The Atlas Obscura Podcast

Latest Episodes:

A Lost Passport in Berlin… and Baku… and Baghdad Oct 22, 2026

Show notes

Co-host Kelly McEvers has lost her passport – more than once. A lot more than once, actually. And all those mistakes led to some big life moments. And if you want to hear more about Kelly’s encounters with Zora, check out her story from This American Life.

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New York City Used to Be a Forest Oct 21, 2026

Show notes

A plot of old-growth forest in the Bronx is the largest surviving remnant of New York City's original woodland. This episode was produced by Nora Ritchie.

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Pumpkin Patches and Haunted Hotels: An Autumnal Mailbag Oct 20, 2026

Show notes

Kelly, Jerome, and Amanda answer some questions from a very autumnal mailbag – from visiting the LA version of a classic pumpkin patch (80 degrees, full sun, in a parking lot) to the best ways to get some chills and thrills ahead of Halloween.

Places mentioned in this episode:

The LA Natural History Museum Spider Pavilion, Los Angeles, CA
Paranormal Activity on Broadway, NYC
Loved To Death Oddities, San Francisco, CA
The Griswold Inn, Essex, CT

If you have a question for our next one, give us a call, 315-992-7902, and leave a message. You can also record a voice memo and email it to us at hello@atlasobscura.com or email us your question!

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Big Shoes to Fill Oct 19, 2026

Show notes

We step foot into the Haines Shoe House, a famous shoemaker’s ambitious advertising experiment. Then, we trek to the World Famous Giant Shoe Museum, a giant collection from a man’s giant fixation.

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Spooky Szn: Witch Cakes Oct 16, 2026

Show notes

On Fridays this October, we're surfacing strange, incredible and sometimes spooky stories. This episode centers on cakes with a particular ingredient that some believe protected them from witchery - and sparked one of the best-known witch hunts in United States history.

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Hunting for Meteorites with Steve Arnold (Classic) Oct 15, 2026

Show notes

Today we're powering up our metal detectors and keeping a very close eye on the surface of the earth as we set out in the hunt for meteorites with Steve Arnold, who’s been in the game for more than three decades. If you want to learn more, check out Steve’s website, and read this profile of the meteorite hunting community.

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The Slowest Concert in Germany Oct 14, 2026

Show notes

There’s an organ in Halberstadt, Germany that began to play in 2001 and will continue to play until the year 2640. This is the John Cage Organ Project Halberstadt.

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The Lighthouse Keeper (Classic) Oct 13, 2026

Show notes

We go to Fayerweather Island, off the coast of Connecticut, and get the story of Kate Moore, one of the first recorded woman lighthouse keepers. Over several decades, she poured her heart and soul into a task and defied common expectations of what a keeper should be.

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Is This The World’s Most Dangerous Toy? Oct 12, 2026

Show notes

The Griffin Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago has a very unusual artifact in its collection: an object that’s been called “the world’s most dangerous toy.” It’s a science kit from the 1950s, designed to teach kids about the atom and atomic energy, but the twist is…it contains real samples of uranium. We explore the kit’s contents, and the context in which it was made.

Check out the Atlas Obscura video of the kit, and our past episode on Atomic Las Vegas
Explore the archival material mentioned in this episode: “Duck and Cover” (1951), “A is for Atom” (1953), and President Eisenhower’s “Atoms for Peace” speech

Did you have one of these Atomic Energy Lab kits or other atomic toys? Or how about toys that would be considered dangerous today? We want to hear from you: Drop us a line at hello@atlasobscura.com or call us 315-992-7902 and leave a message.

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Spooky Szn: Elmer McCurdy’s Nine Lives Oct 09, 2026

Show notes

On Fridays this October, we're surfacing strange, incredible, sometimes haunted and sometimes spooky places. This episode takes us back to1976, when 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.”

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