"Return of The Static!!!" a.k.a. The Welcome Broadcast

Welcome to the signal.

In this inaugural transmission of The Karmasonic Radio Network, host R. Benjamin introduces listeners to a strange new audio realm—a psychedelic patchwork of found frequencies, offbeat programming, and the semi-functional chaos of the TKRN studio crew. The station, a mysterious revival of an old border blaster transmitter, pulses to life under mysterious circumstances… mostly thanks to Zeke, the overeager intern who accidentally reactivates “The Button.”

We learn that TKRN is broadcasting from an undisclosed desert location using salvaged equipment and metaphysical duct tape. As R. explains, the network isn’t just playing shows—it’s transmitting entire worlds. A brief rundown of the upcoming programming teases experimental formats like The Department of Unlikely Scenarios and The Last Frequency—a mysterious pirate signal that no one at the station can explain.

Joining R. are the rest of the core TKRN staff:

• Bill Freemer, a grizzled archivist with an almost haunted reverence for radio’s forgotten past (and a growing obsession with The Playlist of ’68),
• Zeke, the well-meaning but glitch-prone engineer intern with questionable clearance,
• Marla, the beleaguered voice talent and reluctant anchor of reason,
• Sterling, the egotistical “art director” who rewrites scripts on-air,
• And Arben, whose job is unclear but whose voice seems to bleed into everything.

The crew barely settles in before something shifts. Equipment acts up. The studio lights flicker. And from the depths of the transmitter, a strange signal bleeds in—a faint Morse code transmission, accompanied by a warped rendition of “The Mexican Hat Dance”. No one admits to cueing it. Bill just mutters, “It’s ’68 all over again.”

The episode closes with a traditional sign-off… and then a lingering static hum. Something was heard. Something is still transmitting.

This isn’t just a show. It’s a broadcast ritual. And the signal has only just begun.

“Beam Your Signal to Control!”

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“Not just radio… it’s an audio hallucination.”