Desert Oracle Radio artwork

Desert Oracle Radio

227 episodes - English - Latest episode: 2 days ago - ★★★★★ - 759 ratings

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).

Places & Travel Society & Culture Philosophy yucca man joshua tree national park mojave desert desert oracle radio high desert national parks ufos wilderness ken layne joshua tree
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Episodes

White Solstice / Burnt Devil

December 19, 2019 23:46 - 28 minutes - 25.7 MB

Well we wound up burning the devil, here in Joshua Tree. It's the kind of winter-holiday fun you can expect up here in the High Desert. And Jason P. Woodbury joins us to investigate a real Low Desert Mystery: Where was "White Christmas" written? There are two answers and they'll both surprise you. 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...

The Hungry Demons

December 06, 2019 23:50 - 28 minutes - 25.7 MB

What's going on with these bizarre and gruesome cattle mutilations all over the west, all over the world? Well there are some ugly new cases up in Eastern Oregon, cattle country north of Burns, and as usual there are no witnesses, suspects, arrests, not even an agreed-upon cause of death. But something was responsible for setting those cleanly mutilated bulls a quarter-mile apart from one another, 15 miles from the road. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=26080998 See omnystu...

The Willow Springs Killer

November 27, 2019 20:19 - 59 minutes - 54.1 MB

He called himself the King of Western Swing and he was building an immense theme park in the Mojave Desert. What does this have to do with claims that Roy Rogers ran a sex cult out of Apple Valley? 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.

Finding Your Place In Our Weird World

November 15, 2019 06:04 - 1 hour - 55 MB

Desert intuition. Desert awareness. Erik Davis joins us and throws down a challenge to engage with our Weird World. Our Weird Time. And why the desert is the eternal landscape for this kind of work. 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.

Witches & Cowboys

November 03, 2019 23:10 - 57 minutes - 52.5 MB

We're hanging on to Halloween with our guests Laura Bolt, who both covers and lives within the California witchcraft scene, and Arizona music journalist Jason P. Woodbury, here to talk about the new re-release of singer-songwriter Jim Sullivan's second record. (Sullivan vanished in the New Mexico desert and no trace of him was ever found.) Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=26080998 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Support the show: https://www.patreon.co...

Halloween Treat: Campfire Stories

October 31, 2019 20:09 - 43 minutes - 39.9 MB

Live at the Ace Hotel campfire ring on Halloween 2018, here's a bonus episode with our Weird Campfire Stories. Support Desert Oracle Radio on Patreon and you'll get four bonus episodes per year, including longer interviews and live events like this Halloween edition of Desert Oracle Campfire Stories. And come see us at the Ace Hotel in Palm Springs tonight, Thursday October 31 (2019), for live Campfire Stories, free & open to all. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=26080998 S...

Coyote Rex

October 25, 2019 02:52 - 1 hour - 56.7 MB

From high up in the Joshua Tree foothills, we bring you the sad tale of Coyote Rex. Gabriel Hart, Lauren White from the band Kokomo, and Country Club Dan call in from a haunted payphone. Soundscapes by RedBlueBlackSilver. Recorded live at the Furstwurld theater 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 informa...

When Goblins Go Silent

October 20, 2019 22:25 - 55 minutes - 50.5 MB

It's nearly Halloween in the High Desert and we have spooky tales, spooky phone calls, and a haunting performance by our in-studio guests, the band Kokomo. 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.

Travels In Time & UFOs Over Joshua Tree

October 07, 2019 19:24 - 54 minutes - 49.8 MB

UFO sightings over Joshua Tree National Park and time-travel adventures with Jean-Paul Garnier of Space Cowboy Books. A recording off the radio, because that's all that worked. 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.

Angels Among Us

September 21, 2019 17:29 - 1 hour - 55 MB

Live from Joshua Tree, it's our second episode of the season with best-selling author and Joshua Tree Retreat Center director Terry Taylor Castillo, and the subject is angel consciousness. It's our first hourlong podcast! Thanks for being part of 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.

Beneath This September Moon

September 14, 2019 22:19 - 31 minutes - 29.2 MB

Back for our third season, now live on the radio and delivered to you in the form of a podcast. 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.

Autumn 2019 Promo KCDZ

September 07, 2019 05:50 - 30 seconds - 503 KB

We're back on Friday the 13th—September 13, 2019 at 10 p.m. Pacific Time—live from the KCDZ FM studios in downtown Joshua Tree, Calif. Listen live on Z 107.7 FM in the High Desert, or stream the show live on TuneIn. 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.

The Haunted Petroglyph

July 12, 2019 21:58 - 28 minutes - 25.7 MB

Was the organized theft of a 600-pound petroglyph-covered boulder from a canyon near Ridgecrest related to the monster earthquakes that followed? Probably not, but we can't exactly prove otherwise. Brendan Maze calls in from Trona. 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.

Praying To the Aliens

June 28, 2019 18:00 - 28 minutes - 25.7 MB

A UFO sermon from the Joshua Tree Astronomy Arts Theater, introducing a screening of Bob Lazar: Area 51 and Flying Saucers, with Jeremy Corbell and 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.

