The Atlas Obscura Podcast
Episodes
Spite Houses
24 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Home is where the grudge is. We survey a special kind of architecture that is both petty and personal. Read more in the Atlas: https://www.atlasobscur...
Hitler’s Toilet
20 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
It roamed the seas, served an evil dictator, survived a war, and ended up in a New Jersey auto-repair shop bathroom. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz ...
Mafra Palace Library Bats
19 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
A grand library in Portugal has some unexpected nighttime caretakers -- tiny bats. Read more in the Atlas: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/mafra-p...
Wonders in Your Backyard
18 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
You’ve been leaving us messages about the strange and wondrous places in your towns, like the world’s largest tin soldier, the home of the first p...
Disgusting Food Museum
17 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Open your minds and steel your stomachs as we go to a food museum in Sweden that challenges what exactly makes something delicious… or disgusting. R...
Basilica Cistern
13 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
An old friend takes us under the streets of Instanbul and into an encounter with Medusa. Read more in the Atlas: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/...
National Museum of Health and Medicine
12 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
A boxy, Brutalist building in Silver Spring, Maryland contains one of the greatest collections of disease, injury, and human body bits ever assembled....
Mike the Headless Chicken
11 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The strangest, most famous resident from this Colorado town happens to be a headless fowl. Read more in the Atlas: https://www.atlasobscura.com/place...
Puffin Patrol
10 May 2021
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...
Pics or it Didn't Happen?
06 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
There was a time when we didn't walk around with computers in our pockets and exploring a new place required a paper map. In this episode, we dig into...
Sourdough Library
05 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Inside a living, breathing collection of sourdough starters in Belgium. Read more in the Atlas: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/sourdough-librar...
Brooklyn Latrine
04 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
A listener tells us about a treasure buried in his literal backyard, and the two strange men who showed up on his doorstep and asked to dig it up. Hos...
The Institute of Illegal Images
03 May 2021
Contributed by Lukas
A mind-tripping place where the art stands out not because of what's on them but what's in them. Read more in the Atlas: https://www.atlasobscura.com...
The Belt and Berm, Part 2
29 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
A special journey told in two parts, beginning with the world’s largest conveyor belt in the Western Sahara and ending on your dinner plate Read mor...
The Belt and Berm, Part 1
28 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
A special journey told in two parts, beginning with the world’s largest conveyor belt in the Western Sahara and ending on your dinner plate. Read mo...
A Memory Made in Malawi
27 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Today we flip the focus from the memorable places we visit to the memorable people we meet on our adventures. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company...
The 49th Parallel
26 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
A listener takes us to a town on the edge of the longest undefended border in the world. Our theme and end credit music was composed by Sam Tyndall. H...
Hachiko
22 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
After a profound show of devotion for his master, a dog becomes the symbol of loyalty for an entire nation. Read more in the Atlas: https://www.atlaso...
The Thousand-Year Rose
21 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The world's oldest rose is so tough it survived being bombed in World War II. Read more in the Atlas: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/the-thousand...
Narcisse Snake Dens
20 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
A Canadian community comes together to save its slithering neighbors... the largest single concentration of harmless garter snakes in the world Read m...
Communist Mummies
19 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Humans have a primal need to honor their dead. We take you on a tour of our favorite communist mummies. Read more in the Atlas: https://www.atlasobscu...
President Heads
15 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Giant busts of U.S. presidents are slowly crumbling in a field in Virginia. Read more in the Atlas: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/president-hea...
How I Learned to Love Las Vegas
14 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
A spectacular art installation is hidden inside an all-luxury shopping mall in Las Vegas. Read more in the Atlas: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places...
Frank Lloyd Wright’s Burnham Block
13 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Six tiny houses built for working class people form the largest intentional cluster of Wright homes anywhere. Read more in the Atlas: https://www.atl...
Zone Rouge
12 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
A swath of land in Northern France still bears scars of the destruction of World War I. Destruction so bad that, in some cases, humans have never been...
Grasshopper Glacier
08 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
A rapidly disappearing glacier holds the key to a forgotten species, a century-old entomological mystery, and… an opera. Read more in the Atlas: htt...
Hope Cemetery
07 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
A graveyard in the “Granite Capital of the World” pays tribute to stone cutters and artisans who are buried amongst the sculptures they created. R...
Pyramiden
06 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
An abandoned Russian mining village is literally frozen in time. Read more in the Atlas: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/pyramiden Hosted by Simpl...
The Root Bridges of Cherrapunji
05 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In the depths of Northeastern India, centuries-old bridges are not built, they are grown. Read more in the Atlas: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/...
Kulning
01 Apr 2021
Contributed by Lukas
For centuries, herdswomen in Northern Sweden have lured cows home with haunting melodies. Read more in the Atlas: https://www.atlasobscura.com/article...
Gold Medal Flour
31 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The crumbled ruins of the world’s largest flour mill became one of Minneapolis’ most prominent graffiti-writing locations, and later a museum. Rea...
Merrymount
30 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
How an English party animal turned 1620s-era Quincy, Massachusetts into the world’s least likely party town. Read more in the Atlas: https://www.atl...
The Gray Man
29 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
A South Carolina ghost story is a harbinger of hurricanes and a window into history. Read more in the Atlas: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/sou...
The Grave of Miss Baker
25 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Visitors leave bananas on the grave of “America’s First Lady of Space,” an early astronaut whose incredible life was forgotten. Read more in th...
Minister’s Treehouse
24 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The world’s biggest treehouse was inspired by a message from God. Read more in the Atlas: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/ministers-tree-house ...
Seljavallalaug Swimming Pool
23 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The oldest (maybe) swimming pool in Iceland is a stunning oasis built into the side of a lush hill. Read more in the Atlas: https://www.atlasobscura...
Lynmouth Flood Memorial Hall
22 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
A disaster in a seaside town got locals wondering about government conspiracies, weather control, and if human beings could actually, truly for real, ...
Camp Anza
18 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
A listener from Riverside, California, reminisces about his hometown's history as a star-studded WWII camp. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. ...
The Museum of Bad Art
17 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
A basement museum in Somerville, Massachusetts is dedicated to collecting awful artwork. But what makes art bad, really? Read more in the Atlas: https...
Widow Jane Mine
16 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
This old cement mine in Rosendale, New York, has been used as everything from a mushroom farm to a recording studio. Read more in the Atlas: https://w...
The Gates of Hell
15 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
A gigantic crater of fire in Turkmenistan has been burning for nearly fifty years. Read more in the Atlas: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/the-gat...
Introducing: The Atlas Obscura Podcast
26 Feb 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Coming March 15: A new audio guide to the world’s strange, incredible, and wondrous places. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswiz...