The Atlas Obscura Podcast

AO Mailbag: Best Movie to Watch on an Airplane?

06 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Co-host Kelly McEvers and producers Johanna and Jerome answer questions about whether you should experience certain places with other people, the best...

Ganvie Lake Village (Classic)

03 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

A producer sits down with Dylan and recounts his trip to a place referred to as “The Venice of Africa.” READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlaso...

Tasting the World’s Most Unique Honeys with Marina Marchese

02 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Marina Marchese is a beekeeper and trained honey sommelier. She explains how honey tastes like the place where it’s made… and guides co-host Kelly...

Was It All A Hoax?

01 Apr 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Today, we are celebrating the spirit of April Fools’ Day with two stories about hoaxes. One is about a mythical creature in Fouke, Arkansas and the ...

Deadly Beard

31 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

For one sixteenth century Austrian mayor, a long, luscious beard was both his claim to fame – and the cause of his downfall.  Read more about Hans ...

The Farewell Spit

30 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Daren Grover was on vacation near the top of New Zealand’s South Island when he got a call: some whales needed help. Hundreds of them had stranded o...

Exotic Feline Rescue Center (Classic)

27 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Long before Joe Exotic got the country talking about big cats, there was Joe Taft – regular guy – who began raising and rescuing these types of fe...

Alone on the Alaskan Frontier

26 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

  What drives a person to live in isolation? Meet Sue Aikens, who thrives in the icy expanse of the Arctic. She shares stories of survival, self-disc...

Meet the Man Visiting 800 Museums in LA

25 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Todd Lerew has spent a decade visiting every single museum in Los Angeles. He chronicled his journey in his book Also on View: Unique and Unexpected M...

Alice Austen House

24 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

In the 1950s, a journalist doing archival research at the Staten Island Historical Society came across a collection of images that stopped him in his ...

The Barbican

23 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

You may have heard the phrase 'third place' being used more often as the world started opening up post-pandemic. People were craving somewhere that wa...

Tell Us: What Rules Have You Broken?

21 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

We wanna hear your stories about the times you’ve accidentally broken the rules somewhere foreign to you.  Maybe you went into a temple with your s...

Old City Hall Station (Classic)

20 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

A producer takes a detour for a glimpse of what some call New York’s worst kept secret – a train station that’s been shut down and sealed away f...

The Blue That Upended the Art World

19 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Cultural historian Kassia St. Clair tells the stories of two highly prized colors that are linked to specific places in the world: an exquisite, extre...

The Hummingbirds of Mexico City

18 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Catia Lattouf has dedicated her life to nursing hummingbirds back to health – from inside her apartment in Mexico City.  Plus: We always want to he...

Thomas Edison’s Last Breath

17 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Over the course of a century, the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan has grown to house over 26 million artifacts of innovative achievements. How...

Your Spring Break Travel Stories

16 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

We asked you to send us stories about your unforgettable spring break trips. From a U2 concert to a tornado in 1974, you delivered.   Plus, we want ...

The Red Book (Classic)

13 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

In the early 1900s, influential psychologist Carl Jung spent more than a decade documenting the strange images that popped up in his unconscious mind ...

The Family That Tried To Escape History

12 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

In 1978, a team of Soviet geologists working deep in the Siberian taiga came across something they never expected to see: a house. As it turned out, t...

AO Mailbag: How Shlubby Is Too Shlubby On an Airplane?

11 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Co-host Kelly McEvers and producers Jerome Campbell and Manolo Morales answer questions about places they could live permanently, how to navigate trav...

The Amargosa Opera House

10 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Marta Becket was an artist from New York City. Then in 1967, when she was on a road trip with her husband, she discovered an abandoned social hall in ...

Mr. Toilet House

09 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

In 2007, the beloved former mayor of Suwon, Korea, demolished the home he and his wife had lived in for 30 years and built them a new house shaped lik...

The Grave of XYZ (Classic)

06 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

We go to Deep River, Connecticut – where the story of a botched bank robbery more than 100 years ago has taken on a life of its own as an urban lege...

The Mirror That Reveals Your Truest Self

05 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

There is a mirror said to reveal the truest, most precise reflection of oneself. It’s called the Aranmula Kannadi. The tradition of mirror-making ha...

The Fish Doorbell of Utrecht

04 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

The Dutch city of Utrecht is built around an iconic canal lined with historic homes. But for the fish of the city, the view isn’t quite so picturesq...

Daylight Saving: Donuts and Mirrors

03 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Daylight saving time is nearly upon us. Today, we’re visiting two places with very different approaches to harnessing the sun. One imposes rules on ...

