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music

Podcast: San Juan Sound

Join us for a daily celebration of the world’s most wondrous, unexpected, even strange places.
Old shack by Nevada Quicksilver Mine, with pronghorn antelope.
Lovelock, Nevada

Nevada Quicksilver Mine

An abandoned mine serves as a stark memorial of when mercury was a valued strategic metal.
Ermida de Nossa Senhora de Aracelis
Corte Pequena, Portugal

Capela de Nossa Senhora de Aracelis

Before this rocky hill was home to a chapel, it was used as a lookout by Romans and Moors.
wax museum

Podcast: Madame Tussaud

Join us for a daily celebration of the world’s most wondrous, unexpected, even strange places.
The Podcast Team June 1, 2022
All three markers on the side of Route 33.
Swift Run, Virginia

Knights of the Golden Horseshoe Markers

On the side of a Virginia highway, a collection of monuments commemorates an 18th-century trek through the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Hoppin John Risotto
Williamsburg, Virginia

Chowning’s Tavern

Enjoy dishes that founding fathers once ate at this Colonial Williamsburg pub.
cemeteries

Podcast: Père Lachaise Cemetery

Join us for a daily celebration of the world’s most wondrous, unexpected, even strange places.
The Podcast Team May 24, 2022
At the height of the advertising campaign in the 1930s, there were 900 barns in 19 states—from Michigan to Texas—announcing the wonders of Rock City. Today there are about 70.
roadside attractions

Is This Your Last Chance to 'See Rock City'?

The Southern roadside attraction is thriving, but its iconic barn-top billboards are fading away.
Caroline Eubanks May 19, 2022
Mithraeum elements included a tauroctony, or depiction of Mithras sacrificing a bull.
cults

An Ancient Roman Cult's Rituals Included Feasting, Fire, and Floor Cleaning

To uncover new clues about the secretive world of Mithraism, scientists considered evidence right at their feet.
Nathaniel Scharping May 13, 2022
Meenakshi Amma, shown here at age 76, continues to teach students kalaripayattu in her “kalari,” or arena, in Kerala, India, today at age 81.
women

Meet the Sword-Wielding Grandmother Bringing Women Back to Indian Martial Arts

Women who practiced kalaripayattu were a thing of the past—until Meenakshi Amma.
Shoma Abhyankar May 13, 2022
Approximately 45,000 artifacts and some 50,000 skeletal remains and animal bones were uncovered in the massive, decades-long excavation at Borgund. Today, a bed of grass once again hides the medieval town.
museums

Uncovering the Secrets of a Forgotten Viking Town

The remnants of Borgund were buried in the dirt for centuries and then sat in museum storage for decades.
Sarah Durn May 12, 2022
Statue of General Kazimierz Pulaski
Buffalo, New York

Casimir Pulaski Monument

A monument to a Polish general who fought the American Revolution and became the "Father of the American Cavalry."
Wayside Inn
Sudbury, Massachusetts

Wayside Inn

The oldest continuously-operated inn in the United States, once owned by Henry Ford.
Plastic sushi trays can be extremely elaborate.
art

The Hidden Histories of To-Go Container Art

Who drew that winking chef on your pizza box?
Anne Ewbank May 9, 2022
The Humongous Fungus is most visible when it produces the edible and tasty honey mushroom, but the season is brief and doesn’t happen every year.
forests

What the World's Largest Organism Reveals About Fires and Forest Health

In Oregon, the Humongous Fungus plays a complex role in an ecosystem reshaped by humans.
Colin Hogan May 6, 2022
One of the olive trees at Hadrian’s Villa dates back to the 13th century.
trees

A Roman Emperor's Villa Is Now Producing Olive Oil

Hadrian's estate has trees found nowhere else on Earth.
Vittoria Traverso May 5, 2022
Goudier Island, off the northwest coast of the Antarctic Peninsula. is home to what one stamp collector from England described in 1946 as “the loneliest post office in the world.”
politics

Letters from the Loneliest Post Office in the World

A story of Antarctic adventure seekers, stamp collectors, politics, and penguins.
Andrew Avery May 5, 2022
London, England

The Luck of Edenhall

A legend says that if this elaborately decorated glass breaks, the good fortune of its owner's household will also disappear.