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The Atlas Obscura Podcast — Places & Travel
The Atlas Obscura Podcast

Your guide to the world’s strange, incredible, and wondrous places. Kelly McEvers and a neighborhood of Atlas Obscura reporters transport you to a new wonder every day. Along the way, you’ll meet fascinating people and hear their stories.

Copyright: © 2024 Midroll Media

Latest Episodes:

The Miraculous Staircase Sep 30, 2025

Show notes

The Loretto Chapel in Santa Fe, New Mexico has a pretty unusual spiral staircase – it winds round and round like a DNA helix, and has no visible center “bar” for support. But the story of the staircase’s origins is even stranger. It was built by an itinerant carpenter who wandered in from the desert – and 200 years later, we’re still not sure who it was.

This episode was brought to you in partnership with Visit Santa Fe. Find out more about visiting the Loretto Chapel here:

https://www.lorettochapel.com/staircase?srsltid=AfmBOorVB6TCf7cxF3k4Ctc3PSgBTy40A9Zl3lzWWvz5jc3vH-AgYuu9

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What You Collect Sep 29, 2025

Show notes

Listeners share stories about their most treasured collections.

Plus: We want to hear your stories about traveling with kids! 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 hello@atlasobscura.com

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Under Our Feet: The Mail Rail Sep 26, 2025

Show notes

We go underground in London, where there is a railway built for one purpose and one purpose only: to keep the city’s mail moving on time. All this week, we’re heading underground to discover the stories beneath our feet.

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Under Our Feet: Damanhur Sep 25, 2025

Show notes

We visit northern Italy, where a mysterious religious community founded by an insurance agent–turned–spiritual leader spent 15 years constructing an underground temple.

All this week, we’re heading underground to discover the stories beneath our feet.

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Under Our Feet: Upton Chamber Sep 24, 2025

Show notes

We visit an underground chamber in Upton, Massachusetts, that’s puzzled some New Englanders – while others long knew its ancient origins. All this week, we’re heading underground to discover the stories beneath our feet.

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Under Our Feet: Forestiere Underground Gardens Sep 23, 2025

Show notes

We visit an underground oasis in Fresno, California, that’s a winding maze of rooms and passageways filled with lush citrus trees. All this week, we’re heading underground to discover the stories beneath our feet.

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Under Our Feet: Exploring the Underworld With Jessica Leigh Hester Sep 22, 2025

Show notes

Jessica Leigh Hester joins us on a deep dive into the sewer, the subject of her appropriately-titled book, Sewer. She and Dylan talk about some of the interesting (and disgusting) things she found there… like fatbergs.

All this week, we’re heading underground to discover the stories beneath our feet.

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Priscilla’s Homecoming (Classic) Sep 19, 2025

Show notes

The story of Thomalind and Priscilla is 300 years in the making and brings listeners to Bunce Island, off the coast of Sierra Leone.

READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/bunce-island

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Traveling Grannies with Ellie and Sandy Sep 18, 2025

Show notes

Inspired by the novel and movie Around the World in Eighty Days, Eleanor Hamby and Dr. Sandra Hazelip (Ellie and Sandy) ventured out and took the world by storm as they turned 81 years old.

Ellie and Sandy’s book, Here We Go: Lessons for Living Fearlessly from Two Traveling Nanas, is out now!

And if their story resonated with you about traveling at an older age, tell us about it. 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 hello@atlasobscura.com

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Portland’s War of the Roses Sep 17, 2025

Show notes

The International Rose Test Garden in Portland, Oregon is a rose-lover’s paradise: there’s over 10,000 bushes and 625 varieties from all over the world. And there’s a great story about how the garden came to be: During WWI, the people of Portland reached out to the gardeners of Europe offering to take care of their plants and save them from destruction. Rachel Burlington, the garden’s curator, wanted to learn more about this, so she started digging into the archives and made a surprising discovery: It wasn’t… quite… true. Rachel tells us what she’s learned about the garden’s origins, and the battle between West Coast cities to be “The City of Roses.”

Learn more about the Portland International Rose Test Garden: https://www.portland.gov/parks/washington-park-international-rose-test-garden

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