The Atlas Obscura Podcast

The International Church of Cannabis

10 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Travel to Denver Colorado and meet Steve Berke who helped found the first International Church of Cannabis in 2015. READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://ww...

The Plotz Plot

09 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Josh Foer, the co-founder of Atlas Obscura, takes us to a remote patch of land in the Arizona desert, where he built (and later rebuilt) a museum in h...

The House on the Rock

08 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Join host Dylan Thuras and producer Harry Huggins as they visit the unruly architecture of The House on the Rock - one of the inspirations for Atlas O...

Haw Par Villa

04 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

This amusement park in Singapore holds the Ten Courts of Hell, a series of dioramas that depict the kind of horrible fates awaiting people who behaved...

The Capitoline Wolf

03 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Matthew Shifrin, host of the podcast Blind Guy Travels, stops by to tell us about a memorable trip he took to Italy, and a visit with an ancient wolf ...

Cueva de los Tayos

02 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

This Ecuadorian cave has captured the attention of government officials, scientists, professional cavers and is home to a particularly rare creature. ...

Yemrehanna Kristos Church

01 Nov 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Photographer and author Paul Koudonaris brings listeners to this Ethiopian Church and explores ossuaries, jeweled skeletons, and death practices throu...

Isla de Las Muñecas

28 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

An island filled with hundreds of hanging and decomposing dolls is a window into the sociology of why we pursue experiences that inspire fright, fear,...

Hårgaberget

27 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

We send reporter Sarah Wyman to northern Sweden to climb a mountain, explore a grim legend, and listen to the devil’s violin. Listen to Lena Jonsso...

Clown Motel

26 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Tonopah, Nevada is home to the Clown Motel - an inn on the edge of the desert that’s packed with statues and figurines of Clowns. The eerie and full...

The Real Alchemist of Castle Frankenstein

25 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Two members of the Atlas Obscura team go in search of the true story that may have inspired the literary classic, Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein. READ...

The Pennsylvania Firefly Festival

21 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The deep woods of Pennsylvania hold a phenomena that has drawn attention from scientists and people around the world, and was almost recently destroye...

The Great Stalacpipe Organ

20 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The Luray Caverns in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia are home to an instrument draws out the secret sounds of millenia-old stone. READ MORE IN T...

Maine’s Burning Blueberry Fields

19 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Travel to Penobscot, Maine, where one farmer maintains the tradition of burning his crop each year to rejuvenate it the next. READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: ...

The World's Quietest Room

18 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Experience the Orfield Anechoic Chamber: a room inside a concrete bunker that was once known as the quietest place on earth. READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: h...

Glaum Egg Ranch (Re-listen)

14 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In honor of the release of our new book, we bring you another Gastro Obscura Classic: A ranch on the outskirts of Aptos, California features a magical...

Disgusting Food Museum (Re-listen)

13 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In honor of the release of our new book, we bring you another Gastro Obscura Classic: Open your minds and steel your stomachs as we go to a food museu...

Sourdough Library (Re-listen)

12 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In honor of the release of our new book TODAY, we bring you a Gastro Obscura Classic: Inside a living, breathing collection of sourdough starters in B...

The Spritz Cookie Gravestone

11 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Explore the unexpected combination of recipes and graves through the story of Naomi Odessa Miller Dawson’s spritz cookies. This week we’re celebr...

Seashell Shrines and Bones with the Places Team

07 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Places editors Jonathan and Michele are back again with a few new standout entries to the Atlas … including ancient ossuaries and a shrine covered i...

The Last White Deer of Mount Madonna

06 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The story of the white deer on Mount Madonna, the two robber barons who put them there, and the last survivor of the herd. We have a new book coming o...

The Scarpetta House

05 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

From the Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death we move to the Scarpetta house, where full-size reenactments help investigators perfect their skills in...

Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death

04 Oct 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Eighteen macabre miniatures housed at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Baltimore Maryland have shaped the field of criminal investigation. ...

Magical Summer Memories Vol. 4 - The Magic of Water

30 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

All summer we’ve been asking you to send us your summer travel stories. And in this final installment of summer stories we tackle a topic that trans...

The Mammoth Site of Hot Springs

29 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

We sift through the dirt to solve a mystery involving a massive mammoth grave site. We have a new book coming out! It's called Gastro Obscura: a Food...

