Author: Ms. R.

Nebraskans know how to throw a party, and the weirder and more wondrous, the better. After all, this is where locals utilize steel water tanks for river floating, and an automotive replica of England’s Stonehenge rises from the plains. In fact, Nebraska’s wide-open landscape invites innovation – perhaps that’s why there’s so much of it. Whether it’s a weekend perusing over repurposed relics on a farm reminiscent of Woodstock, or attending a family-friendly celebration devoted to bull testicles, there’s……

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This piece was originally published in The Guardian and appears here as part of our Climate Desk collaboration. One of the most comprehensive biodiversity surveys ever carried out in a mangrove forest has revealed that an astonishing array of wildlife makes its home in these key, threatened habitats. Hundreds of species—from bats to birds and fish to insects—were identified during the study of the Peam Krasop sanctuary and the adjacent Koh Kapik Ramsar reserve in Cambodia. Hairy-nosed otters, smooth-coated……

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Listen and subscribe on Stitcher, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and all major podcast apps. In this episode of The Atlas Obscura Podcast, we go to Haiti to visit a royal residence once called the Versailles of the Caribbean. But though Sans-Souci Palace, once home to Haiti’s only king, is now ruins and rubble, it remains a large symbol—just as its creator intended. Our podcast is an audio guide to the world’s wondrous, awe-inspiring, strange places. In under 15 minutes, we’ll……

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Atlas Obscura’s weekly crossword comes to us from Natan Last, a writer who also helps develop policy and digital products for refugees and asylum seekers. His work can be found in The Atlantic, Los Angeles Review of Books, The New Yorker, and other publications, and he’s currently working on a nonfiction book about crosswords. You can solve the puzzle below, or download it in .pdf or .puz. Note that the links in the clues will take you to Atlas……

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Red and blue are a highly evocative color pairing. Put them together, and you can’t help but think hot or cold. Or left and right. A map of red and blue, but not politics Ironically, their political symbolism is reversed on either side of the Atlantic. In the U.S., red states are to the right (figuratively, of course) of blue ones. In Europe and other parts of the world, red is the color of the revolutionary left, blue of……

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It’s hard to imagine how a building as grand as the City Methodist Church in Gary, Indiana, could ever become abandoned. Completed in 1926, the spectacular nine-story complex also included, at one time, a 1,000-seat theater, offices, a dining hall, and a gymnasium. Built at a cost of over $800,000—equivalent to over $14 million today—City Methodist served more than 3,000 congregants at its peak before dwindling attendance and lack of funds led to its closure in 1975. Today, ivy……

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