A podcast about Brad. And his cactus shack, I guess. This show has it all, from hard drive cleaning, to call-in talk shows, not to mention the conspiracy theories and arrest reports.
Brad’s Cactus Shack Episode 20 – Secrets of the Little Blue Box
This is a story about phone phreaking in the early 1970’s, and it’s taken from the October 1971 issue of Esquire magazine. It tells the stories of a few phone phreaks of the era, including Joe Engressia (Joybubbles), Captain Crunch, Mark Bernay, and lots of other interesting weirdos. I broke up some of the chapters of this story with phone related music. Please let me know if those are too distracting or jarring and I will consider removing them. Also, if I made any mistakes, please point them out and maybe I’ll fix them while I still can.
00:00:00 Gotta Get to the Phone by Al Philipp and The Woo Team
00:00:22 A Quick Intro
00:01:47 The Story Begins
00:24:45 The song is Bell Odyssey by Rob T Firefly (https://robvincent.net/)
00:38:20 The song is I Phreak Alone by Bonecage (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ieT4VkL-n4)
00:52:25 MF Boogie 1 by Joe Engressia, performed via the telephone
01:02:09 Boxing by Redbox and the Chilipeppers (https://rbcp.bandcamp.com/track/boxing)
01:17:47 This pretend radio bit is by Joe Engressia from the end of his song MF Boogie 2
01:28:03 More Bell Odyssey by Rob T Firefly (https://robvincent.net/)
01:29:55 Background music is Deeploop by MicroKORGI
01:38:38 The Phone Trips Song by Evan Doorbell (https://soundcloud.com/evan-doorbell/phonetripssong-1)
Below are some related links.
Here is the issue of Esquire from their official site, which wants you to register with them (https://classic.esquire.com/article/1971/10/1/secrets-of-the-blue-box)
Here is the issue of Esquire that I read from where you don’t have to register to read (https://www.ckts.info/downloads/articles/Esquire%20Magazine%20October%201971%20-%20Secrets%20Of%20The%20Little%20Blue%20Box.pdf)
Evan Doorbell’s Phone Trips site (https://evan-doorbell.com/)
Learn more about Joe Engressia on his wikipedia entry (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joybubbles)
Listen to Stories and Stuff by Joybubbles (Joe Engressia) (http://audio.textfiles.com/shows/storiesandstuff/)
Call the PLA phone line (https://phonelosers.com/tni/) and listen to Stories and Stuff via your phone at 206-424-8422
Learn about Captain Crunch (John Draper) on his website (https://johndraper.us/) or on his wikipedia entry (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Draper).
Live out your blue boxing fantasies by calling Project MF’s blue boxable telephone line (http://www.projectmf.org/) at 630-485-2995
(https://www.notla.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/blue-box.png)
23 May 2025
Brad’s Cactus Shack Episode 19 – Illegal 900 Number Fraud
Brad's Cactus Shack explores the world of 1-900 number fraud and phone phreaking, delving into the realm of psychics and phone sex workers.
14 Mar 2023
Brad’s Cactus Shack Episode 18 – Wacky Morning Show DJ Reunion
A long time ago I spent about a year harassing a radio DJ named MJ from the MJ Morning Show just to try and stir up drama on his show. I guess MJ still remembers this event too because he spent around 15 minutes talking about it on his show recently. In this episode of Brad’s Cactus Shack I will
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35 ratings
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4.8 / 5
16 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 29 / 100
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