The Atlas Obscura Podcast

Host Kelly McEvers and producers Jerome and Amanda answer your questions about traveling while sick, memorable souvenirs and their best detours.

If you have a question for our next mailbag episode, give us a call at 315-992-7902 and leave a message. You can also record a voice memo and email it to us at Hello@AtlasObscura.com, or simply email your question.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

From alchemy to doomsday prophecies, we delve into the lore of Johannes Kelpius, a mystic believed to have started a cult in the Wissahickon Valley near Philadelphia.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

In 2007, excavators dug 70-odd years’ worth of trash and debris from a cave in Hoboken, New Jersey. It had once been a popular recreation spot, and home to a natural spring that was supposed to have healing properties. But then in 1841 everything changed when the body of a young woman – a beautiful young “cigar girl” well-known in Lower Manhattan – turned up by the cave. The murder shocked and fascinated the people of New York and New Jersey and activated fears about many social issues of the day. It also caught the attention of one guy you’ve definitely heard of... Edgar Allan Poe, who used the story as inspiration for one of the first detective stories ever written. 

Sibyl’s Cave… a hidden wonder...and the possible birthplace of “true crime”?

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Brad Ryan has traveled to all 63 U.S National Parks. But he’s not done it alone. He traveled with his grandmother, who was in her mid-80s when they first started. Now, he’s got a book out all about it titled Grandma Joy and Me: A Journey of Healing One National Park at A Time. 

Plus, we’d like to hear from you. Tell us your stories about visiting the U.S National Parks. Which ones have you been to? Which ones are you looking forward to? Did everything go as planned? Did anything surprising happen? Tell us all about it. Give us a call at 315-992-7902 and leave a message with your story and your name. You can also record a voice memo and email it to us at Hello@AtlasObscura.com. 

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

We meet the robot saints – sculptures made of wood and wire, of cams and pulleys during medieval times – that might just help us understand this new AI age we all find ourselves living in.

LEARN MORE about these inventions by reading City University of New York Professor Christopher Swift’s 2015 paper about these automated figures.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.