Atlas Obscura

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Atlas Obscura
Atlas Obscura logo.svg
Type of site
Travel and Exploration
Available inEnglish
Founder(s) Joshua Foer Dylan Thuras
CEOWarren Webster
URL www.atlasobscura.com
CommercialYes
Registration2009
Launched2009
OCLC  number 960889351

Atlas Obscura is an American-based travel and exploration company. [1] [2] [3] [4] It was founded in 2009 by author Joshua Foer and documentary filmmaker/author Dylan Thuras. [4] [5] It catalogs unusual and obscure travel destinations via professional and user-generated content, operates group trips to destinations around the world, produces a daily podcast, as well as books, TV and film. [6] The brand covers a number of topics including history, science, food, and obscure places.

Contents

History

Co-founder Dylan Thuras at BookCon in June 2019 Dylan Thuras at BookCon (26553).jpg
Co-founder Dylan Thuras at BookCon in June 2019

Thuras and Foer met in 2007, and soon discussed ideas for a different kind of atlas, featuring places not commonly found in guidebooks. [7] They hired a web designer in 2008 and launched Atlas Obscura in 2009. [7] Annetta Black was the site's first senior editor. [8]

In 2010, the site organized the first of the international events known as Obscura Day. [9] Thuras has stated that one of the site's main goals is "Creating a real-world community who are engaging with us, each other and these places and getting away from their computers to actually see them." [7] As of 2021, Atlas Obscura has originated Atlas Obscura Societies organizing local experiences in nine cities, including New York, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, and Seattle. [4] [9]

Sommer Mathis (formerly of The Atlantic 's CityLab) was the site's editor-in-chief from 2017 to 2020. She was succeeded by Samir Patel, formerly of Archaeology magazine, who became the site's editorial director in 2020 and editor-in-chief in 2021.

In October 2014, Atlas Obscura hired journalist David Plotz as its CEO. [5] David Plotz was the site's CEO for five years (October 2014 – November 2019). Warren Webster, former president and CEO of digital publisher Coveteur, and co-founder of website Patch , assumed the position in March 2020. [10]

Co-founder Joshua Foer in 2013 Foer Headshot.jpg
Co-founder Joshua Foer in 2013

In 2015, Atlas Obscura raised its first round of major funding, securing $2 million from a range of investors and angels including The New York Times . [6]

In September 2016, the company published its first book, Atlas Obscura: An Explorer's Guide to the World's Hidden Wonders written by Foer, Thuras, and Ella Morton under Workman Publishing Company. [11] [12]

Following a second fundraising effort that netted $7.5 million, in late 2017 the site launched Gastro Obscura, a food section covering "the distinctive food locations of the world." [13]

In 2019, Series B funding round raised $20 million from investors like Airbnb (lead investor), A+E Networks and New Atlantic Ventures. [14] [15]

Publications

Related Research Articles

Láadan is a gynocentric constructed language created by Suzette Haden Elgin in 1982 to test the Sapir–Whorf hypothesis, specifically to determine if development of a language aimed at expressing the views of women would shape a culture; a subsidiary hypothesis was that Western natural languages may be better suited for expressing the views of men than women. The language was included in her science fiction Native Tongue series. Láadan contains a number of words that are used to make unambiguous statements that include how one feels about what one is saying. According to Elgin, this is designed to counter male-centered language's limitations on women, who are forced to respond "I know I said that, but I meant this".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emergency Government Headquarters</span> Underground infrastructure system in Canada

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Kugelmugel, officially the Republic of Kugelmugel, is a spherical art object located in Vienna, Austria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Poveglia</span> Italian island

Poveglia is a small island located between Venice and Lido in the Venetian Lagoon, of northern Italy. A small canal divides the island into two separate parts. The island first appears in the historical record in 421, and was populated until the residents fled warfare in 1379. For more than 100 years beginning in 1776, the island was used as a quarantine station for those suffering the plague and other diseases, and later as a mental hospital. The mental hospital closed in 1968, and the island has been vacant ever since. Because of its history, the island is frequently featured on paranormal shows.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Queimada (drink)</span> Galician distilled drink, alcoholic beverage

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joshua Foer</span> American freelance journalist; memory champion (born 1982)

Joshua Foer is a freelance journalist and author living in Brookline, Massachusetts, with a primary focus on science. He was the 2006 USA Memory Champion, which was described in his 2011 book, Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything. He spoke at the TED conference in February 2012.

