Spooky Week: Elmer McCurdy’s Nine Lives

The Ether Dome in Boston was once filled with the screams of patients undergoing painful surgeries. In 1846, everything changed with the first successful use of anesthesia, transforming medicine forev...

3 Dec 202419min

Mohawk ironworkers built many of New York City’s iconic skyscrapers. But simultaneously, they were also building a lesser known neighborhood of their own in downtown Brooklyn – one that would become h...

2 Dec 202414min

This week and next, we’re presenting Sound Influence: The Art and Soul of Puerto Rico. The Río Piedras-based comedy band Los Rivera Destino talk about their musical childhoods, how making a music vide...

29 Nov 202426min

Today and tomorrow, we’re presenting Sound Influence: The Art and Soul of Puerto Rico.  Legendary actress, singer, dancer and EGOT winner Rita Moreno shares memories of sugar cane, coquís and parranda...

28 Nov 202429min

Producer Gabby Gladney sees her South Side Chicago neighborhood in a new light thanks to Mahogany Bus Tours, a local company sharing hidden histories around the city.Read a profile of Dilla, and check...

27 Nov 202414min

In the 1880s, an eccentric California dentist gave away free public water fountains in the hopes they would encourage people to drink less alcohol. One of them went to the small town of Rockville, Con...

26 Nov 202415min

Listener stories about the places we’re thankful for – from a beloved neighborhood, to an odd and out-of-place house down the block, to a library that inspired one listener to become a writer herself....

25 Nov 202410min

Catoosa, Oklahoma is the cite of a massive landlocked whale - and possibly the greatest anniversary gift ever.READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/catoosa-whale Hosted by Simple...

22 Nov 202413min