The Curse of the Kreischer Mansion

28 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Host Dylan Thuras visits a Staten Island mansion with a dubious and vitriolic past, only to learn the site’s curse may not be as obvious as it seems...

Pando the Trembling Giant

27 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Fishlake National Forest is home to the biggest organism by mass on the planet - but this giant is shrinking and an usual group has banded together to...

Magical Summer Memories Vol. 3 - The Cardiff Giant

23 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

All summer we’ve been asking you to send us your summer travel stories. In this installment we hear a listener’s tale of a theological dispute tha...

Rödstensgubben

22 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

A trip to Sweden prompts producer Sarah Wyman to dig into a superstitious story passed through generations about the Red Stone Man. Hosted by Simplec...

Martian Meteorites and Greek Columns with the AO Places Team

21 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Places editors Jonathan and Michele are back again with a few new standout entries to the Atlas … including a spot in Antarctica that’s home to th...

The World’s Largest Collection of Small Versions of Large Things

20 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Artist Erika Nelson didn’t set out in life to necessarily become one of the foremost connoisseurs of large things, but her museum in Lucas, KS is ne...

Magical Summer Memories Vol. 2 – Via Francigena

16 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

All summer we’ve been asking you to send us your summer travel stories. Our second installment in the series follows one listener from London to Rom...

Nepali Folk Musical Instrument Museum

15 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

This secluded museum beats the drum for the preservation of Nepal's musical heritage. READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/ne...

The Mirror Lab

14 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

A spinning furnace tucked under the football stadium at the University of Arizona is building giant telescope mirrors. READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https:...

Good Vibrations Antique Vibrator Museum

13 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

This museum’s buzzing collection honors vibrator history. READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/good-vibrations-antique-vibra...

Magical Summer Memories Vol. 1

09 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

All summer we’ve been asking you to send us your summer travel stories. This is the first of a series of listener-powered episodes about this magica...

World’s Loneliest Tree

08 Sep 2021

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...

Million Dollar Point

07 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

We visit Vanuatu in the South Pacific and go underwater to visit a very strange place from a very strange episode at the end of World War. READ MORE ...

Atlas Obscura 101

06 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

We’ve made 100 episodes of the show and figured it was time to hear from the people who make it happen. Enjoy! (And go back and catch up on any epi...

Milo Bitters

02 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

A listener in Lawrence, Kansas takes us on his journey of discovering the secrets of his hometown. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.a...

Arecibo Observatory

01 Sep 2021

Contributed by Lukas

This site, and the enormous telescope that sits on it, is loved and lost to both scientists and everyday Puerto Ricans. READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https:...

Big Bertha Drum

31 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

She’s about 8 feet wide and 500 pounds. And her history spans all the way from the stockyards of Chicago...to a nuclear test during the Manhattan Pr...

Åtvidaberg Sun Cannon

30 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Sun cannons have been around since the 1600s. But as far as we know, there’s only one left that’s still up and running. We pay it a visit. READ M...

Dead Companions

26 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

We nearly stump host Dylan Thuras with a seemingly simple question: Who are the top five dead people he would like to go on a road trip with? Hosted b...

The Tank

25 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

An industrial water tank-turned-concert hall in the high deserts of Colorado is nothing less than a sonic wonder of the world. READ MORE IN THE ATLAS...

Beishan Broadcast Wall

24 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

On the tiny Kinmen Island, a bow-tie-shape strip of land between China and Taiwan, sits a giant weaponized wall of sound that still stands--and still ...

Places with a Purpose

23 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

There are tens of thousands of entries in the Atlas -- In these episodes, we hear from the people who sift through them, Jonathan and Michele, and hea...

American Chestnut Foundation

19 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The story of the unimaginable destruction of the American Chestnut tree and the group of scientists, academics and tree lovers who are desperately try...

Traveling While Aging

18 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Host Dylan Thuras confronts the good and the bad ways travel changes as you move through different life stages. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz comp...

Mississippi River Basin Model

17 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

A walk through this scale model has you feeling like a giant, and striding from Baton Rouge to Omaha in an hour. LEARN MORE about the model and the g...

Forbes Pigment Collection

16 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

A repository in Cambridge, Massachusetts holds over 2,700 pigments that’ve been quietly coloring the world around us since the beginning of human hi...

The White Squirrel of Prospect Park

12 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Our team goes on a quest to find Prospect Park’s elusive -- and perhaps most magical -- resident rodent. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. S...

Vigeland Mausoleum

11 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

On the outskirts of Oslo, Norway, there’s a mausoleum some say is the city’s “best kept secret.” It’s the underrated masterpiece of a mostly...

The World’s Oldest Living Things

10 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Artist Rachel Sussman takes us on a tour of the world's oldest living things, which she’s been documenting for 10 years. READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: h...

The Shrek Donkey of Barron Park

09 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

We visit a park in Palo Alto, California, home of the world’s most famous donkey. READ MORE IN THE ATLAS https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/the-do...

Malcolm and the Mermaid

05 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Host Dylan Thuras chats with author and podcaster Malcolm Gladwell about a beloved Disney movie, and the deeper questions it raised about the stories ...

La Piedra Movediza

04 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

A huge rock, teetering on the edge of a hill for thousands of years, brought tourism, fame, and what’s said to be a 100-year curse to the town of Ta...

Winchester Mystery House

03 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Does this sprawling mansion in San Jose, California live up to its reputation as one of the most haunted places in the world? Read more in the Atlas: ...

Salton Sea

02 Aug 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The story of how humans desperate for water created a lake the size of the city of Los Angeles. And then, how that thirst turned toxic. Read more in t...

The Boiling River

29 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

A river in the Amazon is so hot that anything that falls into it will die … but how did it get this way? Read more in the Atlas: https://www.atlasob...

The Village Where Every Person’s Name Is a Song

28 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In Kongthong, India, every person’s name is a unique song, composed by their mother within a week of their birth, part of a centuries-old tradition....

The Kalamazoo Gals of the Old Gibson Guitar Factory

27 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The story of the women who stepped up to produce thousands of guitars during World War II, only to be written out of the history. Read more in the At...

The Family Tree

26 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

A listener’s voicemail sent us searching for the story of a very special -- and giant -- oak tree Peoria, Illinois, and the family of arborists who ...

Beale Treasure

22 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Grab your pickaxes, your shovels, and your code breaking supercomputers because today we’re going on a treasure hunt. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWi...

Kilwa Kisiwani

21 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

We dig through more than 1,000 years of dirt, history, colonialism, and myth on the Swahili Coast. Read more in the Atlas https://www.atlasobscura.co...

Oh The Places We Could Go!

20 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

There are tens of thousands of entries in the Atlas -- today we meet the people who sift through them. Learn more about submitting to the Atlas here: ...

Josephine Baker’s Chateau

19 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Writer and travel educator Tracey Friley tells the story of the glamorous life of entertainer, French Resistance agent, and civil rights activist, Jos...

Sputnik IV Crash Site

15 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Typically, space junk ends up deep in the Pacific Ocean. This is the story of when it plunged back to earth … onto a street in small-town Wisconsin....

Spacecraft Cemetery

14 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Where does space stuff go after it dies? To this spot deep, deep in the Pacific Ocean. Read more in the Atlas: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/spa...

Catalina Island Bison Herd

13 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The strange story of Catalina Island’s herd of bison, and the harrowing story of producer Sarah Wyman’s encounter with these intimidating resident...

The Baalbek Trilithon

12 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

This ancient temple complex in Northern Lebanon is one of the most well-preserved Roman ruins on earth, and one of the most overlooked. Read More in ...

Introducing Toxic: The Britney Spears Story

09 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Comedians Tess Barker and Babs Gray, who you might know from Lady to Lady or the now legendary Britney’s Gram podcast, are here to bring you a brand...

Harvard Bridge Smoots

08 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

How an MIT fraternity pledge instituted a new, unique unit of measurement. Read more in the Atlas: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/harvard-bridge...

Valley of the Whales

07 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The fossils of Wadi al-Hitan (Valley of the Whales) in Egypt give us a glimpse of a remarkable evolutionary history. Read more in the Atlas: https://...

Dude Chilling Park

06 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

A renegade art project in Vancouver galvanized a small community, pitted residents against city government, and ultimately resulted in a new name for ...

