Co-host Kelly McEvers and producers Johanna and Amanda answer questions about places that exceeded expectations, finding yourself in dicey situations while on the road, and what to do when you have a lot of visitors but not a lot of money.

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.

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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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Today, we go on a special journey told in two parts, beginning with the world’s largest conveyor belt in the Western Sahara and ending on your dinner plate.

We always want to hear from you! If you have a question or story for us, give us a call at 315-992-7902 and leave a message, or send an email to hello@atlasobscura.com.

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Have you heard of the Painted Lady butterfly?  Scientists say this small speckled beauty – no more than 6 cm across – endures the longest migration path of its species.  Photographer Lucas Foglia dared to follow the path of this butterfly in his photo book, Constan...

Listeners share their travel resolutions for 2026. 

Plus, we want to hear stories about interesting or unusual places where you’ve stayed the night. How did you find it? Who did you go with? What made the experience of staying there good… or bad? Give us a call at 315-992-7902 and leave a message telling us your name and story. Our mailbox will cut you off after three minutes so please call again if you get disconnected. Or better yet, you can record a voice memo and email it to us at hello@atlasobscura.com.

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We’re taking the day off for Martin Luther King Jr. Day. But in the meantime, we want to hear from you. Tell us about the wonders in your backyard. Is there a strange, unusual or surprising place in your city or town? What makes this place special to you? Give us a call at 315-992-7902 and leave a message telling us your name and story. Our mailbox will cut you off after three minutes so please call in if you get disconnected. Or you can record a voice memo and email it to us at hello@atlasobscura.com

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Spring is a popular time to visit Colonial Williamsburg, not least because it’s “lambing season,” the time of year when baby lambs are born and take their first steps (which is obviously very, very cute). But small as they are, these lambs have a big baaa-ckstory (sorry) – they are part of a breed that was once guarded like a trade secret, was smuggled into the American colonies, went extinct in the US in the early 20th century, and then was brought back right here at Colonial Williamsburg. This episode was produced in partnership with Visit Williamsburg. 

Find out more at Visit Williamsburg

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The story of the Fendika Cultural Center in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia is the story of Melaku Belay and his journey from homelessness to international acclaim as a community leader.

READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/fendika-azmari-bet

We always want to hear from you! If you have a question or story for us, give us a call at 315-992-7902 and leave a message, or send an email to hello@atlasobscura.com

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Dawn Anahid MacKeen’s grandfather survived the Armenian genocide, journeying nearly a thousand miles (much of it on foot) out of what is now Turkey and into the Syrian desert. Dawn chronicled his journey in her book The Hundred Year Walk: An Armenian Odyssey – and also retraced her grandfather’s route herself to better understand what he endured.

Read Dawn’s book: https://www.amazon.com/Hundred-Year-Walk-Dawn-Mackeen/dp/0544811941  

We always want to hear from you! If you have a question or story for us, give us a call at 315-992-7902 and leave a message, or send an email to hello@atlasobscura.com.

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Kelly McEvers spent years living and working across the globe as a foreign correspondent, reporting from across Asia, the former Soviet Union, and the Middle East. Today, she shares three places that have shaped her life.

We always want to hear from you! If you have a question or story for us, give us a call at at 315-992-7902 and leave a message, or send an email to hello@atlasobscura.com.

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In the collection of the Lyme Regis Museum in England is a beautiful 19th century tabletop made of delicate, inset stones. The rub is that these stones are… (spoiler alert)... coprolite, or fossilized feces. Amanda and Johanna discuss the man who had this table made, an ecce...

Caroline Mazel-Carlton has visited over 1000 Atlas Obscura Places. But the project was about more than ticking off a list – she says it helped save her life. 

This episode contains discussion of suicidal thoughts. If you or someone you know is struggling, contact the Suicide Crisis Hotline by calling or texting 988. 

Explore the Atlas: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/all-places-in-the-atlas-on-one-map

Learn more about Caroline’s organization, the Wildflower Alliance: 

https://wildfloweralliance.org/

 

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Jonathan Carey and Michelle Cassidy of the Atlas Places Team bring us two charming stories of some very special canines who have been (literally) preserved for the ages. 

READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: Learn about Sergeant Stubby here and Owney here

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In July of 2024, Greg Eskridge was released from San Quentin Rehabilitation Center after 30 years in prison. We hear what it’s like to see the Bay Area with new eyes, and what places in his life have made him feel the most free. 

