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
First Trips Abroad
1/13/2025
Listener stories about traveling abroad for the first time – from a trip to Germany in 2020, to a chalet in Switzerland in 1986, to a trip to Iran just before the Shah revolution.
Plus, we want to hear your stories of traveling with a significant other for the first time. Give us a call at 315-992-7902 and leave us a message telling us your story. Or better yet, record a voice memo and email it to us at hello@atlasobscura.com.
Duration:00:12:24
Endangered Wolf Center (Classic)
1/10/2025
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.
Duration:00:15:09
Zach Stafford’s Life in Five Places
1/9/2025
Zach Stafford found great career success at a very young age – he’s a writer, producer, and co-host of the news & culture podcast Vibe Check. His intense work schedule has taken him all over America, and each of the cities and towns he found himself in has shaped him in some way. And through it all, Zach has been searching for a very specific feeling.
Duration:00:26:55
Christine's Cell
1/8/2025
In the year 1329, a woman named Christine Carpenter was enclosed in a tiny cell in the walls of a church in Shere, England. She was expected to spend the rest of her life praying in almost complete isolation. But the reason we know her name is that she did something very unusual – she broke out.
Learn more about our guest Professor Diane Watt’s work about the lives of medieval women in England, and about St. James’s Church in Shere.
Duration:00:15:40
Art on Wheels
1/7/2025
Dylan and producer Gabby Gladney dive into the colorful world of art cars, from Houston’s epic parades to DIY creations in Minneapolis.
Then, Dylan talks to his own father about the multiple art cars they’ve had over the years.
Duration:00:18:13
Cabbage Patch BabyLand General Hospital
1/6/2025
Writer Joshua Rigsby takes a very strange journey into the birthplace of Cabbage Patch Kids. After he returns, he can never look at the dolls the same way again.
Read Joshua’s essay about his trip to BabyLand General Hospital, and check out his bookstore, Pretty Good Books.
Duration:00:16:00
New Year, New Travel Resolutions
1/4/2025
We’re (almost) back! And we want to hear your New Year’s travel resolutions.
Send a voice memo to hello@atlasobscura.com. Or, give us a call at 315-992-7902 and leave a message.
Duration:00:01:36
The Divorce Colony (Holiday Classic)
1/3/2025
For a brief period the small frontier city of Sioux Falls, South Dakota drew in socialites and celebrities who were desperate to end their marriages.
Duration:00:16:06
In the Doldrums with Bernie Harberts (Holiday Classic)
1/2/2025
Ultimate slow travel adventurer (and friend of the show) Bernie Harberts returns to tell us what happened when he spent months floating alone at sea. Bernie is also an author and filmmaker.
You can read more about Bernie's travels at his website www.riverearth.com.
Duration:00:22:51
Broken Angel (Holiday Classic)
1/1/2025
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
Duration:00:15:40
Beishan Broadcast Wall (Holiday Classic)
12/31/2024
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
Duration:00:14:17
Anne Spencer’s Garden (Holiday Classic)
12/30/2024
This garden in Lynchburg, Virginia is the key to unlocking the writing and mind of Harlem Renaissance poet Anne Spencer.
Duration:00:13:58
A Quick Hello from Dylan. Plus: We Want Your Dating Travel Stories!
12/28/2024
Just a little check in. Plus: We want to hear your stories of traveling with a significant other for the first time – the good, the bad, and the strange.
You can send an email or voice memo to hello@atlasobscura.com. Or, give us a call at 315-992-7902 and leave a message.
Duration:00:01:21
Milo Bitters (Holiday Classic)
12/27/2024
A listener in Lawrence, Kansas takes us on his journey of discovering the secrets of his hometown.
Duration:00:12:37
Exploring the Abandoned with Blake Pfeil (Holiday Classic)
12/26/2024
Dylan sits down with guest Blake Pfeil about what inspired him to begin exploring abandoned spots, what those spaces have taught him about escapism, sobriety and the sometimes blurry line between real and unreal that he finds there.
MORE: Blake is an artist and adventurer. He’s also the creator and host of the podcast “Abandoned: All-American Ruins.” Check it out here.
Duration:00:24:19
The Shrek Donkey of Barron Park (Holiday Classic)
12/25/2024
We visit a park in Palo Alto, California, home of the world’s most famous donkey.
READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/the-donkeys-of-barron-park-palo-alto-california
Duration:00:14:13
The Tank (Holiday Classic)
12/24/2024
An industrial water tank-turned-concert hall in the high deserts of Colorado is nothing less than a sonic wonder of the world.
READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/the-tank-rangely-colora
Duration:00:13:42
The Timbuktu Manuscripts
12/23/2024
These documents highlight the intellectual legacy of an ancient civilization based in Timbuktu, Mali.
READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/timbuktu-manuscripts-mali
Duration:00:12:56
A Message from Dylan. Plus: Send Us Your Questions!
12/21/2024
A small bit of news, and a request. To ask Dylan your question, send an email or voice memo to hello@atlasobscura.com.
Or, give us a call at 315-992-7902 and leave a message.
Duration:00:01:55
The Portland Treasure Map
12/20/2024
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
Duration:00:14:42