RSS Amplifier

Podcast

Desert Oracle Radio

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…

desertoracle.comSource feed ↗10 episodes

Live Last read · last published · next check

Written by

Latest episodes

Saves to your Listen queue, to pick up on another day or another device.

Island of the Dead

Tonight we are walking across the desert, out of the canyons, over the rivers, to another kind of country. Another place, another time. Trying to trail behind the slow-walking souls of the dearly departed. Even though we are still alive . Desert myths and strange tales for this hottest time of Mojave Summer. Thanks to our patrons who support this advertising-free radio show. Desert Oracle Radio…

Play

Petrified Forests and Ghostly Goblins

Night has fallen on the desert, and that's a joyous time in the heat of Southwest Summer. Too hot, too dry, and we long for the cool misty tales of primeval forest, of strange creatures, of great mysteries! Soundscapes by RedBlueBlackSilver. Thanks to our patrons; become a patron tonight and support the radio show you love! This is EPISODE #266: PETRIFIED FORESTS AND GHOSTLY GOBLINS. Desert Oracle…

Play

Haunted Houses & Monsoon Rains

With every passing day, scorcher or not, we are on the march towards Autumn, towards cooler days and longer nights, the time of graveyards and ghost stories. But it's always time for ghost stories, of course. Especially on Desert Oracle Radio. So tonight, after the exciting Monsoon Season forecast and report, we spend a chilling evening in an old mansion with a writer who just wants some peace and…

Play

Summer Solstice Verse & the Desert Doctor's Weird Bird

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.com Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Play

Campfire Tales on a Half-Moon Night

From our Campfire Stories in Joshua Tree on May 23, 2026, here's a special one-hour edition of Desert Oracle Radio live from the desert behind the Joshua Tree Retreat Center, with the High Desert's own Herb Benham IV opening the campfire festivities with a couple of proper cowboy songs. Ravens, rattlesnakes and other characters appear early and often in the stories & fables that follow. Support…

Play

The Pentagon's Latest UFO Files

If you love flying saucers, maybe you've been following the release of a bunch more UFO files. Maybe you're disappointed that E.T. isn't in there, signing a treaty with F.D.R. But it's a very interesting window on the American UFO era, which is now 80 years old! PLUS: A tale from Death Valley, told at our recent Campfire Stories event in Joshua Tree. Desert Oracle Radio (C)(P) 2017-2026…

Play

Plague of the Crane Fly + Campfire Tales From Skinwalker Ranch

Tonight's episode features a previously secret recording of Campfire Stories from years gone by, plus an examination of the so-called "Mosquito Hawk" (or Skeeter Eater), which does not eat mosquitos. It doesn't really do anything but fly into your mouth while you're driving, or eating, or just trying to walk through your own house. Information regarding our May 2 / May 16 / May 23 "Campfire…

Play

Artemis, Pyramids, Tatooine & Death Valley

We still live in the Time of Ancient Gods. At this very moment, in memory of a mission named for the god Apollo, astronauts of the Artemis mission are aboard the Orion spaceship, headed for La Luna. The mission is named for Blessed Artemis, goddess of the night, of the hunt, of the Moon. Daughter of Zeus. And just south of Death Valley National Park, one of the world's three Deep Space Network…

Play

Meteor Nights on the Road to Graceland

What's going on with all these meteors & fireballs in the dark skies above? Where did Elvis Presley see a big UFO hovering over the Mojave Desert? And what drives so many people to the pilgrimage shrine of Graceland? Desert Oracle Radio (c)(p) 2017-2026 http://DesertOracle.com Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/desertoracle See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Play

Springtime in the Desert Mountains

It's the magical time when the cold winter desert becomes an Eden of Wildflowers, as we luxuriate in the the spring warmth of the Sun & the birds are all delirious. Just like that, way up here in the Mojave mountains. ALSO: We dedicate this episode to the memory of Ray Barnes. PLUS: It's the 50th anniversary of the desert-fanatic classic The Monkey Wrench Gang . Desert Oracle Radio (c)(p)…

Play