Episodes
June 20, 2022
S1E12: What's Happening to the Monsoon?
Chris and Alicia explore the harsh realities of desert life in "90 Miles from Needles" with guest Jan Emming from Desert Sense Nursery. Discussing climate change, its impact on the desert biome, and recent rainfall patterns, they delve into survival strategies amidst shifting weather dynamics. List…
June 7, 2022
S1E11: Deconstructing Ed Abbey
The writer Edward Abbey is revered by many desert activists, and roundly criticized by others, all based on the provocative and occasionally offensive things he wrote. Chris and Alicia talk about the prescient and helpful thi...
May 21, 2022
S1E10: Remembering Phil Klasky and Ward Valley
From the mid-1980s until the first months of the 21st Century, a coalition of desert tribes and non-Native activists worked to keep the state of California from siting a low-level nuclear waste dump in the Mojave Desert, on l...
May 8, 2022
S1E9: Saving the Western Joshua tree
Explore the urgent challenges facing the western Joshua Tree in this episode of 90 Miles from Needles. Hosts Chris Clarke and Alicia Pike delve into the impact of development on desert ecosystems, with insights from Brendan Cummings of the Center for Biological Diversity and local activist Christin…
April 22, 2022
S1E8: The IPCC Lets the Deserts Down
Plus, why rock stacking is a bad habit, and how you can keep the state of California from stripping protections from the western Joshua tree. Listen to the episode either before or after you click here: https://act.biological...
April 1, 2022
S1E7: This Desert Fish was Declared Extinct. Now It Thrives.
Considered extinct by the late 1950s, the Shoshone pupfish was rediscovered 36 years ago by a woman who changed her entire town to preserve the species. We talk to Shoshone resident Susan Sorrells about her life and the fish,...
March 16, 2022
S1E6: Co(yot)existence — how to live with coyotes
They're more complicated than the howling silhouette on your bespoke candle holder from Santa Fe, and more interesting. Chris and Alicia discuss living with coyotes in the desert, what they offer, what they don't offer, and h...
March 2, 2022
S1E5: Where Have All The Flowers Gone?
Spring is coming, and that means that hundreds of thousands of people start thinking about visiting the desert to see the "superbloom." But even in the rare years when it happens, there's a right way and a wrong way to take ...
Feb. 16, 2022
S1E4: The End of the Cadillac Desert: Megadrought in the Southwest
As we publish, scientists are announcing that the last dozen years are the driest in more than a millennium. With the desert's cities ever more dependent on water from the Colorado River, how will southwestern society meet th...
Feb. 1, 2022
S1E3: The Life, Death, and Rebirth of Cima Dome
Cima Dome was supposed to be a place where Joshua trees were most likely to survive climate change. A climate-accentuated wildfire hit there anyway. In this episode, Chris relates how much the Cima Dome Joshua tree forest mea...
Jan. 17, 2022
Saving the Dixie Valley Toad
Discovered only in 2017, the Dixie Valley toad is found only in one 400-acre hot spring wetland in remote Nevada. Guess where a giant geothermal corporation is ready to build a wetland-draining power plant? We talk to Patrick...
Jan. 1, 2022
Welcome to 90 Miles from Needles! Our inaugural episode
In this first episode, Chris and Alicia head out to Sand Draw, a beautiful and vibrant bit of desert dry wash woodland in the Mojave Desert that almost became an industrial sacrifice zone for the energy industry. It's a good ...
Dec. 6, 2021
Season 0 Episode 4: About Chris Clarke
In this episode, Alicia points out that despite Chris's delusions of popularity, there are people who don't know who he is. Hilarity ensues. Transcript Season 0, Episode 4: Who is Chris? Chris Clarke: This podcast is made pos...
Nov. 2, 2021
Season 0 episode 3: Joshua Trees are Trees
Hello friends! Transcript of this episode is at 90milesfromneedles.com In this Season Zero short episode, Chris and Alicia discuss the commonly shared urban legend that Joshua trees are not really trees. This is a topic that ...
July 29, 2021
Trailer 2, Season 0: Introducing Alicia Pike
On a visit to Bonanza Spring, threatened by the Cadiz corporation's plan to mine desert groundwater for profit, Alicia Pike talks about what she hopes to bring to 90MFN as cohost. Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/nin...
June 29, 2021
Season 0 Episode 1: Trailer for 90 Miles from Needles
A brief description of what we'll be doing with the podcast, partly to answer questions and partly to get practice with our equipment. All flaws and glitches included for transparency's sake. Transcript (Chris C. speaking): I...