The Atlas Obscura Podcast

Turns out, complaining about bad service really is as old as time. Hear the story of an ancient Babylonian clay tablet that has launched a slew of modern memes. Click here for more.

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 our hands dirty alongside the world’s most skilled in all-things chopping…and rolling. This episode is produced in partnership w ith GoUSA TV. If you want to see more Small Town, Big Story, watch now on GoUSA TV or on YouTube. You can learn more about visiting Hayward here: https://haywardareachamber.com/

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 ATLAS:https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/no-experience-required

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 memo and send it to hello@atlasobscura.com or leave a voicemail at 315-992-7902.

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 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 leave a voicemail at 315-992-7902.READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/cardiff-giant

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 leave a voicemail at 315-992-7902.

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 leave a voicemail at 315-992-7902.

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, whose new novel Witches looks at the lives of Mexican women who inherit gifts, and draws inspiration from the true story of a Mazatec Indigenous healer, or curandera, in Oaxaca who worked with psilocybin mushrooms in the 1950s and 60s. Plus, we revisit a recent conversation with author Dorthe Nors to learn more about the burnings of witch effigies along the rugged Danish coast.For more from Women Who Travel, visit their website.

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: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/museum-quackery

Asheville is a well-known foodie destination. In this ep we hear about a group that takes visitors into the wild – to learn all about North Carolina’s incredible biodiversity and to enjoy the foods that grow all around them. This episode is coproduced with Explore Asheville.LEARN MORE about No Taste Like Home here. And find more cool things to do when you visit Asheville here.