Producer Manolo Morales, a devoted Little Monster, gallivants around the Lower East Side via an immersive performance-art walking tour dedicated to an iconic pop star.

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Places editors Jonathan and Michelle are back again with a few new standout entries to the Atlas … including a spot in Antarctica that’s home to the oldest Martian meteorite and a column in Greece that symbolizes the fear and ritual past generations embraced when faced with their own plague.

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For art nerds, the Lightning Field installation in the New Mexico desert is a bucket-list destination. It’s also a testament to the extraordinary control the artist who created it was able to exert, even after death. To reserve your spot to stay at the Lightning Field, sign up at the Dia Foundation's website.

READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/lightning-field

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A couple created what is perhaps the cutest and most filling micro-store to pop up during the pandemic. But to find it, you’ll have to trek through rural Vermont and look for the phone-booth sized box filled with baked goods.

READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/tiny-bread-box

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A mysterious sinkhole in Arizona has befuddled an exclusive group of divers who’ve gotten a glimpse of a strange world underneath its sandy bottom.

READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/montezuma-well-arizona

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We’re in Amsterdam, learning about a bad-ass woman who championed queer folx and provided a safe haven throughout World War II via her quirky bar in the red light district.

MORE: Schedule a visit of Cafe Mandje with Badass Tours, which runs tours in Amsterdam focusing on women’s history, LGBTQ+ history, BIPOC history, Jewish history, or one tour tailored to your interests.

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A listener tells us about a treasure buried in his literal backyard, and the two strange men who showed up on his doorstep and asked to dig it up.

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We will always love Dolly Parton, who’s installed a “dreambox” time capsule at her amusement park. In it, there’s a secret song that no one will hear until the legendary artist turns 100. 

LEARN MORE about Dolly’s songwriting prowess in Unlikely Angel, a book by Hamilton College professor Lydia Hamessley.

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We meet back up with our pal Bernie Harberts, the beast whisperer, who trekked 19 million mule steps across the United States only to find himself, for the first time, a little homesick. 

MORE: To keep up with Bernie and to hear more about his travels, be sure to sign up for his newsletter – you can do that at his website: riverearth.com.

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We go to the former estate of the Davies sisters, two unusually wealthy Welsh women who traveled the world, fell in love with art, served their country, and then dedicated their home to culture and community.

READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/gregynog-hall

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In a place where multiple world religions intersect, this unassuming little ladder is a symbol of the very delicate balance that keeps a church in Jerusalem running.

READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/immovable-ladder-church-holy-sepulchre

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Reporter Eric Grundhauser recounts a memorable visit to an unusual museum in Iceland, where he explored the ancient lore of the occult, learned how to steal milk from his neighbors, and laid his eyes upon a pair of pants… made of human flesh. 

READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/the-museum-of-icelandic-sorcery-witchcraft-holmavik-iceland

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Photographer and author Paul Koudonaris brings listeners to this Ethiopian Church and explores ossuaries, jeweled skeletons, and death practices throughout the world. 

READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/yemrehana-krestos-church

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Atlas contributors bring listeners stories from spooky locations they’ve visited, and which continue to haunt them.

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With Halloween just around the corner Jonathan Carey and Michelle Cassidy of the Atlas Places Team bring you two spooky legends of The Mothman from Point Pleasant, West Virginia and a potentially ghoulish forest in the Transylvanian Region of Romania.

READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/mothman-museum-2 and https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/hoia-baciu-forest

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This island between Missouri and Illinois was a preferred meeting place for duels to the death in the early 1900’s.

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Hear from the caretakers of a ghost town in Bolivia that was once the world's highest ski resort. 

READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/abandoned-chacaltaya-ski-resort

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We chat with one of the leading experts on art theft – professor and author Noah Charney, who unpacks the cultural fascination with this type of crime. Charney also tells us the story of one of the most notorious real life art thieves.

MORE: Charney is teaching a course in art crime that begins Nov 7, 2023. To enroll, visit the courses page on our website and use code ARTCRIMEPOD for 15% off. 

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We visit a museum in Montana that’s a dream for dinosaur nerds, and home to bones that are the real deal, locally sourced and sustainably foraged.

READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/great-plains-dinosaur-museum

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Journalist Susan Casey takes us to the deep deep ocean, where she explores the relationship between humans and this mysterious underworld.

READ MORE: Find out more about Susan’s work here, including her new book.

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A basketball fan goes to the hall of fame – and no, it’s not the big one in Massachusetts that you may be thinking about. Hear the story behind a Midwest state’s special link to the sport.

READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/indiana-basketball-hall-of-fame-museum

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Host Dylan Thuras riffs on a subject that has long fascinated him: The world’s longest-running science experiments.

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There’s a special tree in Portland that’s full of a city’s hopes, dreams, and wishes.

READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/portland-wishing-tree

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We peek into the life and work of the oft-understood artist Niki de Saint Phalle, who was behind a strange and wildly popular playground sculpture in Jerusalem.

READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/the-mifletzet-jerusalem-israel

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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.

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We get up close and nosey about a peculiar exhibit in Copenhagen that reveals a lot about what artists and society considered beautiful throughout the years 

READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/nasothek-nose-collection

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Josh Foer, the co-founder of Atlas Obscura, takes us to a remote patch of land in the Arizona desert, where he built (and later rebuilt) a museum in honor of the company’s former CEO, David Plotz.

The Plotz Plot is accessible from Adamana Road, off of I-40 exit 300, at 35.025639, -109.8195. The lock code is 4444.

READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/plotz-plot

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We go inside a place that some paranormal investigators call the most active haunted location in the world. Before it was known as the inspiration for Stephen King...the Stanley Hotel had a reputation -- and ghosts --  of its own.  This episode was produced with Visit Colorado. Find more information about the Stanley Hotel and its ghost tours online.

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Travel is sometimes like a box of chocolates – never know what you’re going to get. In this episode, we share stories of places that blew us away, and those that didn't live up to the hype.

We want to hear YOUR stories about the places you've visited that far exceeded--or failed to meet your expectations. 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 again if you get disconnected) You can also record a voice memo and email it to us at Hello@AtlasObscura.com.

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We head to a remote region of Russia, to the epicenter of what would become known as the Tunguska Event. An event that may seem unfathomable… except we have firsthand accounts from people who witnessed it.

READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/tunguska-event-epicenter

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