Beneath Superstition - Doubleheader Debut

logo by Ace

My new essay and storytelling podcast from beneath the Superstition Mountains explores personal narratives within the weird landscapes of liminal urban and desert spaces. BENEATH SUPERSTITION launches today with two episodes.

The first episode is an introduction to the program and its host, followed by a look upward at the palm trees over Phoenix. Part manifesto, part personal essay, and part historical account, this episode traces how the palm became critical infrastructure in the Valley—and what that says about climate change (and, probably, the end of the world). A harbinger of the explorations to come.

The second episode outlines the history of Phoenix’s warm-winter tourism, where mineral baths and taxidermy museums were one and the same, and where tiki culture flourished in the fallout of the atom bomb—until the desert’s darker realities prevailed. From island-inspired motor courts to hotel murders, this episode examines the tension between manufacturing paradise and keeping downtown rough. Life, leisure, and dying in the Valley of the Sun.

The video version is on YouTube, the audio version at Apple Podcasts.

the first palm tree in Phoenix, Monroe St

palm trees in Arcadia neighborhood

Bikini Lounge, Grand Ave

Kon Tiki Hotel, Van Buren

This website's archive serves as a record of articles, events, and appearances I've undertaken. That may be updated as appropriate. This new blog will showcase the podcast and bonus material for its audience, plus any essays outside the podcast's scope I feel like writing just for the hell of it.