The Atlas Obscura Podcast

Atlas contributors bring listeners stories from spooky locations they’ve visited and which continue to haunt them. 

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These cakes had a particular ingredient that some believe protected them from witchery - and sparked one of the best-known witch hunts in United States history. 

READ MORE IN THE ATLAS:https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/what-are-witch-cakes

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With Halloween just around the corner Jonathan Carey and Michelle Cassidy of the Atlas Places Team bring you two spooky legends of The Mothman from Point Pleasant, West Virginia and a potentially ghoulish forest in the Transylvanian Region of Romania.

READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/mothman-museum-2 and https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/hoia-baciu-forest

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The Finnish Museum of Natural History in Helsinki has been home to an infestation of Chilean recluse spiders for more than 50 years.

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Producer Johanna Mayer visits Houdini’s grave in Queens, NY and goes searching for evidence of the great beyond. To hear another take on Spiritualism check out our earlier episode - Cassadaga with Jamie Loftus.

READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: 

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/houdinis-grave

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The Atlas Obscura Podcast is launching a week of spooky-themed stories ahead of Halloween. We begin with Jamie Loftus’ newest podcast about Cassadaga, a small town in central Florida that is one of the last great bastions of a Victorian era religion called Spiritualism.

Check out some of Jamie’s work:

GHOST CHURCH

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ghost-church-by-jamie-loftus/id1619557591
My Year in MENSA -https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/my-year-in-mensa/id1492147103

And check out AO’s podcast on Lily Dale, another contemporary spiritualist community

LILY DALE

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/podcast-lily-dale-spiritualist-community

READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: 

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/cassadaga

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The fossils of Wadi al-Hitan (Valley of the Whales) in Egypt give us a glimpse of a remarkable evolutionary history. 

READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/wadi-al-hitan

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Producer Johanna Mayer travels to Times Square in NYC,  in search of a particular sound that may sometimes go overlooked.

READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/the-times-square-hum-new-york-new-york

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This memorial marks the life of a pup who sparked riots over animal rights issues in London, England. 

READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: 

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/brown-dog-statue

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This giant limestone cave outside of St. Louis, MO. is home to a combination of kitsch and world-class scenery.

READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/meramec-caverns

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The San Diego Automotive Museum in California contains one man’s dream...of creating the ultimate road trip car. 

READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: 

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/louie-mattars-fabulous-car

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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

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In 1820 a group of Black Americans set off to make a home in Africa. They landed in Providence Island and set the stage for the development of the country Liberia.

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The Burger King in Kayenta, AZ is home to a small museum dedicated to a group of Native American veterans who developed an unbreakable secret code during WWII.

READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: 

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/burger-king-navajo-code-talkers-display

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Science communication superhero Emily Graslie shares how a pair of severed wolf heads helped her fall in love with science, about the road trip she took back to the beginning of time, and why she’s now looking for wonder in her own backyard.

Learn more about Emily Graslie (and watch her bug videos!): http://www.emilygraslie.com/

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This former limestone mine in Kansas City, MO has been turned into a 55,000,000 square-foot industrial park and storage facility.

READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: 

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/subtropolis

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A mind-tripping place where the art stands out not because of what's on  them but what's in  them. 

READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/institute-illegal-images

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Iconic musician Fela Kuti declared his home in Lagos, Nigeria, an independent state. He called it Kalakuta - and in 1977 it was invaded by the Nigerian Army. 

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A map in the archives of the Oregon Historical Society Research Library in Portland, OR may be the key to finding buried treasure that has yet to be found. 

READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: 

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/buried-treasure-portland-oregon

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The history of this 150-year-old immersive painting at the Atlanta History Museum features a scheming promoter, the cast of Gone with the Wind, Atlanta’s first Black mayor,  and the voice of Darth Vader himself - and shows how our interpretations of art reflect the time in which we live.  This episode is produced in partnership with Discover Atlanta.

READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: 

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/atlanta-cyclorama

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The Endangered Wolf Center in Eureka, Missouri was founded by zoologist and wildlife TV host Marlin Perkins and was home to an extraordinary wolf who gives us hope for the future of wolf survival. 

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A listener takes us to a town on the edge of the longest undefended border in the world.

US-Canada border regulations have been updated since this episode first aired: https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/services/covid/menu-eng.html

READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: 

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/uscanada-border-slash

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For more than 40 years Selma Miriam and Noel Furie have maintained the Bloodroot Feminist Vegetarian Restaurant and Bookstore as a place where women from all over the world can gather, share ideas, and share meals.