The Mystery Woman on the Beer Tap

02 Mar 2026

Contributed by Lukas

We look into the story behind a regionally famous – and controversial – beer tap in Des Moines, Iowa.  Read Mandy Naglich’s article about Ruthi...

Lost Wonder: Lake Karachay (Classic)

27 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Lake Karachay in Ozersk, Russia is the site of a former secret Soviet Union nuclear facility - that’s inspired art despite the little that’s publi...

Lost Wonder: The Borscht Belt with Marisa Scheinfeld (Classic)

26 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Dylan is joined by Marisa Scheinfeld, a photographer who has dedicated years to exploring the lost and abandoned properties of the Borscht Belt: a str...

Lost Wonder: Moose Boulder (Classic)

25 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

How far would you go to find the largest island in the largest lake on the largest island in the largest lake on the largest island in the largest lak...

Lost Wonder: Floating Freedom School (Classic)

24 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

This paddleboat gave some Black children a place to learn even when they were denied formal education on land.   This week, we’re bringing your st...

Lost Wonder: Minister’s Treehouse (Classic)

23 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

The world’s biggest treehouse was inspired by a message from God.  This week, we’re bringing you stories of places that, for one reason you anoth...

Tell Us Your Unusual Spring Break Stories

21 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

We’re willing to bet that AO listeners didn’t go on the typical spring break trips. We want to hear your off the beaten track spring break travel ...

Old Cahawba (Classic)

20 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

The Old Cahawba Archeological Park is perhaps one of Alabama's most famous ghost towns. But it once was the center of life in this southern state. We ...

LA: An Underrated Nature Destination?

19 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Maybe when you think of Los Angeles you think of mega highways, gridlock traffic, and urban sprawl. But our guest today argues that it is actually an ...

North Carolina’s Hellbenders

18 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

A giant salamander has been lurking in the rivers and streams of Appalachia for more than a hundred million years.  And in just the last few years –...

The Heritage Walk

17 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

We go to Tallahassee and learn the incredible civil rights history of Florida's capitol city.   Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.ads...

An Unforgettable Stay

16 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

DESCRIPTION: We asked you to send us stories about the places where you’ve stayed the night – some of you had some interesting experiences that l...

Vent Haven Museum (Classic)

13 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

This museum in Kentucky is either your dream place or your nightmare, depending on how you feel about dummies. Because there are more than 500 of them...

Kelly McEvers and New Mexico: A Love Story

12 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

As we approach Valentine’s Day, Atlas Obscura co-host Kelly McEvers shares two stories about a state that has a special place in her heart: New Mexi...

This "Burning Town” Is Thriving

11 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Centralia, Pennsylvania also attained a sort of cult favorite status -- often discussed a place you cannot and should not visit. But in this episode, ...

Meet the Woman Visiting Every Museum in NYC

10 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Jane August has set a goal to visit every single one of NYC’s roughly 200 museums. She’s chronicling her journey on TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram...

Planting Seeds for the Future

09 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

In honor of Black History Month, we are bringing you two stories about people who used nature to change their environment and communities.  Hosted by...

Flavor Graveyard (Classic)

06 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Behind the Ben & Jerry's factory in Vermont sits a very peculiar graveyard... one dedicated to dearly departed ice cream flavors.READ MORE IN THE ATLA...

Carville National Leprosarium

05 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

We visit a remarkable institution where people with Hansen's disease, or leprosy, learned to play music, had Mardi Gras parties, and published their o...

The Untold Story of Alice Ball

04 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

In 1930, the King of Thailand gifted a tree to the University of Hawaii in Manoa for developing a treatment for leprosy. For decades, the tree has sto...

The Piltdown Man: England’s Most Notorious Science Hoax

03 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

In 1912, Piltdown, England wasn’t known for much. It was a quiet rural area with farms, winding tree-lined roads, and a pub. But then, a lawyer anno...

The Great Venus Fly Trap Heist

02 Feb 2026

Contributed by Lukas

This story is about a heist that took place back in 2013 – not at a museum, or a gallery, or a royal palace, but at a garden. What these thieves wer...

Tell Us: We want to hear your story!

31 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

We're working on an episode about interesting places to lay your head -- and we'd love to hear YOUR story about the places you have stayed during your...

Showgirl Magic Museum (Classic)

30 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

A one-room museum located in the basement of a church-turned-community arts center is crammed with mementos from a pretty spectacular period in histor...

The Secret Subway Under Broadway

29 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Decades before New York City’s subway system opened to the public, an eccentric inventor set about building his own underground system – IN SECRET...

