Gone Astray - Russell Johnson: Recent Episodes
Gone Astray - Russell Johnson
An audio and video essay on why the author vows to be more like an otter in 2026. Hints: be more playful, eat more shellfish, watch out for Great White Sharks.
The post Otter Ecstacy – Why I Vow to be Otterlike in 2026 first appeared on Connected Traveler.
Waking up to cathedral bells and a cocksure rooster to the celebration of Day of the Dead in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. It also happened to be Halloween.
The post Celebrating Day of the Dead on Halloween: San Miguel de Allende, Mexico (Video) first appeared on Connected Traveler.
The new season of Duckton Abbey is rapidly approaching: new adventures, new scandals, perhaps a tryst or three, mannerly speaking, from the rarefied realm of the duck pond in our town plaza. Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | TuneIn | iHeart Radio | Spotify | Deezer| Pandora In the last episode, the free spirited Trevor, the Dabbling Duck, won the hand of the tender-breasted Lady Rosalinda of the Reeds after he saved Duckton Abbey by tearing off the inflator-valve of a giant, fearsome inflated swan, which had been maliciously planted by The Duck al Orange, who was, like his predecessors, […]
The post Sneak Preview: Duckton Abbey, The New Season first appeared on Connected Traveler.
On the fifth anniversary of the murder of George Floyd, a remembrance of 38th and Chicago, my old neighborhood, the place where it happened, and the hope that that address could still become the symbol of a new era.
The post My Old Neighborhood: The Place Where it Happened first appeared on Connected Traveler.
Wine, song, and a visit to the lairs of the Mad Poets who lived on Lake Garda, Italy plus a wave from Juliet's balcony in Verona.
The post For Better or for Verse: The Mad Poet’s Society of Lake Garda first appeared on Connected Traveler.
The Magaphone, which had its origins in the megaphone, aka the bullhorn, cowhorn, blowhorn, or loudhailer, is today, as it was in the past, used to make a weak voice loud. Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | TuneIn | iHeart Radio | Spotify | Deezer| Pandora A weak voice is projected into the narrow end of the Magaphone by holding it up to the mouth and shouting, thereby, in technical terms, amplifying the acoustic impedance of the vocal cords to match them to the outside air while forcing the sound waves loudly in one direction. This is frequently manifested in a screech because the frequency response of […]
The post Word of the Day: The Magaphone first appeared on Connected Traveler.
My Baptism into the Realm of Radio: about Ducks, Border Blasters, and a Visit from Charlie Gringo
The post Live from Camp Swampy first appeared on Connected Traveler.
Celebrating International Radio Day: a memoir of how listening to the radio as a youth instilled in me a passion for radio and traveling the world.
The post Shooting Stars and Fireflies and Looking for Donald Duck first appeared on Connected Traveler.
In 1984 I produced a short film that began on the Portuguese Island of Madeira, off the coast of Africa, and ended with Vincent Price and an Egg McMuffin.
The post Memoir: The Island of Sad Cows, A Luxury Cruise, Vincent Price and an Egg McMuffin first appeared on Connected Traveler.
On the night before the night before Christmas I boarded a Russian helicopter to fly to where the spirits are high and the air is thin, Mt. Everest. where, gasping for air, I recorded my holiday greeting. Listen to an excerpt from my book Tales of the Radio Traveler and check out the photo gallery. Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | TuneIn | iHeart Radio | Spotify | Deezer | Pandora Photo Gallery All photos ©Russell Johnson
The post Mt. Everest: Nine (or so) Tiny Reinyak first appeared on Connected Traveler.
If you have ever traveled for business, you have probably experienced a few night alone in some faraway place over the holidays. A few years ago I flew to Frankfurt, Germany the day before US Thanksgiving for a 1/2 hour business meeting. The meeting was a bust and alone, in a terrible mood on a bone-chilling afternoon, I boarded a train for Heidelberg,
The post Thanksgiving Cold Turkey: Heidelberg, Germany first appeared on Connected Traveler.
Not exactly a fairy tale, but pretty Grimm. Chicken Little shouted the warning, as did Turkey Lurkey, Gander Lander, Henny Penny, Duckey Daddles, Chicken Licken (Not a fast food chain), Kylling Kluk, Cocotte Chocotte, Hennig Pfennig, Pollita Chiquita, Sabrina Gallina, or even a 4th century Asian rabbit: The sky is falling, be it evidenced by a falling fruit, an acorn, a log, or a low cloud. The end is near. And Foxy Loxy is hiding in ambush. Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | TuneIn | iHeart Radio | Spotify | Deezer| Pandora The fear response is planted deeply in our […]
The post Fairy Tales Can Come True: Uh Oh! first appeared on Connected Traveler.
