |
We've got it all tonight: UFO calls from listeners, albino animals appearing worldwide, and something about reduced expectations and fried chicken. New soundscapes from RedBlueBlackSilver, and a clip from our morning appearance on Z107.7 FM's Up Close show. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | |||
15 Apr 2022 | Phantom Plane Crash on a Utah Highway | 00:28:01 | |
What happened to Army Private Gerry Irwin on a Utah two-lane, way back in February 1959? There was no plane crash. No passengers. Nothing but Pvt. Irwin, unconscious in the Utah night. Strange things happen on the desert highways. PLUS: Interesting facts about Arizona and Utah, from the 1950s. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=26080998 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | |||
15 Oct 2021 | The Jaws of Darkness Do Devour | 00:28:00 | |
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 RedBlueBlackSilver, plus the first announcement of our November/December tour dates from California to Tennessee and back again. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=26080998 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | |||
12 Jan 2025 | Hills Are Filled With Fire | 00:28:00 | |
Another wild and windy night in these first strange days and nights of our new year. We are monitoring the infernos & catastrophes, but also celebrating the creation of Chuckwalla National Monument in the vast weird desert east of Coachella, all the way to the Colorado River. Plus: A phone call from our High Desert pal Herbie Benham, and soundscapes by RedBlueBlackSilver. Desert Oracle Radio (c)(p) 2017-2025 http://DesertOracle.com Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | |||
10 Jul 2020 | The Mystery Pig | 00:28:01 | |
What is this weird creature that turned up dead in Yucca Valley, in the Mojave High Desert? Wildlife biologists are baffled, and so are we. What sort of cruel god would create such a useless (and dead) animal? Well probably the same one that's behind the coronavirus and police violence and million-dollar hospital bills. Makes the Trickster spirits seem absolutely benign in comparison. http://DesertOracle.com (c)(p) 2020 Desert Oracle Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=26080998 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | |||
08 Mar 2024 | The Voice of the Desert | 00:28:00 | |
The storms continue, the wildflowers begin to appear, and Chantel our PCT through-hiker probably made it to the Canadian border without any kind of Mountain Monster getting her, which is good. Also: What is the Voice of the Desert? New soundscapes by RedBlueBlackSilver, written and hosted by Ken Layne. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | |||
22 Jun 2024 | A Midsummer Night's Desert | 00:28:00 | |
Tonight we are celebrating the full moon and summer solstice, because it's a midsummer night's dream in the desert. Which means we're halfway to winter solstice, and only three months & change ’til Halloween. Maybe that's why we're talking about Puck of Pook Hill and homemade cranberry sauce. New soundscapes by RedBlueBlackSilver, who has a Bandcamp site worth your attention! And thanks for supporting this radio program via Patreon.com/desertoracle . Desert Oracle Radio (c)(p) 2017-2024 Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | |||
02 Oct 2020 | In the Beginning Was Gaia | 00:28:01 | |
You know what time it is: It looks like we sort of infuriated Good Ol' Mother Gaia to the point that Gaia is feeling the need to wipe us off the face of the Earth, the Earth being Gaia. We screwed up pretty good this time! Also: Your postcards and letters from around and across these desert lands. Speaking of such things, our new issue, #9, is out now. You can subscribe at our website — DesertOracle.com — or pick up a copy at fine shops in downtown Joshua Tree. New tracks by JT's own RedBlueBlackSilver. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=26080998 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | |||
24 Apr 2020 | From a P.O. Box | 00:28:00 | |
A tarnished brass key, a small locked box, a sequence of magical numbers, a charmless old block building in the desert. It is here that we visit in the night, keeping our distance, looking for sustenance. It is here we receive your offerings of words and other treasure. Look, all we mean is, tonight is all letters from you, letters from our listening community, letters and their replies. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=26080998 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | |||
29 Apr 2022 | That It Will Never Come Again | 00:28:01 | |
We are meditating upon some various facts and figures here in the Mojave High Desert this week, from the warm weather in Twentynine Palms to which apostle was crucified upside down and is now remembered with an immense phallic monument to the Egyptian sun god, Ra. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=26080998 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | |||
12 Jun 2020 | If It's Broke, Fix It | 00:28:00 | |
Tonight we look back on a revolutionary campaign to completely remake the sheriff's department in an iconic western town. And while they lost the election, maybe they won the moral battle. Maybe they illuminated the way, for you. http://DesertOracle.com (c)(p) 2020 Desert Oracle Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=26080998 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | |||
27 Mar 2020 | Trailed by Twenty Hounds | 00:28:00 | |
Hey did you hear we're going to open up the country again for May Day! We'll try, anyway. Try to get it going on Beltane Eve. Jason P. Woodbury joins us for another interesting tale about music made here in the American Desert, this time regarding longtime Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter, who wrote a number of interesting lyrics about the legends and geography of the Southwest. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=26080998 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | |||
