The Atlas Obscura Podcast

John Milkovisch spent 18 years covering his Houston home in beer cans. The house has been preserved for visitors since John’s death in 1988.  READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/beer-can-house Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Resident food and death correspondent, Sam O’Brien, returns to tell us about a grave with a nut roll recipe engraved on it and the layered and touching story behind the treat. Know of a recipe grave in your local cemetery? Email us at hello@atlasobscura.com , and include “Recipe Graves” in the subject line. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our col...

A national park in Southwest Uganda is home to nearly half the world’s population of endangered mountain gorillas. They and the local community rely on each other to survive. Learn how to help the Bwindi Mountain Gorillas: https://ctph.org/ Sound of the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest and the mountain gorillas was recorded by Nick Penny. To see more of Nick’s work, visit: https://www.nickpennyphotograp...

 In this two-part series, we venture towards frozen graves tied to an infamous Arctic expedition. We follow two groups of adventurers, separated by more than 170 years, and play witness to the disasters that befell them all. Read More in the Atlas: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/graves-of-beechey-island Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our co...

In this two-part series, we venture towards frozen graves tied to an infamous Arctic expedition. We follow two groups of adventurers, separated by more than 170 years, and play witness to the disasters that befell them all. Read More in the Atlas: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/graves-of-beechey-island Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our col...

After a profound show of devotion for his master, a dog becomes the symbol of loyalty for an entire nation.  Read more in the Atlas: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/hachiko-hachi-shibuya-station Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The crumbled ruins of the world’s largest flour mill became one of Minneapolis’ most prominent graffiti-writing locations, and later a museum. Read more in the Atlas: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/mill-city-museum-site-great-mill-disaster Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In Kongthong, India, every person’s name is a unique song, composed by their mother within a week of their birth, part of a centuries-old tradition. Read more in the Atlas: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/where-indian-villagers-have-musical-names Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

A listener’s voicemail sent us searching for the story of a very special -- and giant -- oak tree Peoria, Illinois, and the family of arborists who cared for it.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The oldest (maybe) swimming pool in Iceland is a stunning oasis built into the side of a lush hill.   Read more in the Atlas: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/seljavallalaug Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

This old cement mine in Rosendale, New York, has been used as everything from a mushroom farm to a recording studio. Read more in the Atlas: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/widow-jane-mine Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The Atlas production team would like to share some of their favorite holiday places as 2021 comes to a close.  This episode will be followed by a series of re-listen episodes from the past year, published over the next two weeks.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In 2006 a massive haul of Doritos was shipwrecked on Hatteras Island on the Outer Banks, leaving its mark on the town forever. READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/shipwrecked-doritos Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Professional Adventurer George Kourounis knew he needed to visit the Cave of the Crystals, located nearly a 1000 feet beneath northern Mexico, the moment he saw a photograph from inside the cave. READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/giant-crystals-naica Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data...

Post Office Bay on the Galapagos Islands is a post office that runs on luck and the goodwill of visitors. It has a knack for bringing strangers together.  READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/post-office-bay Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

A music box given to Scott Harrison while he served in Vietnam inspired him to hand-carve all the animals for the Carousel of Happiness in Nederland, Colorado.   READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/carousel-of-happiness 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 catch listeners up on the new and surprising additions to Atlas Obscura that capture their attention. This includes a heiress’s pet cemetery and ruins visible beneath a grocery store floor.    READ MORE IN THE ATLAS:  https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/doris-dukes-pet-cemetery https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/aungier-street-lidl-arch...

This small mineral museum in Dodgeville, Wisconsin is home to plenty of rocks - some of which may rival those in the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In 1986 an unknown natural disaster at Lake Nyos in Menchum, Cameroon left more than 1700 people dead in one night - and puzzled scientists. Learn how they solved that mystery.  READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/lake-nyos-the-deadliest-lake-in-the-world Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal d...

Visit a museum inside the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia, which documents how public health officials have slowed the spread of disease through history. READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/cdc-museum Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hear from the caretakers of a ghost town in Bolivia that was once the world's highest ski resort.   READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/abandoned-chacaltaya-ski-resort Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Take a trip to Micropia, the world’s only museum dedicated to microscopic organisms and  learn about our invisible life companions. READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/micropia Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The Tree of 40 fruits in San Jose California is an horticultural marvel of 40 types of stone fruit trees grafted together to form a living work of art.  READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/tree-of-40-fruit Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The Sporkful host Dan Pashman brings listeners on a quest to find a fruit indigenous to North America that has never been industrialized - but may be seeing a resurgence.  READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/foods/pawpaw-fruit Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

It’s easy to dismiss Bigfoot, the yeti, the Loch Ness monster, and other cryptids as far-fetched X-Files fodder. But the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine aims to show that when investigations into unknown creatures are done right, they involve real science, and have real scientific value.  Monster of the Month Series: https://www.atlasobscura.com/experiences/monster-of-the-mon...