A (Quick) 4th of July Greeting from the Largest Pothole in the World

05 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Host Dylan Thuras convinces his family to stop at this most unusual attraction in Pennsylvania Read More in the Atlas: https://www.atlasobscura.com/pl...

Museum of Broken Relationships

01 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

This episode will break your heart. And that’s a good thing. Read More in the Atlas: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/museum-of-broken-relations...

Science that Doesn’t Stop

30 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Host Dylan Thuras riffs on a subject that has long fascinated him: the world’s longest-running science experiments. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz...

Shoreham Power Plant

29 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

We venture out to Long Island, not for the beautiful beaches, or an Islanders game, or to hang with Billy Joel. We're here to explore the fraught hist...

The Danse Macabre

28 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Mortician Caitlin Doughty gives us a dance lesson in the two-step we were all born to do. Check out Doughty’s ‘Ask a Mortitican’ series here: ht...

Beechey Island Graves Part 2

24 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In this two-part series, we venture towards frozen graves tied to an infamous Arctic expedition. We follow two groups of adventurers, separated by mor...

Beechey Island Graves Part 1

23 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In this two-part series, we venture towards frozen graves tied to an infamous Arctic expedition. We follow two groups of adventurers, separated by mor...

Pics or it Didn’t Happen - Part 2

22 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

A few weeks ago we dropped an episode debating whether technology has helped or hurt our modern travel experience. It sparked a lot of reaction, and w...

Ubatuba Whale(s)

21 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

We dig into the tales of TWO whales washing ashore along the southeastern coast of Brazil. And learn how one became a scientific marvel and the other,...

Women of the Black Panther Mural

17 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

A 30-foot tall mural on the side of a house in West Oakland is teaching an often left out part of the history of the Black Panther Party-- the women w...

Cebritas de La Paz

16 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In the busy, traffic-packed capital city of Bolivia, we meet the zebras who keep the streets of La Paz safe for its citizens. Read more in the Atlas: ...

Museum of Quackery and Questionable Medical Devices

15 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

We visit what might be the world’s largest collection of fraudulent, nefarious, or otherwise ineffectual medical machinery -- and meet the founder w...

Historic Myrtle Beach Colored School Museum & Education Center

14 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The story of a community that came together in the 1930s to build this schoolhouse, and then came together again several decades later to build it a s...

Best Summer Ever (Tell Us About It)

11 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Calling all listeners! We want to hear about your memorable summer travel experiences: road trips, unforgettable places, summer traditions, magical me...

Moses Gates and the Chrysler Building Eagles

10 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Urban planner, Moses Gates, shares his unlikely experience with the residents of the 61st floor of one of New York City’s most iconic buildings.. H...

Booming Dunes

09 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

An audio postcard from the desert of Badain Jaran in China, home of the Booming Dunes, and possibly the coolest sand sounds you’ve ever heard Read m...

Bolton Strid

08 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Some say this little burbling creek is “the deadliest body of water on Earth.,” Read more in the Atlas: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/bolton...

The Heidelberg Project

07 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

We take you to the east side of Detroit, where an artist transformed a largely abandoned street into an immersive, living museum -- which grew into so...

Newark Earthworks

03 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Built by indigenous people thousands of years ago, the Newark Earthworks are part cathedral, part cemetery, and part astronomical observatory. But tod...

Re-up Your Luck

02 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

We explore the power luck has on us all, rational or not, through the unlikely places people go to re-up Read more in the Atlas: https://www.atlasobsc...

Clausland Mountain Tunnels

01 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Under the forests of Nyack, New York lays a series of dark and decrepit tunnels with militaristic roots but now attract graffiti artists and plenty of...

National Corvette Museum Sinkhole

31 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Eight rare vehicles at the National Corvette Museum in Kentucky vanish, thanks to a massive sinkhole Read more in the Atlas: https://www.atlasobscura....

Jatinga Bird Deaths

27 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

An Indian village is home to one of the world’s oldest and greatest ornithological mysteries Read more in the Atlas: https://www.atlasobscura.com/pl...

Library of Mistakes

26 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

A carefully curated collection of miscalculations in Edinburgh, Scotland serves as a warning for our gullibility, especially when it comes to money. ...

Glaum Egg Ranch

25 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

A ranch on the outskirts of Aptos, California features a magical machine that dispenses music, joy, and 18 of the freshest eggs in the land. Read more...