03 Dec 2022 | The Old Desert Regular Gnostic Advent Calendar | 00:28:00 | |
The desert is the kind of place you think maybe you might *discover* something. A treasure, maybe. The Lost Ark. Some old glass bottles, some old human bones. Maybe a secret history of the ancient world, hidden for 1,500 years in a sealed jar buried in a pile of guano. Soundscapes by RedBlueBlackSilver. Hosted by Ken Layne. Supported by fine listeners like yourself, on our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | |||
04 Jun 2021 | The Heat Monster | 00:28:00 | |
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. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | |||
28 Feb 2025 | The Wonderful, Wonderful Cactus Wren | 00:28:00 | |
Night has fallen on the desert, the desert spring is here, and that means the bugs are coming back, and that means we’ll be seeing a lot more of our beloved desert friend, the wonderful wonderful Cactus Wren. Soundscapes by RedBlueBlackSilver. Desert Oracle Radio (c)(p) 2017-2025 Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | |||
12 May 2023 | Space Radio (A Broadcast) | 00:28:00 | |
Tonight we are joined by Joshua Tree bookseller & publisher Jean-Paul L. Garnier of Space Cowboy Books, along with a transmission from poet & sci-fi author Michael Butterworth. To hear an earlier live broadcast with J-P Garneir and Ken Layne, just call up Episode #065, one of our occasional hour-long shows from 2019. The Micheal Butterworth exhibition at Art Queen opens on June 17, 6:30-8:30 p.m. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | |||
15 Apr 2023 | Who By Fire, Who By War | 00:28:00 | |
It's a beautiful spring in the desert, which naturally makes one dream of heading off to war. Maybe a secret war, a guerrilla war, an unknown soldier, wounded deep in psychic battle, like Leonard Cohen in the Sinai, like Che in Bolivia, like good old Ambrose Bierce headed to the deserts down in Mexico for one last campaign, one final outrage. With moody new soundscapes by RedBlueBlackSilver and a travelogue from ancient Damascus, where Saul/Paul stumbled into town after being blinded by the impossible lights over the backroads. Thanks much to those of you who support this program on our Patreon, and for listening over these many years. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | |||
15 Mar 2024 | Spooky Tales for the St. Patrick's Storm | 00:28:00 | |
The pyramids of Guinness 12-packs at our High Desert grocery stores reminded us of St. Patrick's Day coming up, but the grey cloudy skies and green hillsides of the Mojave Desert this month are reminders that the old pagan tales are with us still, wherever the landscape is haunted and strange. And that supernatural entities always gather in their ancient homes: wild forests, dramatic outcroppings of rock, and any lonesome place whipped by the winter winds. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | |||
25 Dec 2020 | A Desert Christmas | 00:28:01 | |
From a skeletal homesteader cabin on a cold Mojave night, it's the annual Desert Oracle Christmas Special. New Mexico writer Anna Merlan joins us to talk about the winter holidays in Santa Fe. New solstice sounds by RedBlueBlackSilver. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=26080998 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | |||
17 Feb 2020 | These Enchanted Lands | 00:28:01 | |
What do they mean by "Land of Enchantment," anyway? The American Desert is a haunted land, that's what it means, haunted by the good and the bad, the weird and the wise. Sometimes you can tune right in, like a human radio attached to an antenna made of boulders. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=26080998 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | |||
05 Dec 2020 | The Cold and the Dry | 00:28:01 | |
Wildlife corridors, park rangers, roadrunners & rabbits. Plus: your postcards and letters. New soundscapes by RedBlueBlackSilver. And guess what's out next week? Our first hardcover collection, Desert Oracle Vol. 1. (c)(p) 2017-2020 Desert Oracle Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=26080998 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | |||
12 Feb 2021 | Alien Corpses of the Great Basin | 00:28:00 | |
You ever drive the "Loneliest Road In America"? That's what they call U.S. 50, across the Great Basin Desert through the middle of Nevada. Not many people out there, not a lot going on. Just as we like it. The mystery visitors like it, too. They like the quiet, they need the wild mountains and desert valleys of the Basin and Range. And way back in 1952, so the story goes, 15 little alien friends were found dead in the wreckage of a glowing oval craft that smashed into the side of a copper mine. With all-new spacey soundscapes by our own RedBlueBlackSilver. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=26080998 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | |||
14 Jan 2023 | Space Monsters & Other Earthly Demons | 00:28:00 | |
Night has fallen on the desert. The year is still fresh and new. We don’t all have to talk about stoves, all the sudden. We can do better. Let’s do better. Let’s talk about monsters. Desert Oracle Radio (C)(P) 2017-2023 • http://DesertOracle.com Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | |||
26 Mar 2021 | Mystery Swarm | 00:28:00 | |
Are the mystery drones back? Did they ever leave? We travel from the desert to the sea and back again, chasing those odd manifestations that have lately been surrounding Navy destroyers. And what does any of this have to do with L. Ron Hubbard? New tunes from RedBlueBlackSilver. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=26080998 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | |||
02 Jul 2021 | Crooked Rain, Summer Dream | 00:28:00 | |
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. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | |||
25 Nov 2023 | Trivia Night in the High Desert | 00:28:00 | |
