The Best of Atlas Obscura

Thank Uncle Sam for Cheetos, air fryers, and other modern mainstays.

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This historical sweet spread has supernatural ties.

From ancient Greece to the Salem Witch Trials.

It's a movement made for the moment.

One player’s pawn is another’s farmer. And at one time, the queen was the virgin, and rather powerless.

Researchers are rushing to document the Indigenous art before it is lost to time and climate change.

Esther David traveled from the spice port of Cochin to the mountains of Mizoram to record this culinary culture.

Chinese-Canadian filmmaker Cheuk Kwan tells a story of innovation and survival.

This humble drink isn't so simple.

You can still spot these tiny reminders of the 1906 earthquake in the city today.

Archaeologists test how our ancestors may have used this (nearly) lost skill to navigate caves and other dark spaces.

Families use skills passed down over generations to prepare a special feast.

Eve Adams was eventually murdered at Auschwitz.

It's mythology all the way down.

Kiviaq, a mainstay on many "weird foods" lists, is an incredible feat of fermentation and cultural touchstone.

As Lake Powell's water levels continue to drop, a stunning landscape resurfaces—along with questions about the future of the Colorado River and those who depend on it.

Bruno Ferrin made a wonder in the woods by hand and by chance.

The main casualty of the catsup war was flavor.

A photographer captures perseverance and pride over a decade of the Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo.

A story of Antarctic adventure seekers, stamp collectors, politics, and penguins.

From its name, to its hazy origins, to its drug interactions, there's a lot going on beneath that thick rind.