The Atlas Obscura Podcast

Stitcher Podcasts

An audio guide to the world’s strange, incredible, and wondrous places. Co-founder Dylan Thuras and a neighborhood of Atlas Obscura reporters explore a new wonder every day, Monday through Thursday. In under 15 minutes, they’ll take you to an incredible place, and along the way, you’ll meet some fascinating people and hear their stories. Our theme and end credit music is composed by Sam Tyndall.

Location:

United States

Genres:

Arts & Culture Podcasts

Networks:

Stitcher Podcasts

Description:

An audio guide to the world’s strange, incredible, and wondrous places. Co-founder Dylan Thuras and a neighborhood of Atlas Obscura reporters explore a new wonder every day, Monday through Thursday. In under 15 minutes, they’ll take you to an incredible place, and along the way, you’ll meet some fascinating people and hear their stories. Our theme and end credit music is composed by Sam Tyndall.

Language:

English

Episodes

Tabor Opera House

6/8/2023

Colorado is known for being a music and performance hub. And that history goes way back – all the way to a theater that staged high dramas, tragedies, tales of star-crossed lovers, and even inspired an opera of its own. This episode was co produced with Visit Colorado. READ MORE IN THE ATLAS https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/tabor-opera-house-2 | Learn more about the shows happening at the opera house this summer by clicking here

Duration:00:18:55

Frozen Dead Guy

6/7/2023

Atop a mountain in a picturesque Colorado town is the frozen corpse of a Norwegian grandpa. We get the tale of how this came to be, from the person who for years has trekked up and down the mountain for this unique preservation mission. READ MORE IN THE ATLAS https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/frozen-dead-guy-days

Duration:00:17:01

Temple of Pythons

6/6/2023

We visit southern Benin to hear the story of the Temple of Pythons and clear up some misconceptions about one of the world's most misunderstood spiritual systems. READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/the-temple-of-pythons-ouidah-benin

Duration:00:12:59

Fairy Castle

6/5/2023

A famous movie actress from the 1920s left the world a lasting piece of art — a remarkable miniature home that could be considered Chicago’s cutest piece of real estate. READ MORE IN THE ATLAS https://www.atlasobscura.com/videos/see-chicago-s-million-dollar-fairy-castle

Duration:00:15:35

Hitler’s Toilet (Classic)

6/2/2023

It roamed the seas, served an evil dictator, survived a war, and ended up in a New Jersey auto-repair shop bathroom.

Duration:00:09:53

Tonopah Mining Camp

6/1/2023

We step into the shoes of the miners who once labored in the Nevada mountains, via a trip to the Tonopah Historic Mining Park. This episode was produced in partnership with Travel Nevada. READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/tonopah-mining-park LEARN MORE about the Tonopah Historic Mining Park and Travel Nevada

Duration:00:15:17

Koutammakou

5/31/2023

A race is on to save this world heritage site that straddles the border of Togo and Benin. It’s home to remarkable earth tower homes called Takienta, and the Batammariba people, whose existence is threatened by climate change and migration. READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/koutammakou-batammariba

Duration:00:12:26

Woman with the Handbag

5/30/2023

We go to Sweden, where some people are intent on making a woman a permanent symbol of resistance, whether or not she would have wanted it. Check out some of Samuel Merrill’s research work on the photo here. READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/woman-with-the-handbag-statue

Duration:00:12:03

Tick Collection

5/29/2023

We go to Statesboro, Georgia to the US National Tick Collection to learn what ticks, often thought of as little monstrosities, can teach us. READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/us-national-tick-collection

Duration:00:11:00

Tina Turner Museum (Classic)

5/26/2023

The Flagg Grove School in Brownsville, Tennessee has become a museum dedicated to its most famous student. READ MORE IN THE ATLAS:https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/tina-turner-museum

Duration:00:13:22

Micropia (Classic)

5/25/2023

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

Duration:00:14:42

American Chestnut Foundation (Classic)

5/24/2023

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

Duration:00:13:19

The Mirror Lab (Classic)

5/23/2023

A spinning furnace tucked under the football stadium at the University of Arizona is building giant telescope mirrors. READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/richard-f-caris-mirror-laboratory

Duration:00:15:56

Åtvidaberg Sun Cannon (Classic)

5/22/2023

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

Duration:00:12:35

Chile Pepper Institute

5/19/2023

Habaneros! Jalapenos! Green! Red! These days, an appreciation for chiles is pretty mainstream. But that wasn’t always the case. We head to New Mexico to learn how this food became such a huge part of our culture, and visit an institute dedicated to its continual improvement. READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/chile-pepper-institute

Duration:00:12:36

Fugitive Train Wreck

5/18/2023

A North Carolina town has become a draw for people who want to see the wreckage of the train wreck from the movie “The Fugitive.” But a more interesting – and true – story happened just a pistol shot away. READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/the-fugitive-train-wreck-sylva-north-carolina

Duration:00:12:09

Theatricum Botanicum

5/17/2023

A once-blacklisted Hollywood star created a magical theater in Topanga Canyon, California, that still endures and inspires today. READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/theatricum-botanicum

Duration:00:11:57

Voynich Manuscript

5/16/2023

One of the oldest books in the world is also the most misunderstood. A medievalist tells us about the Voynich, which is in the collection of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale. READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/beinecke-rare-book-manuscript-library

Duration:00:17:48

Big Bertha Drum (Classic)

5/15/2023

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

Duration:00:10:21

Kilwa Kisiwani (Classic)

5/12/2023

We dig through more than 1,000 years of dirt, history, colonialism, and myth on the Swahili Coast. Read more in the Atlas: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/kilwa-kisiwani-ruins

Duration:00:15:38