The Atlas Obscura Podcast

Today’s show is all about unusual dating spots. And to help, Eden Dawn, co-author of The Portland Book of Dates and The Seattle Book of Dates, joins Dylan to answer some of your questions about travel and dating.

Transcribed - Published: 4 August 2025

A South Carolina ghost story is a harbinger of hurricanes and a window into history. All this week, the Atlas Obscura Podcast is hitting the sand, and taking a tour of the world’s most unusual beaches.

Transcribed - Published: 1 August 2025

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.

Transcribed - Published: 31 July 2025

Boulders Beach in Simon’s Town in South Africa is a destination where sunbathers, tourists, and penguins share both the beach and parts of the town. All this week, the Atlas Obscura Podcast is hitting the sand, and taking a tour of the world’s most unusual beaches.

Transcribed - Published: 30 July 2025

This beautiful beach made of sand and worn down coral is covered in the wreckage of tanks once used by the U.S. military for target practice. All this week, the Atlas Obscura Podcast is hitting the sand, and taking a tour of the world’s most unusual beaches.

Transcribed - Published: 29 July 2025

In 2006 a massive haul of Doritos was shipwrecked on Hatteras Island on the Outer Banks, leaving its mark on the town forever. All this week, the Atlas Obscura Podcast is hitting the sand, and taking a tour of the world’s most unusual beaches.

Transcribed - Published: 28 July 2025

A couple created what is perhaps the cutest and most filling micro-store to pop up during the pandemic. But to find it, you’ll have to trek through rural Vermont and look for the phone-booth sized box filled with baked goods.

Transcribed - Published: 25 July 2025

In the 1800s, people flocked to a special gravestone in New York City’s Trinity Churchyard. They left flowers and cards and even wept. But there was one strange thing about this gravestone: No one was buried beneath it.

Transcribed - Published: 24 July 2025

We share stories about our neighbors – from an unusual pet in Maryland, to an out-of-place front yard in Brooklyn, to a beekeeper with a secret. Plus: We want to hear YOUR neighbor stories! Tell us about your neighbors’ yards, their house decor, their habits – and what you like about them. Give us a call at 315-992-7902 and leave a message telling us your name and favorite story about your neighbors. Or you can record a voice memo and email it to us at [email protected]

Transcribed - Published: 23 July 2025

An elite group of ravens live at the Tower of London, anxiously monitored and lovingly tended to by a professional ravenmaster. Because according to legend, if these ravens were ever to leave, the crown of England would fall. But it turns out this “ancient” legend is a relatively recent invention.

Transcribed - Published: 22 July 2025

Today, we’re sharing an episode from our new podcast documentary series, Charlie’s Place. Beloved, notorious, defiant, folk hero – these are just a few ways to describe Charlie Fitzgerald, the entrepreneur who owned an integrated nightclub during Jim Crow in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. What happened in Myrtle Beach at Charlie’s would come to define a community and generations to come. This is the almost forgotten history of Charlie’s Place. Charlie's Place is a production of Atlas Obscura and Rococo Punch in partnership with Pushkin Industries and presented by Visit Myrtle Beach.

Transcribed - Published: 21 July 2025

A small cemetery in the grasslands of Kenya serves as a way to honor one of the most endangered animals in the world – the rhino – and elevate the plight of a species on the brink.

Transcribed - Published: 18 July 2025

A French curator infiltrates a Nazi army to save masterpieces from the Jeu De Paume museum. Read more in Michelle Young’s new book, The Art Spy: The Extraordinary Untold Tale of WWII Resistance Hero Rose Valland.

Transcribed - Published: 17 July 2025

A map in the archives of the Oregon Historical Society Research Library in Portland, Oregon may be the key to finding buried treasure that has yet to be found. This episode was produced in partnership with Travel Portland.

Transcribed - Published: 16 July 2025

In 1975, a man in Seward, Nebraska dug a gigantic hole in his yard and made the world’s largest time capsule. On July 4, 2025, the capsule was opened.

Transcribed - Published: 15 July 2025

Dylan and producers Johanna and Amanda answer listener questions about solo travel. Have a question for Dylan? Give us a call at 315-992-7902 and leave a message. You can also record a voice memo and email it to us at [email protected], or simply email your question.

Transcribed - Published: 14 July 2025

A Seattle restaurant pushes diners to eat beyond their borders through its embrace of global street foods.

Transcribed - Published: 11 July 2025

The Pan-American Highway is considered the longest road in the world – it stretches nearly 20,000 miles, from Alaska to Argentina. In her new docuseries Pati Jinich Explores PanAmericana, Pati talks with people along the famous route about the different ways we form our identities. And she was particularly interested in exploring this territory because of her own unique cultural background.

Transcribed - Published: 10 July 2025

Early polar explorers faced long nights and dangerous expeditions. To entertain themselves, they wrote and published niche newspapers and periodicals. Atlas Obscura’s community editor Allegra Rosenberg reads an essay exploring this unique polar tradition. Read her full essay here.