Lindisfarne Mead is a mead from Northumberland in North East England. It is manufactured in St Aidan's Winery on Holy Island. The mead is unusual in that it blends honey, the traditional main ingredient of mead, with grapes.

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In New York folklore, the Hudson River Monster or "Kipsy"—the latter being a pet name presumed to have derived from Poughkeepsie—is a reputed lake monster living in the Hudson River. In 2016, Atlas Obscura ranked "Kipsy" at #17 in its list of "Lake Monsters of the United States, 'Nessies.'"

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pumpkin-coconut custard</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Guoliang Tunnel</span> Mountain tunnel in Henan, China

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Island of the Dolls</span> Doll island (Mexico)

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matsuo mine</span> Mine in Matsuo, Hachimantai, Iwate, Japan

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The King's Ginger is an English liqueur by Berry Bros. & Rudd. The liqueur was originally created for King Edward VII. After his death in 1910, it was commissioned exclusively for the royal family. In 2011, it was standardized and made available to the public in select countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dinosaur of Ta Prohm</span> Medieval Cambodian bas-relief

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Benne wafers are thin sesame seed cookies with African origins. They are a traditional Lowcountry food most associated with South Carolina and its city, Charleston.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Haitian spaghetti</span> Breakfast dish of noodles and hot dogs

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tomato Industrial Museum D. Nomikos</span> Museum in Santorini

Tomato Industrial Museum D. Nomikos is an industrial museum in Vlychada on the island of Santorini in Greece. The tomato paste factory was founded in 1945, but closed in 1981. In 2014 it reopened as a museum to preserve the remaining buildings, objects and stories connected to Santorini's tomato processing past.

References

  1. Lessley, Sara. "You'll find eclectic L.A. tours like these only at offbeat Atlas Obscura". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  2. Foer, Extracted from Atlas Obscura by Joshua; Thuras, Dylan; Morton, Ella (19 September 2016). "10 of the world's most unusual wonders – chosen by Atlas Obscura". The Guardian . Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  3. "Nine of Canada's most curious sights, courtesy of Atlas Obscura". The Globe and Mail . Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  4. 1 2 3 "About Us". Atlas Obscura. Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  5. 1 2 Kaufman, Leslie (23 November 2014). "Slate's Former Top Editor Takes Helm at Travel Site". The New York Times . Retrieved 16 June 2016.
  6. 1 2 Sawers, Paul (27 February 2015). "Atlas Obscura raises $2M to become a National Geographic for millennials". VentureBeat . Retrieved 3 October 2017.
  7. 1 2 3 Cooper, Arnie (24 July 2013). "Celebrating Obscurity". The Wall Street Journal . Retrieved 3 October 2017.
  8. Black, Annetta (2009-10-12). "Hello from Annetta". Atlas Obscura. Retrieved 2024-10-25.
  9. 1 2 Glusa, Elaine (10 April 2016). "A Day to Explore, Above Ground and Below". The New York Times. Retrieved 3 October 2017.
  10. "Warren Webster Will Lead Atlas Obscura". www.adweek.com. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
  11. "'Atlas Obscura' Offers a Reference Book for Wonder Seekers". Boston . Retrieved 30 November 2016.
  12. Atlas Obscura: An Explorer's Guide to the World's Hidden Wonders. Workman Publishing Company. 2016. ISBN   978-0761169086.
  13. "Atlas Obscura to Expand in Video After Funding Round Led by A+E Networks". The Wall Street Journal . Retrieved 26 November 2017.
  14. Alpert, Lukas I. "Airbnb Leads $20 Million Funding Round Into Atlas Obscura". WSJ. Retrieved 2024-02-11.
  15. Guaglione, Sara (2023-01-30). "Atlas Obscura wants to be profitable before raising funds in a tricky media market". Digiday. Retrieved 2024-02-11.
  16. "Reviewed by Andrew Liptak in The Verge". 21 September 2016. Retrieved 16 May 2019.
  17. "Reviewed by Cindy Helms in New York Journal of Books". 18 September 2018. Retrieved 12 December 2018.