What's better on a desert Thanksgiving weekend than 10 questions regarding the natural and human history of the Mojave High Desert? Get your pencil and notepaper, and enjoy Desert Trivia Night from Thanksgiving Eve at the Tiny Pony, with spooky November soundscapes from RedBlueBlackSilver. Desert Oracle Radio (c)(p) 2017-2023 Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | |||
19 May 2023 | Thru-Hiking With Tahquitz | 00:28:00 | |
Where is she, tonight? It has been a month and ten days since she mailed this postcard from Idyllwild to Joshua Tree. All we can do is hope that the monster did not put an early end to her Pacific Crest Trail adventure, as so often happens in those movies with Reese Witherspoon. Because there's a real monster in the mountains around San Jacinto Peak, a real monster who murders people & eats their souls for dessert. It is called the Tahquitz. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | |||
08 Jan 2022 | The Light Saw Me | 00:28:01 | |
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 Oracle Radio (c)(p) 2022 http://DesertOracle.com Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=26080998 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | |||
30 Sep 2022 | Famous For Nothingness | 00:28:00 | |
It's tourist season in the Mojave again, never mind the lingering heat and $6-a-gallon gasoline. What's the attraction to this dried-up old desert? Did the fad peak in 2020? Now is the time for Desert Oracle Radio #169: FAMOUS FOR NOTHINGNESS. Soundscapes and Old Desert Regular haunted-gospel organ by RedBlueBlackSilver. PLUS: Details of our October tour, New York on October 6 [Get Tickets] and the West Coast starting October 21. Thank you for supporting this humble radio ministry in the Mojave Desert by making a donation via Patreon! Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | |||
18 Mar 2022 | Druid Stories To Ward Off St. Patrick | 00:28:01 | |
In tribute to the Druids who were canceled by Saint Patrick, we will tell some stories. Ghost stories. From those ancient Celtic lands that gave us the Sidhe, the Good People, the Gentry, the leprechauns and banshee, the goddess Brigid and the frightful pooka. Tales from the Dim Kingdom, of the Tuatha de Danaan. And how the Gold Rush of the Sierra Nevada was the birthplace of the "Luck of the Irish." Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=26080998 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | |||
08 May 2020 | That Which Is But Isn't | 00:28:01 | |
Are they trying to ram a space-alien story down your throat again? Yeah they are, it happens sometimes. Every couple years, for reasons even they can't agree upon. Let's take a last look at this "Pentagon UFO" business and move on, because if ever we needed to move on, that time has come. Plus: What happened over Farmington, New Mexico, in March of 1950? Whatever it was, everybody saw it. It, them, whatever it was, whatever they are. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=26080998 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | |||
09 Sep 2022 | Like a Hurricane | 00:28:00 | |
Night has fallen on the desert, and if you’re in the Western Mojave around Joshua Tree National Park and all the way out to Kelso and Las Vegas, you might already have the buckets out for any newly discovered leaks in the roof, because rain is in the forecast for the whole region. Up to 80% chance of heavy rain tonight in Yucca Valley, and really getting soaked along the Mexican border, flood watch in effect from Yuma to Lake Havasu City. All because of Hurricane Kay, our tropical visitor. Our audiobook is out now, and October tour dates have been announced: New York, Oakland, Arcata, Portland, Vancouver BC, Seattle, Boise, SLC! Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | |||
09 May 2025 | Father Crowley: Desert Padre of the Owens Valley | 00:28:00 | |
If you’ve run around the breathtaking Eastern Sierra, you know Crowley Lake, and Crowley Point, and maybe even the rare Crowley Lupine of the Sierra’s Eastern slope. All three are named in honor of Father John J. Crowley, the Padre of the Desert. His heroic life and tragic death are remembered on this very Catholic episode of Desert Oracle Radio, with soundscapes by RedBlueBlackSilver. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | |||
14 Jan 2022 | A Hymn To Sekhmet, Creator of the Desert | 00:28:01 | |
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 soundscapes by RedBlueBlackSilver. Desert Oracle Radio (c)(p) 2017-2022 • http://DesertOracle.com Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=26080998 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | |||
29 Oct 2021 | The Witching Hour | 00:28:01 | |
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 omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | |||
15 Feb 2025 | Surrounded in the Night | 00:28:00 | |
A winter storm cut loose from the mountains, the cold wind whipping around the creosote, rain dripping down through the swamp-cooler vent: 2025 came in like a Lion and it’s the Year of the Snake. We’ve got both out here, in the Mojave Wilderness. Mountain lions, or cougars. And snakes, too, although it’s still a bit early to see our reptile friends up here at 4,000 feet elevation. (Soundscapes by RedBlueBlackSilver, written & hosted by Ken Layne.) Desert Oracle Radio (c)(p) 2017-2025 DesertOracle.com Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | |||
08 Oct 2021 | The Time of Mourning | 00:28:00 | |
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. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | |||
06 Apr 2025 | Spring Forward With the Desert Birds | 00:28:00 | |
It's a cool & pleasant springtime in the Mojave High Desert. The hummingbirds are lingering on the branches of creosote and catclaw, looking around for the flowers. Where are the flowers? Well, that’s always the guessing game up here, isn’t it? Sometimes they’re evident by the end of March, sometimes it’s the beginning of May. Varies by terrain, by altitude, by a hundred little differences from spring to spring, in this forward motion of our lives. ALSO: Traveling Doc Holliday's West.
Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | |||
30 Apr 2021 | Try Not To Die | 00:28:00 | |
As we come out of our holes and return to our beloved American Desert, it's time to remember a dozen simple rules to keep your day hike from becoming a disaster. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=26080998 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | |||
03 Feb 2023 | The Green Comet | 00:28:00 | |
"What could it be? There was no balloon and there were no aeronauts. Some strange phenomenon had occurred in the higher zones of the atmosphere, a phenomenon of which neither the nature nor the cause could be explained. Today it appeared over America . . . ." Tonight we take a look at the life of George Ellery Hale, pioneering astronomer and the father of Palomar Observatory . . . where the mysterious new green comet was discovered, only 11 months ago and visible in the skies this week. Thanks much to our supporters on Patreon for keeping this radio show & podcast on the air! Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | |||
12 Apr 2024 | Standing With the Giants at Mariposa Grove | 00:28:00 | |
Mariposa Grove was a sacred grove for millennia before it became part of the Yosemite Grant, lovingly tended by Yosemite Guardian Galen Clark for more than a quarter century. Sacred groves and forests are protected for their spiritual and ecological importance. Such groves are found today throughout India (home of more than a million holy forests), Japan (many thousands of chinju no mori surrounding Shinto temples), and Ethiopia (35,000 primal forests circling Ethiopian Orthodox churches). Sacred groves protect many rare, threatened, and endemic species of plants and animals, and are often the last stand of ancient forest in a community. Biodiversity thrives within these sanctified nature preserves, while festivals dating back to antiquity provide people with a deep and lasting connection to their culture, religious practices, folklore and history. Learn more about Galen Clark from the National Park Service. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | |||
20 May 2022 | Some New Kind of Kick | 00:28:00 | |
Tonight we are joined by Kid Congo Powers, legendary guitarist from the Golden Age of The Cramps, The Gun Club, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, and his longtime band Kid Congo and the Pink Monkey Birds. We talk about his new home in the Tucson desert, his 14-minute desert-groove "He Walked In" from 2021, and the importance of Magick & Alchemy. ALSO: Desert Oracle Radio live in Wonder Valley, with Ken Layne and RedBlueBlackSilver. You can pre-order Kid Congo Powers' new memoir, Some New Kind of Kick, which is due out in October. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=26080998 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | |||
02 Apr 2021 | Charred Bones In the Sunlight | 00:28:00 | |
What does the cave art of 30,000 years ago have to do with the new Solar Orbiter we sent from Planet Earth to explore our star? Quite a lot, it turns out. Hosted by Ken Layne, with new soundscapes by RedBlueBlackSilver. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=26080998 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | |||
07 May 2021 | Medicine Show | 00:28:00 | |
We have been sick, and we need the medicine of the show. Campfire stories, tent revivals, Shakespeare in the Park, knife fights at the honky-tonk, etc. Now that performance is returning to the stage, whether theater or movies or street dancers, we spend some time at the campfire to follow the long thread from ancient-world traveling players to the Old West medicine shows that continued into the 1940s. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=26080998 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | |||
22 May 2020 | Wizards and Critters | 00:28:00 | |
When it's Snakesgiving Time in the Mojave, everybody's just a little more careful. Goes well with these weird new times, being careful. So please make an effort to not run over any tortoises or coyotes or bobcats or gopher snakes when you're racing through the re-opened national park. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=26080998 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | |||
