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.
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Mob stories are always all about the guys. But not this one. Anna Genovese is a New York drag club maven and bad-ass mob wife. Hollywood besties Jessica Bendinger (writer, Bring It On) and Michael Seligman (writer, RuPaul’s Drag Race) are obsessed. They piece together Anna's story, racing between speakeasies, mob informants and former drag queens. But will their heroine's secrets unlock more than they want to know about Anna... and themselves?
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In the 1980s, a group of friends on the track team at Sul Ross State University hauled a discarded dorm room desk to the top of a mountain. They left a notebook there to keep track of their run times and leave little notes for each other. Then… other people found it. And then… it started a tradition. Visit the Atlas entry for the Sul Ross desk, and…
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San Juan Sounds is an iconic studio where musicians, engineers, and quite possibly a music-loving ghost carry on the island’s musical traditions, which date back hundreds of years. This episode is produced in partnership with Discover Puerto Rico.By Stitcher Studios & Atlas Obscura
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Weed Week: The International Church of Cannabis
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Travel to Denver Colorado and meet Steve Berke who helped found the first International Church of Cannabis in 2015. Learn more about it here.By Stitcher Studios & Atlas Obscura
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Weed Week: San Francisco Cannabis Buyers’ Club
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The San Francisco Cannabis Buyers’ Club was one of the first marijuana dispensaries in the country. Its members were people with AIDS, cancer, and other serious illnesses, and inside the club had stages, TV lounges, puzzles, and other things that would bring people together. Today, we meet the unexpected mix of gay rights organizers and cannabis ad…
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An ancient cemetery in western China may hold the answer to a question asked by many a stoner: where on Earth did humans first smoke weed to get high? Learn more about the cemetery in this 2019 paper in Science Advances. Keep up with Rob Spengler’s archaeobotany lab here.By Stitcher Studios & Atlas Obscura
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In 1976, an airplane carrying 6,000 pounds of smuggled weed crashed into a remote lake in Yosemite. A group of climbers had a heyday. Read John Long’s account of the crash, and check out Greg Nichols’ reporting on the same subject. Plus: Where is the weirdest place you’ve ever cast a vote? Give us a call at 315-992-7902 and tell us about your local…
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Cannabis is now legal in more than half of U.S. states, but it remains federally illegal – which makes doing research on the plant extremely difficult. Today, we meet a clever group of scientists who found their way around these laws… by literally driving around them. Learn more about the CannaVan, and check out some of Rasha and Emma’s original re…
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A South Carolina ghost story is a harbinger of hurricanes and a window into history. Read more in the Atlas: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/south-carolina-hurricane-ghostBy Stitcher Studios & Atlas Obscura
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Spooky Week: The Story of the Mad Gasser with Colin Dickey
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In 1944, a strange spate of “gas attacks” in a small Midwestern town reveals what was really lurking in mid-century America. Read Colin Dickey’s article about the mad gasser, and check out his Monster of the Month series.By Stitcher Studios & Atlas Obscura
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Spooky Week: Places That Give Us the Creeps
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Listener stories about places that give off big creepy vibes – from an abandoned ice factory to a haunted university music building. If you want to hear more about Luz Fleming’s ghost story, there’s a whole episode about it called Bennington Ghost Stories on a podcast called Yard Tales.By Stitcher Studios & Atlas Obscura
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Spooky Week: No More Scary Stories at Camp
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To avoid traumatizing kids, many summer camps are banning scary stories. But can a little fun with fear be a good thing? Check out Roxanne Hoorn’s article about this fading tradition.By Stitcher Studios & Atlas Obscura
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In 1976, a television crew filming an episode of the show “The Six Million Dollar Man” descended on a rundown funhouse in Long Beach, California. While filming, they accidentally broke the arm off a wax dummy. Except...it wasn't a wax dummy. It was a real body. The body of a notorious train robber from the early 1900s, named Elmer McCurdy. Check ou…
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The Smallest Mollusk Museum in New York City is part of a fleet of tiny museums that might just have a big impact on the world.By Stitcher Studios & Atlas Obscura
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Kelly and Zach Weinersmith walk Dylan through the practicalities of making a home on the red planet. Check out their book A City on Mars everywhere books are sold.By Stitcher Studios & Atlas Obscura
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Outside the French Quarter lies Hidden South, an antique shop like any other. And hidden amongst the oddities is a bathroom full of secrets.By Stitcher Studios & Atlas Obscura
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Producer Alexa Lim visits a collection of natural aromas in Berkeley, California. She gets a whiff of some of the world’s lesser known smells, and stumbles down the rabbit hole of the hidden world of scents.By Stitcher Studios & Atlas Obscura
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Bessie Stringfield, Motorcycle Queen of Miami
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In the 1930s and 1940s, a young Black woman named Bessie Stringfield decided she’d strike out on her own and hit the road – and ended up crisscrossing the United States eight times, and becoming the first Black woman to ride a motorcycle through each of the lower 48 states. If she ran out of money, she’d join a circus. If she couldn’t find a place …
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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. For more stories from the Divorce Colony, check out April White's book:The Divorce Colony: How Women Revolutionized Marriage and Found Freedom on the American Frontier.…
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Reporter Diana Hubbell brings us to an island off the coast of Georgia, and tells Dylan the story of an eccentric heiress, a daring mission, and the fight for North America’s most unusual pig. Read Diana’s James Beard Award-winning article called “Saving the Hogs of Ossabaw Island.”By Stitcher Studios & Atlas Obscura
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Producer Talon Stradley takes us on a tour of three skinny houses – each with a big story inside. Do these skinny houses have you curious about spite houses? Check out that episode here.By Stitcher Studios & Atlas Obscura
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A Visit to the Reptile Super Show with Jacob Wysocki
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Comedian, actor, and podcaster Jacob Wysocki takes Dylan on a tour of a very special expo: The Reptile Super Show! Listen to Jacob’s full experience at the Reptile Super Show (and his journey to other expos) here.By Stitcher Studios & Atlas Obscura
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We’re bringing you stories about places that you can no longer visit – this time we have stories about a hometown hangout spot, a beloved amusement park, a mural building in Queens, and a disappearing natural wonder. Plus: We want to know about places that give you the creeps. Places that get under your skin and give you that eerie feeling. Give us…
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We go inside a place that some paranormal investigators call the most active haunted location in the world. Before it was known as the inspiration for Stephen King...the Stanley Hotel had a reputation -- and ghosts -- of its own. Find more information about the Stanley Hotel and its events online. This episode was produced with Visit Colorado. From…
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The City Hall in Lincoln, Illinois has an unusual architectural appendage with a curious history. Read more about it here.By Stitcher Studios & Atlas Obscura
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The Most (and Least) Accessible Travel Destinations with Cory Lee
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Traveling as a wheelchair user comes with some unique accessibility challenges, but Cory Lee has managed to visit 48 countries and all 7 continents. Cory is a travel blogger who shares his stories and tips for disabled travelers. He shares some of the most (and least) accessible destinations, hurdles he has encountered, and a few of his favorite me…
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