Desert Oracle Radio

We're back with Midsummer Tidings from the Mojave, with solstice verse from Sam Clemens & Shakespeare, too. Plus a new campfire story from our recently concluded springtime series in Joshua Tree.  Desert Oracle Radio (c)(p) 2017-2026 http://DesertOracle.comSupport the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracleSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There were two attempted assassinations of President Gerald Ford in September 1975. Both in California, both by women, and both with strange connections to Charles Manson. And then there was third incident six months later, involving not the president, but First Lady Betty Ford. A very strange third incident. This is The Eldritch Republic, a new collection of uncanny history and American folklore from Desert Oracle Radio. Just in time for the Halloween season, with new episodes throughout the U.S. Sestercentennial, 2026. Written & hosted by Ken Layne, with soundscapes by RedBlueBlackSilver. Desert Oracle Radio © ℗ 2017-2025 http://DesertOracle.comSupport the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracleSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On a monsoon evening, the sky streaked with golden bands, tropical clouds drawn up from the Sea of Cortez, everything is vibrant, delirious light. No sound but the crunch of boots and dog paws in the sandy wash lined with desert willow and Mormon tea, before we climb up to the mesa and through a high-desert forest of Joshua trees and Juniper. We sit for a while, at sunset: Great Apollo blazing over western mountains.Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracleSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Out here in the Great Mojave Wilderness, we’re always talking about Section 6 or Section 33 or whatever it is, but how did we get that system, that public-lands overlay? Who did the work? Tonight we tell you about . . . well, not the father of our country, but his nephew: Col. Henry Washington, the man who made the baseline and the meridian back in the 1850s, the defining lines by which all other property in Southern California is measured. With fitting desert soundscapes by RedBlueBlackSilver. Hosted & written by Ken Layne. Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracleSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

"God bless America, let's save some of it." — Edward Abbey One of the senators Utah sent to Washington has slipped in some very dangerous legal language into the big federal budgeting bill, language that’s vague enough to allow the beginning of the sell-off of our Western Public Lands. Including National Forests. Not including national parks, monuments, etc., but very much including Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service lands. In fact, that’s what this senator, “Based Mike Lee,” titled this section of the Senate legislation: MANDATORY DISPOSAL OF BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT LAND AND NATIONAL FOREST SYSTEM LAND. No, sorry, not gonna happen.  Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracleSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The reality of knowing the wild animals on your land is knowing that they generally live on an accelerated timeline. The new crop of Mojave cottontails and rock squirrels each spring will shrink to one or two lucky buddies by late summer, with the rest succumbing to reckless road crossings and red-tail hawks and rattlesnakes . . . the local ravens feasting on the remains, if there are any.  Soundscapes by RedBlueBlackSilver. Hosted and written by Ken Layne. Broadcasting Friday nights on KCDZ 107.7 FM in the High Desert, from Amboy to Zyzxx. Thanks for supporting this show at Patreon.com/DesertOracleSupport the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracleSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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/desertoracleSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.