Thomas Edison’s Botanical Laboratory

28 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Toward the end of his life, the great inventor Thomas Edison became obsessed with one final project: finding a source of rubber that could grow in the...

Off Assignment: To the Boy on the Night Bus

27 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

A stranger on an overnight bus ride causes a woman to contemplate her future. This essay originally appeared in Off Assignment.    Plus, Off Assig...

AO Mailbag: What Can I Do With Guests When I’m Short on Cash?

26 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Co-host Kelly McEvers and producers Johanna and Amanda answer questions about places that exceeded expectations, finding yourself in dicey situations ...

Caring for Canids (Classic)

23 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Welcome to the Judith A Basset Canid Education & Conservation Center, where a California couple has dedicated their lives to showing folks man has eve...

The Belt and the Berm (Classic)

22 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Today, we go on a special journey told in two parts, beginning with the world’s largest conveyor belt in the Western Sahara and ending on your dinne...

Following the Painted Ladies

21 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Have you heard of the Painted Lady butterfly? Scientists say this small speckled beauty – no more than 6 cm across – endures the longest migratio...

Your New Year’s Travel Resolutions

20 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Listeners share their travel resolutions for 2026. Plus, we want to hear stories about interesting or unusual places where you’ve stayed the night....

Tell Us: Wonders in Your Backyard

19 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

We’re taking the day off for Martin Luther King Jr. Day. But in the meantime, we want to hear from you. Tell us about the wonders in your backyard. ...

Little Lambs, Big Back Story (Classic)

17 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Spring is a popular time to visit Colonial Williamsburg, not least because it’s “lambing season,” the time of year when baby lambs are born and ...

Fendika Cultural Center (Classic)

16 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

The story of the Fendika Cultural Center in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia is the story of Melaku Belay and his journey from homelessness to international accl...

Retracing A Grandfather’s Footsteps

15 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Dawn Anahid MacKeen’s grandfather survived the Armenian genocide, journeying nearly a thousand miles (much of it on foot) out of what is now Turkey ...

My Life in Three Places: Kelly McEvers

14 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Kelly McEvers spent years living and working across the globe as a foreign correspondent, reporting from across Asia, the former Soviet Union, and the...

William Buckland’s Poo Table

13 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

In the collection of the Lyme Regis Museum in England is a beautiful 19th century tabletop made of delicate, inset stones. The rub is that these stone...

1000 Places with Caroline Mazel-Carlton

12 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Caroline Mazel-Carlton has visited over 1000 Atlas Obscura Places. But the project was about more than ticking off a list – she says it helped save...

Man’s Best (Stiff) Friends (Classic)

09 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

Jonathan Carey and Michelle Cassidy of the Atlas Places Team bring us two charming stories of some very special canines who have been (literally) pres...

Finding Freedom in the Bay Area

08 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

In July of 2024, Greg Eskridge was released from San Quentin Rehabilitation Center after 30 years in prison. We hear what it’s like to see the Bay A...

100 Years of Motels

07 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

On December 12, 1925, the first motel in America opened its doors. It had Spanish Mission style architecture, a red roof, and an orange tree outside e...

In Search of the Ghosts of the Forests

06 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

In California, a rare specimen of sequoia produces ghostly white leaves. Reporter Alexa Lim ventures into the forest to get a look at albino redwoods....

Our New Year’s Travel Resolutions

05 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

The staff of Atlas Obscura share their new year’s travel resolutions – the things we want to change about how we travel or see the world this year...

Newtown Creek Nature Walk (Classic)

02 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

One man in Brooklyn, New York - armed with a homemade boat and an artistic vision - helped transform one of the most polluted industrial waterways in ...

Sea View Hospital and the Black Nurses Who Helped Cure Tuberculosis

01 Jan 2026

Contributed by Lukas

 Today, Sea View Hospital on Staten Island is largely abandoned. But it was here, in this forgotten place, staffed by people who were shunned and seg...

2025 in Review: Our Travel Reflections

31 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The new year is just around the corner. And the Atlas Obscura staff look back on the lessons and experiences they learned this year throughout their t...

The Pompeii of Nebraska

30 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In 1971, a paleontologist discovered an animal graveyard in northeastern Nebraska. It was crammed with species that lived in North America millions of...

Minneapolis’s Giant Pencil

29 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

When a 180-year old bur oak tree collapsed during a rainstorm, a couple in Minnesota made a new life for it. Plus: How many U.S. states have you visi...

Maine’s Burning Blueberry Fields (Classic)

26 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Travel to Penobscot, Maine, where one farmer maintains the tradition of burning his crop each year to rejuvenate it the next. Hosted by Simplecast, an...

