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/DesertOracle

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.&nbsp;
Soundscapes by <a href="https://redblueblacksilver.bandcamp.com/album/halls-crossing">RedBlueBlackSilver.</a> Hosted and written by <a href="https://twitter.com/KenLayne">Ken Layne.</a> Broadcasting Friday nights on <a href="z1077fm.com">KCDZ 107.7 FM</a> in the High Desert, from Amboy to Zyzxx. Thanks for supporting this show at <a href="https://Patreon.com/desertoracle">Patreon.com/DesertOracle</a>

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

Desert Oracle Radio

Mysterious lights, missing tourists, lost mines, strange apparitions, magical rituals, false prophets & sinister characters. Weird tales from the wild places. This is Desert Oracle Radio, by Ken Layne, broadcasting from a Mojave mountaintop since 20&17.

Mysterious lights, missing tourists, lost mines, strange apparitions, magical rituals, false prophets &amp; sinister characters. Weird tales from the wild places. This is Desert Oracle Radio, by Ken Layne, broadcasting from a Mojave mountaintop since 20&amp;17.

Who Got Eaten By the Old Gopher Snake?

From Desert Oracle Radio, this is The Eldritch Republic, our new series about America’s strange history & uncanny folklore.

Tonight we visit the beautiful country estate of Clement Clarke Moore, the big house called "Chelsea" where he read his Christmas poem to the family. The poem is "A Visit From St. Nicholas," and the country estate is now the neighborhood of Chelsea, New York City.

Santa Claus, it turns out, is a New York City native. He was created from old Dutch traditions of St. Nicholas and Sinterklaas, by NYC boosters and literary men such as Clement C. Moore, Washington Irving and John Pintard.

Written and hosted by Ken Layne, with soundscapes by RedBlueBlackSilver.

Desert Oracle Radio © ℗ 2017-2025 https://DesertOracle.com

From Desert Oracle Radio, this is The Eldritch Republic, our new series about America&rsquo;s strange history &amp; uncanny folklore.
Tonight we visit the beautiful country estate of Clement Clarke Moore, the big house called "Chelsea" where he read his Christmas poem to the family. The poem is "A Visit From St. Nicholas," and the country estate is now the neighborhood of Chelsea, New York City.
Santa Claus, it turns out, is a New York City native. He was created from old Dutch traditions of St. Nicholas and Sinterklaas, by NYC boosters and literary men such as Clement C. Moore, Washington Irving and John Pintard.
Written and hosted by Ken Layne, with soundscapes by RedBlueBlackSilver.
Desert Oracle Radio &copy; ℗ 2017-2025 https://DesertOracle.com

Christmas In Chelsea with St. Nicholas

Snowy mountaintops across the Western Mojave, all the transverse ranges have at least a dusting, with the big peaks covered in white. San Gorgonio looks so pretty right now, you can almost forget it’s a haunted mountain that eats people alive and is usually known by its grim local nickname “Old Grayback.” It must be Thanksgiving in the High Desert! An all-new episode with new soundscapes by RedBlueBlackSilver, this is Desert Oracle Radio Episode #253. 

ALSO: Listen to the end, for important information on our Stocking Stuffer Special: a rare print edition of Desert Oracle (issue #11) & a DOR yellow vinyl bumper sticker, postage-paid to your mailbox for only $15.99.

Desert Oracle Radio (c)(p) 2017-2024 http://DesertOracle.com

Snowy mountaintops across the Western Mojave, all the transverse ranges have at least a dusting, with the big peaks covered in white. San Gorgonio looks so pretty right now, you can almost forget it&rsquo;s a haunted mountain that eats people alive and is usually known by its grim local nickname &ldquo;Old Grayback.&rdquo; It must be Thanksgiving in the High Desert! An all-new episode with new soundscapes by RedBlueBlackSilver, this is Desert Oracle Radio Episode #253.&nbsp;
ALSO: Listen to the end, for important information on our <a href="https://www.desertoracle.com">Stocking Stuffer Special:</a> a rare print edition of Desert Oracle (issue #11) &amp; a DOR yellow vinyl bumper sticker, postage-paid to your mailbox for only $15.99.
Desert Oracle Radio (c)(p) 2017-2024 http://DesertOracle.com

Thanksgiving In the High Desert

Recorded live in New York before an audience of DOR Patrons & assorted Manhattanites, this is Desert Oracle’s special Halloween Ghost Stories. Thanks to our special guests Matt Welch from The Fifth Column and Nicholas Lowry from Antique Roadshows & the new Czech graphic-design documentary Identity.

Special thanks to our listeners who told ghost stories, RedBlueBlackSilver for the spooky soundscapes that surrounded us all, and Jonathan Farber for hosting the event.

Recorded live in New York before an audience of DOR Patrons &amp; assorted Manhattanites, this is Desert Oracle&rsquo;s special Halloween Ghost Stories. Thanks to our special guests&nbsp;<a href="https://reason.com/people/matt-welch/">Matt Welch</a> from <a href="https://www.wethefifth.com/">The Fifth Column</a> and <a href="https://www.instagram.com/nicholowry/?hl=en">Nicholas Lowry</a> from <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/roadshow/appraisers/nicholas-d-lowry/">Antique Roadshows</a> &amp; the new Czech graphic-design documentary <a href="https://kviff.tv/catalog/identity-a-czech-graphic-design-love-story">Identity</a><a href="https://kviff.tv/catalog/identity-a-czech-graphic-design-love-story">.</a>
Special thanks to our listeners who told ghost stories, <a href="https://redblueblacksilver.bandcamp.com/">RedBlueBlackSilver</a> for the spooky soundscapes that surrounded us all, and Jonathan Farber for hosting the event.

Who Got Eaten By the Old Gopher Snake?

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