Visit Bloodroot: https://www.bloodroot.com/about

Learn more about the Feminist Restaurant Project: http://www.thefeministrestaurantproject.com/

READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: 

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/bloodroot-feminist-vegetarian-restaurant

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Oyotunji is an African Village with real homes and real community founded in the 1970s and located in the US - just an hour south of Charleston, South Carolina. 

READ MORE IN THE ATLAS 

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/against-the-odds-a-40year-old-west-african-village-in-south-carolina-has-thrived

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The 1980s birthed a gleaming creature that spread its wings of scrap wood and glass over the intersection of two iconic Brooklyn, NY neighborhoods for thirty years. 

READ MORE IN THE ATLAS:

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/broken-angel

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Steve and Amy Hartbauer have turned their home in residential Denver, CO into a massive mosaic and decade’s long expression of inner inspiration. 

READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: 

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/enchanted-hart-haus

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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

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Luz Fleming explores the home where he grew up, Libre - one of the longest lasting intentional communities still exists.

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Green Bank, West Virginia is free of wifi and cell signals due to the massive telescope nearby that requires radio silence.  

READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/town-for-wi-fi-refugees

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Today, a sampling of listener-submitted stories of summer adventures from the wild, strange and wonderful world in which we live. 

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Forty-two school buses have been buried in Horning’s Mills, Ontario - covered in concrete, they’re house up to 500 people in case of nuclear fallout. 

READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: 

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/ark-two-shelter

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This ancient temple complex in Northern Lebanon is one of the most well-preserved Roman ruins on earth, and one of the most overlooked. 

READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/baalbek-trilithon

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One of the world’s tallest waterfalls is nestled In Northwestern Peru, right where the Amazon rainforest crashes into the Andes Mountains.

READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: 

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/gocta

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This ranch in Sanger, Texas trains people in jousting and sword-fighting with the goal of making them knights of the highest order - for the Medieval Times dinner theater chain. 

READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/behind-the-scenes-at-medieval-times-where-knights-battle-and-pepsi-is-plentiful

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Whiting Writer’s Award, Best Literary Criticism award winner, and author of several critically-praised books, Lucy Sante speaks with host Dylan Thuras about digging into place and how our relationship to places can shape our identities. 

To check out Lucy Sante’s work, please visit: 

https://lucysante.com/

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Jonathan Carey and Michelle Cassidy of the Atlas Places Team are on a mission to grow the Atlas community and include more wonderful and curious locations from Africa, Asia and South America.  Two recent entries that caught their eyes include a market in Medeber, Eritrea and a women’s center in Kigali, Rwanda. 

READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: 

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/medeber-market

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/nyamirambo-womens-center

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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

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Like a lot of historic neighborhoods, the sidewalks of Fairhaven in Bellingham, WA, are studded with small plaques commemorating local history. But unlike other neighborhoods, the markers in Fairhaven are a little bit darker, and a little bit weirder.
Thanks to Bellinghistory with the Good Time Girls. Learn more about their walking tours here: https://bellinghistory.com/

READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/harris-avenue-fairhaven

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At one time thirty thousand Africans per year were forced through Elmina Castle in Ghana, before they were taken across the world as part of the trans-atlantic slave trade.

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Built on a tiny island in Antarctica, the “loneliest post office in the world” got its start as a top-secret British military outpost during World War II—and became beloved by stamp collectors around the world.

Learn more about the British Antarctic Survey: bas.ac.uk

READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/loneliest-post-office-antarctica
 

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These Argentinian parrots have made an unlikely home in a Brooklyn, NY cemetery. 

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A disaster in a seaside town got locals wondering about government conspiracies, weather control, and if human beings could actually, truly for real, make it rain.

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The Coney Island Mermaid Parade isn’t linked to a holiday, religious affiliation or corporate celebration – it’s a celebration of having fun and getting a little weird.   

READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/coney-island-mermaid-parade

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In 1954, two groups of boys thought they were going to summer camp. But they’d been recruited for a different kind of summer experience.

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This garden in Lynchburg, Virginia is the key to unlocking the writing and mind of Harlem Renaissance poet Anne Spencer.

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In Mitchell, South Dakota there stands a massive building covered in murals that are made completely from… corn! 

READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/the-corn-palace-mitchell-south-dakota

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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

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This elaborate architecture throughout Iran served a very unique purpose - gathering pigeon guano. 

Take a virtual tour of a Pigeon Tower: https://ati3d.com/virtual_tour/pigeon

READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/pigeon-towers-iran

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Atlas Obscura's Gemma Tarlach shares what it's like to step inside a relic from the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration, and to find traces of a famous lost party of explorers.

READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: 

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/discovery-hut

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This collection of ceramic eggs records the personal makeup designs of clowns around the world - and to some extent a clowning code of conduct. 

READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: 

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/clown-egg-register

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