The Atlas Obscura Podcast

Forty-two school buses have been buried in Horning’s Mills, Ontario - covered in concrete, they can house up to 500 people in case of nuclear fallout.  READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/ark-two-shelter Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Congo Square in New Orleans is the heart of where African drumming found its way into American music and the birth of Jazz. READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/congo-square Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Turns out, complaining about bad service really is as old as time. Hear the story of an ancient Babylonian clay tablet that has launched a slew of modern memes. Click here  for more. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

An archeological site in the country of Georgia, which features the oldest, human skull fossils found outside of Africa, challenges what we think we know about our deep past. READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/dmanisi-hominins-brain-shape Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advert...

An island off the coast of Puerto Rico is home to more than 1500 imported monkeys, which have been studied by researchers for decades. READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/cayo-santiago-monkey-island Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) between North and South Korea has become an accidental bird sanctuary for one of the world’s most endangered crane species. Learn more about the International Crane Foundation at savingcranes.org. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

A grand library in Portugal has some unexpected nighttime caretakers -- tiny bats.  READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/mafra-palace-library-bats Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

These Argentinian parrots have made an unlikely home in a Brooklyn, NY cemetery. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Finnish Museum of Natural History in Helsinki has had an infestation of Chilean recluse spiders for more than 50 years. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Take a trip to Micropia, the world’s only museum dedicated to microscopic organisms and learn about our invisible life companions. READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/micropia Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Join host Dylan Thuras, a satellite scientist, and a ship captain in search of gigantic swaths of bioluminescence that radiate up from the surface of the sea over thousands of square miles.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

A toxic lake high in the Andes mountains in Argentina is home to microbes that provide a window to our planet’s past — and a key to securing its future. READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/laguna-del-diamante Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

There’s an everlasting lightning storm in Northwestern Venezuela that appears in the night sky nearly every night. READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/relampago-del-catatumbo Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Science writer Peter Brannen takes listeners on a tour of the world’s five major mass extinctions. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Where does space stuff go after it dies? To this spot deep, deep in the Pacific ocean. READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/spacecraft-cemetery Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Author Mary Roach takes us into the hidden corners of the scientific world. From training to poop in space to the surprisingly pleasant Common Cold Unit, all the way to the inside of Elvis’s colon. If you want to check out her work, we recommend starting with Packing for Mars .  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal d...

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.

We head to a remote region of Russia, to the epicenter of what would become known as the Tunguska Event. An event that may seem unfathomable… except we have firsthand accounts from people who witnessed it. READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/tunguska-event-epicenter Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of...

Amir Siraj was a sophomore in college when he discovered what may be the first documented interstellar object to hit Earth. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Chandler, Arizona creates a Christmas Tree made entirely of the diaspore of this Western plant.  READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/tumbleweed-christmas-tree Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Over the last two and a half years, the Atlas Obscura podcast has published well over 500 original episodes. For the next few weeks, we're taking a holiday break  -- but not leaving you without wonder. Over the course of 20 episodes, host Dylan Thuras is going to take you on a journey starting in the cosmic reaches of space, to the earliest days of life on earth, through a tour of our fellow earth...

42 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.

Specific smells have been linked to specific geographies, cultures, and mythologies for THOUSANDS of years. Today, we hear from Saskia Wilson-Brown about fragrance, power, and the power of scent.  MORE: Saskia is the founder of the Institute of Art and Olfaction, a nonprofit to expand access and education around scent. She also teaches a 3-part online class with us here at Atlas Obscura, and it ru...

We learn about an age-old practice of nightwalking, with the help of two women who took it on as an experiment in the early chaotic days of the pandemic. Joining the conversation is Bianca Giaever, creator of one of our favorite podcasts of the year, Constellation Prize.  MORE: To hear Constellation Prize for yourself, you can head to thebeliever.net or anywhere podcasts are available. And if you...

Gastro Obscura’s senior editor Sam O’Brien returns to the podcast to go deeper with us on her strange beat – recipes etched into gravestones. We probe how food can help heal and remember those we’ve lost.  READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: Sam has written a bunch about recipe gravestones, and has even been on the podcast before. Read and listen to more of her work at these links: The Family Recipes That Liv...