Marfa for Beginners

Marfa Public Radio
  • 5.0 (26)
  • PLACES & TRAVEL
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

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.

  1. Welcome to A Whole Other Country

    09/30/2025

    Welcome to A Whole Other Country

    A Whole Other Country is a new podcast from the award-winning Marfa Public Radio Studios.Back in the ‘90s, in an off-the-grid neighborhood in the mountains of Far West Texas, a wannabe vintner started his own Wild West nation. Reporter and host Zoe Kurland drives up the long, bumpy roads of the Davis Mountains to talk to a cast of neighbors and onlookers who watched the story of the standoff unfold in real time -- the myths of the frontier crashing violently into reality.  Subscribe on Apple Podcasts here. Subscribe on Spotify here.

    3 min

  2. 11/10/2023

    PSA: Marfa Public Radio

    You can donate to Marfa Public Radio on our website at marfapublicradio.org/donate.

    4 min
  3. So Far From Care: Trailer

    10/27/2023

    So Far From Care: Trailer

    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.

    2 min

  4. 10/18/2023

    #Tallwomen

    To close out this podcast, there’s someone we think you should meet– West Texas’s unofficial ambassador, Liz Rogers. Marfa can be a place that seems cool and aloof, a place that kind of feels like one of those crushes where the allure is that they don't like you back. But Liz is the exact opposite. In a place known for minimalism, Liz is maximalist, as epitomized by her annual birthday party. Every year, it seems like she invites everyone she’s ever known to congregate down in West Texas and dance and laugh under the big sky. So for this episode, we’re throwing a party to celebrate Liz. And everyone’s invited. Produced by Sally Beauvais, Zoe Kurland and Elise Pepple.

    20 min

  5. 10/11/2023

    BONUS: Marfa Group

    Imagine if there was a community Facebook group for your entire city, where everyone posted all the time. Now imagine if your city was small enough to have no traffic lights, just a few busy intersections with stop and yield signs. Welcome to Marfa Group, a place where these realities collide - into one memorable Facebook thread. Produced by Sally Beauvais, Zoe Kurland and Elise Pepple.

    5 min

  6. 10/11/2023

    PSA: Grand Companions

    You can donate to Grand Companions online, at grandcompanions.org.

    2 min

  7. 10/11/2023

    Small Town Psychology

    Small towns come with a lot of drama. When you live in a place like Marfa, there are certain psychological realities specific to having zero degrees of separation between you and your neighbors. People know what’s going on in your life, and you know what’s going on in theirs. Even if they didn’t tell you. This proximity creates a unique reality of deep connection and insane paranoia. In this episode, Elise Pepple conducts an experiment. One that takes small town closeness and uses it as a tool to address someone’s problem. This episode was produced by Elise Pepple, Zoe Kurland, and Sally Beauvais. Music: Selections from W. Creeves, and Leftover Fog and Bright White, by Podington Bear, sourced from the Free Music Archive. License: CC BY-NC.

    18 min

  8. 10/04/2023

    BONUS: What's wrong with people?

    This week we’re featuring another podcast from another Marfan — one who beat us to the punch. David Gomez was Marfa’s first podcaster. His show What’s wrong with people? is an unfiltered look at daily life in Marfa. In this episode, we chat with David and hear a couple minutes of an episode that investigates whether a certain pair of celebrity sisters visited Marfa. Listen to David's podcast What's wrong with people? here. Produced by Sally Beauvais, Zoe Kurland, and Elise Pepple.

    5 min
See All (17)

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
26 Ratings

About

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.

Information

  • Creator
    Marfa Public Radio
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2025
  • Episodes
    17
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Marfa Radio 2023
  • Show Website
    Marfa for Beginners