The Atlas Obscura Podcast

Thousands of masks from the former Kingdom of Benin are spread throughout museums across the world.  Is that where they belong? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hashima Island in Japan was once the most densely populated place on Earth. Until – almost overnight – everyone left.  Additional information for this episode was provided by Joshua Synenko of Trent University. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Typically, space junk ends up deep in the Pacific Ocean. This is the story of when it plunged back to earth … onto a street in small-town Wisconsin. Read more in the Atlas: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/sputnik-crash-site Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This forest in Oslo, Norway 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.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The Last Tenement in Boston’s old West End has come to represent everything that can go wrong with urban planning. READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/the-last-tenement Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

These documents highlight the intellectual legacy of an ancient civilization based in Timbuktu, Mali. READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/timbuktu-manuscripts-mali Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Writer and island-hopper Anna Marlis Burgard takes us on a tour of three of the 135 strange, incredible, and wondrous islands she’s explored in the United States. Learn more about Anna's Islands of America adventure: http://www.islandsofamerica.com/ Read more in the Atlas: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/the-united-islands-of-america   CORRECTION: A previous version of this episode misidenti...

We dig into the tales of TWO whales washing ashore along the southeastern coast of Brazil. And learn how one became a scientific marvel and the other, a local landmark. Read more in the Atlas: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/ubatuba-whale Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This island between Missouri and Illinois was a preferred meeting place for duels to the death in the early 1900’s. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Famed Jazz musician Louis Armstrong’s house in Corona, Queens in New York is now a museum preserving his legacy.   READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/louis-armstrong-house Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

A community of kitschy lawn gnomes have taken over an Australian roundabout. READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/gnomesville 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.

We venture out to Long Island, not for the beautiful beaches, or an Islanders game, or to hang with Billy Joel. We're here to explore the fraught history of a gigantic, ominous sea foam-green nuclear power plant. Read more in the Atlas: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/shoreham-nuclear-power-plant Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection...

Last month we asked listeners about your encounters with the unknown, and boy did you all deliver! This presents two stories we received from listeners Maggie and Melissa. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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.

One of the United State’s most famous pieces of self-built architecture consists of seventeen interconnected towers that rise like inverted ice cream cones from the ground - the tallest reaching over 100 feet.  READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/watts-towers Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of person...

This museum built of memories in Istanbul, Turkey was created in a book before it was created in real life.  READ MORE IN THE ATLAS:  https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/the-museum-of-innocence-2-istanbul-turkey 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 confronts the good and the bad ways travel changes as you move through different life stages.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Lake Natron in Monduli, Tanzania can leave welts and burns on human skin but is a bit of a paradise for another animal. READ MORE IN THE ATLAS:  https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/lake-natron Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Learn how a group of indegnous women in Puerto Misahuallî, Ecuador fought “machismo” to become entrepreneurs and build an eco-friendly getaway.  READ MORE IN THE ATLAS:  https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/sinchi-warmi-amazon-lodge Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This treacherous path cut through a stretch of the Pyrenees Mountains in France may have played a key part in one nation’s quest for international influence and possibly helped foment a revolution. READ MORE IN THE ATLAS:  https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/chemin-de-la-mature Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal da...

Explore a modern landmark in a medieval city. The Corpus Clock in Cambridge, England honors both the past and future of telling time. READ MORE IN THE ATLAS:  https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/corpus-clock-corpus-christi-chronophage Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Atlas Obscura presents Gastropod’s episode “Buried Treasure: Weeds, Seeds, and Zombies.” Gastropod Hosts Cynthia Graber and Nicola Twilley examine a scientific quest – and one of the world’s longest running experiments - to see how long weeds can survive.  They find zombie seeds, a treasure hunt, and more.  Gastropod: https://gastropod.com/buried-treasure-weeds-seeds-and-zombies/ READ MORE IN THE...

As part of Women’s History Month Atlas Obscura will be sharing some episodes from the archive including this tour of the world's oldest living things - with artist Rachel Sussman who’s been documenting these ancient things for 10 years. https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/womens-history-month READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/lists/worlds-oldest-living-things Hosted by Simplec...

 As part of Women’s History Month Atlas Obscura will be sharing some episodes from the archive including this conversation with Jessica Oreck who has spent the last 30 years collecting odd and forgotten objects. Now, they’re all beautifully curated and on display in the Office of Collecting and Design in Las Vegas. https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/womens-history-month Follow the Office of Col...