Weirdly Wonderful Museums
Ancient Computers, Curious Scents, and a Poozeum
Episode Description
An Arizona museum devoted entirely to fossilized poop. A collection of more than one million items that washed up on one Washington beach. A Montana exhibit starring Old Brass Brains, a 116-year-old computer. These quirky stops are unlikely candidates for a must-see list, and that’s entirely the point. They deliver what marquee attractions can’t: genuine surprise, a glimpse into a universe you never knew existed, and a little bit of magic—all without a throng of tourists.
Our guest, Atlas Obscura cofounder Dylan Thuras, returns to share six of his favorite one-of-a-kind museums, each one a “strange love letter” to the curator’s personal obsession. Along the way, we’ll encounter a fungus that turns ants into teeny zombies, mushroom cloud–watching parties on Las Vegas rooftops, and the Poozeum’s prize specimen: a 20-pound Tyrannosaurus rex poop. As Dylan puts it, these places are a testament to people’s weirdness—and their wonderfulness.
Oddball museums we’ll wander:
- Museum of Jurassic Technology, Culver City, California: Where fact and fiction are displayed with equal care.
- National Atomic Testing Museum, Las Vegas: Explores the cultural impact of Nevada’s 900-plus nuclear tests, from rooftop viewing parties to the Miss Atomic Bomb pageant.
- American Computer and Robotics Museum, Bozeman, Montana: “Inch for inch, the best museum in the world,” said biologist E.O. Wilson. Houses a working replica of a 2,000-year-old computer.
- John’s Beachcombing Museum, Forks, Washington: Features “washed-up” treasures sorted by type, including a mammoth tooth and part of a Boeing 747 jet engine.
- Aftel Archive of Curious Scents, Berkeley, California: Open the many drawers to inhale rare fragrances like real ambergris.
- Poozeum, Williams, Arizona: The world’s largest collection of coprolites (fossilized poop). Free to visit, right on Route 66.
Guest
Dylan Thuras is the cofounder of Atlas Obscura, an online guide to the world’s hidden wonders, and coauthor of three New York Times bestsellers: Atlas Obscura, Gastro Obscura, and The Explorer’s Guide for the World’s Most Adventurous Kid. As the host of the series Small Town, Big Story, he traveled to local festivals across the country, including a lumberjack championship, pepper-eating contest, and a Texas sandcastle competition (he took third). He’s currently the head of storytelling and creative at Miles Partnership.
This is Dylan’s third appearance on the Via Podcast: In our first season, he toured the West’s quirkiest roadside attractions; in season two, he took us off-road to the Southwest’s monumental land art. He lives in New York’s Hudson Valley with his wife Michelle, and two kids, Phineas and Jean.
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