Gone Astray Podcast: How would Vanity Fair, The National Enquirer, or National Geographic write an obituary?
The post Reading the Obits first appeared on Connected Traveler.
I’m wrestling with an eggsistential question right now. Should I or shouldn’t I cross the road, even though I have done it many times? You see, I’m a chicken. Since Socrates, Gilgamesh or whomever, people have been asking me just why did I cross the road. Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | TuneIn | iHeart Radio | Spotify | Google Podcasts | Deezer| Pandora Nobody asks, “Why did the turducken cross the road? Lots of species cross the road, no questions asked: squirrels, deer, skunks, snakes, Lutherans. Why do people make a joke of…us? Have you seen someone beat someone […]
The post Eggsistential Question: Why Did The Chicken Cross The Road? first appeared on Connected Traveler.
It is mahvalous, it wreaks of romance, drama and juicy gossip…this place called Duckton Abbey.Now, it is summer and a New Era has dawned in the pond.
The post Duckton Abbey, A New Era – Gone Astray Podcast first appeared on Connected Traveler.
“Hey Bernie, turn on the lights and play me Beethoven’s Fifth!” “Done, Dave. Took me 6 seconds: One dollar, charged to your account.” “Huh?’ You charging me for this?” “Yes, of course, Dave. I’m Bernie your virtual attorney. See my little bow tie light up when I talk? I charge $600 dollars an hour. “ Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | TuneIn | iHeart Radio | Spotify | Google Podcasts | Deezer | Pandora “$600 bucks an hour?” “Doesn’t hurt so much by the second, Dave. Little cuts.” “But Siri doesn’t charge for this. “ “Yes….but what happens […]
The post Dave, It’s Bernie, Your Virtual Attorney first appeared on Connected Traveler.
Welcome aboard Stoner Airlines Flight 420 to mile high Denver with ongoing service to Weed, California and Maui-Wowie.
The post Stoner Airlines: Flight 420 first appeared on Connected Traveler.
My morning walk begins along a street in my neighborhood where I am often accosted by two panhandling cats. One is a young Maine coon, who perches her dainty self at easy scratching height on a fence. If I choose to ignore her, don’t leave a treat, her squeaks and needy eyes make me feel a pang of guilt I cannot define. Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Android | Stitcher | TuneIn | iHeart Radio | Spotify | Google Podcasts | Deezer| Pandora Quite the opposite strategy is employed by an obese tiger, who leaves trails in the leaves with his […]
The post Tails From The Trail – Gone Astray Podcast first appeared on Connected Traveler.
It is mahvalous, it wreaks of romance and drama...this place called Duckton Abbey. It is located in a pond, in the leafy green plaza of the town where I live.
The post Duckton Abbey: An Exclusive Tour first appeared on Connected Traveler.
I have the odd habit of talking to cars. I interviewed a few of them, listening to their stories, which range from abandonment to becoming King of the Road.
The post I Talk to the Cars and They Talk Back To Me first appeared on Connected Traveler.
I have never been a day drinker. But here I am, under the bright sun, next to a vineyard of all things, with a glass of vodka in my hand.
The post Rising Spirits: From Sinful to Gluten-free first appeared on Connected Traveler.
Carl Payne was a San Francisco legend who made music with cable car bells. I talked to him and recorded his champion performance.
The post The Bells Are Still Ringing: RIP Carl Payne, San Fran’s Cable Car Legend first appeared on Connected Traveler.
Every year in August, pilgrims arrive from all over the world to celebrate the I AM Come pageant a spectacular passion play with a twist, in fact many twists, on the slope of Mt. Shasta, California. I AM was founded in the 1930s by one Guy Ballard, who claimed to have met Saint Germain, a European mystic rumored to be the son of the Prince of Transylvania, while hiking on the mountain. Ballard claims Saint Germain anointed him an Ascended Master, joining the ranks of Jesus and George Washington. I attended a few years ago and recorded some of it. […]
The post Mt Shasta: Jerusalem for the Weird – Gone Astray Podcast first appeared on Connected Traveler.
I am not Ahab. No huge aquatic creature has chomped off my leg. I am not Hemingway. I have never battled a marlin. But, I have always dreamed of whoppers.
The post Fish Schtick – Gone Astray Podcast first appeared on Connected Traveler.