Maine Week: All Lighthouses Have Ghosts (Classic)

25 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Over the course of its 200 year history, the lighthouse on Wood Island in Maine has been home to a celebrity dog, a grisly murder, some mischievous gh...

Maine Week: Chef Jason and The Well

24 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

A couple decades ago, Jason Williams was working at a local restaurant in Portland, Maine. One day he was driving around to farmers markets looking fo...

Maine Week: Hanako Nakazato’s Pottery Studio

23 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Since settling down in the small town of Union, Maine, the Japanese-born ceramicist Hanako Nakazato has shaped her pieces around her endlessly surpris...

Maine Week: Captain Becky’s Wind-Powered Boat

22 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We meet Becky Sigwright, who captains a wind-powered boat that’s been sailing around Maine since before the invention of the telephone. It's Maine ...

We want to hear your travel resolutions!

20 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We're working on a listener-powered episode about travel resolutions and we want to hear yours!What are you hoping to change about the way you travel ...

12 Days of Wonder: World's Quietest Room

19 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Experience the Orfield Anechoic Chamber: a room inside a concrete bunker that was once known as the quietest place on earth. Hosted by Simplecast, an ...

12 Days of Wonder: The Unclaimed Baggage Center

18 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The Unclaimed Baggage Center in Alabama bills itself as “the nation’s only retailer of lost luggage.” If you’ve ever lost a bag during air tra...

12 Days of Wonder: Puffin Patrol

17 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We go to the Westman Islands off the southern coast of Iceland and meet the heroes who save young birds that have wandered from their nests every summ...

12 Days of Wonder: Slowjamistan

16 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We get out our passports and visit The Republic of Slowjamastan, a nation built on good vibes, good music and a dream of eliminating one very popular ...

12 Days of Wonder: Chacaltaya

15 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Hear from the caretakers of a ghost town in Bolivia that was once the world's highest ski resort.  READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura....

12 Days of Wonder: Luciadagen

12 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In honor of Lucia Day on December 13, we’re diving into the origins of a Swedish holiday tradition which evolved from sinister pagan lore to a celeb...

12 Days of Wonder: World's Loneliest Tree

11 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

About 400 miles south of New Zealand, on the subantarctic Campbell Island / Motu Ihupuku, stands a Sitka spruce whose nearest neighbor is 170 miles aw...

12 Days of Wonder: Return to Recipe Graves

10 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Gastro Obscura’s senior editor Sam O’Brien returns to the podcast to go deeper with us on her strange beat – recipes etched into gravestones. We...

12 Days of Wonder: Hot Ale Flip

09 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We visit the taverns of colonial America to take a frothy sip of the hot ale flip and how it helped pave the way for contemporary mixology.  Hosted b...

12 Days of Wonder: Empress Anna's Ice Palace

08 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Empress Anna’s Ice Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia was the site of an incredibly strange wedding. Was it a cruel joke? A strategic power move? Or s...

12 Days of Wonder: Toy Story

05 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Mexico City is known for its museum and art scene. The collection at El Museo del Juguete Antiguo – The Antique Toy Museum – encourages visitors t...

12 Days of Wonder: Tumbleweed Christmas Tree

04 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This is how you do Christmas in the desert. Every year, the city of Chandler, Arizona creates a Christmas Tree made entirely of the diaspore of this W...

The Last Seltzer Factory in Brooklyn

03 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Seltzer has been around for thousands of years. And one factory in Brooklyn, New York called the Brooklyn Seltzer Boys is preserving the history of th...

Fasnacht

02 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Around 60 people live full time in the town of Helvetia, West Virginia. But once a year, the population swells to 20 times its size – when masked re...

A Blue-Green Glow in Orange, New Jersey

01 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In the early 1920s, walking around Orange, New Jersey at night, you might have seen young women coming out of a factory, with hair, skin and clothes s...

Coqui Snacks

29 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

When you think of Orlando, Florida and the area around it, a certain cartoon mouse might come to mind. But in recent decades the area has also become ...

The Hand Collection (Classic)

28 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

You can learn a lot about a person from their hands. In this episode, we hear the story of a doctor who made it possible for us to hold onto the stori...

Thanksgiving Special: Church of Turkey

27 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Gastro Obscura writer Sam O’Brien takes co-host Kelly McEvers on a tour of the world’s strange, incredible, and wondrous tributes to the turkey –...

Weaving Together the History of Carpets

26 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Carpets are everyday objects we rarely stop to think about. But they’re far more than decoration or something soft to step on. Each one holds an ori...