The Atlas Obscura Podcast

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. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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.atlasobscura.com/places/hachiko-hachi-shibuya-station Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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-year-rose-hildesheim-germany Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

A Canadian community comes together to save its slithering neighbors... the largest single concentration of harmless garter snakes in the world Read more in the Atlas: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/narcisse-snake-dens Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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.atlasobscura.com/articles/atlas-obscura-s-guide-to-communist-mummies Our theme and end credit music was composed by Sam Tyndall. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for adv...

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-heads Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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/akhob Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Six tiny houses built for working class people form the largest intentional cluster of Wright homes anywhere. Read more in the Atlas: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/frank-lloyd-wrights-burnham-block Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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 allowed to return. Read more in the Atlas: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/zone-rouge Our theme and end credit music was composed by Sam Tyndall. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection...

A rapidly disappearing glacier holds the key to a forgotten species, a century-old entomological mystery, and… an opera. Read more in the Atlas: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/grasshopper-glacier Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

A graveyard in the “Granite Capital of the World” pays tribute to stone cutters and artisans who are buried amongst the sculptures they created. Read more in the Atlas: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/hope-cemetery Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

An abandoned Russian mining village is literally frozen in time. Read more in the Atlas: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/pyramiden Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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/root-bridges-cherrapungee Our theme and end credit music was composed by Sam Tyndall. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

For centuries, herdswomen in Northern Sweden have lured cows home with haunting melodies. Read more in the Atlas: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/what-is-kulning Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The crumbled ruins of the world’s largest flour mill became one of Minneapolis’ most prominent graffiti-writing locations, and later a museum. Read more in the Atlas: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/mill-city-museum-site-great-mill-disaster Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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.atlasobscura.com/articles/americas-first-banned-book 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. Read more in the Atlas: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/south-carolina-hurricane-ghost Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Visitors leave bananas on the grave of “America’s First Lady of Space,” an early astronaut whose incredible life was forgotten. Read more in the Atlas: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/the-grave-of-miss-baker-huntsville-alabama Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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 Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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.com/places/seljavallalaug Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

A disaster in a seaside town got locals wondering about government conspiracies, weather control, and if human beings could actually, truly for real, make it rain. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

A listener from Riverside, California, reminisces about his hometown's history as a star-studded WWII camp. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

A basement museum in Somerville, Massachusetts is dedicated to collecting awful artwork. But what makes art bad, really? Read more in the Atlas: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/museum-bad-art Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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://www.atlasobscura.com/places/widow-jane-mine Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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-gates-of-hell-turkmenistan Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.