27 Feb 2020 | Please Don't Cough On the Spaceship | 00:28:02 | |
We're hunkering down, like everybody: the tortoises, the rattlesnakes. But they're starting to come out again, while we are just beginning our quarantine. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=26080998 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | |||
20 Dec 2024 | Christmas Amongst the Joshua Trees | 00:28:00 | |
We've heard some weird news about Saint Nicholas that turns out to be a few years old, but that's all right. Christmas itself is old news, after all. That’s why we love it, because it’s ancient and beautiful, the time for silent walks in the cold night, just the sound of your boots crunching through the snow, the half-moon glowing through the Joshua trees. Plus: Which phrases and words shall be banned in the new year? And: Seasonal soundscapes by RedBlueBlackSilver. Thanks for supporting this advertising-free show at Patreon.com/DesertOracle. Desert Oracle Radio (c)(p) 2017-2024 http://DesertOracle.com Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | |||
17 May 2024 | Call of the Blue Crow | 00:28:00 | |
Public-land managers in the US Southwest seem determined to drive the pinyon jay to extinction. A half-century attack on pinyon & juniper high-desert woodland has led to a 78% drop in pinyon jay populations just in the past 50 years. You can take action, and the Pinyon Juniper Alliance is a good place to start. The pinyon jay is the steward of the pinyon forests, for which the forest feeds and houses this crucial blue crow. Of the thousands of pinyon nuts the blue crow puts away for the winter, usually working with its mate and both returning to the spot throughout the year to store or collect, the few pine nuts left behind grow into new pinyons, expanding the reach of the woodland. More woodland means more wildlife, more carbon-breathing conifers, more precious Western water stored in the ground, more wildlife corridors that connect mule deer and desert bighorn and mountain lions along mountain and valley to vast zones of wilderness. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | |||
22 Sep 2023 | The Autumn Tint of Gold | 00:28:00 | |
This autumn is getting off to a strange start, as here in the Mojave High Desert there are carpets of little yellow wildflowers thanks to the hurricane, old Hurricane Hilary which soaked us all pretty good a month ago. Never seen so many weeds in late September. Happy Equinox from Desert Oracle Radio, celebrating 200 episodes with tonight's show. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | |||
25 Nov 2020 | A Desert Plaguesgiving | 00:28:01 | |
What's going on with that mysterious Utah monolith? What's going on with Brendan Maze and his new "plague refugee" Substack newsletter? The small-town desert real-estate market is hot, for now, and he's got some tips on the sorts of under-appreciated properties you might be able to afford. Especially if 10 or 12 of you go in on it, together. New soundscapes from RedBlueBlackSilver. Happy thanksgiving to the bighorn, the bobcats, and maybe even to some of the people. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=26080998 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | |||
13 Nov 2021 | Huehuecoyotl & the Canine Gods | 00:28:00 | |
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, Memphis, Norman Okla., Santa Fe, Phoenix/Mesa, and Los Angeles. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=26080998 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | |||
03 Sep 2021 | Be Like the Birds | 00:28:00 | |
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 Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=26080998 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | |||
25 Jan 2025 | One Chants Out Between Two Worlds | 00:28:00 | |
It's a cold, cold night in the wind-blasted desert, and we hear there's snow a-comin', can't come soon enough. Listen to the harrowing sounds of the 1961 Bel Air Fire, prepare for Mojo Nixon's anniversary (of death), and join us in remembering our favorite Intermountain West surrealist, the late great David Lynch. Soundscapes by RedBlueBlackSilver. Suitable for some families.
