Desert Oracle Radio

Latest Episodes:

Under the Hood with the Wood Rats May 21, 2021

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Seasons change in the desert, but it's always Rat Time. Kangaroo rats, wood rats, deer mice full of hantavirus, it's just a feast for the rats all year long. New sounds from RedBlueBlackSilver.

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Medicine Show May 07, 2021

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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.

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Try Not To Die Apr 30, 2021

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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.

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Mojave Spaceport Apr 23, 2021

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Is this episode about Mojave Spaceport? Well, it's a place on the journey, to put in in "hobbit speak." Tonight we get on the road, wander some small desert towns, make some real-estate schemes, and plan for a better future. Which starts now.

New tracks by RedBlueBlackSilver and some archival audio from our favorite radio priestess of the Western Airwaves, a century ago.

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Owens Valley and the Accidental Miracle Apr 16, 2021

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What made the Owens Valley the way it is, in our time? An accident of history, of water grabs, of one group of humans using easy money to buy out another group of humans, that's what preserved the most beautiful place in the world from the fate of the Central Valley. The same sort of accidental miracle that saved so much of the American southwest's mountains and deserts from wide-scale development, agriculture, housing booms, industrialization, speculation.

A heretical prayer, is what we offer you tonight. With new (and classic) tracks from RedBlueBlackSilver. Find out more about our book, our periodical, and all the other desert creations we make for you at DesertOracle.com.

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Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Charred Bones In the Sunlight Apr 02, 2021

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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

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Mystery Swarm Mar 26, 2021

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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

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Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle

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The Dark Watchers Mar 19, 2021

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Where there are mountains, there are mysteries. Tonight we visit with some old friends who've long haunted the Indians, the Spaniards and the Americans. They are called the Dark Watchers, and as usual their world is part of ours, tied up in our own recent history of desert mystics such as Aldous Huxley and the ancient culture of the Esselen. Hosted by Ken Layne, with new soundscapes by RedBlueBlackSilver.

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Out of Our Holes Mar 06, 2021

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The middle of the country might be frozen solid all the way to the Gulf of Mexico, but here in the Great Mojave Wilderness the weather is fine, the skies are blue, and the first hints of so many little green something-or-others are now apparent on the desert sands.

Will we finally come out of our holes? With new soundscapes by RedBlueBlackSilver.

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It's Not For Everyone Mar 06, 2021

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Some people like it, some people don't. We are talking about the desert. And this week—challenged by a listener to stop romanticizing the desert southwest—we are joined by Phoenix writer Jason P. Woodbury to give a couple places a real hard time.

Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=26080998

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Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.