In 2012, the city of Melbourne gave every tree a barcode and email address so people could report when it needed maintenance or attention. But, a funny thing started happening. Instead of reporting problems, people began emailing love letters to the trees.

MORE: Is there a special tree in your life? One worthy of a love letter? Let us know!  Give us a call at 315-992-7902 and leave a message telling us your name and your love letter to a tree. Just so you know, our mailbox will cut you off after two minutes so please call again if that happens!

Tree Week: Love Letters

An audio guide to the world’s strange, incredible, and wondrous places. Co-founder Dylan Thuras and a neighborhood of Atlas Obscura reporters explore a new wonder every day, Monday through Thursday. In under 15 minutes, they’ll take you to an incredible place, and along the way, you’ll meet some fascinating people and hear their stories. Our theme and end credit music is composed by Sam Tyndall.

Society & Culture

Personal Journals

History

Philosophy

Places & Travel

Farmers in Yorkshire, England take years to coax their rhubarb plants into a world-renowned delicacy using a century-old technique. 

READ MORE IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/fords-folly-water-dam

Rhubarb Triangle (Classic)

On the eve of the Second World War, there was one place that was the source for all good stories — the Hotel Imperial in Vienna. It exuded luxury and power, and also was the converging spot for foreign correspondents in the 1920’s and ‘30s who were warning the world about the rise of dictatorship. Historian and author Deborah Cohen takes us back in time and into the lives of these influential journalists.

MORE Check out Deborah’s book here: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/576473/last-call-at-the-hotel-imperial-by-deborah-cohen/

Checking Into Hotel Imperial with Deborah Cohen

Long before Joe Exotic got the country talking about big cats, there was Joe Taft – regular guy – who began raising and rescuing these types of felines in Indiana. 

MORE: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/exotic-feline-rescue-center-2

Exotic Feline Rescue Center

The Old Cahawba Archeological Park is perhaps one of Alabama's most famous ghost towns. But it once was the center of life in this southern state. We unravel the surprising tale of this onetime capital city. 

SEE IT IN THE ATLAS: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/old-cahawba-archeological-park

Old Cahawba

Today’s episode comes from Twenty Thousand Hertz, a podcast that reveals the stories behind the world's most recognizable and interesting sounds. On their show, they’ve explored topics like the sounds of other planets, the mind blowing ways that insects communicate, and secret spy messages that are broadcast on the radio. 

In this episode, they take you to the US-Canadian border, where, in 2011, residents of Windsor, Ontario started experiencing a strange rumbling hum that rattled dishes and kept people awake at night. Then, after years of getting nowhere, the mystery of the Windsor Hum was finally solved... Or was it?

Tree Week: Love Letters

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