Keep Cool Or Die

June 14, 2019 23:55 - 28 minutes - 25.7 MB

How do we not die in the desert this summer? One way is to stay underneath the swamp cooler, reading and writing letters, to and from various denizens of these arid lands. 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.

High Weirdness

June 07, 2019 21:20 - 28 minutes - 25.7 MB

Author Erik Davis joins us to talk about our favorite subject and his new book, High Weirdness. With 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.

Not the Day Nor the Hour

May 31, 2019 23:29 - 28 minutes - 25.7 MB

What is known is that there’s something going on, something a little wilder than usual. Plus: Rachel Monroe, writer & author & Marfa volunteer firefighter. 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.

Snakesgiving Day Weekend

May 24, 2019 20:44 - 28 minutes - 25.7 MB

The holiday so nice we celebrate it twice: once when the snakes come out, and once when the snakes go back in the ground for their long winter's nap. 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.

The Goofball Factor

May 10, 2019 23:04 - 28 minutes - 25.7 MB

Every weird story that you almost want to believe is required, by cosmic law, to have a Goofball Factor. What is the Goofball Factor? And how does it end up on the front page of the New York Times? 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.

Earth Day's Murderer and the Apostle of the Cacti

April 26, 2019 21:27 - 28 minutes - 25.7 MB

Did the founder of Earth Day really murder his girlfriend and let her body rot in his apartment closet? Also: Why you should know more about our beloved apostle of the cacti, Minerva Hamilton Hoyt. 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.

Redacted (by the Aliens)

April 20, 2019 00:13 - 28 minutes - 25.7 MB

Anna Merlan, Jeremy Corbell and Stephanie Tisza join us for a weird ride down the Conspiracy Highway, which is our main road out here in the desert. Suspicious events and the new book about our paranoid nation, Republic of Lies, are featured along 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 pr...

Sermon For Miley Cyrus

April 05, 2019 21:51 - 28 minutes - 25.7 MB

Did a famous entertainer do something dumb in Joshua Tree? Yes. 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.

I Know What I Saw

March 23, 2019 05:00 - 28 minutes - 25.7 MB

“I will never forget it.” That’s something you’ll hear, something you’ll hear quite a lot out here. “I know what I saw.” Do they know? Do you? 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.

Wildflowers!

March 15, 2019 21:33 - 28 minutes - 25.7 MB

Superbloom? Well, probably. We take a walk in our own little devil's garden and report some Instagram people to the local militia. 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.

#049: Down At the Old Schoolhouse

February 15, 2019 22:49 - 28 minutes - 25.7 MB

Due to the government-shutdown emergency, your host must entertain an audience at the Old Schoolhouse Museum in Twentynine Palms with a series of Strange & Unusual Facts about our desert lands. 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.

#048: The Holy Rangers

February 02, 2019 03:01 - 28 minutes - 25.7 MB

Who will protect the wilderness and public lands, our national parks and monuments, our nature preserves and conservation areas, our wild rivers and mountains and forests? As the nation slips into chaos and decline, we are going to have to take over the stewardship of the land. 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 informa...

#047: Interstellar Visitations

January 19, 2019 00:03 - 28 minutes - 25.7 MB

Is Oumuamua a scout from another civilization? Aren't we long overdue for some outside assistance? 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.

#046: Travel Options for the Apocalypse

January 12, 2019 03:09 - 28 minutes - 25.7 MB

What happens when a civilization collapses? You can't go camping in Joshua Tree, that's what. 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.

#045: Shutdowns & Date Shakes

December 29, 2018 01:33 - 28 minutes - 25.7 MB

Welcome to the Shutdown. Chaos in the national parks. No toilets in Joshua Tree. Trouble abounds. Guest: Food writer/editor Katherine Spiers of Smart Mouth, on the desert date shake. PLUS: More air-traffic radio from the UFO invasion of Edwards Air Force Base, 1965. 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.

#044: A Mojave Solstice

December 21, 2018 22:20 - 28 minutes - 25.7 MB

A winter-holiday desert road trip, your letters about strange machinery, and a very special Joshua Tree Christmas Pageant with Brendan Maze. 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.

#043: Highways and Aliens

December 01, 2018 01:32 - 28 minutes - 25.7 MB

We're taking a big looping road trip across the Mojave, from Area 51 to the Singing Sand Dunes of Kelso. With guest Jeremy Corbell on his new documentary about Bob Lazar and the reverse-engineered UFOs. 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.

#042: Of Fire and Monsters

November 16, 2018 22:51 - 28 minutes - 25.7 MB

Night has fallen on the desert, and that’s when we like to tell monster stories. Weird tales. When there's trouble on the edge of civilization, where the wilderness meets what mankind makes, well here we encounter fierce things both natural and supernatural. 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.

