The Atlas Obscura Podcast

All summer we’ve been asking you to send us your summer travel stories. This is the first of a series of listener-powered episodes about this magical season. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

About 400 miles south of New Zealand, on the subantarctic Campbell Island / Motu Ihupuku, stands a Sitka spruce whose nearest neighbor is 170 miles away. READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/worlds-loneliest-tree Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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. 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.

We’ve made 100 episodes of the show and figured it was time to hear from the people who make it happen. Enjoy! (And go back and catch up on any episodes you’ve missed) Kulning: https://www.stitcher.com/show/the-atlas-obscura-podcast/episode/kulning-82833088 Mafra Library Bats: https://www.stitcher.com/show/the-atlas-obscura-podcast/episode/mafra-palace-library-bats-84059889 Clausland Mountain Tunn...

A listener in Lawrence, Kansas takes us on his journey of discovering the secrets of his hometown. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This site, and the enormous telescope that sits on it, is loved and lost to both scientists and everyday Puerto Ricans. READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/arecibo-observatory Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

She’s about 8 feet wide and 500 pounds. And her history spans all the way from the stockyards of Chicago...to a nuclear test during the Manhattan Project...to a stadium at the University of Texas at Austin. READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/big-bertha-drum Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of persona...

Sun cannons have been around since the 1600s. But as far as we know, there’s only one left that’s still up and running. We pay it a visit. READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/atvidaberg-sun-cannon Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

We nearly stump host Dylan Thuras with a seemingly simple question: Who are the top five dead people he would like to go on a road trip with? Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

An industrial water tank-turned-concert hall in the high deserts of Colorado is nothing less than a sonic wonder of the world. READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/the-tank-rangely-colorado Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On the tiny Kinmen Island, a bow-tie-shape strip of land between China and Taiwan, sits a giant weaponized wall of sound that still stands--and still broadcasts--today. READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/beishan-broadcast-station-art Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising...

There are tens of thousands of entries in the Atlas -- In these episodes, we hear from the people who sift through them, Jonathan and Michele, and hear about their favorites. Learn more about submitting to the Atlas here: https://www.atlasobscura.com/faq Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The story of the unimaginable destruction of the American Chestnut tree and the group of scientists, academics and tree lovers who are desperately trying to bring them back from the edge of extinction. LEARN MORE: Visit https://acf.org/ to find out more about this massive conservation effort Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use...

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.

A walk through this scale model has you feeling like a giant, and striding from Baton Rouge to Omaha in an hour. LEARN MORE about the model and the group trying to revive it, here: https://friendsofmrbm.org/ Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

A repository in Cambridge, Massachusetts holds over 2,700 pigments that’ve been quietly coloring the world around us since the beginning of human history. READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/forbes-pigment-collection Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Our team goes on a quest to find Prospect Park’s elusive -- and perhaps most magical -- resident rodent. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

On the outskirts of Oslo, Norway, there’s a mausoleum some say is the city’s “best kept secret.” It’s the underrated masterpiece of a mostly unknown artist -- an artist who was overshadowed his whole life by his more successful brother. READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/emanuel-vigeland-museum Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information a...

Artist Rachel Sussman takes us on a tour of the world's oldest living things, which she’s been documenting for 10 years. READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/lists/worlds-oldest-living-things 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.

Host Dylan Thuras chats with author and podcaster Malcolm Gladwell about a beloved Disney movie, and the deeper questions it raised about the stories we tell ourselves -- and our children -- about places real and imaginary. Hear more: You can listen to Malcolm Gladwell’s series on The LIttle Mermaid, and other stories in the latest season of Revisionist History here Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWiz...

A huge rock, teetering on the edge of a hill for thousands of years, brought tourism, fame, and what’s said to be a 100-year curse to the town of Tandil, Argentina Read more in the Atlas: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/la-piedra-movediza Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Does this sprawling mansion in San Jose, California live up to its reputation as one of the most haunted places in the world? Read more in the Atlas: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/winchester-mystery-house Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The story of how humans desperate for water created a lake the size of the city of Los Angeles. And then, how that thirst turned toxic. Read more in the Atlas: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/salton-sea Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

A river in the Amazon is so hot that anything that falls into it will die … but how did it get this way? Read more in the Atlas: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/the-boiling-river-of-the-amazon-puerto-inca-peru Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.