The Atlas Obscura Podcast

Producer Johanna Mayer takes a trip to the last Sears in New York City, 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.

Host Dylan Thuras speaks with Dave Seminara, author of the book Mad Travelers, about extreme travel and the people who love it.   Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The Panorama of the City of New York a star of the 1964 World’s Fair where it competed for attention with new technology like touch-tone phones and the Ford Mustang. The artwork now lives in the Queens Museum.   READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/a-panorama-view-of-new-york-city Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collect...

Nicola Twilley takes us to suburban London, where a 1000 square meter greenhouse is all that stands between us and the chocapocalypse.  Listen to the Malta Lazaretto episode: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/podcast-quarantine-at-malta-lazaretto Listen to Gastropod: https://gastropod.com/ Read Until Proven Safe:  https://untilprovensafe.com/ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.a...

Join host Dylan Thuras, a satellite scientist, and a ship captain in search of gigantic swaths of bioluminescence that can 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.

Step inside the Theater of Electricity in Boston and learn about the World’s Largest Air-Insulated Van Der Graaf Generator. READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/worlds-largest-airinsulated-van-de-graaff-generator Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Producer Baudelaire Ceus travels 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.

Writers Geoff Manaugh and Nicky Twilley take us inside a crumbling, centuries-old quarantine facility, and we explore the history and future of quarantine. Read “Until Proven Safe: The History and Future of Quarantine”: https://untilprovensafe.com/ Learn more about the Malta Lazzaretto: https://www.midimalta.com/en/the-lazaretto Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for inf...

Boulders Beach in Simon’s Town in South Africa, is a destination where sunbathers, tourists, and penguins share both the beach and parts of the town. READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/boulders-beach-penguin-sanctuary Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Monkey Island, Cayo, Santigo is an island off the coast of Puerto Rico where more than 1500 imported monkeys have lived and 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 Citadelle Laferriere in Haiti was built to ensure the island remained free after Haitians defeated French colonizers. READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/citadelle-laferriere Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Boston’s Old North Church was cemented in American History by Paul Revere’s famous midnight ride. But now the ringers who play these bells in a centuries-old style are adding a twist. READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/bell-ringing-chamber-at-old-north-church Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of perso...

In 1993 Bob Cassilly began to turn an old shoe factory into a massive interactive museum that now includes a plane fuselage, caves, and a ten-story slide.  READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/city-museum Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Jonathan Carey and Michelle Cassidy of the Atlas Places Team find beauty and fascination at the sites of warped and bizarre statues in Nuremberg, Germany and Urgnano, Italy. READ MORE IN THE ATLAS:  https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/der-hase https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/the-grotesques-of-urgnano-castle Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our...

The Musk Ox Farm in Palmer, Alaska aims to domesticate a species that used to roam the earth at the same time as the sabretooth and wooly mammoth. READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/musk-ox-farm Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The Church of the Holy Cross in Warsaw, Poland is the final resting place of famed composer Frédéric Chopin’s heart - smuggled there by Chopin’s sister after his death.  READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/chopin-s-heart Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Razzouk Tattoo in Jerusalem has given Christian pilgrims permanent souvenirs from their travel for centuries. READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/razzouk-ink Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Visit the ruins of an ancient economic powerhouse’s capital city, Great Zimbabwe in the nation of Zimbabwe and learn how a colonial empire was determined to rewrite its story. READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/great-zimbabwe Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Reporter Sam O’Brien takes us to Lily Dale, the world’s largest surviving community of spiritualists, where she learns (even if you don’t believe in ghosts) there’s more than one way to connect with the dead. READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/lily-dale-spiritualist-community Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection...

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.

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...

Reporter Eric Grundhauser recounts a memorable visit to an unusual museum in Iceland, where he explored the ancient lore of the occult, learned how to steal milk from his neighbors, and laid his eyes upon a pair of pants… made of human flesh. READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/the-museum-of-icelandic-sorcery-witchcraft-holmavik-iceland Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz comp...

The largest theater pipe organ in the world lives in a restaurant in Mesa, Arizona. Phenomenal musicians play requests while diners feast on pizza. READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/organ-stop-pizza Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The Alnwick Poison Garden in England is a place where stopping and smelling the flowers could actually kill you. The garden is dedicated entirely to plants that are narcotic or deadly.   READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/alnwick-poison-garden Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for adv...

The Unclaimed Baggage Center in Scottsboro, Alabama bills itself as “the nation’s only retailer of lost luggage.” If you’ve  ever lost a bag during air travel, it probably wound up there - along with many other treasures and oddities. READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/unclaimed-baggage-center Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information ab...