The Atlas Obscura Podcast

Jerry Roth, a retired Forrest, Illinois resident who converted a chapel into a quirky local museum. The tour showcases thousands of hats stapled to church walls and a surprising basement of pens, matchbooks, and town memorabilia. Jerry explains renovating the building, collecting rules, community donations, and how the collection will stay with the local historical society.

A lively mailbag exploring whether some trips are best shared or tackled solo. A fun debate about safety, etiquette, and whether to tell friends you’re visiting. Playful recommendations for the perfect in-flight movie, from cartoons to tearjerkers and dialogue-heavy picks. Practical tips on staying with friends versus booking a hotel.

A lively recounting of a trip to Ganvie, the so-called Venice of Africa. Colorful stilt houses and kid-piloted boats paint a vivid scene. The conversation explores the floating marketplace and dense boat traffic. Origins of the stilt village and its sacred voodoo sites are described. Reflections on human adaptation and respect for the lake close the story.

Marina Marchese, beekeeper and trained honey sommelier who authored The World Atlas of Honey, leads a globe-spanning tasting. She explains honey terroir and how soil, climate, and bees shape flavors. Listens to unusual varieties from mad honey to bitter Sardinian strawberry tree and savory Yemeni cedar. Short, sensory-filled scenes of tasting and beekeeping life.

Two classic April Fools' hoaxes take center stage: a hairy, red-eyed creature that terrorized a small Arkansas town and the story of a ruby-eyed sea serpent built as a mechanical tourism stunt in New York. Short, spooky tales show how sightings spread and how communities turned tall tales into local legend and celebration.

A tall tale about a sixteenth century mayor whose famous beard became a symbol of status and imperial favor. They trace how facial hair signified nobility and power in central Europe. Then a bizarre accident turns vanity into tragedy, and the beard itself becomes a preserved relic in a local museum.

Daren Grover, general manager at Project Jonah and marine mammal rescue coordinator, led volunteer responses to mass pilot whale strandings at Farewell Spit. He recounts the late-night call, hands-on rescue tactics like cooling and positioning whales, the kilometer-long human chain for refloating, and coping with repeated strandings and new tech for predicting events.

Joe Taft, founder and operator of the Exotic Feline Rescue Center in Indiana who has cared for hundreds of big cats. He describes the center’s scale and why many captive-bred lions, tigers, and leopards cannot be released. He tells stories of human-bonded animals like Frosty, contrasts USDA standards with his larger enclosures, and explains why private ownership often fails.

Sue Aikens, longtime Alaskan Arctic resident and author of North of Ordinary, reflects on decades living at the remote Kavik oil-camp and the wild life that shaped her. She recalls survival stories, a raven named George, a grizzly attack she survived, and why solitude and the tundra fit her spirit. The conversation traces loss, resilience, and returning to the childhood cabin that saved her.

Todd LaRue, director of special projects and author who spent a decade touring hundreds of Los Angeles museums. He talks about how his roadside and folk-site interests launched the project. He defines what counts as a museum and the geographic scope he used. He shares quirky finds like street lighting archives, nostalgia-filled Valley Relics, and a surprising Vietnamese-American history museum.