Transcribed - Published: 9 July 2025

Chalet Cheese Cooperative in Monroe, Wisconsin is the last cheese plant left in America that makes the ultra-stinky Limburger cheese: a cheese that inspires equal parts loving and loathing, has been banned for its assaulting smell, and that once sparked a feud between two cities.

Transcribed - Published: 8 July 2025

A few weeks ago, the Atlas Obscura staff told us where they would spend their last days before the apocalypse. Now we’re sharing your stories – from a childhood home in a small town in Illinois, to a trip in Eastern Europe, to a pizzeria in Brooklyn and a cave in Utah. Plus: We want to hear your stories about your neighbors! Tell us about your neighbors’ front yards, back yards, house decor – and what you like about them. Is there a neighbor in your block who goes all the way every holiday to have the best decorations? Or maybe there's someone who has a wacky display year round? Maybe someone has an incredible garden, or some homemade art sculptures. Did they inspire you? Give us a call at 315-992-7902 and leave a message telling us your name and story. Or you can record a voice memo and email it to us at [email protected]

Transcribed - Published: 7 July 2025

The grooves cut in this road outside Lancaster, CA play the finale of the William Tell Overture.

Transcribed - Published: 4 July 2025

If you were to visit a cigar factory in Cuba, you’d hear something unexpected: the sound of the daily news report, or maybe a poem or a novel, being read aloud. The cigar “reader” is a tradition held by just a handful of people, and it came from a fundamentally revolutionary idea. Eliot Stein, author of Custodians of Wonder, joins Dylan to explain.

Transcribed - Published: 3 July 2025

One of the many objects that went down with the ship during the sinking of the Titanic was a beautiful, jewel-encrusted edition of a poetry book called the “Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam.” The Rubaiyat was probably the most famous work of poetry in the English-speaking world at that time…which was somewhat unusual, as the book was written by a Persian mathematician 800 years before. For more information about Omar Khayyam and the Rubaiyat, check out the books “Persian Presence in Victorian Poetry” by Taher-Kermani Reza, “The Wine of Wisdom: The Life, Poetry and Philosophy of Omar Khayyam” by Mehdi Aminrazavi, and the BBC documentary “The Genius of Omar Khayyam.”

Transcribed - Published: 2 July 2025

In Antarctica, researchers bid farewell to an iconic fixture: a big red bus named Ivan.

Transcribed - Published: 1 July 2025

To round out Pride Month, we’re sharing one of our favorite classic episodes. 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.

Transcribed - Published: 30 June 2025

Let’s all go to hell. Seriously. Hell, Michigan, that is :)

Transcribed - Published: 27 June 2025

In an homage to the 1995 movie Four Rooms, Dylan talks with historian Susan Wilson about how the history of Boston – and the United States at large – was influenced by events that occurred in four different rooms of the iconic Omni Parker House Hotel. This episode was recorded live at the WBUR Festival in Boston on May 31, 2025.

Transcribed - Published: 26 June 2025

A couple months ago, we asked for your stories about traveling with a significant other for the first time. We got so many responses, that we decided to make a Part II. Plus, we want to hear your questions about travel and dating! In a few weeks, we’ll have dating expert Eden Dawn on the show to dish out answers. Give us a call at 315-992-7902 and leave a message telling us your name and question. Or record a voice memo and email it to us at [email protected].

Transcribed - Published: 25 June 2025

In a small rural town in Colombia, one man mounts books on the backs of donkeys and takes to the hills. This is how he operates his bookmobile, aka “Biblioburro.” For more information about where to support Luis Soriano’s Biblioburro, visit booksforchangeusa.org

Transcribed - Published: 24 June 2025

The TV show Columbo, about a loveable schlub detective, is internationally beloved. But Hungary has an extra special relationship with the show, dating all the way back to the 1970s when the communist government banned most other American shows.

Published: 23 June 2025

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

Transcribed - Published: 20 June 2025

For decades, the Ashley House in Sheffield, Massachusetts preserved and promoted the story of Col. John Ashley, a wealthy businessman who opened his home to those fighting against British rule on the eve of America’s war for independence. But in this episode we hear a new narrative, about an enslaved woman and true patriot who tested the rhetoric of the revolution.

Transcribed - Published: 19 June 2025

The National Library of Sweden is home to the largest medieval manuscript still in existence: an enormous, three-foot-tall Bible with an unusual portrait of the devil inside (along with a calendar, some spells, and a lengthy confession of the writer’s sins and temptations). Legend has it that it was created by a monk under duress over the course of one evening… with some supernatural help.

Transcribed - Published: 18 June 2025

Fifteen years ago, drones were considered toys. Today, there’s everywhere – both in the news and physically. But before the big splashy news stories like the recent New Jersey drone panic, a much quieter – and stranger – incident took place at a highly secure Air Force base. Read more of Gordon Lubold’s reporting.

Transcribed - Published: 17 June 2025

Dylan and producers Johanna and Amanda take your questions. For our next mailbag, we’re looking for questions about solo travel. If you have a question for Dylan about traveling by yourself, give us a call at 315-992-7902 and leave a message. You can also record a voice memo and email it to us at [email protected], or simply email your question.

