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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Easy Russian: Learn Russian with native speakers | Учим русский с носителями языка
Maybe you’re already learning Russian with us on YouTube? On this podcast, we talk about the Russian language and the culture of the Russian-speaking countries from the perspective of our two hosts who left Russia in 2022. We also explain words and expressions and answer your questions. Members also get interactive transcripts, early access and bonus content for each episode. Learn more at www.easyrussian.fm.
Armchair Explorer
The world's greatest adventurers tell their best story from the road. Each episode is cut documentary style and set to music and cinematic effects to create an immersive storytelling experience. 'Best travel podcasts 2020'- The Guardian, 'Thrilling Stuff'-Sunday Times, 'Ear Candy for Listeners' - Washington Post
Easy Italian: Learn Italian with real conversations | Imparare l'italiano con conversazioni reali
Take your Italian from learner to local with Matteo and Raffaele. Immerse yourself in authentic Italian as we share the ups and downs of daily life, interesting stories, and things that will surprise you about Italy. Plus, as a member, you’ll get interactive transcripts with a translation of your choice; bonus content; early access; and our magical vocabulary helper that shows you minute-by-minute translations while you listen. Com'è facile!
The Wren’s Nest (Classic)
The Wren’s Nest in Atlanta is both a museum and former home of journalist Joel Chandler Harris and a hub for modern storytellers.
Nate DiMeo’s Personal Memory Palace
Nate DiMeo, host and creator of The Memory Palace podcast, walks us through some of the rooms in his own personal memory palace. We visit his grandfather’s old nightclub outside Providence, a beloved family home, the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Visible Storage Unit, and a one-of-a-kind collection of glass flowers at Harvard University. Preorder a copy of Nate’s new book, The Memory Palace: True Short Stories of the Past.Check out the Memory Palace podcast, and listen to the episodes Nate made while he was Artist-in-Residence at the Met.
Malaria Bat Roosts
During the early 20th century, malaria was ravaging the world. We hear the story of Dr. Charles Campbell, who had a plan to cure it. But as it turns out, his big idea was… rather batty.
The Sul Ross Desk
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 learn more about the archives containing the Sul Ross desk notebooks.
San Juan Sounds (Classic)
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.
Weed Week: The International Church of Cannabis
Travel to Denver Colorado and meet Steve Berke who helped found the first International Church of Cannabis in 2015. Learn more about it here.
Weed Week: San Francisco Cannabis Buyers’ Club
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 advocates behind the club, and we hear about their unorthodox route to opening it – including why they tried to get busted by the police.
Weed Week: Jirzankal Cemetery
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.
Weed Week: Dope Lake
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 unusual polling location. Or, record a voice memo and email it to us at hello@atlasobscura.com.
Weed Week: Get Inside the CannaVan
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 reporting.
Spooky Week: The Gray Man (Classic)
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-ghost
Spooky Week: The Story of the Mad Gasser with Colin Dickey
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.
Spooky Week: Places That Give Us the Creeps
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.
Spooky Week: No More Scary Stories at Camp
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.
Spooky Week: Elmer McCurdy’s Nine Lives
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 out the Atlas entry for Elmer McCurdy’s grave. For more information on Elmer, we recommend Mark Svenvold’s book “Elmer McCurdy: The Misadventures in Life and Afterlife of an American Outlaw.”