Thin Air

It is the end of the war in the European theater and Nazi Germany is only days away from falling into infamous history. Acting under the looming threat of collapse, Hitler’s war machine pulled out all the stops, dabbling in sciences that were, in some cases, more arcane than technological. New weapons, born out of the fiery, half-crazed fever of imminent defeat were many times derived from nightmare pseudoscience, theories largely based on legend or even folklore. Die Gloche, The Bell, is one such conspiracy theory, whispered stories drifting out of the fog-shrouded darkness, deep in the misty forests still occupied by the third reich. Under cover of a vast canopy of tangled branches, experiments were carried out, proof of concept forever lost inside a file cabinet labeled Top Secret, somewhere locked in a hermetically sealed vacuum of thin air.

Banished to the desert planet of Niobe Four after a failed assassination attempt, Queen Ophelia Droxine Oberon searches for answers that are, as yet, hidden from her in a veil of darkness, an unknown force that is relentlessly extinguishing the fires of her once-grand Imperium. Together with her trusted Aeronaut, Captain Nix Orlan, Ophelia investigates a cosmic riddle that, if not somehow halted and reversed, will take this universe to the brink of annihilation… and beyond.

1920s aviator Trenton Somerset takes to the not-so-friendly skies for an appointment with destiny. March 18th, 1925 is to be his wedding day, a four o’clock arrival at that little chapel on the hill in Owensville, Indiana. Along with him for the ride, the most deadly tornado in history, the odd traveling companions racing each other across three whole states in one man’s desperate attempt to save the day from disaster.

Jacob Barlowe has a lot on his mind these days as he makes his way down a rain-soaked sidewalk leading to his psychologists’s office. Stress at work and a series of excruciating migraine headaches have prompted his doctor to recommend extended therapy in the hope that it will help to uncover the root cause. Unfortunately for mister Barlow and subsequently the rest of the human race, “Take two aspirin and call me in the morning” is no longer an option. Very soon, existence as we know it is going to vanish, quite literally,  into thin air, leading us all to wonder what really did come first… The chicken, or the egg.

Bound for the raucous frontier town of Tombstone, Arizona, to play a series of engagements at the notorious Birdcage Theater, famed actress Ezmarelda Culpepper boards a stagecoach hoping this will turn out to be the last of her less than desirable bookings.  What she doesn’t realize yet is that the Tombstone Express will be, by necessarily, rerouted into one of those “out-of-the-way” places, the strange and mystical badlands of Monument Valley. Travel alongside Miss Culpepper and her intrepid stage driver, Dakota Samuels, as they pass together into this harsh realm, crossing the unchartered territory of a glittering world… a place located out on the fringes, of thin air.

Writer, director and producer of the Thin Air Podcast, RJ Lonsdale, joins WAIR talkshow host Clayton Lomax for a candid discussion of the show. Get the inside scoop about the origin of Thin Air and many of the episodes that are currently streaming. In addition to the chat with Lonsdale, you can also catch an exclusive tale that will only air on this installment or WAIR.

A veil of darkness is falling upon the Queen’s Imperium. As a frightening series of events start to unfold across the boundless reaches of the cosmos, none other than Queen Ophelia Droxine Oberon herself rockets off from Imperious Prime to investigate, accompanied by Captain Nix Orlan, long-time Aeronaut to the royal family. One by one, the stars are burning out. What will the Queen and her trusted wingman discover amid what is now the darkest quadrant of her very own galaxy? The rise of entropy. The dawn… of darkness.

Long Cold Night, a classic tale of maritime intrigue and adventure by author Allan Vaughan Elston, comes vividly to life, here on RJ Lonsdale’s Thin Air Podcast Anthology. Lost and run aground somewhere in the grim arctic darkness, all that remain of the whaling vessel Norwhaal’s crew are Cabin Boy David Jones and four prisoners that had been locked away in the ship’s brig, one of them twice a killer. Now they are marooned together on the ice, awaiting rescue. Can any one of them hope to survive through this seemingly endless nightfall with a murderer in their midst? 

The plot thickens. Thin Air Radio broadcast newsman Chet Huxley continues his “Travelogue to Invasion” just outside the odd little town of Point Pleasant, West Virginia, that infamous point on his star map known in the annals of UFO folklore for a flap of flying saucer, men in black and, of course, legendary Mothman encounters. What will he discover about this insidious plot, here at one of the most notable sites in US history for paranormal activity? Tune in and find out for yourself as talk show host Clayton Lomax brings you the second installment in an ongoing investigation concerning the Star Petroleum Company and it’s clandestine attempt to take over the world. 

Alister Fairfax has received and is in the process of responding to a dire correspondence from his long, lost love, Matilda Escher. What dark destiny awaits his arrival and what strange manifestation of upended reality will he encounter as he passes through a broken pane of glass to save Miss Escher from cruel fate? Travel along and discover for yourself, a bizarre blend of storytelling based loosely upon the collective universe of Edgar Allan Poe and the strange vision of M.C. Escher’s famous work, Relativity.