Marfa Public Radio

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The mission of Marfa Public Radio is to unite the community of Far West Texas with a focus on art, education, quality-of-life and the local economy. The KRTS studios - the tallest in Texas - are located in rural highlands of the Chihuahuan Desert. We serve the residents in the ranchlands of the Big Bend and Davis Mountains. We can be heard beyond the Transpecos at www.marfapublicradio.org.

Series

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39 Pieces

Nature Notes explores the natural world of the Chihuahuan Desert.

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1 Piece

The West Texas landscape is vast and remote, and with that comes this sense of freedom, like there’s endless possibilities, adventure down every road. But what you might not realize, looking out on these sweeping vistas or up at the big sky is that this place also comes with some real limitations. In the Big Bend, the idea of reproductive choice was complicated long before Roe v. Wade was overturned. Out here, you can’t legally get an abortion, but as recently as last year, you also might not be able to have a baby in a delivery room. So Far From Care is a podcast about how people decide when, or if to become parents in rural West Texas, where, in spite of the limitations, people find ways of making it work.

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5 Pieces

Marfa Public Radio presents a radio documentary show about the strange things that happen in everyday life.


Latest Pieces

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In this special broadcast of episodes 5 and 6 of So Far From Care, we return to Marfa for two different stories. This tiny desert town is often ro...

  • Added: Feb 20, 2024
  • Length: 58:30
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In episodes 3 and 4 of So Far From Care, "What We're Capable Of" and "She's Not Here," you’ll hear about what it’s like to live even further out th...

  • Added: Feb 20, 2024
  • Length: 54:30
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In episode 1, "Don't Cut The Cord," you’ll get the lay of the land in the Big Bend— what it feels like to live in a place where getting care has al...

  • Added: Feb 20, 2024
  • Length: 53:30
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Carlos and Drew were on a road trip back to Marfa from California when they spotted a mysterious light as they got close to their destination.

  • Added: May 24, 2014
  • Length: 18:27
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Jenny Lynn heard strange sounds when she first spent the night at Building 98. She thought it was the wind until she told a friend and discovered t...

Bought by KALW


  • Added: Apr 27, 2014
  • Length: 11:36
  • Purchases: 1
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A look at the changing mythology of Mexican folklore favorite “La Llorona” and what each version reveals about its teller.

  • Added: Apr 14, 2014
  • Length: 09:11
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Billy finally saved enough money to move his family from a trailer to a house in West Texas. He thought he left his problems behind… until some of ...

  • Added: Apr 14, 2014
  • Length: 11:09
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Marfa residents Alice Quinlan and TK Croft were on their way back from the Border Zone UFO festival in Presidio, Texas when they saw a mysterious g...

  • Added: Apr 14, 2014
  • Length: 09:59
Caption: Willie Nelson being interviewed by host Joe Nick Patoski, Austin Texas, Credit: Joe Nick Patoski, KRTS.
Marfa Public Radio's Joe Nick Patoski, Willie Nelson biographer and host of the Texas Music Hour of Power, looks back on the life and career of the...

  • Added: Apr 30, 2013
  • Length: 56:36
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Doves are incredibly prolific reproducers. Doves begin to nest in March, and continue to nest until November. Every six weeks another two young are...

  • Added: Oct 22, 2012
  • Length: 04:30