A famous movie actress from the 1920s left the world a lasting piece of art — a remarkable miniature home that could be considered Chicago’s cutest piece of real estate. 

READ MORE IN THE ATLAS https://www.atlasobscura.com/videos/see-chicago-s-million-dollar-fairy-castle

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It roamed the seas, served an evil dictator, survived a war, and ended up in a New Jersey auto-repair shop bathroom.

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We step into the shoes of the miners who once labored in the Nevada mountains, via a trip to the Tonopah Historic Mining Park. This episode was produced in partnership with Travel Nevada.

READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/tonopah-mining-park

LEARN MORE about the Tonopah Historic Mining Park and Travel Nevada 

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A race is on to save this world heritage site that straddles the border of Togo and Benin. It’s home to remarkable earth tower homes called Takienta, and the Batammariba people, whose existence is threatened by climate change and migration.

READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/koutammakou-batammariba

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We go to Sweden, where some people are intent on making a woman a permanent symbol of resistance, whether or not she would have wanted it. Check out some of Samuel Merrill’s research work on the photo here.

READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/woman-with-the-handbag-statue

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We go to Statesboro, Georgia to the US National Tick Collection to learn what ticks, often thought of as little monstrosities, can teach us.

READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/us-national-tick-collection

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The Flagg Grove School in Brownsville, Tennessee has become a museum dedicated to its most famous student. 

READ MORE IN THE ATLAS:https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/tina-turner-museum

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Take a trip to Micropia, the world’s only museum dedicated to microscopic organisms, and learn about our invisible life companions.

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

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The story of the unimaginable destruction of the American Chestnut tree and the group of scientists, academics and tree lovers who are desperately trying to bring them back from the edge of extinction.

LEARN MORE: Visit https://acf.org/ to find out more about this massive conservation effort

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A spinning furnace tucked under the football stadium at the University of Arizona is building giant telescope mirrors. 

READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: 

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/richard-f-caris-mirror-laboratory

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Sun cannons have been around since the 1600s. But as far as we know, there’s only one left that’s still up and running. We pay it a visit. 

READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/atvidaberg-sun-cannon

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Habaneros!  Jalapenos! Green! Red! These days, an appreciation for chiles is pretty mainstream. But that wasn’t always the case. We head to New Mexico to learn how this food became such a huge part of our culture, and visit an institute dedicated to its continual improvement. 

READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/chile-pepper-institute

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A North Carolina town has become a draw for people who want to see the wreckage of the train wreck from the movie “The Fugitive.” But a more interesting – and true – story happened just a pistol shot away.

READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/the-fugitive-train-wreck-sylva-north-carolina

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A once-blacklisted Hollywood star created a magical theater in Topanga Canyon, California, that still endures and inspires today.

READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/theatricum-botanicum

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One of the oldest books in the world is also the most misunderstood. A medievalist tells us about the Voynich, which is in the collection of the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale. 

READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/beinecke-rare-book-manuscript-library

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She’s about 8 feet wide and 500 pounds. And her history spans all the way from the stockyards of Chicago... to a nuclear test during the Manhattan Project...to a stadium at the University of Texas at Austin. 

READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/big-bertha-drum

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We dig through more than 1,000 years of dirt, history,  colonialism, and myth on the Swahili Coast.

Read more in the Atlas: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/kilwa-kisiwani-ruins

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Where can you find the smoothest, most scrumptious edible art? If you ask our host, Dylan, it’s in the Minnesota State Fair butter sculpture room. He’s joined in this episode by Gastro Obscura writer Sam O’Brien, who got the scoop on the yummy centerpieces.
 

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We all dream of the perfect vacation when everything goes right. This episode is about the opposite. Hear stories of people having near death travel experiences.

TELL US YOUR STORY: We want to hear your stories too! Give us a call at (315) 992-7902, and leave a message telling us your name, and about your own near-death travel experience. You can also record a voice memo and email it to us at hello@atlasobscura.com. Looking forward to hearing from you.

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Elusive patches of land in America’s Midwest can show us what the environment was like 150 years ago and tell us about the future.

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We spend time with the world’s foremost poo enthusiasts, who operate a museum in England where poo is elegant, elevated and celebrated.

READ MORE IN THE ATLAS https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/national-poo-museum

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A walk through this scale model has you feeling like a giant, and striding from Baton Rouge to Omaha in an hour. LEARN MORE about the model and the group trying to revive it, here: https://friendsofmrbm.org/

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The next time you go out on a road trip, keep your eyes peeled for a peanut-shaped car that got its start as an advertising play during the Great Depression

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Nestled in a hospital courtyard in Kumasi, Ghana, you’ll find the strength of the Asante people: the sword of Okomfo Anokye, planted in the ground over 300 years ago. 

READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/sword-of-okomfo-anokye

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We go on a bumpy ride with the Hurricane Hunters – the government’s team of scientists who fly into storms so the rest of us can have accurate info and research about massive weather events. Our guide is Nick Underwood, of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

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At a food truck in Austin, tried and true barbecue favorites meet unexpected spices and flavor profiles. Here, chef Damien Brockway’s journey into family history led him to weave the flavors of the African diaspora into his food. This episode was produced in partnership with Travel Texas. 

LEARN MORE about Distant Relatives and Travel Texas.

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In 1986 an unknown natural disaster at Lake Nyos in Menchum, Cameroon left more than 1700 people dead in one night - and puzzled scientists. Listen to learn how they solved the mystery. 

READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/lake-nyos-the-deadliest-lake-in-the-world

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How far would you go to find the largest island in the largest lake on the largest island in the largest lake on the largest island in the largest lake in the United States? 

READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/moose-boulder-debunked

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The variety of apples we enjoy today have a common ancestor that lies in the forests of Kazakhstan, where scientists are studying the wildest version of the fruit.

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Welcome to the Judith A Basset Canid Education & Conservation Center, where a California couple has dedicated their lives to showing folks man has even more best friends than previously thought.

READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/the-jab-canid-education-and-conservation-center-jabcecc

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