The Atlas Obscura Podcast

Ultimate slow travel adventurer (and friend of the show) Bernie Harberts returns to tell us what happened when he spent months floating alone at sea. Bernie is also an author and filmmaker. You can read more about Bernie's travels at his website www.riverearth.com . Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for adver...

Listener stories of hitting the road, parents in tow. We’ll hear about an unexpected run-in with a group of lumberjacks, a rare road trip with parents visiting from Thailand, and a heart-pounding incident in Istanbul. If you have a suggestion about our next call out episode or a place you would like us to look into, please write us an email at hello@atlasobscura.com . Or call us and leave us a mes...

We visit a London neighborhood that’s the epicenter of Caribbean culture and a place that aims to be the home for Black British history. Learn more about the Black Cultural Archives here . Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

During the 1970s, archaeologists and fishermen stumbled across an abandoned military weather station on the coast of Labrador. It was labeled “Canadian Meteor Service.” The problem was: the Canadian Meteor Service didn’t put it there. In fact, the Canadian Meteor Service didn’t even exist. MORE: You can visit Weather Station Kurt at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa , which is only about 980 miles...

The only remaining operational Rotary Jail, found in Crawfordsville, Indiana, shows visitors how inmates were once locked within the building’s walls.  READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/rotary-jail-museum Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This garden park in Paris, France contains the ruins of a colonial exhibition from 1907. READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/le-jardin-d-agronomie-tropicale Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

We get a crash course in the fascinating temperature-controlled ecosystem we’ve created to keep our food fresh – and available – all year round. Our guide is Nicky Twilley, co-host of the Gastropod podcast  and author of the new book called Frostbite: How Refrigeration Changed our Food, Our Planet, and Ourselves . Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about...

In the South Dakota badlands, a small pharmacy employed an ingenious marketing gimmick, and boomed into a business that draws millions of visitors every year. It’s a story that involves giant dinosaurs, a mythological jack rabbit, and lots and lots of donuts. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

We’ve got a fun collaboration with podcasters SuChin Pak and Kulap Vilaysack, hosts of Add to Cart . Hear them chat with Dylan about traveling with kids – the good, the bad, and the vomit-y times. Pick up tips if you’re about to make your first or 10th trip with young people this summer. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of p...

We head to Florida, the wintertime refuge for many, for a glimpse of a rehabilitation effort aimed at some very distinct creatures known for being gentle giants – manatees. This episode was produced in partnership with VISIT FLORIDA . Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Producer Johanna Mayer takes a trip to the last Sears in New York City, and a Brooklyn landmark, with two people whose lives were shaped by the department store. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Telescope tourist, rocket scientist and STEAM educator Summer Ash gives us the nitty gritty on the V.L.A. - a 22-mile telescope in New Mexico whose formal name is literally “Very Large Array.” We talk about how this observatory works and what cosmic wonders it’s detected. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for...

CANADALAND host Jesse Brown introduces Dylan to a strange and decaying Quebecois fast food institution… housed inside a giant orange sphere. Today, the orange is a relic of a bygone era. But decades ago, this odd establishment was on track to become the McDonalds of Canada. We hear about the rise and fall of Montreal’s Orange Julep, and how its eccentric founder envisioned a Canada scattered with...

Host Dylan Thuras brings us to a remote island off the coast of Nova Scotia. On Sable Island, we learn how – against all odds – a group of beloved feral horses have not only survived, but thrived. There’s only one problem: Some people want them gone.  This week, we’re celebrating Canada’s strange, incredible, and wondrous places. This is the second story in our collaboration with CANADALAND. If yo...

CANADALAND host Jesse Brown tells Dylan the story of a Canadian man who adopted a black bear in the woods of Winnipeg – and how that bear became the inspiration for one of the most beloved children’s characters of all time. This week, we’re celebrating Canada’s strange, incredible, and wondrous places. This is the first story in our collaboration with CANADALAND. If you want to hear more stories f...

This mechanical boy in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania was a mystery - until it began to write.  READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/maillardets-automaton Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Historian and author Edda L. Fields-Black tells us the fascinating and action-packed story of one of the most daring spy operations and raids of the entire Civil War – led by Harriet Tubman.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

We catch up with Amir Siraj – friend of the show, scientist and world wanderer – who visited a new observatory in a Chilean desert that could help his search for rogue planets  Check out other episodes we’ve done Amir here and here . Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Earlier this spring we shared the story of the city of Melbourne’s program to track trees, which morphed into a love fest. In this episode, we hear from YOU and your love letters to trees that play a special role in your life.  MORE:  Want to be in an upcoming Atlas Obscura episode? We’re collecting listener stories right now about traveling with your parents. Tell us about a place you went with y...

The Ludlow colony in southern Colorado was once a bustling tent city and haven for miners and their families. But it was also the site of one of the country’s most monumental –and violent – clashes of the labor movement. READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/ludlow-massacre-site Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection...

In 2006 a massive haul of Doritos was shipwrecked on Hatteras Island on the Outer Banks, leaving its mark on the town forever. READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/shipwrecked-doritos Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Author Colin Dickey tells us the story of a Kentucky family who, in 1955, claimed to be in a wild gunfight with unidentified creatures who may or may not have been aliens. And we learn how this event had a mysterious, surprising, and shockingly long legacy that eventually inspired one of Hollywood's greatest movie makers to create multiple films about aliens and monsters and family. MORE: Check ou...

Jason deCaires Taylor takes intentional art to another level with his sculptures that can be visited by humans and fish. READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/underwater-sculpture-garden Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

From a rubber duck contest to hypnotizing chickens, listeners share stories about annual customs, events and practices that set their hometowns apart from others.  MORE: We're going to be bringing you more listener-led stories this year, and we need your help. Tell us about a place you went with your parents that was special to you. Maybe it was the annual trip to Niagara Falls or a national park....

We visit the Louisiana town where the infamous – but often misunderstood – couple’s story came to an end.  READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/bonnie-and-clyde-ambush-museum Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.