After experiencing burn out, South Korean artist WoopsYang decides to take a rest and create an environment for others to space out… by having a competition.   

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We want to know about places that give you the creeps. Places that get under your skin, give you that eerie feeling. And why? Give us a call at 315-992-7902 and leave a message telling us your name and story. Just so you know, our mailbox will cut you off after two minutes so please call back in  if you get disconnected. You can also record a voice memo and email it to us at Hello@AtlasObscura.com

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In Myrtle Beach, mini-golf is not so mini. They’re hosting the Mini-Golf Masters, where titans of the tiny game will compete to see who rises to the top. 

This episode was produced in partnership with Visit Myrtle Beach. Whether you’re a golfer or just looking to relax, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, is 60 miles where you belong. Learn more at VisitMyrtleBeach.com

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We head to the cliffs of Balneario El Condor in Argentina to visit a parrot city… and the parrot suburbs. And we meet the biologist who risks his life to study them. 

Learn more about the parrot colony and Juan Masello’s work. 

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How 78 toilets exposed a Cold War secret in Carp, Ontario.

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In the late 1980s, a goose named Andy was born without webbed feet. A local Nebraskan inventor made him a pair of customized baby shoes and grew to care for the goose. But then – Andy was murdered. Twenty years later, the inventor's granddaughter picks up the pieces. To learn more information about Andy the Goose, check out Jessica’s website. You can also find information about attending Jessica’s one-woman show in Hastings on October 19th here. And check out Atlas Obscura reporter Cara Giaimo’s original story about Andy from 2016 which helped crack open this case.

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This summer we learned about a 15,000-year-old oak tree in California that was facing a potential housing development. Today, we learn its fate. Listen to our original episode about the Jurupa Oak here. Read Shannon Osaka’s article about the recent decision here.

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This experimental automotive replica of Stonehenge has become a symbol of the town of Alliance, Nebraska. But residents haven’t always been fans.

READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/carhenge

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Every summer, more than 10,000 people flock to this Pennsylvania town for two weeks for the largest gathering of medieval arts and culture anywhere in the world. This episode was produced in partnership with GoUSATV based on a video series we do with them called Small Town Big Story. To see this massive battle for yourself, check out our video about Slippery Rock.  

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We go to a central Wyoming town, just a couple hours from Yellowstone, that's appropriately named Thermopolis. City of Heat. It’s home to one of the largest mineral hot springs in the world. But it turns out this town of less than 3,000 is also home to so much more. It’s a literal melting pot — of boiling water, rich rock formations, bath robes and dinosaur bones. This episode was produced in partnership with GoUSATV based on a video series we do with them called Small Town Big Story.  To see some of the largest mineral hot springs in the world for yourself, check out our video about Thermopolis.

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We’re visiting a town 150 miles west of New Orleans in the absolute heart of Cajun country, where every year, thousands of people come from across the country to march through the streets, play music, celebrate French culture, and cook up an absolutely enormous omelet. This episode was produced in partnership with GoUSATV based on a video series we do with them called Small Town Big Story. To see the giant omelet for yourself, check out our video about Abbeville. 

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Every October, amateurs and professionals alike gather in this small town in the Appalachian Mountains to hone their storytelling chops and share them with crowds of thousands. In this episode, host Dylan Thuras takes his turn at the mic during the National Storytelling Festival.

This episode was produced in partnership with GoUSATV based on a video series we do with them called Small Town Big Story. To check out the storytelling capital of the world for yourself, check out our video about Jonesborough. 

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Steve and Amy Hartbauer have turned their home in residential Denver, CO into a massive mosaic and decade’s long expression of inner inspiration. 

READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/enchanted-hart-haus

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Dylan talks with journalist and author Ed Conway about three materials that our entire civilization depends on: salt, copper, and sand. They visit the biggest man-made hole on Earth, a salt mine large enough to fit the Eiffel Tower inside it, and a single mine in North Carolina that is essential to nearly all the world’s computer chips. 

If you want to learn more, check out Ed’s book: Material World: The Six Raw Materials That Shape Modern Civilization.

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We asked you to send us stories about places you can no longer visit – and nearly everyone wrote in about a beloved closed restaurant. So today, we hear your stories of places you can no longer EAT.             

We still want to hear your stories about other places you can no longer visit (beyond restaurants). Give us a call at 315-992-7902 and leave a message telling us your name and story. Or, record a voice memo and email it to us at hello@atlasobscura.com.  

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In Boston’s Beacon Hill neighborhood, there was once a revolutionary community for African Americans willing to do whatever it took to maintain their own freedom – and help others achieve theirs. Learn more about planning a trip to Smith Court via the Black Heritage Trail.

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Zahra Hankir is the author of the book Eyeliner: A Cultural History. She brings Dylan to three places across the globe where eyeliner plays a key cultural role: Egypt, Chad, and Los Angeles.

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The hunt to memorialize Rhode Island’s founder created one of the state’s strangest and most enduring myths. Learn more about Roger Williams relationship to local indigenous tribes here.

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Cookbook author and Sporkful host Dan Pashman sets out on a research trip across Italy in search of highly regional pasta dishes that he can’t find anywhere else. Along the way, he learns a shocking truth about Italy and pasta, and ponders innovation and authenticity in one of the world’s most popular cuisines.  Check out Dan’s new cookbook, Anything's Pastable: 81 Inventive Pasta Recipes for Saucy People. 

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In May 2024, tractors across the American Midwest stalled. But that was only the first piece of a much larger story. Journalist Jason Koebler takes us to Nebraska and Illinois to find out what is going on with American tractors – and what Ukrainian hackers have to do with it. Read more of Jason’s reporting on John Deere and the Right to Repair movement.

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Over the course of its 200 year history, the lighthouse on Wood Island in Maine has been home to a celebrity dog, a grisly murder, some mischievous ghosts, and a monster storm that may or may not have been brought on by a pickpocket’s curse.

Learn more about Wood Island Lighthouse on their website (here’s Richard’s book.)

Want to hear more stories of mega storms, heroic sea rescues, and maybe even some more lighthouse ghosts? Here’s some information about Maine’s 60 historic lighthouses.

This episode was brought to you in partnership with the Maine Office of Tourism

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Producer Luz Fleming takes his son to revisit a special childhood spot that just happens to be a San Fransisco gem hiding in plain sight ... in the middle of the bay!

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Dr. Rae Wynn-Grant, Ph.D. is a wildlife ecologist specializing in large carnivores. And in this episode she unfolds a mystery for listeners.

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Producer Abbey Perrault takes a trip into the Kenyan savanna, where she meets researchers who are studying how people share space with unlikely neighbors: lions. Along the way, she learns why a researcher would possibly pull the tail of a lion, and gets *extremely* up close and personal with two massive lionesses. 

For more information, check out Lucrecia Aguilar's website, Sam Kiuna’s Twitter and Instagram, and Lion Landscapes. 

Preorder your copy of Wild Life today! 

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We all love to zone out to a soothing nature documentary. But what you’ll learn about them in this episode will make you watch – and listen! – a lot more carefully. Reporter Abigail Keel tells Dylan about her conversation with sound designer and mixer Graham Wild about the not-as-real-as-you-may-think sounds that bring nature documentaries to life.

Preorder your copy of our new book, Wild Life, today!

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Decades after eradicating its wolves, Yellowstone National Park decided to reintroduce them. In the 1990s, the wolves were thriving—until one wolf decided to make life hell for everyone around her. Our guest in this episode, Rick McIntyre, has written several books about the wolves of Yellowstone. His latest is Thinking Like a Wolf, which will be out in late October 2024.

Preorder your copy of Wild Life today!

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The natural world is weird. Dylan talks with Cara Giaimo, co-author of our forthcoming book Wild Life, about the world’s tiniest chameleon, an acrobatic fog catching beetle, and how shellfish hold the keys to Poland’s water supply.

Preorder your copy of Wild Life today, and get a free luggage tag!

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These miniature mansions and luxurious homes were built for the feathered residents of Istanbul. 

READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/ottoman-bird-palaces

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The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum is dedicated to telling the stories of the league’s greatest players, its impact on communities, and the game-changing innovations it brought to baseball.

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Pegged as the “world’s greatest indoor miniature village,” Roadside America was a beloved roadside attraction in Shartlesville, Pennsylvania. The creator Laurence Gieringer and his family ran the business for 85 years until its closure in 2021. Today, the pieces of this miniature village have been auctioned off to past visitors all over the country. And there may yet be more auctions this year.

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