The Atlas Obscura Podcast

In the busy, traffic-packed capital city of Bolivia, we meet the zebras who keep the streets of La Paz safe for its citizens. Read more in the Atlas: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/la-paz-cebritas Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

We visit what might be the world’s largest collection of fraudulent, nefarious, or otherwise ineffectual medical machinery -- and meet the founder who brought it all together. Read more in the Atlas: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/museum-quackery 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 a community that came together in the 1930s to build this schoolhouse, and then came together again several decades later to build it a second time and preserve its legacy Read more in the Atlas: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/myrtle-beach-colored-school-museum Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal d...

Calling all listeners! We want to hear about your memorable summer travel experiences: road trips, unforgettable places, summer traditions, magical memories. Leave us a message at 315-992-7902 , or send an email or a voice memo to hello@atlasobscura.com . Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Urban planner, Moses Gates, shares his unlikely experience with the residents of the 61st floor of one of New York City’s most iconic buildings.. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

An audio postcard from the desert of Badain Jaran in China, home of the Booming Dunes, and possibly the coolest sand sounds you’ve ever heard Read more in the Atlas: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/booming-dunes-badain-desert Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Some say this little burbling creek is “the deadliest body of water on Earth.,” Read more in the Atlas: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/bolton-strid Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

We take you to the east side of Detroit, where an artist transformed a largely abandoned street into an immersive, living museum -- which grew into something even bigger Read more in the Atlas: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/heidelberg-project Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Built by indigenous people thousands of years ago, the Newark Earthworks are part cathedral, part cemetery, and part astronomical observatory. But today, this ancient ceremonial site is part of a golf course in Ohio. Read Cedric Rose’s article: https://www.cincinnatimagazine.com/article/will-ohios-earthworks-become-a-world-heritage-site/ Learn more about the Newark Earthworks: http://worldheritage...

We explore the power luck has on us all, rational or not, through the unlikely places people go to re-up Read more in the Atlas: https://www.atlasobscura.com/lists/lucky-places-good-luck-charms Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Under the forests of Nyack, New York lays a series of dark and decrepit tunnels with militaristic roots but now attract graffiti artists and plenty of teen lore. Read more in the Atlas: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/claus-land-mountain-tunnels Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Eight rare vehicles at the National Corvette Museum in Kentucky vanish, thanks to a massive sinkhole Read more in the Atlas: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/national-corvette-museum-sinkhole Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

An Indian village is home to one of the world’s oldest and greatest ornithological mysteries Read more in the Atlas: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/jatinga-bird-suicide Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

A carefully curated collection of miscalculations in Edinburgh, Scotland serves as a warning for our gullibility, especially when it comes to money. Read more in the Atlas: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/library-of-mistakes Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

A ranch on the outskirts of Aptos, California features a magical machine that dispenses music, joy, and 18 of the freshest eggs in the land. Read more in the Atlas: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/egg-vending-machine-at-glaum-ranch-aptos-california Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Home is where the grudge is. We survey a special kind of architecture that is both petty and personal. Read more in the Atlas: https://www.atlasobscura.com/lists/spite-houses-around-the-world Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

It roamed the seas, served an evil dictator, survived a war, and ended up in a New Jersey auto-repair shop bathroom. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

A grand library in Portugal has some unexpected nighttime caretakers -- tiny bats. Read more in the Atlas: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/mafra-palace-library-bats Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

You’ve been leaving us messages about the strange and wondrous places in your towns, like the world’s largest tin soldier, the home of the first public beach and a phone connecting us to people we’ve lost. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Open your minds and steel your stomachs as we go to a food museum in Sweden that challenges what exactly makes something delicious… or disgusting. Read more in the Atlas: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/disgusting-food-museum Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

An old friend takes us under the streets of Instanbul and into an encounter with Medusa. Read more in the Atlas: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/basilica-cisterns-istanbul Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

A boxy, Brutalist building in Silver Spring, Maryland contains one of the greatest collections of disease, injury, and human body bits ever assembled. Read more in the Atlas: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/national-museum-of-health-and-medicine Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The strangest, most famous resident from this Colorado town happens to be a headless fowl. Read more in the Atlas: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/mike-the-headless-chicken Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

We go to the Westman Islands off the southern coast of Iceland and meet the heroes who save young birds that have wandered from their nests every summer. Read more in the Atlas: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/worlds-largest-puffin-colony Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

There was a time when we didn't walk around with computers in our pockets and exploring a new place required a paper map. In this episode, we dig into the ultimate debate: has technology ruined or elevated travel? Send us your questions about traveling or tell us a story by emailing a voice message to hello@atlasobscura.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for informat...