The Atlas Obscura Podcast

We remember Bill Dilworth, who took care of 280,000 pounds of dirt in an NYC loft for 35 years.   Plus: Preorder your copy of The Atlas Obscura Explorer’s Guide to Inventing the World  today! Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Today’s show is all about unusual dating spots. And to help, Eden Dawn, co-author of The Portland Book of Dates and The Seattle Book of Dates , joins Dylan to answer some of your questions about travel and dating.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

A South Carolina ghost story is a harbinger of hurricanes and a window into history. All this week, the Atlas Obscura Podcast is hitting the sand, and taking a tour of the world’s most unusual beaches.   Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

We follow a long set of wooden stairs deep underground to a sea cave with a mysterious and colorful past, and take in a spectacular, hidden view of the Pacific Ocean in La Jolla.  Learn more about The Cave Store: https://www.cavestore.com/ All this week, the Atlas Obscura Podcast is hitting the sand, and taking a tour of the world’s most unusual beaches.   Plus: Pre-order your copy of our new book...

Boulders Beach in Simon’s Town in South Africa is a destination where sunbathers, tourists, and penguins share both the beach and parts of the town.    All this week, the Atlas Obscura Podcast is hitting the sand, and taking a tour of the world’s most unusual beaches. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for adv...

This beautiful beach made of sand and worn down coral is covered in the wreckage of tanks once used by the U.S. military for target practice.    All this week, the Atlas Obscura Podcast is hitting the sand, and taking a tour of the world’s most unusual beaches.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertisi...

In 2006 a massive haul of Doritos was shipwrecked on Hatteras Island on the Outer Banks, leaving its mark on the town forever. All this week, the Atlas Obscura Podcast is hitting the sand, and taking a tour of the world’s most unusual beaches.     Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

A couple created what is perhaps the cutest and most filling micro-store to pop up during the pandemic. But to find it, you’ll have to trek through rural Vermont and look for the phone-booth sized box filled with baked goods. READ MORE IN THE ATLAS : https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/tiny-bread-box Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection...

In the 1800s, people flocked to a special gravestone in New York City’s Trinity Churchyard. They left flowers and cards and even wept. But there was one strange thing about this gravestone: No one was buried beneath it.  Read more about Charlotte Temple in Allegra Rosenberg’s article .  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of pe...

We share stories about our neighbors – from an unusual pet in Maryland, to an out-of-place front yard in Brooklyn, to a beekeeper with a secret.  Plus: We want to hear YOUR neighbor stories! Tell us about your neighbors’ yards, their house decor, their habits – and what you like about them. Give us a call at 315-992-7902 and leave a message telling us your name and favorite story about your neighb...

An elite group of ravens live at the Tower of London, anxiously monitored and lovingly tended to by a professional ravenmaster. Because according to legend, if these ravens were ever to leave, the crown of England would fall. But it turns out this “ancient” legend is a relatively recent invention. More on the one historian’s investigations into the legend’s origins can be found in this paper  and...

Today, we’re sharing an episode from our new podcast documentary series, Charlie’s Place .  Beloved, notorious, defiant, folk hero – these are just a few ways to describe Charlie Fitzgerald, the entrepreneur who owned an integrated nightclub during Jim Crow in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. What happened in Myrtle Beach at Charlie’s would come to define a community and generations to come. This is...

A small cemetery in the grasslands of Kenya serves as a way to honor one of the most endangered animals in the world – the rhino – and elevate the plight of a species on the brink.  READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/ol-pejeta-rhino-cemetery Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for adver...

A French curator infiltrates a Nazi army to save masterpieces from the Jeu De Paume museum.  Read more in Michelle Young’s  new book, The Art Spy: The Extraordinary Untold Tale of WWII Resistance Hero Rose Valland . Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

A map in the archives of the Oregon Historical Society Research Library in Portland, Oregon may be the key to finding buried treasure that has yet to be found. This episode was produced in partnership with Travel Portland. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In 1975, a man in Seward, Nebraska dug a gigantic hole in his yard and made the world’s largest time capsule. On July 4, 2025, the capsule was opened.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Dylan and producers Johanna and Amanda answer listener questions about solo travel. Have a question for Dylan? 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 email your question.     Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal dat...

A Seattle restaurant pushes diners to eat beyond their borders through its embrace of global street foods. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The Pan-American Highway is considered the longest road in the world – it stretches nearly 20,000 miles, from Alaska to Argentina. In her new docuseries Pati Jinich Explores PanAmericana,  Pati talks with people along the famous route about the different ways we form our identities. And she was particularly interested in exploring this territory because of her own unique cultural background.   Hos...

Early polar explorers faced long nights and dangerous expeditions. To entertain themselves, they wrote and published niche newspapers and periodicals. Atlas Obscura’s community editor Allegra Rosenberg reads an essay exploring this unique polar tradition. Read her full essay here .   Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of perso...

Chalet Cheese Cooperative in Monroe, Wisconsin is the last cheese plant left in America that makes the ultra-stinky Limburger cheese: a cheese that inspires equal parts loving and loathing, has been banned for its assaulting smell, and that once sparked a feud between two cities. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal...

A few weeks ago, the Atlas Obscura staff told us where they would spend their last days before the apocalypse. Now we’re sharing your stories – from a childhood home in a small town in Illinois, to a trip in Eastern Europe, to a pizzeria in Brooklyn and a cave in Utah.  Plus: We want to hear your stories about your neighbors! Tell us about your neighbors’ front yards, back yards, house decor – and...

The grooves cut in this road outside Lancaster, CA play the finale of the William Tell Overture.  READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/civic-musical-road Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

If you were to visit a cigar factory in Cuba, you’d hear something unexpected: the sound of the daily news report, or maybe a poem or a novel, being read aloud. The cigar “reader” is a tradition held by just a handful of people, and it came from a fundamentally revolutionary idea. Eliot Stein, author of Custodians of Wonder , joins Dylan to explain. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pc...

One of the many objects that went down with the ship during the sinking of the Titanic was a beautiful, jewel-encrusted edition of a poetry book called the “Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam.” The Rubaiyat was probably the most famous work of poetry in the English-speaking world at that time…which was somewhat unusual, as the book was written by a Persian mathematician 800 years before. For more informatio...