abandoned: The All-American Ruins Podcast

Blake finds sanctuary on the grounds of the abandoned Taney Motel in Branson, Missouri — a refuge tucked inside a world of risk. Wandering around the vacant property, Blake reflects on growing up queer, the quiet negotiations of safety, and the fragile, hallowed spaces that marginalized communities create when the outside world doesn't have room for them. 🏆 The Ambies — Winner, Best DIY Podcast (...

In the ruins of an upstate New York cement factory, Blake and New York Times best-selling author Dylan Thuras wander toward a mysterious “document storage house,” discovering they’re not just exploring a place but each other’s relationship to creativity and the myths we build to live inside it. Among empty boxes, industrial ghosts, and imagined histories, the duo considers what it means to constru...

Deep in the Mojave Desert, a defunct gas station has become a roadside altar of shoes, each pair carrying stories and secrets that transform a place for transients into a monument for return pilgrimages. Standing among the relics and artifacts of lives past, Blake considers eulogies, elegies, and effigies — and what it means to be remembered by strangers. Note: Episodes 1–4 of Season 4 form “Fadin...

On the border of Texas and New Mexico, a town divided by a state line faces an identity crisis — and demands to be remembered. Wandering the empty fields and crumbling pavement of what, at one time, was a glamorous rest-stop town, Blake imagines a conversation with Glenrio itself as it bears witness to what once was, and wonders whether a forgotten ghost town might outlast us all. Note: Episodes 1...

When Blake stumbles into a forgotten house in the Texas Panhandle, imagined legends and headlines begin unfolding in his mind — stories of addiction, homelessness, and loss, but above all, the power of family rising from the wreckage. Note: Episodes 1–4 of Season 4 form “Fading Transmissions from a Republic of Ruins,” a four-part series embedded within the season. 🏆 The Ambies — Winner, Best DIY...

An unexpected—and ironic—detour to an infamous abandoned school in Kansas sparks the kickoff of season 4. When Blake accidentally stumbles into the legacy of Brown v. Board of Education at the Sumner School in Topeka, he finds himself confronting the moment his childhood imagination collides with historical transmissions the country once tried to erase. Note: Episodes 1–4 of Season 4 form “Fading...

Welcome to season 4 of the Ambie-winning “abandoned: The All-American Ruins Podcast.” Through the immersive power of sonic storytelling, host Blake Pfeil guides you as he follows transmissions reverberating across forgotten spaces throughout the United States. This season, the signal grows stronger: guest hosts step behind the microphone to lead listeners through their own encounters with ruins. A...

On October 12, 2025, Blake was joined by All-American Ruins guest host and writer Isabel Wilder at the Ulster County Historical Society in Kingston, NY for a 90-minute program. Participants explored how ruins reflect America’s past, present, and future—while doubling as playgrounds for creativity, imagination, and healing. To learn more, visit: http://www.allamericanruins.com Please contact advert...

On the one-year anniversary of his best friend Julie’s death, Blake makes his way to the ruins of the Schrade Cutlery Factory in Ellenville, NY. The only remaining structure is a crumbling security gatehouse which Julie and Blake always talked about getting to but never did. Covered in vines, Blake reminisces on his friendship with Julie and asks her ghost if it’s time to let her go. (Note: For th...

Wander through fantastical realm of a real giant beige house (at the end of a very long driveway), abandoned and hidden on the banks of a famous river in New York-- where you’ll meet the ghost of the old woman and connect the dots between this story and “The People Who Used to Live Here, Part 1” from Season 1. This episode features: Margarita Meyendorff (Note: For the best immersive experience, we...

In preparation for the season 3 finale, “The People Who Used to Live Here, Part II: The Giant Beige House at the End of a Very Long Driveway,” we’re diving back into the archives for this special re-release of “The People Who Used to Live Here, Part I.” You know; for context. This episode originally aired on December 29, 2022. Original episode description: In the season one finale of abandoned: Th...

Feeling trapped in their Covid bubble, Blake and his pandemic pod-mate Isabel explore an abandoned Hudson Valley farmhouse where Isabel discovers the Borden family’s influence on the country’s dairy industry and reconciles with childhood ghosts. In an All-American Ruins first, join Blake as he passes the storytelling reins to his sister-from-another mother who you may recognize from previous episo...

