Kingdoms of the Radio:
A Novel
Get a head start on the new story by acclaimed writer Román Leão, author of the mind-bending novels, Inside a Broken Clock, and Burn Your Starry Crown. This time, Leão looks back at the end of the idealism and social experimentation of the ’60s.
Follow the story:
Kingdoms of the Radio: Serafina’s Gift
Kingdoms of the Radio: Charlie Perigo 1
Kingdoms of the Radio: Zongo Kumalo 1
Kingdoms of the Radio: Karoline Rosenda 1
Kingdoms of the Radio: Zongo Meets The Stick (Pt. 1)
Kingdoms of the Radio: Zongo Meets The Stick (Pt.2)
Kingdoms of the Radio: Ride a Painted Pony
Kingdoms of the Radio: Fadeout (Rock Hound Magazine, 1970)
Kingdoms of the Radio: Tibetan Bells & a Bird from Hell
Kingdoms of the Radio: Enrique Bravocado 1
Kingdoms of the Radio: Zongo Khumalo 2
Kingdoms of the Radio: Karoline Rosenda 2
Kingdoms of the Radio: Enrique Bravocado 2
Kingdoms of the Radio: Don’t Poke the Bear (Pt. 1)
Kingdoms of the Radio: Don’t Poke the Bear (Pt. 2)
Kingdoms of the Radio: Charlie Perigo 2
Kingdoms of the Radio: Zongo Khumalo 3
Kingdoms of the Radio: Charlie Perigo 3
Kingdoms of the Radio: Chae Burton 1
Kingdoms of the Radio: Enrique Bravocado 3
Kingdoms of the Radio: A Prisoner at the Palace (Pt. 1)
Kingdoms of the Radio: A Prisoner at the Palace (Pt. 2)
Kingdoms of the Radio: Police Chief Warren Burton 1
Kingdoms of the Radio: Enrique Bravocado 4
Kingdoms of the Radio: Charlie Perigo 4
Kingdoms of the Radio: Zongo Khumalo 4
Kingdoms of the Radio: Chae Burton 2
Kingdoms of the Radio: Down on the Mission
Kingdoms of the Radio: Death & the Back Catalog
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UNFINISHED DOCUMENTARY, KINGDOMS OF THE RADIO | 1995 Once we decided to renovate Girassol, I figured I ought to let Mrs. Chaves know what was going on; that way if we ran into a hassle, we would be coming from a place of righteousness. I had to go into town and call her from the…
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UNFINISHED DOCUMENTARY, KINGDOMS OF THE RADIO | 1995 When Zongo and I first got our thing together out at the ranch, it was paradise, man. It took a lot of elbow grease to clean up the property, but once all the heads starting showing up and pitching in, it went really quickly. And the big…
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UNFINISHED DOCUMENTARY, KINGDOMS OF THE RADIO | 1995 Once we put the word out on the street about what we wanted to build, it was amazing how quickly it caught on. There were a lot of heads that had been at loose ends, which was causing them heat in some of the small towns around…
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UNFINISHED DOCUMENTARY, KINGDOMS OF THE RADIO | 1995 Of course I remember when that so-called rock star disappeared in San Francisco. I still had some friends on the force out that way. You can’t believe the stories they used to tell me; drug addicts from all over the country pouring in to the City and…
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POINT ARENA, CALIFORNIA | 1971 “What about you, man? So, you’re a cook?” “Shit,” Khumalo groused, as he grabbed the passenger assist grip, “I was a cook. There was an… incident this morning. With a goose.” “OK, now you have to tell me,” Perigo laughed as he downshifted and swung into a turnout at an…
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MEMORANDUM FOR: THE RECORDSUBJECT: Project MKULTRA, Subproject 3 REDACTED CD/TSS APPROVED:REDACTEDChief, CD/TSS APPROVED FOR OBLIGATION OF FUNDS:REDACTED Research Director Date: 11 November, 1971 SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA | 1971 Carol Davidson parked the 1963 Volkswagen Beetle she had been saddled with by the agency on Bartlett Street, around the corner from their clandestine office on Mission…
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BOONVILLE, CALIFORNIA | 1995 Joaninha pulled her 1982 Honda Accord up to the high curb in front of the Boonville Mercantile and killed the engine. The weary mid-size sedan, however, had its own ideas and continued to diesel as if it was having an epileptic fit as the young woman gathered up the items that…
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UKIAH, CALIFORNIA | 1995 The Kid zipped up the ripstop nylon track bag he had just stuffed with everything he would need to conduct the interviews to complete his Senior film project. He had just spent the morning checking out one of the college’s brand new Sony DCR-VX1000 video cameras upon penalty of slow and…
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SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA | 1971 With Shane’s meaty presence gone from the scene, the concrete bunker seemed to close in on the pair left alone for the first time since they left the airport. “So…” Rosenda began before being cut off by a recalcitrant Cole. “Look,” the fallen star looked down at his bare feet,…
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SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA | 1971 A heavy drizzle spattered the Lincoln as it rolled through the damp San Francisco night. Karoline Rosenda was silent and still except for periodically twisting around in her seat to check on their charge. A clarion call of Be OK! Be OK! clanged over and over in her brain like…
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UNFINISHED DOCUMENTARY, KINGDOMS OF THE RADIO | 1995 That must have been some really good speed. It what seemed like no time at all, Zongo and I had hacked our way through the brambles and were starting to see moonlight coming through the other side. The night was dead quiet except for the hypnotic crashing…
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UNFINISHED DOCUMENTARY, KINGDOMS OF THE RADIO | 1995 Every community has its own creation myths; stories that bring members together in shared tradition while allowing new people to understand in a deeper way where the group was coming from. Girassol was no different. My favorite one was when Charlie almost shot Zongo and Enrique as they…
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UNFINISHED DOCUMENTARY, KINGDOMS OF THE RADIO | 1995 I had been surfing the late afternoon break at Manchester, north of the lighthouse, and the Sun was starting to drop behind the mountain. The great whites come in to feed when it gets dark, so I rode one last wave all the way to the beach,…
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UNFINISHED DOCUMENTARY, KINGDOMS OF THE RADIO | 1995 It had been a couple of years since I’d been back north, but I thought I knew every place there was to know. That’s one of the things that made me want to leave in the first place. I had directions and a map to Garissol from…
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UNFINISHED DOCUMENTARY, KINGDOMS OF THE RADIO | 1995 I don’t like to fly, let me just put that out there. The day I met Zongo, I was a wreck, having just got off the flight from McKinleyville. We hit some pretty gnarly turbulence over the coastal range and I was doing my deep meditation for…
Román Leão 