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Marfa for Beginners

Marfa Public Radio

What do you know about Marfa, Texas? Whether it’s Vogue magazine, The Simpsons, or I Love Dick, there’s a certain narrative about Marfa: the romantic art town in the middle of nowhere. But there’s more to Marfa than that. Marfa for Beginners is the audio guide to the Marfa you may not know: Virgin of Guadalupe sightings and limited Tinder options. A place where you can feel like a stranger in your own hometown while also feeling like there are zero degrees of separation between you and…anyone else. Marfa For Beginners is an expansion of the narrative, a trip down a different road, a tourism podcast for locals– to find out what that means, subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

Marfa Radio 2023

What do you know about Marfa, Texas? Whether it’s Vogue magazine, The Simpsons, or I Love Dick, there’s a certain narrative about Marfa: the romantic art town in the middle of nowhere. But there’s more to Marfa than that. Marfa for Beginners is the audio guide to the Marfa you may not know: Virgin of Guadalupe sightings and limited Tinder options. A place where you can feel like a stranger in your own hometown while also feeling like there are zero degrees of separation between you and…anyone else. Marfa For Beginners is an expansion of the narrative, a trip down a different road, a tourism podcast for locals– to find out what that means, subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.

Marfa Radio 2023
2hr 23min
Thumbnail for "So Far From Care: Trailer".
A podcast about reproductive care in West Texas
Thumbnail for "PSA: Marfa Public Radio".
"Our unofficial motto is 'no dull moments'"
Thumbnail for "Episode 6: #Tallwomen".
There's someone we think you should meet...
Thumbnail for "BONUS: Marfa Group".
Who has the right of way?
Thumbnail for "PSA: Grand Companions".
"People don't understand what we do, because we're not a typical rescue."
Thumbnail for "Episode 5: Small Town Psychology".
Small towns come with a lot of drama. 
Thumbnail for "BONUS: What's wrong with people?".
David Gomez tells it like it is.
Thumbnail for "PSA: The Marfa Food Pantry".
"There are a lot of low income people that are hard-working and need a little help."
Thumbnail for "Episode 4: The Longest Shortest Day".
In Marfa, how is it that every day feels as long as a year, but every year feels as short as a day?
Thumbnail for "PSA: The Marfa Nutrition Center".
"My seniors are my world."
Thumbnail for "Episode 3: A Stranger in Your Own Home".
What's it like to feel like a stranger in your hometown?
Thumbnail for "PSA: The Marfa Volunteer Fire Department".
"Our physical exam is are you vertical, and are you breathing?"
Thumbnail for "Episode 2: The End of Tinder".
This episode is about finding love in Marfa. Or trying to.
Thumbnail for "PSA: The Marfa Public Library".
"I think those spaces where everyone can go are getting rarer and rarer."
Thumbnail for "Episode 1: La Virgen Comes to Marfa".
What happens when two Marfa pilgrimages collide?
Thumbnail for "Marfa for Beginners: Trailer".
A tourism podcast for locals celebrating the myths and realities of Marfa.

So Far From Care: Trailer

Thumbnail for "So Far From Care: Trailer".
October 27, 20232min 16sec

Living in a small town in West Texas can feel magical. And part of that magic is how isolated we are: hours and hours down a desert highway from everything else. But when it comes to accessing reproductive healthcare, that remoteness can also be terrifying.

In the Big Bend, the idea of “choice” was complicated long before Roe v. Wade was overturned. Out here, you can’t legally get an abortion — but as recently as last year, depending on the day of the week, you also couldn’t have a baby in a delivery room.

So Far From Care is a new podcast from Marfa Public Radio about those contradictions. It’s about how people decide when, how, or if to become parents — close to the border and far from the hospital, where you have a literal village to help you raise a child but daycare can be impossible to find.

These are stories about isolation that’s not just physical — all the challenges we deal with in silence. But also, about how a place without options can become the site of community and care.

New episodes weekly starting November 1.