  We present the first eight months of data from our secondary target program
within the ongoing Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) survey. Our
program uses a mid-infrared and optical colour selection to preferentially
target dust-reddened QSOs that would have otherwise been missed by the nominal
DESI QSO selection. So far we have obtained optical spectra for 3038
candidates, of which ~70% of the high-quality objects (those with robust
redshifts) are visually confirmed to be Type 1 QSOs, consistent with the
expected fraction from the main DESI QSO survey. By fitting a dust-reddened
blue QSO composite to the QSO spectra, we find they are well-fitted by a normal
QSO with up to Av~4 mag of line-of-sight dust extinction. Utilizing radio data
from the LOFAR Two-metre Sky Survey (LoTSS) DR2, we identify a striking
positive relationship between the amount of line-of-sight dust extinction
towards a QSO and the radio detection fraction, that is not driven by
radio-loud systems, redshift and/or luminosity effects. This demonstrates an
intrinsic connection between dust reddening and the production of radio
emission in QSOs, whereby the radio emission is most likely due to low-powered
jets or winds/outflows causing shocks in a dusty environment. On the basis of
this evidence we suggest that red QSOs may represent a transitional "blow-out"
phase in the evolution of QSOs, where winds and outflows evacuate the dust and
gas to reveal an unobscured blue QSO.