Desert Oracle Radio (c)(p) 2017-2025 http://DesertOracle.com Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | |||
22 Apr 2022 | Last Blast of Winter | 00:28:00 | |
Happy Earth Day, people of Earth. Here's an episode about the desert in winter, appropriate for our spring blast of rain and snow and cold, cold temperatures. This was recorded live at the Whistle Stop in San Diego, near the end of our November-December 2021 tour. Soundscapes by RedBlueBlackSilver. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=26080998 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | |||
04 Aug 2023 | The Waning Moon: UFOs & Their Pentagon Propagandists | 00:28:00 | |
The United States military branches and intelligence agencies do not control what happens around the world all the time, much as they’d like to. The things we call UFOs occur in the backwoods and on backroads, over the lonely desert playas and mountain lakes, eternally floating around the sacred springs and sacred groves and sacred mountains of every culture and continent, for as long as human beings have existed. If you want to see something supernatural, go somewhere quiet, put down your camera-phone, and tune in. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | |||
03 Apr 2020 | Embracing Mortality, With Erik Davis | 01:00:00 | |
Well the surprise here is that this is an opportunity, to appreciate this time of silence and to appreciate our fragile mortality. The desert has always offered that to the seekers, to the lunatics, to the prophets. Guest Erik Davis joins us for the full hour, as we talk about the very entertaining and enlightening audiobook he just finished for his best-selling High Weirdness. Be here now, with your desert friends. New sounds from RedBlueBlackSilver. Listen to our Friday night broadcast on KCDZ FM, 107.7 in Joshua Tree. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=26080998 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | |||
28 Aug 2020 | Dark Psychic Force | 00:28:01 | |
Remember last August, a year ago, when the national media found it very funny that presidential candidate Marianne Williamson mentioned the "dark psychic force" that had taken hold of America? Well, here we are. We had better make the best of it. How are you surviving in our New Time? We will talk about some of the ways to make it through, from spiritual revelations to forming little communities with your friends and family. Lots of fine new soundscapes by RedBlueBlackSilver, too. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=26080998 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | |||
08 Jul 2022 | Owl-Eye's View | 00:28:00 | |
What has horns and flies overhead at night? The Great Horned Owl, that's who. Although they're horn shapes and not actual horn material. As far as science knows. Join us at 10 p.m. tonight on KCDZ 107.7 FM or use your phone as the world's most expensive pocket radio, as we examine the bird's-eye view of the world, and what it can do for your state of mind. Hosted by Ken Layne with new soundscapes by RedBlueBlackSilver. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=26080998 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | |||
04 Sep 2020 | Secrets of the Superspectrum | 00:28:00 | |
Burrowed down through another Extreme Heat Event, we send this radio dispatch to you. The world has gone mad, why not join the fun? Join the revolution. Well what happened is we were talking about all the desert creatures coming out of their holes at night—literally, the rabbit holes, in the case of our many Mojave cottontails and jackrabbits—and then all the sudden we went down the rabbit hole, too. At least it's cooler down here! Meade Layne and Edgar Cayce come up, thanks to a shared connection. Fine new sounds by RedBlueBlackSilver. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=26080998 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | |||
17 Feb 2024 | Among the Stately Trees | 00:28:00 | |
Where's the beautiful part, anyway? Well, start by walking about a mile past the last parking lot or dirt road or residential car-parts dump or informal halfway house or accidental pit-bull breeding farm, and keep going in the direction of the difficult terrain: the hills and the mountains and the boulders. Not the hills covered in radio relay towers, but the ones with nothing up there at all, nothing except more boulders, more spiky yucca trees that slash your arms, gnarled junipers and needle-armed Joshua trees, up to the craggy peak where the stately pinyons stand proud. Keep going that way. On the second half of the program, Patrick Donnelly — here's his Sand & Sage newsletter — from the Center for Biological Diversity returns to Desert Oracle Radio to talk about an international land grab dreamt up by a local commissioner in Lincoln County, Nevada, along with the nation of Denmark, which plans to destroy centuries-old forests of pinyon and juniper on your public lands to mush into "bio-fuel" for container ships. What?! New soundscapes from RedBlueBlackSilver. Written & produced by Ken Layne. Thanks for supporting this advertising-free show via our Desert Oracle Patreon. Soundscapes by RedBlueBlackSilver; written & produced by Ken Layne. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | |||
11 Sep 2020 | Message Deleted | 00:28:01 | |
How are we doing out there? Pretty bad? Well nobody likes to hear "the ultraterrestrial entities told you so," but, the ultraterrestrial entities told you so. It was 27 years ago this month—at the Ariel School in Ruwa, Zimbabwe—that 62 students witnessed a miracle. Of the biblical variety. Several strange, wise entities appeared in their bizarre vessel at the edge of the playground, hovering over the brush the way the White Goddess and the Queen of the Universe and the Virgin of Guadalupe always appear, so often to the relatively pure eyes and hearts of the children. And they had a message. We did not heed the message. Strange new soundscapes from RedBlueBlackSilver tonight, a fitting musical environment for tonight's tales of environmental terror. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=26080998 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | |||