#041: Culmination of the Pleiades

November 09, 2018 23:22 - 28 minutes - 25.7 MB

Many wonders over the desert skies—both known and unknown—give reason to be out on cool autumn nights, celebrating rituals. 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.

#040: Welcome To Dirt-Pile City

October 26, 2018 22:46 - 28 minutes - 25.7 MB

We are still digging out from the Great Hi-Desert Deluge of October 2018. In fact, officials at Joshua Tree Town Hall are considering renaming the village "Dirt-Pile City," in honor of the scenic and massive dirt piles piled alongside every road, as the bulldozers and earth-movers work all day every day to try to patch the hundreds of miles of gullies and ditches and death holes created by the violent storm. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=26080998 See omnystudio.com/liste...

#039: Lost Cities of the Desert Giants

October 20, 2018 03:16 - 28 minutes - 25.7 MB

Secret civilizations beneath the Panamint Mountains, strange tales of ancient giants and the sky-ships of the the Hav-Musuvs. 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.

#038 The Horror of Solar Lodge

September 29, 2018 01:14 - 28 minutes - 25.7 MB

Here, in the desert far from prying eyes, the members of the Solar Lodge were building their Ark of the Covenant. 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.

#037: Lycanthropes of the West

September 22, 2018 02:00 - 28 minutes - 25.7 MB

Werebears and skinwalkers and other creatures of our haunted lands. With Jeremy Corbell, director of the new documentary Hunt for the Skinwalker. 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.

#036: Mystery of the Desert

September 15, 2018 03:00 - 28 minutes - 25.7 MB

These strange experiences upon the deserts should be studied with an open heart and an open mind, because these events contain a code.  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.

On-air promo #002A

September 12, 2018 21:27 - 30 seconds - 503 KB

Season 2 begins Friday night, 09/14/2018. 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.

#035: A Voice Crying In the Wilderness

June 23, 2018 01:35 - 28 minutes - 25.7 MB

Joshua Tree has gone from turkey farmers to elaborately costumed weekenders, but the Old Testament view of the desert always comes true 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.

#034: Death Valley Days

June 09, 2018 00:00 - 28 minutes - 25.7 MB

We do some hard traveling over the Mojave looking for that sweet shortcut to the Land of Milk & Honey. There may be some hardscrabble miners chasing little space aliens from a crashed UFO, knowing the way things go out here. 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.

#033: High Desert Death

May 25, 2018 23:29 - 28 minutes - 25.7 MB

Murder and madness and an estimate of the situation during this merry month of May. 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.

#032: Strange Circles & Mysterious Tracks

May 11, 2018 18:00 - 28 minutes - 25.7 MB

People are finding all kinds of strange things on the desert ground: huge sandy circles in the Great Basin, weird three-clawed footprints in the Mojave .... 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.

#031: Lonesome Cowboys

May 04, 2018 17:00 - 28 minutes - 25.7 MB

What was Andy Warhol doing up in the High Desert north of Tucson, at a dude ranch? Also: Brendan Maze calls in from one of his investment properties in Victorville, where tumbleweed drifts have surrounded the development. 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.

#030: Happy Snakesgiving!

April 27, 2018 20:00 - 28 minutes - 25.7 MB

Tonight we come to you live from the Palm Springs Art Museum, where we celebrate the good times, the cooler times, and the 11 days of Desert Springtime that end with the celebration of Snakesgiving. 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.

#029: The Lost Kingdom of Nye

April 20, 2018 04:54 - 28 minutes - 25.7 MB

Sure is busy this week. Apparently there's a music festival down in the Low Desert. And: We remember the late, great Art Bell. 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.

#028: Coyotes In Springtime

April 06, 2018 22:00 - 28 minutes - 25.7 MB

Springtime in the desert and all the creatures are awake. Plus: We talk UFOs with Jeremy Corbell on a cold night in Pioneertown. 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.

#027: Kelbaker Road

March 30, 2018 21:00 - 28 minutes - 25.7 MB

Been too long since we got on the road. We are going to get on the road: Twentynine Palms Highway, Adobe Road, Amboy Road, Kelbaker Road, Route 66. Let's go. Get in the car. 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.

#026: From a Desert Trailer

March 23, 2018 22:00 - 28 minutes - 25.7 MB

It's a cold and windy night on the Mojave, and we're up in Flamingo Heights at the Outpost Projects/Curate Joshua Tree art show, "Found!" But what have we found? A lot of trouble in the desert preserve. RedBlueBlackSilver makes his live soundscapes and Brendan Maze invites himself to the program, along with questionable plans for the conservation area. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=26080998 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information. Support the show: https://w...

#025: UFOs and the Jungian Desert

March 16, 2018 21:19 - 28 minutes - 25.7 MB

What's going on over the desert? Why is everybody going nuts about UFOs again, anyway? 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.

Guests

Erik Davis
1 Episode

Twitter Mentions

@redblublksilver 4 Episodes
@annamerlan 1 Episode
@kidcongopowers 1 Episode
@bitterwaterblue 1 Episode
@erik_davis 1 Episode
@kenlayne 1 Episode