Transcribed - Published: 16 June 2025

We want to hear about your favorite unusual local date spots. One rule: No romantic restaurants! Where are the places that you bust out when you’re really trying to impress someone with an obscure, off the beaten track spot? And, we want to hear your questions about travel and dating, cause we'll have an expert on the show soon to dish out answers. Give us a call at 315-992-7902 and leave a message telling us your name and story. Our mailbox will cut you off after 3 minutes so please call back if you get disconnected. Or record and send a voice memo to [email protected].

Transcribed - Published: 14 June 2025

A midwest city has embraced what it means to be the namesake hometown of one very famous superhero. And at its center is a museum that holds the carefully cultivated collection of one superfan.

Transcribed - Published: 13 June 2025

In the 1960s, the band the Grateful Dead became consumed by a quest that would take up 10 years, cost millions of dollars, and almost break up the band. It was the quest for audio perfection – to bring crystal clear sound from the front row to the nosebleeds and back again. It’s a story that takes us from the infamous acid tests of the 1960s to standing in front of a 60-foot tall wall of 600 speakers…and to tell it we’re joined by Brian Anderson, author of “Loud and Clear: The Grateful Dead’s Wall of Sound and the Quest for Audio Perfection.”

Transcribed - Published: 12 June 2025

The staff here at Atlas Obscura answered an unsettling question for this episode: Where would you spend the last day before the apocalypse? Some interesting truths come out. Plus, we want to hear from you. Tell us where YOU would spend your last day before the hypothetical apocalypse. What connection do you have with this place? Why would you spend it there? What would you do if you had the whole place to yourself? Give us a call at 315-992-7902 and leave a message telling us your name and story. Or record a voice memo and email it to us at [email protected]

Transcribed - Published: 11 June 2025

An ancient book contains a controversial Greek recipe, one of the earliest examples of patent law, and answers for a perennial problem: how to make conversation at a dinner party.

Transcribed - Published: 10 June 2025

The Haskell Free Library and Opera House sits half in Canada, half in the United States. For over a century, it was a symbol of friendship between the two nations. Then, the library got caught in the crossfire of a much bigger struggle.

Transcribed - Published: 9 June 2025

We visit one of California’s longest-running tourist attractions: A giant stump that helped spark the movement to preserve the state’s natural places. For more unusual stories, lists, and offbeat itineraries, check out the Atlas Obscura Explorer’s Guide to the National Parks.

Transcribed - Published: 6 June 2025

On a summer day in 1976, four friends had a strange experience in the Northwoods of Maine that would come back to haunt them decades later. Today, we’re exploring the hidden morbid side of the national parks system with our friends from National Park After Dark. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. For more unusual stories, lists, and offbeat itineraries, check out the Atlas Obscura Explorer’s Guide to the National Parks.

Transcribed - Published: 5 June 2025

We visit a mysterious sinkhole in Arizona that has befuddled an exclusive group of divers who’ve gotten a glimpse of a strange world at its sandy bottom. For more unusual stories, lists, and offbeat itineraries, check out the Atlas Obscura Explorer’s Guide to the National Parks.

Transcribed - Published: 4 June 2025

A 50-square-mile patch of Yellowstone National Park in Idaho might just be the perfect place to commit a crime. For more unusual stories, lists, and offbeat itineraries, check out the Atlas Obscura Explorer’s Guide to the National Parks.

Transcribed - Published: 3 June 2025

In March of 2024, a park ranger and volunteer were taking their regular walk together around Big Bend National Park. They came across a teeny tiny fuzzy little plant with unusual ribbon-like flowers bursting out of the center – something neither of them had ever seen before. As it turned out, they had stumbled on a rare scientific discovery.

Transcribed - Published: 2 June 2025

Spring is a popular time to visit Colonial Williamsburg, not least because it’s “lambing season,” the time of year when baby lambs are born and take their first steps (which is obviously very, very cute). But small as they are, these lambs have a big baaa-ckstory (sorry) – they are part of a breed that was once guarded like a trade secret, was smuggled into the American colonies, went extinct in the US in the early 20th century, and then was brought back right here at Colonial Williamsburg. This episode was produced in partnership with Visit Williamsburg.

Transcribed - Published: 31 May 2025

We will always love Dolly Parton, who’s installed a “dreambox” time capsule at her amusement park. In it, there’s a secret song that no one will hear until the legendary artist turns 100. LEARN MORE about Dolly’s songwriting prowess in Unlikely Angel, a book by Hamilton College professor Lydia Hammesley.

Transcribed - Published: 30 May 2025

Today, we’re sharing an episode from our friends at the Sporkful. Dan Pashman goes on a tour of Los Angeles, with an Atlas Obscura guide in hand. In search of an elusive slice of coconut cake, Dan begins at the airport, takes a detour to an underground tunnel system, and pays a visit to a very unusual store: Time Travel Mart.

Transcribed - Published: 29 May 2025