07 Apr 2023 | Hoppy Easter, From the Desert Fathers | 00:28:00 | |
On this Good Friday —which wasn't so great for the protagonist — let us be enlightened by the strange koans of the Desert Fathers. These were the 5th Century CE monks who started the whole "move to the desert" trend, leaving their elite lives in the cities for the hardship of a tiny hole dug in a limestone cliff. With new spring soundscapes by our own musical monk, RedBlueBlackSilver, and hosted/written by Ken Layne. We wish you a very somber & festive Snakesgiving, as well. Thanks much for supporting this show on our Patreon page! Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | |||
17 Apr 2020 | Return of the Wild Things | 00:28:00 | |
An all-new quarantine episode of Desert Oracle Radio from our secure desert compound, where we are noting the return of the wildlife, the blue skies, the clear air, the happy songbirds, and all the springtime joys of a time when the people have chosen to stay mostly at home, for the sake of human society. New & classic soundscapes by our own RedBlueBlackSilver. Here the terrestrial radio broadcast on our home station, KCDZ 107.7 FM in Joshua Tree, Calif., Fridays from 10 p.m. to 11 p.m. http://DesertOracle.com (c)(p) 2017-2020 Desert Oracle Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=26080998 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | |||
21 Jul 2023 | Where They Built the Bomb | 00:28:00 | |
If you want to cool off in this brutal desert summer, you need to get up someplace higher, around 7,000 feet — the high-desert plateau around Los Alamos is real nice, at an elevation of 7,320'. Lots of people have fallen in love with the climate and clean dry air up there, such as J. Robert Oppenheimer & Gore Vidal & William S. Burroughs. Burroughs was supposed to be a War Captain, following orders, but it never quite worked out that way. Instead, he would go to war with Human Language . . . using the weapon of the oppressor. With new war-march soundscapes by RedBlueBlackSilver. Thanks for supporting this advertising-free podcast on our Patreon page! Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | |||
24 Jun 2022 | Area 51's Mysterious Petroglyph: Pahranagat Man | 00:28:00 | |
Now that it's good & hot outside, let's wander the high desert boulder-strewn hills of Nevada's Lincoln County. Home to Pahranagat Man, a very specific rock-art figure that fits right in with what this land would become in the 20th Century: Area 51, dreamland for the believers in the E.T. mythology. Hosted by Ken Layne, with soundscapes by RedBlueBlackSilver. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=26080998 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | |||
22 Mar 2020 | Battlefield Earth | 00:28:00 | |
Well you'll never guess who joined us all the way from Whitesburg, Kentucky, to talk about the particular desert landscape of SE New Mexico and East Texas. But we will tell you anyway: Tarence Ray from Trillbilly Workers Party. Oh and we're dealing with the matters at hand, as best we can. Fitting new soundscapes by RedBlueBlackSilver. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=26080998 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | |||
16 Sep 2024 | Greenwashing the Great Basin | 00:28:00 | |
Have you heard what the "green energy" corporations are doing to the Great Basin Desert, with your government's approval, on your public lands? The plan is to cover the pristine basin-and-range interior of Nevada with industrial electricity factories over endless thousands of acres of desert woodland. And the people who should be out protesting this, chaining themselves to the desert trees marked for annihilation, etc., well they don't really care. Because they've been told "environmentalism" now means destroying the last wild places in America, the last wild landscapes, so a fly-by-night solar corporation can get free land to scrape clean, free from the U.S. government. New soundscapes by RedBlueBlackSilver. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | |||
10 Nov 2023 | Ode to Harry Oliver, King of the Desert Rats | 00:28:00 | |
From the World War II years to 1965, the artist and humorist and hugely influential architect Harry Oliver published his Desert Rat Scrap Book from a hand-built adobe in the California desert. He called it "the only newspaper you can read in the wind," because the whole thing was printed on a single sheet of sturdy colored cardstock, folded down to mailing size. UFO & Fortean author and Radio Misterioso host Greg Bishop joins us tonight to talk about our shared fascination with .... not flying saucers, but Harry Oliver! New soundscapes by RedBlueBlackSilver, written & produced by Ken Layne. This is EPISODE #205: ODE TO HARRY OLIVER, KING OF THE DESERT RATS. Listen to the radio broadcast tonight at 10 p.m. on KCDZ 107.7 FM in Joshua Tree & the Mojave High Desert. Thanks for supporting this advertising-free podcast through our Patreon. Desert Oracle Radio (c)(p) 2017-2023 ~ http://DesertOracle.com Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | |||
08 Oct 2024 | Strange Rituals of Halloweens Past | 00:28:00 | |
Be not a-feared of our yearly remembrance of the dead, of ghostly visits from our beloved and maybe not-so-beloved relations and ancestors. Know Death as an old friend who always eventually comes around, for you and everyone else. If your belief in the immortality of the soul is secure, do not shudder and sputter over the enjoyment of pumpkins and haystacks and comical gravestones made of scrap wood and whitewash. It's October, as long as you ignore the weather, and that means it's time for spooky tales on Desert Oracle Radio. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | |||
27 May 2022 | The Time of the Roadrunner | 00:28:00 | |
