From the High Desert

A cultural history of Art Bell and the world he broadcast into being.

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Episode Archive

2008 Episodes

Direct links to every Art Bell Archive episode from 2008, inside the Post-Millennium Coast (2000-2009) stretch of the archive.

9 episodes

Post-Millennium Coast

All years

2007 2009

Era context · 2000-2009

Post-Millennium Coast

The 2000s run: post-9/11 geopolitics, surveillance, disclosure arguments, science fringes, and recurring Coast voices.

644 era episodes

10 years

2009 · 12 2008 · 9 2007 · 55 2006 · 71 2005 · 60 2004 · 93 2003 · 38 2002 · 122 2001 · 143 2000 · 41

January 3, 2008: UFOs and Parallel Realities - Whitley Strieber

Jan 32h 36mWhitley Strieber

Art Bell welcomes Whitley Strieber, who reveals a new encounter experience from December 7th that left him questioning the nature of human existence. Whitley describes waking in the night and finding himself in a different house with dogs that should not have been there. As the experience unfolded, he became aware of living simultaneously in five parallel universes, each containing a different version of his life.In one universe, Whitley had never met his wife Anne. In another, she had died and he was walking with a young grandson by the sea. He describes being inside multiple consciousnesses at once, realizing that the individual self is only a fraction of a larger wave form moving through time. Throughout the experience, a small unseen being repeatedly pulled his fingers to keep him conscious for the journey.Whitley also recounts an earlier incident near the Paramus Mall in New Jersey where he took a highway exit and found himself driving through streets lined with strange flat-roofed sandstone buildings bearing carved snake reliefs. Art and Whitley discuss whether physical death simply means moving to another parallel existence, and whether some missing persons cases might involve people who slipped through and never came back.

#1244

January 4, 2008: Avian Flu Pandemic - Dr. Gary Ridenour

Jan 42h 35mDr. Gary Ridenour

Art Bell welcomes Dr. Gary Ridenour for a sobering discussion about the threat of an avian flu pandemic. Dr. Ridenour explains that the H5N1 virus kills roughly 60 percent of those it infects and has shown signs of human-to-human transmission in at least two countries. He argues the pandemic is not a matter of if but when, citing the virus"s massive reservoir in global bird populations and its ability to mutate.The conversation turns to how quickly the virus could spread. Dr. Ridenour describes how one infected traveler on multiple flights could contaminate tens of thousands within days. He warns that the United States would exhaust its supply of caskets in the first week and that antivirals like Tamiflu show growing resistance and dangerous side effects. Infrastructure consequences would include rolling blackouts, fuel shortages, and collapsed supply chains as workers fall ill or stay home.Dr. Ridenour offers practical survival advice, recommending self-isolation for eight to ten days during an outbreak. He notes that England has designated buildings as temporary mortuaries and Hong Kong has converted stadiums into field hospitals. Art also announces the beginning of Solar Cycle 24, a new period of solar activity expected to peak around 2011.

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March 28, 2008: Impossible Physics - Dr. Michio Kaku

Mar 282h 34mDr. Michio Kaku

Art Bell welcomes Dr. Michio Kaku to discuss his bestselling book Physics of the Impossible, which examines technologies once dismissed as pure science fiction. Dr. Kaku explains how recent breakthroughs in metamaterials have made invisibility a laboratory reality, overturning decades of established optics. He describes how light can now bend around objects like water flowing past a boulder, and how the Pentagon is already funding research into invisible soldiers and aircraft.The conversation moves through teleportation, telepathy, and force fields, with Dr. Kaku categorizing each according to when physics might allow them to become engineering problems rather than fantasy. He discusses nanotechnology as the key accelerator for many of these advances, suggesting that atomic-level control will open doors to flexible invisibility cloaks, matter replication, and beyond.Callers weigh in on the 2008 presidential election, the struggling economy, and the future of the U.S. space program. Art also fields questions about Mel's Hole and the latest UFO sphere photographs before returning to Dr. Kaku's vision of a future shaped by technologies that seemed impossible just two years earlier.

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March 30, 2008: ET Contact and Energy - Steven Greer | Economic Meltdown Prediction - Michael Shedlock

Mar 302h 36mDr. Steven M. Greer, Michael Shedlock

Art Bell opens with a discussion of the faltering U.S. economy, rising oil prices, and the weakening dollar before welcoming economic analyst Michael Shedlock. Shedlock warns that the recession will be longer and deeper than most expect, with housing needing at least four years to recover. He cautions listeners about mortgage rate reset scams from lenders like Citigroup and advises building a year of cash reserves while reducing investment risk.In the second half, Dr. Steven M. Greer joins to discuss developments in extraterrestrial contact and government disclosure. He describes a recent United Nations gathering where 30 nations discussed the UFO phenomenon and reveals that senior officials within G7 countries are actively considering open contact disclosure. Greer addresses secret SETI signals, classified zero-point energy technology, and his ongoing efforts to bring alternative energy systems to the public.The two segments present a striking contrast between terrestrial financial fragility and the suppressed technologies that Greer claims could transform the global energy economy. Callers contribute questions on gold, currency markets, and the credibility of UFO evidence throughout the night.

