Join Desert Oracle Radio for an audio tour of how the American Desert celebrates Christmastime, or Christmastide. With festive soundscapes by RedBlueBlackSilver.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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

Tonight we meet William Dunbar, frontier scientist on the Lower Mississippi, and hear his weird report to longtime friend Thomas Jefferson, regarding a large, low-flying mystery object that stunned the people of Baton Rouge in the Spring of 1800.

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

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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.

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September 22 is the day & 11:19 a.m. is the hour when Fall finally arrives in the Mojave Desert. Add an hour for Nevada and Utah, which both share a little of the Mojave with California and Arizona. While it's still hot on the desert floor, the mountains are cool and the aspens are changing color. Too far from the aspen groves? If you're in the desert, there are Fremont's cottonwoods somewhere near you, and few trees have such fantastic fall colors. New soundscapes by RedBlueBlackSilver, written & hosted by Ken Layne.

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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.

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A centuries-old conspiracy regarding Soothsayers' Oaks in the Bible, plus a walk in the woods with good old Henry David Thoreau. Soundscapes by RedBlueBlackSilver.

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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. 

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People will come to the Mojave on purpose, in summertime, and then they get sad because they can't go outside without bursting into flames. A couple of summers ago, a guy died in Death Valley just from riding his motorcycle outside. Overheated. The 120° heat no less lethal just because it was blowing all over him at cruising speed. He just dehydrated and died.

This is the time of year to stay in the car with the A/C blasting. Do your sightseeing with a seatbelt on. How about a historic and scenic ride on the entirety of SR-247? From Yucca Valley to Barstow! A beautiful drive with stops for good food, through the great Mojave wilderness. Plus, we'll tell you the history of the highway and many of the sights along the way. With appropriate soundscapes by RedBlueBlackSilver, hosted by Ken Layne, and supported by listeners just like you.

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