A Whole Other Country

Season 1

1. Welcome to A Whole Other Country Trailer

   Show notes

   A new podcast from Marfa Public Radio Studios. Coming October 8th.

   Sep 29, 2025 3 min

2. A Very Long Road

   Episode 1

   Show notes

   Back in ‘90s, in the mountains of Far West Texas, one man started his own nation. Reporter Zoe Kurland decides to find out what happens when the myths of the frontier crash violently into reality.

   Flavors of this episode: piney woods, donkey musk, frozen mice, alarm clocks, Prius engine covers.

   A Whole Other Country is produced and reported by Zoe Kurland and edited by Liza Yeager.

   Donate to Marfa Public Radio at https://www.marfapublicradio.org/

   Oct 8, 2025 24 min

3. Gentle and Sweet

   Episode 2

   Show notes

   How did Rick McLaren, an enthusiastic magazine reader from Ohio, become the leader of a secessionist nation in Texas? Zoe dives into the archives to find out.

   Flavors of this episode: tennis balls, Chenin Blanc, dusty records, hot dogs, microfilm, courthouse carpet, iPads.

   A Whole Other Country is produced and reported by Zoe Kurland and edited by Liza Yeager.

   Donate to Marfa Public Radio at https://www.marfapublicradio.org/

   Oct 8, 2025 29 min

4. Getting Squinky

   Episode 3

   Show notes

   There are these bumper stickers everywhere – a Texas flag with a big word printed at the top: SECEDE. What’s the story of Texas independence and how has it been told? What captivated Rick McLaren and his new country mates?

   Flavors of this episode: lobby music, bumper stickers, technicolor, racoon hats, glossy brochures, cotton gloves, and Walt Disney.

   Reported and produced by Zoe Kurland. Edited by Liza Yeager. This episode features additional field recording by Carlos Morales.

   Oct 15, 2025 27 min

5. King of the Lean-To

   Episode 4

   Show notes

   Rick McLaren breaks ground in the DMR, and on the world wide web. It doesn’t take long for his followers to come running up the mountain. With guns. The authorities start paying attention, and local media takes note. Rick’s neighborhood grudges intensify to their breaking point.

   Flavors of this episode: fax machines, tin sheds, Thelma and Louise, rolling chairs, guns, toothless cronies, and blood on the floor.

   Reported and produced by Zoe Kurland. Edited by Liza Yeager.

   Oct 22, 2025 27 min

6. The Standoff

   Episode 5

   Show notes

   During the days after Rick McLaren declared war, what would come to be known as the Republic of Texas Standoff, an unprecedented number of people descended on the Davis Mountains, waiting to see what would happen. And people across the world were all tuned in – watching their TVs, listening on the radio – to the real life Wild West drama, playing out in the reaches of the Texas.

   Flavors of this episode: Cameras, kidnappers, car tires, impromptu laundromats, novelty tee shirts, baby aoudads, the horse brigade, satellites, shiny belt buckles, and ham radio.

   Oct 29, 2025 32 min

7. I Die Laughing

   Episode 6

   Show notes

   It’s been nearly 30 years since the Republic of Texas standoff. The lean-to embassy has been scattered in the wind. What happened in Rick’s wake? What did he leave behind? What is the DMR like now– how did Rick McLaren change this place?

   Flavors of this episode: burning embassies, T.V. specials, oxygen tanks, TEXIT, Hollywood, Matthew McConaughey, old cowboy songs, why we all live here.

   Reported and produced by Zoe Kurland. Edited by Liza Yeager.

   Nov 12, 2025 28 min

8. The American Storytelling collection explores the human stories behind the political headlines

   Episode 7

   Show notes

   Politics is the human story behind the headlines: our hopes, disagreements, choices and visions for what comes next. This fall, the American Storytelling Collection brings together six podcasts from the NPR Network that take a closer look at the people, power, conflicts and turning points behind American politics from every angle. Find the collection by searching 'American Storytelling' in Apple Podcasts or the NPR app.

   Oct 20, 2026 3 min

9. Make It A Christian Town

   Episode 8

   Show notes

   In the season 2 premiere of Extremely American, we meet Pastor Doug Wilson who leads Christ Church in Moscow, Idaho. His vision for the small college town? He wants to claim it for Jesus. And that's just the start. He and his allies want to make the whole country an explicitly Christian nation.

   From our friends at Boise State Public Radio: In Season 2 of Extremely American: Onward Christian Soldiers, hosts Heath Druzin and James Dawson take an inside look at Christian nationalism. The movement aims to end American democracy as we know it and install theocracy, taking rights away from the vast majority of Americans in the process. The season follows the movement through the story of an influential far-right church, its attempt to take over a small town and a dark underbelly of abuse.

   Oct 27, 2026 38 min