The Atlas Obscura Podcast

Professional rainmaker Charles Hatfield was either a scientist or a con man who had a particular influence on San Diego, CA.   Curious about cloud seeding? Learn more from our earlier podcast on the Lynmouth Flood: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/podcast-lynmouth-flood-memorial-hall READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/lower-otay-reservoir Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsW...

Marchand Dessalines, Haiti is a town named after Jean Jacques Dessalines one of the leaders of the Haitian Revolution and one of the country’s founding fathers. READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/dessalines-revolution-battle-haiti 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 this story about a gigantic public square dedicated to Ghanaian independence - and producer Baudelaire Ceus’s introduction to soursop. READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/black-star-square Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about o...

Rico Gagliano, host of the MUBI podcast, takes listeners to The Westgate Movie Theater in Minneapolis for a story about a movie that flopped terribly when it was released that changed the course of the theater’s history. Listen to the MUBI Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mubi-podcast/id1569229544 Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our...

Sigmund Freud’s famous psychoanalytic couch is preserved in his final office in London, England. READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/freud-museum-london Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Host Dylan Thuras leads listeners on a journey that leads to the preserved middle finger of Galileo Galilei, astronomer, physicist and engineer. READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/galileos-middle-finger Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This building in Tangier was one of the first pieces of land owned by the United States Government outside of the country, and was a gift from “America’s first friend.” READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/tangier-american-legation-museum Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertisin...

This Ecuadorian cave has captured the attention of  government officials, scientists, and professional cavers and is home to a particularly rare creature. READ MORE IN THE ATLAS:  https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/cueva-de-los-tayos Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Rae Wynn-Grant, Ph. D. is a wildlife ecologist specializing in large carnivores. And in this episode she unfolds a mystery for listeners.  To hear more about her encounter with a lion: https://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/podcast/not-your-average-field-trip/ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Empress Anna’s Ice Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia was the site of an incredibly strange wedding. Was it a cruel joke? A strategic power move? Or something else? READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/russia-anna-ioannovna-ice-palace-castle Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for adverti...

Lee's Legendary Marbles & Collectables in York, Nebraska is a pilgrimage of sorts for serious collectors and a curiosity for the casual passerby. READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/lees-legendary-marbles-collectables Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This intricately carved church in Luster is one of Norway’s great treasures of architecture. READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/urnes-stave-church Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The Luray Caverns in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia are home to an instrument that draws out the secret sounds of millenia-old stone. READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/the-great-stalacpipe-organ-luray-virginia Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The José María Azael Franco Guerrero Cemetery in Tulcán, Ecuador is a topiary anomaly and a lush green paradise for the dead. READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/tulcan-municipal-cemetery Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This abandoned lodge in Gorongosa National Park in Mozambique has been reclaimed by local lions - a story deeply enmeshed in the larger history of the country.   READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/the-lion-house-gorongosa-mozambique Further Reading:  S is for Samora (book by Sarah Lefanu) Let My People Go (poem by Noémia de Sousa) Apartheid’s Contras: An Inquiry Into the R...

Jonathan Carey and Michelle Cassidy of the Atlas Places Team bring you stories of how sometimes giant monuments built for a specific site need to go on a journey.  READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/yakhchals https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/snowflake-bentley Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of pe...

This internationally recognized jazz lounge has been running for more than a century. Its guests have included Frank Sinatra, Charlie Chaplin and less reputable icons like Al Capone. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Host Dylan Thuras visits a Staten Island mansion with a dubious and vitriolic past, only to learn the site’s curse may not be as obvious as it seems.  READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/kreischer-mansion Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Barnali Ghosh and Anirvan Chatterjee take us on a walking tour of Berkeley, CA, where they share their community's legacy of radical South Asian activism. Learn more about the Berkeley South Asian Radical History Walking Tour: https://www.berkeleysouthasian.org/ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertisi...

This railway was built for one purpose and one purpose only: to keep the London’s mail coming on time.    READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/the-mail-rail-london-england Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Drawbridge operators in Chicago, IL used to live at these specific homes nestled at the base of their bridges. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Venture into the mind of Sky Hopinka, member of the Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin and MacArthur Genius Grant recipient. He and host Dylan Thuras discuss his work, his past and what he’s still searching for out on the road. Visit Sky's website to watch Jáaji Approx. and to learn more about his work: http://www.skyhopinka.com/jaaji-approximately Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswi...

We visit Vanuatu in the South Pacific and go underwater to visit a very strange place from a very strange episode at the end of World War II.  READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/million-dollar-point Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The history of medical clowning extends back to Ancient Greece and the time of Hippocrates and is taught in workshops throughout the world.   READ MORE IN THE ATLAS:  https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/medical-clowning-program-at-haifa-university Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This former meat-packing plant in Chicago, Illinois is now a site where people work to create a new kind of community in the city’s post-industrial remains.  READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/the-plant-chicago-illinois Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.