The Atlas Obscura Podcast

Producer Johanna Mayer and Atlas Obscura associate editor Sarah Durn tell us the story of a fort in Hawaii with two names – and how those names both preserve and erase its history.

READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/hawaiian-history-russian-fort-elizabeth

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We follow a long set of wooden stairs deep underground to a sea cave with a mysterious and colorful past, and take in a spectacular, hidden view of the Pacific Ocean in La Jolla. 

Learn more about The Cave Store: https://www.cavestore.com/

READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/sunny-jim-cave-store

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We go to the Caribbean island of Dominica and hear the story of Jacko, a formerly enslaved man who became a national hero for his ingenious escape and emancipation efforts 

READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/jacko-steps

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An archeological site in the country of Georgia, which features the oldest human skull fossils found outside of Africa, challenges what we think we know about our deep past.

READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/dmanisi-hominins-brain-shape

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Today we're headed just a couple hours south of Albuquerque to Hatch, New Mexico, a town where the heat doesn’t just come from the sun. It also comes from the signature crop: Hatch, New Mexico chiles. This Small Town, Big Story episode is produced in partnership with Go USA TV. 

Learn more about New Mexico here.

Learn more about this story here.

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In the Soviet Union, x-rays didn’t just give you a look inside the human body. They also gave you a glimpse of the outside world, thanks to music that was imprinted onto this unassuming medical tool.

READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/soviet-scenesters-used-xrays-to-record-their-rock-and-roll

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Grab your pickaxes, your shovels, and your code breaking supercomputers because today we’re going on a treasure hunt.

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The family behind this farm relies on itsy bitsy helpers to produce one-of-a-kind art. 

READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/knight-s-spider-web-farm

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Hear how a trip to the jungle, and a series of nighttime hikes, cured producer Chris Naka’s bug-phobia, once and for all.

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Places editors Jonathan Carey and Michelle Cassidy bring us two stories about two particular places whose histories intersect with real world American espionage. 

READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: Check out our entry on the FBI House here and on the Wertheim Study in the NY Public Library here.

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For decades, a one of a kind travel guide opened up the world for gay travelers. Today, historians are using them to create an interactive map of LGBTQ spaces in midcentury America.

LEARN MORE: https://www.mappingthegayguides.org/

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A trip to Sweden prompts former show producer Sarah Wyman to dig into a superstitious story passed through generations about the Red Stone Man

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Our show often focuses on interesting people and places. But in this episode, the team shares memorable encounters they’ve had with animals – everything from parakeets to a very special opossum. 

TELL US YOUR STORY: We want to hear your stories too! Give us a call at (315) 992-7902, and leave a message telling us your name, and about your own animal encounter. You can also record a voice memo and email it to us at hello@atlasobscura.com. Looking forward to hearing from you.

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An infamous break in the road that links North and South America has been in and out the news for more than 100 years – for good reason. This stretch of jungle has been a magnet for adventure junkies, but also is the site of a growing humanitarian and migration crisis. 

Learn More Info About The Gap: https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/15/americas/darien-gap-migrants-colombia-panama-whole-story-cmd-intl/index.html

How to help/advocacy groups: 

https://www.nrc.no/feature/2023/the-jungle-may-swallow-you-surviving-the-darien-gap/

https://www.refugeesinternational.org/reports-briefs/filling-the-gap-humanitarian-support-and-alternative-pathways-for-migrants-on-colombias-edge/

Rick’s website: 

https://www.jungletreks.com/

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Author Dave Eggers has an enduring affinity for Idaho. In this episode, he chats with Dylan about a unique family that undertook what is perhaps one of the strangest, slowest moves in history. The fascinating tale provided inspiration for the writer’s new children’s book, Moving the Millers’ Minnie Moore Mine Mansion. Get the book here and learn more about Eggers' work here.

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A majestic building in Santos, Brazil used to be the center of the coffee trade. 

LEARN MORE: Go deeper with Professor Ian Read’s work here and read more in the Atlas here.

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Blind Guy Travels host Matthew Shifrin discusses a formative encounter with a wolf tied to the origins of Rome. Listen to Blind Guy Travels: https://radiotopiapresents.fm/blind-guy-travels

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Jonathan Carey and Michelle Cassidy of the Atlas Places Team bring us two charming stories of some very special canines who have been (literally) preserved for the ages. 

READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: Learn about Sergeant Stubby here and Owney here

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Turns out, complaining about bad service really is as old as time. Hear the story of an ancient Babylonian clay tablet that has launched a slew of modern memes. Click here for more.

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Every year, lumberjacks and lumberjills from around the world flock to Hayward, Wisconsin – a couple hours north of Minneapolis – to compete in the Lumberjack World Championships. Join us as we get our hands dirty alongside the world’s most skilled in all-things chopping…and rolling. This episode is produced in partnership w ith GoUSA TV. If you want to see more Small Town, Big Story, watch now on GoUSA TV or on YouTube. 