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May 23, 2008: Remote Viewing Updates - Ed Dames

May 232h 33mEd Dames

Art Bell welcomes Major Ed Dames for an update on his remote viewing work, beginning with the search for missing aviator Steve Fossett. Dames reports that his team pinpointed the crash site in the Sierra Nevadas at the 10,000-foot level and even hired two Russian pilots to fly dangerous winter reconnaissance missions. He details plans to hike in once the snowpack melts in mid-June to photograph the wreckage and confirm the location.The discussion turns to larger predictions from Dames and his remote viewing team. He warns of an approaching global pandemic tied to a wheat fungus now identified as UG99, which he says will devastate food supplies worldwide. Dames connects this to his longstanding forecast that climate instability will eventually force humanity to grow food in sealed environmental chambers rather than open fields.Dames also addresses the next major terrorist attack target, which he says his team has identified and posted publicly. He revisits his prediction of a global economic collapse, explaining that his military remote viewing unit saw widespread death connected to economic breakdown over a decade ago. Callers press him on timelines and the reliability of remote viewing methodology.

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November 30, 2008: Future Technology and Parallel Worlds - Dr. Michio Kaku

Nov 302h 36mDr. Michio Kaku

Art Bell returns after a six-month absence to welcome Dr. Michio Kaku for a wide-ranging conversation on the future of technology, nuclear threats, and parallel worlds. The discussion begins with the Mumbai terror attacks and quickly pivots to the nuclear standoff between India and Pakistan, where Dr. Kaku explains that both nations operate on launch-on-warning status with only minutes of response time, meaning a thunderstorm or a large bird could trigger catastrophe.Dr. Kaku then examines Iran's nuclear ambitions, noting that their hardened underground facilities do not resemble a civilian program. He estimates that President-elect Obama will face a critical decision point within a year regarding Iranian enrichment. The conversation shifts to his book Physics of the Impossible, exploring the realistic timeline for technologies like fusion power, space elevators, and antimatter propulsion.The final hours cover parallel universes and string theory, with Dr. Kaku describing how the multiverse concept has moved from fringe speculation to mainstream theoretical physics. Art and Dr. Kaku also discuss the economic crisis, Obama's incoming cabinet, and whether advanced alien civilizations might already be invisible to human detection.

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December 18, 2008: Economy and Financial Fraud - Gerald Celente & Catherine Austin Fitts

Dec 182h 36mGerald Celente, Catherine Austin Fitts

Art Bell dedicates the program to the unfolding economic crisis, welcoming trend forecaster Gerald Celente in the first hour. Celente delivers a stark warning that America is entering what he calls the Greatest Depression, arguing it will surpass the 1930s because modern Americans carry unprecedented debt, lack manufacturing capacity, and face a declining societal structure. He predicts widespread unemployment, social unrest by spring 2009, and the possibility of secessionist movements fracturing the country.Catherine Austin Fitts joins for the remaining hours, offering a different but equally sobering perspective. As a former assistant secretary of housing at HUD and Wall Street insider, she describes a "slow burn" scenario where insiders systematically drain outsiders through managed economic decline. Fitts traces the crisis to credit default swaps, hidden black budget expenditures, and narcotics-linked financial corruption that has hollowed out American communities for decades.Both guests agree the bailouts are ineffective, with Celente calling the auto industry rescue a waste and Fitts questioning where hundreds of billions in TARP funds actually went. Callers share stories of personal financial hardship while debating whether America can survive what lies ahead.

#1250

December 30, 2008: Predictions 2009 Part 1

Dec 302h 33m

Art Bell hosts the annual Predictions show, inviting listeners to call in with their single best psychic prediction for the coming year. Before opening the phone lines, he reviews predictions made for 2008, noting several accurate calls about devastating Midwest tornadoes, the Dow falling below 11,000, and the economy falling apart, while handing out bonks for misses on everything from Mars discoveries to political matchups.Callers offer a wide range of forecasts for 2009, from alien spacecraft landing in Memphis to a nuclear device detonating on American soil. A caller from Alabama predicts a new monarch on the English throne, with Prince Charles passed over in favor of Prince William. Other predictions include a major West Coast earthquake, armed rebellion against the U.S. government, and a congressman undergoing hypnosis to reveal contact with extraterrestrial beings.Art enforces strict rules throughout the evening, rejecting political speeches and wishes in favor of genuine psychic impressions. He reminds callers that no assassination predictions are allowed, recalling past visits from suited federal agents. The show captures the collective anxieties and hopes of the audience as a turbulent 2008 gives way to an uncertain new year.

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December 31, 2008: Predictions 2009 Part 2

Dec 312h 35m

Art Bell continues the annual Predictions tradition on New Year's Eve, reviewing more 2008 predictions before opening the lines for part two of listener forecasts. He hands out bonks for missed calls on a Florida breakaway and Osama bin Laden ending jihad, while acknowledging a hit on BlackBerry achieving two billion in sales. Art notes the audience collectively sensed the 2008 economic crash before it happened.As midnight approaches across American time zones, callers phone in with forecasts ranging from auto production cut in half to all world currencies losing value simultaneously. A truck driver from Kansas predicts America will turn its back on Israel. A caller from Alabama foresees the United States breaking into regional countries, with only a reconstituted Confederacy based in Atlanta surviving. Financial predictions dominate, with one caller foreseeing severe deflation rolling prices back to 1967 levels.Among the more unusual predictions, a caller forecasts meteorites falling like hailstones in February, while another predicts the beginning of Mayan calendar end-time events. A caller from Arizona predicts armed rebellion, declaring the government no longer follows the Constitution. Art maintains his firm stance against wishes and political speeches, seeking only genuine psychic impressions as 2009 begins.

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