The Atlas Obscura Podcast

Tonopah, Nevada is home to the Clown Motel - an inn on the edge of the desert that’s packed with statues and figurines of Clowns. The eerie and fully-functioning inn is also a labor of love.   READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/clown-motel Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for adverti...

The deep woods of Pennsylvania hold a phenomena that has drawn attention from scientists and people around the world, and was almost recently destroyed. To learn more about the Pennsylvania Firefly Festival visit https://www.pafireflyevents.org/ . Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

We visit a park in Palo Alto, California, home of the world’s most famous donkey.  READ MORE IN THE ATLAS https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/the-donkeys-of-barron-park-palo-alto-california Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

A massive 19th-century reservoir under the city of Copenhagen has been repurposed as a contemporary art cave. We venture inside to learn more about its history, and bask in the incredible acoustics of the space. Visit Cisternerne and Frederiksberg Museerne: https://frederiksbergmuseerne.dk/da/ READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/cisternerne Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz...

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

As part of Women’s History Month, we're sharing some episodes from the archive including this story about mysterious doors scattered throughout Atlanta. They dare you to imagine what might be found on the other side. READ MORE IN THE ATLAS:  https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/tiny-doors-atl Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use...

Writer Stacy Horn tells us about a period in American history when the study of psychic phenomena and the paranormal was serious business at places like Stanford and Duke University. And she reveals the story of J.B. Rhine and Louisa Rhine, a scholarly couple who attempted to find the line where science ended and the unbelievable began. Horn is the author of  Unbelievable: Investigations into Ghos...

We go to Tokyo, to a particular place that is both nemesis and best friend to all those procrastinators out there. (Yes, we’re looking at you :)  LEARN MORE: The Manuscript Writing Cafe is open Saturdays and Sundays and you can reserve your seat online.  https://koenji-sankakuchitai.blog.jp/ManuscriptWritingCafe/   Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about...

Producer Abigail Keel takes us on the most strange, wonderful and beautiful potty break. And tells us how – and where – you can do it too.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Writer Jessica Leigh Hester joins us on a deep dive into the sewer, the subject of her new book. We’ll talk about some of the interesting (and disgusting) things she found there … like fatbergs. FIND OUT MORE: https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/sewer-9781501379505/   Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertisi...

As part of Women’s History Month Atlas Obscura will be sharing some episodes from the archive, including this story about the origins of a Swedish holiday tradition which evolved from sinister pagan lore to a celebration of light, warmth and music. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Here the podcast team shares stories of wonder and curiosity that lies just outside your doorstep. Stories feature a troll bridge, a cemetery, natural methane vents, and more. Tell us about a wonder in your backyard. Record a voice memo and send it to hello@atlasobscura.com or leave a voicemail at 315-992-7902. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our...

The Dedan Kimathi Post Office played a notable role in Kenya’s struggle for Independence. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The Ouija Board went from a tool for communicating with the dead to a sleepover party game. This trip through the Ouija Board’s past features a pit stop at the Ouija 7-Eleven. READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/ouija-7eleven Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This restaurant in Jackson, Mississippi was a haven for Civil Rights leaders and has stood for four generations, 83 years, and a whole lotta pig ear sandwiches. READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/big-apple-inn Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

As part of Women’s History Month Atlas Obscura will be sharing some episodes from the archive including this story about a forest in Oslo, Norway that will provide the trees for paper as part of a century long art project featuring famed contemporary authors.  READ MORE IN THE ATLAS:  https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/forest-of-the-future-library Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm...

This architectural oddity in Hartford, Connecticut looks like a mansion… but is only one room deep.  READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/a-everett-austin-facade-house Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

California's longest-running tourist attraction is a stump that helped spark a conservation movement. READ MORE IN THE ATLAS:  https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/the-discovery-tree Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This simple brick building in Chicago, Illinois was the boyhood home of Civil Rights icon, Fred Hampton Sr. and a continued site for community organizing. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Nellie Mae Rowe decorated her home in Vinings, Georgia with homemade dolls and shiny bottle caps and placed paper streamers, pieces of colored glass and improvised sculptures throughout her yard.   Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

As part of Black History Month Atlas Obscura will be sharing some episodes from the archive including Producer Baudelaire Ceus’s journey to Leimert Park, a unique neighborhood in Los Angeles characterized by its historical relationship to Black liberation. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This little house in New Haven, Kentucky is where Thomas Merton aka profit-poet aka the rebel monk tried to get away from the world. READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/thomas-mertons-hermitage Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This tiny stone cabbage has a big backstory stretching from the rich, treasure-laden halls of Beijing’s Forbidden City...through a harrowing wartime escape...to its prized place at the National palace museum in Taipei, Taiwan. READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/jade-cabbage Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection a...

One man in Brooklyn, New York - armed with a homemade boat and an artistic vision - helped transform one of the most polluted industrial waterways in the US. To listen to the Newtown Creek Audio Guide: http://www.newtowncreekfieldguide.com/ READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/newtown-creek-nature-walk Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for informa...

Chiseled out of a stone cliff, one farmer's unfinished art project in Yoshimi, Japan lies in ruins. And an architect and a photographer are working to keep his legacy alive. Email us about buying a copy of Arai-san and Karasaki-san’s photobook at hello@atlasobscura.com   READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/gankutsu-hotel Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.ads...