The Atlas Obscura Podcast
An audio guide to the world’s strange, incredible, and wondrous places. Co-founder Dylan Thuras and a neighborhood of Atlas Obscura reporters explore a new wonder every day, Monday through Thursday. In under 15 minutes, they’ll take you to an incredible place, and along the way, you’ll meet some fascinating people and hear their stories. Our theme and end credit music is composed by Sam Tyndall.
Episodes
At the Mapparium® globe in Boston, visitors can step inside a giant, three-story stained glass globe…and get a glimpse of the bigger picture.
This episode is part of our ongoing coverage of the soccer world championship. In each episode, we take you beyond the stadium, and to a nearby wonder that’s off the beaten track.
Learn more here about visiting the “Mapparium” globe.
A massive California wildfire prompted author Ryan Huling to get curious about the boundaries between human civilization and a vacant wilderness. It led him on a travel quest into the world of animals, which he documented in a new book, The Hidden Nations of Animals.
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A renegade art project in Vancouver galvanized a small community, pitted residents against city government, and ultimately resulted in a new name for a chill park.
This episode is part of our ongoing coverage of the soccer world championship. In each episode, we take you beyond the stadium, and to a nearby wonder that’s off the beaten track.
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for informati...
A pay phone in Washington, D.C tells you jokes and affirmations.
This episode is part of our Weekend Road Trip Series, where we bring you stories of the strange, incredible, and wondrous places right here in the United States, that you can see from the road. This series was produced in partnership with T-Mobile.
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of p...
Professional rainmaker Charles Hatfield was either a scientist or a con man who had a particular influence on San Diego, CA.
Curious about cloud seeding? Learn more from our earlier podcast on the Lynmouth Flood: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/podcast-lynmouth-flood-memorial-hall
READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/lower-otay-reservoir
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Co-host Kelly McEvers and producers Johanna and Amanda answer questions about books where the setting is transportive, travel in the Middle East right now, and how to handle sharing an Airbnb with five friends but only one bathroom.
If you have a question for our next mailbag episode, give us a call at 315-992-7902 and leave a message. You can also record a voice memo and email it to us at Hello@AtlasObscura.com, or simply em...
We visit an office building in Guadalajara, and learn how one man moved it – workers and all – exactly 40 feet.
This episode is part of our ongoing coverage of the soccer world championship. In each episode, we take you beyond the stadium, and to a nearby wonder that’s off the beaten track.
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection...
Nestled on North Carolina’s southern shoreline, the Kindred Mailbox keeps countless secrets and confessions left in the sand. This episode tells the story of mailbox and its dedicated keepers.
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Eight thousand years ago, this land’s first inhabitants built a village around a sacred spring. And today, in what is now Los Angeles, CA, their descendants still work to protect the site.
Learn more about the Gabrielino-Tongva Springs Foundation: http://gabrielinosprings.com/wpsite/
This episode is part of our ongoing coverage of the soccer world championship. In each episode, we take you beyond the stadium, and to a nearby ...
Today we visit the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, which is home to 10,000 bobbleheads inspired by sports, pop culture, politics, and even some niche viral Internet moments. Some even date back hundreds of years.
This episode is part of our Weekend Road Trip Series, where we bring you stories of the strange, incredible, and wondrous places right here in the United States, that you can see ...
How do we determine the time? Believe it or not, there is an official clock. It’s located in Boulder, Colorado at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and we go there to visit.
LEARN MORE: NIST doesn’t give public tours. But if you want to watch the seconds go by as precisely as humanly possible, dial (303) 499-7111.
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Professional French horn player Kyra Sims tells us about a once-in-a-lifetime trip she took to Antarctica with a program called Polar STEAM, which pairs artists with scientists. She tells us about living on a research vessel, getting up close and personal with zooplankton, and where she found inspiration on the ice.
You can find Kyra Sims online at her website or on Instagram. And learn more about Polar STEAM here.
This stone at Emory University is a marker of one millionaire's personal vendetta against gravity.
This episode is part of our ongoing coverage of the soccer world championship. In each episode, we take you beyond the stadium, and to a nearby wonder that’s off the beaten track.
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for ...
The variety of apples we enjoy today have a common ancestor that lies in the forests of Kazakhstan, where scientists are studying the wildest version of the fruit.
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One of Mexico’s oldest shoe stores holds a collection of more than 2,000 thousand shoes in a museum called el Museo Del Calzado. From booties worn by a rescue dog to slippers owned by Queen Elizabeth II, each pair tells a story.
This episode is part of our ongoing coverage of the soccer world championship. In each episode, we take you beyond the stadium, and to a nearby wonder that’s off the beaten track.
It took Ross Ward more than 40 years to build Tinkertown, an indescribable array of carvings, figurines, and folk art. The project became both a source of inspiration for young artists, and an unexpected refuge for Ross himself.
This episode is part of our Weekend Road Trip Series, where we bring you stories of the strange, incredible, and wondrous places right here in the United States, that you can see from the road. This s...
We head to the Namib Desert in Africa, where the landscape is dotted with mysterious, pimple-like indents known as fairy circles. Where do these things come from? Scientist Walter Tschinkel has spent the last several years studying and experiencing a natural occurrence so enchanting, locals describe it as “The footprints of the gods.”
READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/fairy-circles-southern-afr...
The LA Central Library has always been unique. It doesn’t look like a typical big city library, many people didn’t want it to be built in the first place, and, in 1986, a fire affected more than one million of its books. But the library endured, and is now celebrating its 100th anniversary. Susan Orlean joins Kelly to talk about this storied institution.
Candy scholar Susan Benjamin brings us to her research-based historic candy shop, and introduces us to some surprising sweets that have shaped American history … from abolitionist sugars to WWI's chocolate energy bars.
Today's episode is brought to you in partnership with the West Virginia Department of Tourism.
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and u...
War of the Worlds by Orson Welles is perhaps the most famous radio play on Earth. But what’s left out of the story is where the play was set — a real, little town in New Jersey. It took decades, but the people who live in Grover’s Mill have come to embrace their part in one of the biggest media hoaxes of all time. In fact, they’ve turned it into something to be proud of.
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