A Whole Other Country is a new podcast from the award-winning Marfa Public Radio Studios.
Back in the ‘90s, in an off-the-grid neighborhood in the mountains of Far West Texas, a wannabe vintner started his own Wild West nation. Reporter and host Zoe Kurland drives up the long, bumpy roads of the Davis Mountains to talk to a cast of neighbors and onlookers who watched the story of the standoff unfold in real time -- the myths of the frontier crashing violently into reality. 

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Imagine, you’re sitting in a small radio station in the middle of the Chihuahuan Desert in Far West Texas. The air is dry and still. You’ve spent the day reporting on a long county commissioner’s meeting. Maybe you’ve edited a story about the local herbarium and its keepers. Maybe you sat in the host chair for Morning Edition and All Things Considered, reporting the weather. Perhaps, on this day, you trundled your truck up a mountain to the Marfa Public Radio tower. It’s quiet up there.

Looking out from the top of this mountain, you can see everything. You stand for a moment, let it all sink in, visualize that signal sailing through the clear blue sky. Airwaves, airborne.

And then it hits you. That signal is at risk. It could be snatched right out of the sky. Congress has just passed the Rescissions Act of 2025, H.R.4, eliminating all federal funding for public media. At Marfa Public Radio, this means one third of our budget is disappearing. For now, everything's still humming, machinery whirring, tower broadcasting.

But it occurs to you: if people don’t step up their financial support of this listener-funded station in this crucial moment for the future of public media — the gentle humming and whirring of the broadcast equipment could cease. It also occurs to you that people can quite easily donate at marfapublicradio.org/donate or by calling the station at 1-800-893-5787. 

As you await the listeners’ calls - you begin to wonder, what is the Rescissions Act of 2025, really? 

In this episode, Senior Producer Zoe Kurland reads the Rescissions Act of 2025 and the senate and house votes that passed it. 

This episode of Marfa Public Radio Puts You To Sleep was written, produced, and hosted by Zoe Kurland. 

You’ve been sending out Marfa Public Radio merch packages all day to places near and far– tees to Tomball, caps to Cornwall, diner mugs all the way to Montreal. You’re surrounded by stacks of shirts, soft and inviting– a bed of cotton classic logo tees upon which you lay your head.

You’re sending out the last order of the day and you wonder, what exactly are the postal regulations after all? What can I send? How, do I send it?

In this episode, Marfa Public Radio’s Office Manager Yvonne Lujan reads the US Postal Regulations.

To help keep Marfa Public Radio awake and sending merch packages, donate to the station at marfapublicradio.org/donate.

You’re the programming director at Marfa Public Radio. Someone has pitched you an idea for a new show. It’s an edgy program that may contain questionable content. Are you up to date with the current regulations? Well, you should be. The FCC requires it.

In this episode, Marfa Public Radio’s Programming Director, Chris Dyer, reads the FCC Rules and Policies regarding drugs, alcohol, tobacco and obscene or indecent material.

To help keep Marfa Public Radio awake and our airwaves decent, donate to the station at marfapublicradio.org/donate.

After a brutally hot summer, the desert weather’s easing up. You like standing outside at night, but you find it gets dark, so dark that you can’t see a thing. You yearn to read outside, yearn to knit, yearn to play a game of solitaire every once in a while. At last, you decide to install an outdoor light. But you harbor a concern— you don’t want to disturb the stars or pollute the beautiful dark sky.

In this episode, Marfa Public Radio’s Border Reporter Annie Rosenthal reads The Dark Sky Ordinance.

To help keep Marfa Public Radio awake and dark-sky compliant, donate to the station at marfapublicradio.org/donate.

You’re writing up an article for the Marfa Public Radio website and you find yourself wondering… do I use an oxford comma? Is this the correct syntax for the situation? How should I go about capitalization? Should I use italics here? Can I use italics?

Marfa Public Radio’s News Director, Carlos Morales has the answers to your questions. In this episode, Carlos Morales reads you the NPR Style Guide.

To help keep Marfa Public Radio awake and grammatically correct, donate to the station at marfapublicradio.org/donate.

It’s 1967, you find yourself in the hallowed halls of an important national institution, that happens to smell like dust and popcorn. You’re seated in a rigid chair, looking upon the senate floor. The hum of discussion fills your ears as you sink deeper into your seat on the sidelines. Senators are discussing the future of broadcasting. The public kind.

In this Episode, Marfa Public Radio’s Executive Director Elise Pepple reads the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967.

To help keep Marfa Public Radio awake and broadcasting for free, donate to the station at marfapublicradio.org/donate.

It’s a rainy night in Far West Texas— the drops hit the roof of the radio station, the pitter patter a percussive rhythm. You gaze out the window, and far away, you see lightning strike. Uh oh. You know what that means. The tower is out.

In this episode, Marfa Public Radio’s station manager Travis Pope, reading a selection of The Tower Regulations Manual.

To help keep Marfa Public Radio awake and the radio tower up, donate to the station at marfapublicradio.org/donate.

You’re listening to MPR in the afternoon. The program? All Things Considered. As you sink into a comfortable plush armchair, you ponder— where did this show come from? Who’s making this happen? Who has made this happen, historically?

In this episode, Marfa Public Radio reporter and All Things Considered host Travis Bubenik reads a brief history of All Things Considered.

To help keep Marfa Public Radio awake and keep All Things Considered on our airwaves, donate to the station at marfapublicradio.org/donate.

You’re producing a sleep podcast for Marfa Public Radio, not unlike the one you’re listening to right now. You’re looking for music, a dulcet tune to lull your listeners into sweet sleep. You find a couple of lo-fi selections. But…can you use them? Are you allowed? Will you find yourself entangled in a stressful lawsuit around copyright infringement?

In this episode, Marfa Public Radio reporter and podcast producer Producer Zoe Kurland reads the creative commons licenses. 

To help keep Marfa Public Radio awake and away from copyright infringement, donate to the station at marfapublicradio.org/donate.