The Atlas Obscura Podcast

Catoosa, Oklahoma is the cite of a massive landlocked whale - and possibly the greatest anniversary gift ever READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/catoosa-whale

Journalist and food writer Evan Rail considers himself a beer guy, but when a mysterious bright green spirit started shaking up the scene in the Czech Republic (where he lives) in the 1990s, he knew he had to learn more. His latest book “The Absinthe Forger: A True Story of Deception, Betrayal, and The World’s Most Dangerous Spirit” looks back at the history of absinthe, why it was banned across Europe almost 100 years ago, and how its return to the market has inspired collectors, connoisseurs…and even conmen.

In August 1953, airstrip operator George van Tassel claimed he was woken up in the middle of the night by an intelligent lifeform from outer space named Solganda. George says Solganda told him to build an energy rejuvenation machine – so that’s exactly what he spent the rest of his life doing… For more information on visiting the Integratron check out their website. Plus, take a look at some photos from one of George van Tassel’s UFO conventions. If you want to learn more, George tells his version of the “encounter with Solganda” in a 1964 interview.

On a remote island 200 miles off the coast of Alaska, a community hunts for a single, elusive rat. Read Daniel Wu’s original reporting on the rat strike team. Thanks to Freesound user mmiron for the wave sounds in this episode.

Places editors Michelle Cassidy and Diana Hubbell tell us about two real-world places that have been shaped by the internet.

Blame it on this time of year, but we've been ruminating a lot on the places we're thankful for. And we want to hear your thoughts for a future episode. What's a place that played a pivotal role in shaping your life? It can be a place you grew up, or a place you live in now. Maybe it's a park bench, or another place of community. Tell us about it, any stories behind it, and when and why you go there. 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 in again if you get disconnected. Or you can also record a voice memo and email it to us at Hello@AtlasObscura.com

The Wren’s Nest in Atlanta is both a museum and former home of journalist Joel Chandler Harris and a hub for modern storytellers.

Nate DiMeo, host and creator of The Memory Palace podcast, walks us through some of the rooms in his own personal memory palace. We visit his grandfather’s old nightclub outside Providence, a beloved family home, the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Visible Storage Unit, and a one-of-a-kind collection of glass flowers at Harvard University. Preorder a copy of Nate’s new book, The Memory Palace: True Short Stories of the Past. Check out the Memory Palace podcast, and listen to the episodes Nate made while he was Artist-in-Residence at the Met.

During the early 20th century, malaria was ravaging the world. We hear the story of Dr. Charles Campbell, who had a plan to cure it. But as it turns out, his big idea was… rather batty.

In the 1980s, a group of friends on the track team at Sul Ross State University hauled a discarded dorm room desk to the top of a mountain. They left a notebook there to keep track of their run times and leave little notes for each other. Then… other people found it. And then… it started a tradition. Visit the Atlas entry for the Sul Ross desk, and learn more about the archives containing the Sul Ross desk notebooks.

San Juan Sounds is an iconic studio where musicians, engineers, and quite possibly a music-loving ghost carry on the island’s musical traditions, which date back hundreds of years. This episode is produced in partnership with Discover Puerto Rico.

Travel to Denver Colorado and meet Steve Berke who helped found the first International Church of Cannabis in 2015. Learn more about it here.

The San Francisco Cannabis Buyers’ Club was one of the first marijuana dispensaries in the country. Its members were people with AIDS, cancer, and other serious illnesses, and inside the club had stages, TV lounges, puzzles, and other things that would bring people together. Today, we meet the unexpected mix of gay rights organizers and cannabis advocates behind the club, and we hear about their unorthodox route to opening it – including why they tried to get busted by the police.

An ancient cemetery in western China may hold the answer to a question asked by many a stoner: where on Earth did humans first smoke weed to get high? Learn more about the cemetery in this 2019 paper in Science Advances. Keep up with Rob Spengler’s archaeobotany lab here.

In 1976, an airplane carrying 6,000 pounds of smuggled weed crashed into a remote lake in Yosemite. A group of climbers had a heyday. Read John Long’s account of the crash, and check out Greg Nichols’ reporting on the same subject. Plus: Where is the weirdest place you’ve ever cast a vote? Give us a call at 315-992-7902 and tell us about your local unusual polling location. Or, record a voice memo and email it to us at hello@atlasobscura.com.

Cannabis is now legal in more than half of U.S. states, but it remains federally illegal – which makes doing research on the plant extremely difficult. Today, we meet a clever group of scientists who found their way around these laws… by literally driving around them. Learn more about the CannaVan, and check out some of Rasha and Emma’s original reporting.

A South Carolina ghost story is a harbinger of hurricanes and a window into history. Read more in the Atlas: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/south-carolina-hurricane-ghost

In 1944, a strange spate of “gas attacks” in a small Midwestern town reveals what was really lurking in mid-century America. Read Colin Dickey’s article about the mad gasser, and check out his Monster of the Month series.

Listener stories about places that give off big creepy vibes – from an abandoned ice factory to a haunted university music building. If you want to hear more about Luz Fleming’s ghost story, there’s a whole episode about it called Bennington Ghost Stories on a podcast called Yard Tales.

To avoid traumatizing kids, many summer camps are banning scary stories. But can a little fun with fear be a good thing? Check out Roxanne Hoorn’s article about this fading tradition.