You can learn more about visiting Hayward here: 

https://haywardareachamber.com/

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For years, students at Bennington College snuck into a locked room for a glimpse of strange and magical instruments created by professor Gunnar Schonbeck. Today, we join his orchestra.

READ MORE IN THE ATLAS:

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/no-experience-required

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In this final installment of summer stories we tackle a topic that transcends the seasons—the captivating magic of water during travel. If you’d like to share a story about your summer, record a voice memo and send it to hello@atlasobscura.com or leave a voicemail at 315-992-7902.

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In this installment we hear a listener’s tale of a theological dispute that became a real money-maker known to some as “Old Hoaxy.” 

This is the third of a series of listener-powered episodes about summer travel stories. If you’d like to share a story about your summer, record a voice memo and send it to hello@atlasobscura.com or leave a voicemail at 315-992-7902.

READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/cardiff-giant

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This is the second of a series of listener-powered episodes about summer travel stories. If you’d like to share a story about your summer, record a voice memo and send it to hello@atlasobscura.com or leave a voicemail at 315-992-7902.

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This is the first of a series of listener-powered episodes about summer travel stories. If you’d like to share a story about your summer, record a voice memo and send it to hello@atlasobscura.com or leave a voicemail at 315-992-7902.

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The nights in the northern hemisphere are drawing in, which means whispering stories of witches and spirits are top of mind for many of us. Lale chats with Mexico City-based author Brenda Lozano, whose new novel Witches looks at the lives of Mexican women who inherit gifts, and draws inspiration from the true story of a Mazatec Indigenous healer, or curandera, in Oaxaca who worked with psilocybin mushrooms in the 1950s and 60s. Plus, we revisit a recent conversation with author Dorthe Nors to learn more about the burnings of witch effigies along the rugged Danish coast.

For more from Women Who Travel, visit their website.

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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

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Asheville is a well-known foodie destination. In this ep we hear about a group that takes visitors into the wild – to learn all about North Carolina’s incredible biodiversity and to enjoy the foods that grow all around them. This episode is coproduced with Explore Asheville.

LEARN MORE about No Taste Like Home here. And find more cool things to do when you visit Asheville here.

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Host Dylan Thuras meets a teenage hero: author John Marr, who created the infamous Murder Can Be Fun zine and chronicled tales of unusual amusement park ride deaths and other odd disasters

READ MORE: You can see back issues of MCBF here.

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Created by a volcanic eruption in 2015, this island in the South Pacific no longer exists… but we chat with a person who got to see it before it disappeared.

LEARN MORE about Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai in this Reuters article and see it in the Atlas here

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Gastro Obscura Writer Sam Lin-Sommer tells us the story of the fascist war on pasta and its surprisingly delicious legacy.

READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/italian-futurist-pasta

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You’ve probably heard about the Gold Rush. But what about the bone rush of the 1870s? Hear the story of a bitter rivalry between two paleontologists – and how this epic feud unearthed an epic amount of fossils we still admire today.

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You can learn a lot about a person from their hands. In this episode, we hear the story of a doctor who made it possible for us to hold onto the stories of presidents, astronauts, musicians, artists and more… through bronze molds of their hands. 

READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/adrian-e-flatt-m-d-hand-collection

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Podcaster, TV critic and comedian Ashley Ray has more than a soft spot for her Midwest hometown. Hear why she thinks it may just be the best kept secret. 

HEAR MORE FROM OUR GUEST: Ashley has her own podcast all about TV and culture. Check it out here: https://www.stitcher.com/show/tv-i-say-w-ashley-ray

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Behind the Ben & Jerry's factory in Vermont sits a very peculiar graveyard... one dedicated to dearly departed ice cream flavors.

READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/ben-jerry-s-flavor-graveyard 

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Writer and travel educator Tracey Friley tells the story of the glamorous life of entertainer, French Resistance agent, and civil rights activist, Josephine Baker and the pilgrimages women still make to her chateau.

Learn more: www.traceyfrileytravel.com

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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

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Step inside the cutest, most cuddly museum for handmade crafts. This museum, set near Joshua Tree National Park, has been called “a vortex of love and joy and peace.”

LEARN MORE about the museum and schedule your own visit by clicking here.

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Students at Reed College study things like philosophy, history and English. But for the past 50 years they’ve also had access to a scientific instrument many people have never seen. We visit the World's only nuclear reactor operated by liberal arts undergraduates. 

LEARN MORE about the reactor here.

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You’d never guess that beneath a historic, genteel southern resort sits a massive bunker that the US government built in case of catastrophic events. Hear the story of the Greenbrier Resort that was kept secret for decades.

READ MORE IN THE ATLAS https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/congressional-fallout-shelter-at-the-greenbrier-resort

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We asked, you answered. Hear listener stories of near death travel experiences.

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Travel to Penobscot, Maine, where one farmer maintains the tradition of burning his crop each year to rejuvenate it the next. 

READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/why-do-people-burn-blueberry-fields

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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

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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

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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

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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

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

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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 

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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

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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

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