The Uncuffed podcast empowers people in prison to tell their own stories. Listen here: https://www.uncuffed.org/

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On December 12, 1925, the first motel in America opened its doors. It had Spanish Mission style architecture, a red roof, and an orange tree outside each door. We trace the rise and fall (and second rise) of motels over the past century: the good, the bad, and yes, the seedy. 

Check out Megan McCrea’s timeline tracing the rise of the motel: 

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/12/insider/motels-history-road-trips-travel.html

  

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In California, a rare specimen of sequoia produces ghostly white leaves. Reporter Alexa Lim ventures into the forest to get a look at albino redwoods. 

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The staff of Atlas Obscura share their new year’s travel resolutions – the things we want to change about how we travel or see the world this year.        

Plus, we want to hear stories about the interesting or unusual places where you’ve stayed the night. How did you find it? Who did you go with? What made the experience of staying there good… or bad? Give us a call at 315-992-7902 and leave a message telling us your name and story. Our mailbox will cut you off after three minutes so please call again if you get disconnected. Or better yet, you can record a voice memo and email it to us at hello@atlasobscura.com.

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One man in Brooklyn, New York - armed with a homemade boat and an artistic vision - helped transform one of the most polluted industrial waterways in the US.

READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/newtown-creek-nature-walk

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 Today, Sea View Hospital on Staten Island is largely abandoned. But it was here, in this forgotten place, staffed by people who were shunned and segregated, where medical workers eventually found a cure for a disease that had plagued humanity for nearly 500,000 years: tuberculosis.

Learn more in Maria’s book, The Black Angels: The Untold Story of the Nurses Who Helped Cure Tuberculosis: https://www.amazon.com/Black-Angels-Untold-Nurses-Tuberculosis/dp/0593544927

The Staten Island Museum has an exhibit about the nurses called Taking Care: The Black Angels of Sea View Hospital: https://www.statenislandmuseum.org/exhibitions/takingcare/

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The new year is just around the corner. And the Atlas Obscura staff look back on the lessons and experiences they learned this year throughout their travels. 

Plus, we want to hear about your New Year's travel resolutions. What are you hoping to change about the way you travel or move through your existing world? What inspired this resolution? Give us a call at 315-992-7902 and leave a message telling us your name and story. Our mailbox will cut you off after three minutes so please call in if you get disconnected. Or better yet, you can record a voice memo and email it to us at hello@atlasobscura.com.

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In 1971, a paleontologist discovered an animal graveyard in northeastern Nebraska. It was crammed with species that lived in North America millions of years ago: camels, rhinos, and three-toed horses…  Excavating this site, two things immediately became clear: something had drawn all these animals to this particular spot – and something very bad had happened to them.

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When a 180-year old bur oak tree collapsed during a rainstorm, a couple in Minnesota made a new life for it. 

Plus: How many U.S. states have you visited? Join the AO community and create your own U.S. state tracker map here: https://www.atlasobscura.com/my-state-map  

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Travel to Penobscot, Maine, where one farmer maintains the tradition of burning his crop each year to rejuvenate it the next.

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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 Ligh...

A couple decades ago, Jason Williams was working at a local restaurant in Portland, Maine. One day he was driving around to farmers markets looking for ingredients, when he found a special place. And it gave him a big idea…

It's Maine Week on the show, so every day we're introducing you to someone from that great state — people who live, and work, and get inspired by Maine’s rugged beauty. This episode was produced in partnership with the Maine Office of Tourism.

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Since settling down in the small town of Union, Maine, the Japanese-born ceramicist Hanako Nakazato has shaped her pieces around her endlessly surprising, largely untouched environment. 

It's Maine Week on the show, so every day we're introducing you to someone from that great state — people who live, and work, and get inspired by Maine’s rugged beauty. This episode was produced in partnership with the Maine Office of Tourism.

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We meet Becky Sigwright, who captains a wind-powered boat that’s been sailing around Maine since before the invention of the telephone. 

It's Maine Week on the show, so every day we're introducing you to someone from that great state — people who live, and work, and get inspired by Maine’s rugged beauty. This episode was produced in partnership with the Maine Office of Tourism.

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We're working on a listener-powered episode about travel resolutions and we want to hear yours! What are you hoping to change about the way you travel or move through the world? What inspired this resolution? Maybe you wanna travel to a new continent. Maybe you are learning ...

Experience the Orfield Anechoic Chamber: a room inside a concrete bunker that was once known as the quietest place on earth.

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The Unclaimed Baggage Center in Alabama bills itself as “the nation’s only retailer of lost luggage.” If you’ve ever lost a bag during air travel, it probably wound up there - along with many other treasures and oddities.

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