In wintertime, in springtime, and in the magic months of late Autumn, the desert is the finest place in the world. But now we are coming to the other part — the “Bad Place,” as they say in the Bible. A time for weeping and a time for gnashing of teeth. While the humans hide in their air-conditioned mechanical prisons, the roadrunners are having the times of their lives. They love the heat of summer, because there's a feast of lizards and snakes in the daytime, and the usual desperate bunnies and rats at night. Soundscapes by RedBlueBlackSilver, hosted & written by Ken Layne. Find out more at DesertOracle.com, the Voice of the Desert. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=26080998 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | |||
28 Apr 2023 | The Nature of Color & Vision | 00:28:00 | |
The waxing moon is moving through the constellation of Leo, Mars is fading, and Venus hangs heavy in the western sky. Venus seems enormous, especially late at night, low over our western mountains. Meanwhile on the desert floor, and splashed brightly up the desert hillsides, wondrous carpets of yellow and orange and violet wildflowers delight the eye & the soul. This is EPISODE #186 of Desert Oracle Radio, The Nature of Color & Vision, by Ken Layne and with lush new soundscapes by RedBlueBlackSilver. Thanks for supporting this advertising-free radio show via patreon.com/desertoracle. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | |||
17 Mar 2025 | Remembrance of Lost Time: Anniversary of a Lockdown | 00:28:00 | |
Happy Ides of March, happy St. Patrick’s Day, and happy five-year anniversary of the COVID-19 lockdown — the beginning of it anyway: 15 days to slow the spread . . . not a great slogan, for what it cost, but that’s what we got. Much of the world is much the same as it was five years ago. Same iPhone, same president, same daylight savings time. Where did the lockdown time go? What did it do to us? Soundscapes by RedBlueBlackSilver. Thanks for supporting this advertising-free broadcast at Patreon.com/DesertOracle. Desert Oracle Radio (c)(p) 2017-2024 http://DesertOracle.com Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | |||
16 Oct 2023 | The Spiritual Intoxication of the Wilderness Walk | 00:28:00 | |
One thing people like to do when they’re given some liberties — or when they take the liberty that’s usually there for the taking, if anybody wants it bad enough — is to go on a long walk. Whether you call it a pilgrimage or walkabout or "through-hike" or country ramble, such excursions really take you out of the day-to-day, even as you occasionally rub elbows with other people doing the same thing. PLUS: Information regarding the October 20 show at Jacumba Hot Springs and the October 29 Campfire Stories at Yucca Valley's Tiny Pony Tavern. Thanks for supporting this advertising-free radio show & podcast via Patreon! Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | |||
30 Oct 2020 | All Hallows' Full Moon and the Great Conjunction | 00:28:01 | |
It's almost Halloween and we've been too worried to notice, but now that the good weather is here and the veil is thin, make sure you get out beneath the Halloween Full Moon. Our bird-biologist friend C. Del Desierto joins us for strange tales of the desert eagle spotter. And do prepare yourself for the Great Conjunction of 2020, which you can watch happen in real time, by watching Saturn and Jupiter grow ever closer together in our night sky. When the solstice arrives, December 21, well you'll sure know it. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=26080998 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | |||
01 Sep 2024 | Ghost Riders and Death Valley Rangers | 00:28:00 | |
Forest ranger, park ranger, Navy sailor, lumberjack, and cowboy — those were some of the jobs Stanley Jones worked before accidentally becoming a movie actor and composer of classic western music. PLUS: Weird Annie had a bunch of weird raven children. Deus Pascit Corvus. New sounds by RedBlueBlackSilver. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | |||
11 Dec 2020 | The Secret Desert | 00:28:01 | |
Tonight we share the tale of the Krill Papers, strange legends of Cold War space-alien conspiracies, located right in the very heart of the Nevada desert wilderness. Speaking of, we are also joined by Patrick Donnelly, Nevada state director of the Center for Biological Diversity, which along with Nevada native tribes and desert lovers everywhere is celebrating a victory. Ever been to the Desert National Wildlife Refuge? Well whether you ever set foot there or not, it's safe again, for the desert bighorn and desert tortoise and a true wonderland of rare wild lands. For now. Let's keep it that way. And happy book publication week to us! Our new book is available everywhere, please enjoy responsibly. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=26080998 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | |||
13 May 2022 | Real-Estate Scoundrels & Flying Black Triangles | 00:28:01 | |
We are back with a new episode, all about the wonders of the High Desert, and the various aerial portents we call Wonders in the Sky. PLUS: If you're near Wonder Valley tonight, come on by The Palms on Amboy Road, where we are doing a rare live event with RedBlueBlackSilver, 10 p.m. on the outdoor stage, under the stars and whatever else might pass overhead. Thanks to everybody who supports this show on Patreon! Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=26080998 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. | |||
26 Nov 2024 | Ravens, Quail & Turkeys | 00:28:00 | |
Is it Thanksgiving time already? Well let's pack up the car and head out to Joshua Tree, everybody's favorite Thanksgiving destination if they live exactly three hours away and don't have anywhere else to go. Plus: What are the ravens up to now? Soundscapes by RedBlueBlackSilver. Desert Oracle Radio (c)(p) 2017-2024 http://DesertOracle.com Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. |