What does it look like to revitalize an abandoned space - that’s situated inside an active and excessively large shopping mall - in 2005? On this special bonus episode of abandoned: The All-American Ruins Podcast, you’ll meet Michael Townsend, one of the eight artists who, from 2005-2008, did just that: built a secret apartment inside the Providence Place Mall. Michael is one of the subjects of th...

While exploring the ruins of a once-popular drive-in movie theater, Blake thinks about his complicated relationship with his father, reimagining a screening of Star Wars that they attended together the year John was diagnosed with stage IV mesothelioma. May the 4th be with you. This episode features: John Pfeil Tiernan Pfeil (Note: For the best immersive experience, we strongly suggest you wear he...

Deep in the woods of the Finnish countryside sits a quaint house, red, and completely abandoned. In this international episode of abandoned, follow Blake inside where he has a run-in with a ghost-- and not an imaginary one. (Note: For the best immersive experience, we strongly suggest you wear headphones 🎧 for every episode of abandoned: The All-American Ruins Podcast.) To read the transcript of...

“Abandoned” doesn’t always mean “empty,” and in one particular vacant mini-mansion in Merida, Mexico, that is precisely the case. Continuing on his international circuit, join Blake as he spins an imaginary folk tale about the people who used to live in this house, while wandering its halls and reflecting on family, poetry, and gun violence. This episode features:  Perla Ayora Joseph Darnell Doria...

Formerly a curtain shop in Niagara Falls, NY, a strange abandoned commercial space overlooking the St. Lawrence Seaway draws Blake in as he ruminates on fear, in all of its unknowable power and mystery. (Note: For the best immersive experience, we strongly suggest you wear headphones 🎧 for every episode of abandoned: The All-American Ruins Podcast.) To read the transcript of this episode, click h...

An accidental pitstop at the ruins of a motorsports track becomes a silent meditation on spirits, open carry laws, and the function of fear as an explorer of the past. Walk with Blake through a history full of the distant sounds of race cars burning rubber around and around the track, surrounded on all sides by the sunny plains of Colorado in autumn. (Note: For the best immersive experience, we st...

Join Blake in conversation with Garden State Film Festival executive director Lauren Concar Sheehy as the pair discuss the festival’s groundbreaking accessibility program “Cinema for the Ears,” which will feature season 2, episode 8 of abandoned: The All-American Ruins Podcast in Asbury Park, NJ on March 29, 2025. For tickets and more information, visit GSFF.org. (Note: For the best immersive expe...

All-aboard as Blake guides you to an abandoned double-decker passenger train in the middle of the California desert. While wandering the ruins of the great American railway industry, join Blake as he reflects the evolution of transportation, the unraveling of corporate greed, and his lifelong love of trains, deserts, and making music. This episode features: Omen Sade “American Train” written and p...

A last-minute decision to peek into the abandoned Irish Centre of Pittsburgh transforms into a daydream of a haunted heads-up penny and the assassination of JFK. Nestled among the City of Steel’s rolling hills, join Blake as he guides you through a forgotten cinder block sanctuary of the past, where he reflects on the death of his first love and how the grief from the loss helped him survive. This...

What do Blake’s sister, a giant, and a very bad dream have in common? Find out as Blake guides you through the abandoned Tillson Elementary School where he ponders his relationship with his sister and a recurring nightmare he had as a child. This episode features: Megan Pfeil Ryan Pfeil (Note: For the best immersive experience, we strongly suggest you wear headphones 🎧 for every episode of abando...

Once upon a time, there was an active Nazi compound situated in a Los Angeles canyon. After it was emptied of its filth in 1948, Murphy Ranch sat abandoned for years before the city transformed it into a public park, where, over time, the architectural remnants of evil slowly faded away, reclaimed by the dirt and stone of the canyon. (Note: For the best immersive experience, we strongly suggest yo...

The art of urban exploration often includes evading the authorities, but every once in a while, an adventurer gets caught. In the season 3 premiere, join Blake as he wanders the abandoned summer camp at the Delmar Inn, hidden away off a Catskill Mountain highway in New York. This episode features: Julie Novak The Caretaker (Note: For the best immersive experience, we strongly suggest you wear head...

Welcome to season 3 of the Ambie-nominated abandoned: The All-American Ruins Podcast. Join host Blake Pfeil as he guides listeners through immersive audio fantasies, recreating his experiences exploring abandoned spaces across the United States and around the world. Along the way, abandoned asks critical questions about American history, culture, community, economics, the environment, and collecti...