Places with a Purpose

Every year, lumberjacks and lumberjills from around the world flock to Hayward, Wisconsin – a couple hours north of Minneapolis – to compete in the Lumberjack World Championships. Join us as we get ou...

11 Jul 202317min

For years, students at Bennington College snuck into a locked room for a glimpse of strange and magical instruments created by professor Gunnar Schonbeck. Today, we join his orchestra.READ MORE IN THE...

10 Jul 202313min

In this final installment of summer stories we tackle a topic that transcends the seasons—the captivating magic of water during travel. If you’d like to share a story about your summer, record a voice...

7 Jul 20239min

In this installment we hear a listener’s tale of a theological dispute that became a real money-maker known to some as “Old Hoaxy.” This is the third of a series of listener-powered episodes about sum...

6 Jul 202312min

This is the second of a series of listener-powered episodes about summer travel stories. If you’d like to share a story about your summer, record a voice memo and send it to hello@atlasobscura.com or ...

5 Jul 202312min

This is the first of a series of listener-powered episodes about summer travel stories. If you’d like to share a story about your summer, record a voice memo and send it to hello@atlasobscura.com or l...

4 Jul 202313min

The nights in the northern hemisphere are drawing in, which means whispering stories of witches and spirits are top of mind for many of us. Lale chats with Mexico City-based author Brenda Lozano, whos...

3 Jul 202325min

We visit what might be the world’s largest collection of fraudulent, nefarious, or otherwise ineffectual medical machinery -- and meet the founder who brought it all together. READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: ...

30 Jun 202318min