abandoned: The All-American Ruins Podcast

Blake explores a passage about ruins from The Book of Exeter, the oldest known and largest collection of Old English literature. Join him as he revisits a poetic, 10th century urbex perspective while reflecting on his gratitude for the reception of season 2-- and listen in for some exciting news about what’s next for abandoned: The All-American Ruins Podcast.

Catch All-American Ruins in the wild:

• “Exploring the Abandoned ...

In the season 2 finale of abandoned: The All-American Ruins Podcast, join Blake as he reflects on his journey to sobriety while wandering the ruins of the Neuweiler Brewery, where he narrowly escapes a run-in with security.

This episode features:

• Isabel Wilder
• Nik Magill

(Note: For the best immersive experience, we strongly suggest you wear headphones 🎧 for every episode of abandoned: The All-American Ruins Pod...

Overlooking the dusty trijunction of Port Jervis, NY sits the ruins of the AFI Packaging Plant. Join Blake on his triumphant return to the abandoned space in the middle of summer 2022 as he reflects on the pandemic and loneliness, against the backdrop of a zombie apocalypse fantasy.

(Note: For the best immersive experience, we strongly suggest you wear headphones 🎧 for every episode of abandoned: The All-American Ruins Podcast....

The accidental discovery of a curious abandoned space leads Blake to a chance encounter -- with a man named Steez. Join Blake as he explores the ruins of Pass Creek Market in Curtin, OR, a casualty of the 2008 housing crisis. And meet Steez, an off-the-grid hippy with an unusual appetite for deep conversation about capitalism, imagination and ghosts.

This episode features:

• Jeremiah Wenutu

(Note: For the best im...

Welcome to Painter, Virginia, home of the abandoned Central Middle-High School. Wander its ghostly hallways with Blake as he reflects on the American education system, explores class warfare, and has a brief encounter with death... and possibly Elizabeth Warren.

(Note: For the best immersive experience, we strongly suggest you wear headphones 🎧 for every episode of abandoned: The All-American Ruins Podcast.)

• To read the ...

Sometimes, an abandoned space can summon a ghost - or maybe it’s just a figment of the imagination. Either way, join Blake as he accompanies you to the ruins of a seaside shanty, standing proudly on the edge of a graveyard overlooking the mighty Atlantic Ocean in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. (And don’t be surprised if you both run into a ghost named Mrs. Dalby.)

This episode features:

• Elisabeth Henry
• Nik Magill

(...

Follow Blake to the ruins of Rodanthe, on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, where he guides you through the abandoned Waterfall Park and reflects on his childhood dreams, being single again, and a long-awaited one-night stand.

This episode features:

• Tiernan Pfeil

(Note: For the best immersive experience, we strongly suggest you wear headphones 🎧 for every episode of abandoned: The All-American Ruins Podcast.)

...

On the banks of the Hudson River near Catskill, NY sits the abandoned Universal Atlas Cement Plant. Shut down between 1976-77, Blake wanders among the smokestacks and echoes of days gone by, reflecting on the end of a relationship, telling the truth, and ultimately, the act of forgiving oneself.

(Note: For the best immersive experience, we strongly suggest you wear headphones 🎧 for every episode of abandoned: The All-American R...

Cleveland’s Hough Bakery was once the largest multiple-unit bakery with locations across Ohio-- but in 1992, the company filed for bankruptcy and closed all 32 locations. Join Blake as he guides you through the ruins of the Hough Bakery on Lakeview Road, alongside one of his favorite humans on the planet.

This episode features:

• Jacob Yarian

(Note: For the best immersive experience, we strongly suggest you wear ...

On our first venture to an international location, join Blake atop a hill overlooking the vibrant city of Lisbon, Portugal, as he guides you through an abandoned restaurant while daydreaming of his Ukrainian friend and brother, artist Daniel Skripnik.

This episode features:

• Daniel Skripnik

This episode features the song “Freedom” by Oleg Fedak.

• Music Info: Freedom - by SoulProdMusic.
• Music Link: https:...

Julie navigates the ruins of America in the same way she faces stage IV breast cancer: with a rambunctious and determined heart. At least, on the surface. Join Blake as he explores the architectural remains of the Homowack Lodge, alongside his fierce compatriot Julie, a compassionate and sensitive queer community leader in Hudson Valley, NY. While they wander through the abandoned Catskillian resort with its curious name, Julie ref...

While reflecting on what makes an ideal friendship with his pal Shannon, Blake pokes about the ruins of an abandoned gas station in the California desert. Join him as he time warps back to 1979, when gas lines were long, Coca Cola was 45 cents a bottle, and President Jimmy Carter warned Americans about the Crisis of Confidence.

This episode features:

• Shannon Borden
• Lacey Keane
• Nik Magill

(Note: For the best immer...

Featuring its cornerstone horse race track and grandstand, the Great Barrington Fairgrounds has sat abandoned since 1998. Join Blake as he wanders among the ghosts of fairs-gone-by while reflecting the hidden truth of his relationship with his lover Eric.

This episode features:

• Jeremiah Wenutu
• Krista Buccellato
• Adam Machart

(Note: For the best immersive experience, we strongly suggest you wear headphones 🎧 for e...

Just over an hour east of Denver is a small ghost town called Last Chance. Upon first glance, it might look like just a clump of tiny abandoned houses. But look closer with Blake as he guides you through the ruins of Last Chance, Colorado, and together, uncover the mystery of why the remains of this widely unknown, defunct American geographical icon have continued to haunt passersby for decades after its demise.

(Note: For the b...

We're kickstarting the second season of abandoned: The All-American Ruins Podcast with a mafia hideout, a milk factory full of phantoms, and a curious, ghostly plant manager named Victor. Alongside his sister-from-another-mother, join Blake as he embarks on a mysterious trip to the abandoned Lehigh Valley Dairy where he ponders friendship, FDR’s New Deal, and the dark side of the imagination.

This episode features:

• Isa...

Coming September 28, 2023…

Welcome to season 2 of the award-winning abandoned: The All-American Ruins Podcast. Join host Blake Pfeil as he guides listeners through immersive audio fantasies, recreating his experiences exploring abandoned spaces across the United States. Along the way, abandoned asks critical questions about American history and culture, community, capitalism and economics, the environment, and mental health whil...

Charles Ferri spent years searching for something, but it wasn’t until he stumbled upon an empty monastery overlooking the Hudson River that he realized he’d found it. Join Blake as he explores the story behind the accidental preservationist of the once-abandoned Christian Brothers Monastery & School in West Park, NY.

• Read the transcript of this episode here: https://www.blakepfeil.com/aar-podcast.html
• Learn more about Hudson...

On July 20, 2023, North Carolina Museum of History hosted All-American Ruins as part of their History + Highballs virtual series. The program, entitled All-American Ruins: Reawakening the Healing Power of Imagination in Abandoned Spaces, started with a question: “Can the human imagination serve as a space of healing and serenity as much as it serves as a space of creativity and wonderment?”

From North Carolina Museum of History:...

Dylan Thuras is the cofounder of Atlas Obscura, but he’s more than a fancy title. Join Blake on this special bonus episode of abandoned: The All-American Ruins Podcast as he explores Dylan’s journey to becoming a part of the urbex community, from his humble beginnings as a road trip kid, to a burgeoning graffiti artist who started to find his creative POV at the abandoned Gold Medal Flour Factory in Minneapolis, MN.