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EPISODE #141: THE VANISHING BOY OF NORTHERN ARIZONA

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Here’s how the Channel 12 news in Phoenix began the story, Thursday night on the 10 o’clock news: “God sent that dog to rescue my son.” These words were spoken by the toddler’s father, Corey Allen, outside the family’s home on the west side of rural Seligman, Arizona. Corey Allen says he was working on the roof, Sarah Allen was inside with their youngest. And two-year-old Bodin Allen went outside to play.

But when Bodin Allen’s mom called for him, he didn’t answer. He wasn’t there. And after an hour of frantic searching beneath a darkening sky, the Allens called the Yavapai Sheriff’s Department and before long there were dozens of search-of-rescue volunteers and deputies searching the area. Helicopters with spotlights scoured the plateau, the pilots reporting two mountain lions prowling the territory. A rancher named Scotty Dunton discovered the blond-headed toddler in pajamas, seven long miles away from home in the backcountry to the west. The boy was coming up the driveway, along with Scotty Dunton’s big ranch dog, Buford the Anatolian Pyrenees. This is EPISODE #141: THE VANISHING BOY with soundscapes by RedBlueBlackSilver. Written & hosted by Ken Layne.

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EPISODE #140: A HUCKLEBERRY FOR SPRINGTIME

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It’s a cool & pleasant springtime in the Mojave High Desert. The hummingbirds are lingering on the branches of creosote and catclaw, looking around for the flowers. Where are the flowers? Well, that’s always the guessing game up here. Sometimes they’re evident by the end of March, sometimes it’s the beginning of May. Varies by terrain, by altitude, by a hundred little differences from spring to spring, in this forward motion of our lives. ALSO: Traveling through Doc Holliday’s American West.

This is EPISODE #140: A HUCKLEBERRY FOR SPRINGTIME, with soundscapes by RedBlueBlackSilver. Written & hosted by Ken Layne.

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EPISODE #239: REMEMBRANCE OF PANDEMICS PAST

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Happy Ides of March, happy St. Patrick’s Day, Spring Equinox, and happy five-year anniversary of the COVID-19 lockdown — the beginning of it anyway: 15 days to slow the spread . . . not a great slogan, for what it cost, but that’s what we got. Much of the world is much the same as it was five years ago. Same iPhone, same president, same daylight savings time. Where did the lockdown time go? What did it do to us?

This is EPISODE #239: REMEMBRANCE OF PANDEMICS PAST. Soundscapes by RedBlueBlackSilver. Written & hosted by Ken Layne.

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EPISODE #238: THE WONDERFUL WONDERFUL CACTUS WREN

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Night has fallen on the desert, the desert spring is here, and that means the bugs are coming back, and that means we’ll be seeing a lot more of our beloved desert friend, the wonderful wonderful Cactus Wren. While it’s out there eating the centipedes from under the BBQ grill, we’ll tell some tales of Wrens ‘Round the World and their mortal enemies: The Wrenboys of Christmastime.

Listen now on the podcast or tonight at 10 PM on Z107.7 FM in Joshua Tree. This is EPISODE #238: THE WONDERFUL WONDERFUL CACTUS WREN. Soundscapes by RedBlueBlackSilver. Written & hosted by Ken Layne.

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EPISODE #237: SURROUNDED IN THE NIGHT

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John C Fremont Desert Oracle

A winter storm cut loose from the mountains, the cold wind whipping around the creosote, rain dripping down through the swamp-cooler vent: 2025 came in like a Lion and it’s the Year of the Snake. We’ve got both out here, in the Mojave Wilderness. Mountain lions. And snakes. Although it’s still a bit early to see our reptile friends up here at 4,000-feet elevation. PLUS: Frontier Tales from the Great Plains by John C. Fremont. AND: Soundscapes by RedBlueBlackSilver. Written & hosted by Ken Layne.

Listen now on the podcast, plus new & classic shows broadcasting Friday nights at 10 PM on Z107.7 FM in Joshua Tree. This is EPISODE #237: SURROUNDED IN THE NIGHT.

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EPISODE #236: ONE CHANTS OUT BETWEEN TWO WORLDS

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Gotta light?

It’s a cold, cold night in the wind-blasted desert, and we hear there’s snow a-comin’, can’t come soon enough. Listen to the harrowing sounds of the 1961 Bel Air Fire, prepare for Mojo Nixon’s anniversary (of death), and join us in remembering our favorite Intermountain West surrealist, the late great David Lynch. Soundscapes by RedBlueBlackSilver. Suitable for some families.

Listen now on the podcast, or Friday nights at 10 PM on Z107.7 FM in Joshua Tree. This is EPISODE #236: ONE CHANTS OUT BETWEEN TWO WORLDS.

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EPISODE #235: HILLS ARE FILLED WITH FIRE

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Another wild and windy night in these first strange days and nights of our new year. We are monitoring the infernos & catastrophes, but also celebrating the creation of Chuckwalla National Monument in the vast weird desert east of Coachella, all the way to the Colorado River. Plus: A phone call from our High Desert pal Herbie Benham, and soundscapes RedBlueBlackSilver. Listen now on the podcast, or Friday nights at 10 PM on Z107.7 FM in Joshua Tree. This is EPISODE #235: HILLS ARE FILLED WITH FIRE.

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EPISODE #234: CHRISTMAS AMONGST THE JOSHUA TREES

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We’ve heard some weird news about Saint Nicholas that turns out to be a few years old, but that’s all right. Christmas itself is old news, after all. That’s why we love it, because it’s ancient and beautiful, the time for silent walks in the cold night, just the sound of your boots crunching through the snow, the half-moon glowing through the Joshua trees.

Plus: Which phrases and words shall be banned in the new year? And: Christmas poems, from the pen of Frost & Longfellow.

This is EPISODE #234: CHRISTMAS AMONGST THE JOSHUA TREES with seasonal soundscapes by RedBlueBlackSilver. Listen on the radio tonight in Joshua Tree, Z107.7 FM, 10 p.m.

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EPISODE #233: RAVENS, QUAIL AND TURKEYS

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Is it Thanksgiving time already? Well let’s pack up the car and head out to Joshua Tree, everybody’s favorite Thanksgiving destination if they live exactly three hours away and don’t have anywhere else to go. Plus: What are the ravens up to now? This is EPISODE #233: RAVENS, QUAIL AND TURKEYS with new soundscapes by RedBlueBlackSilver.

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EPISODE #232: UP FROM THE GRAVE

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Good Hallowtide to you all, on this Halloween week during the three-day festival of the Dead and their various souls & spirits. Tonight we are driving the nocturnal highways, listening to ghosts of times past crackling through the car-radio speakers. With new soundscapes by RedBlueBlackSilver and some classic Desert Oracle Halloween calls in the second half. This is EPISODE #232: UP FROM THE GRAVE, with new soundscapes by RedBlueBlackSilver.

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