Obscurity Podcast Network Presents
Object Obscura
We take obscure to a whole new level.
What can antiques tell us about material culture?
Listen Everywhere.
Every Object Has a Story.
The historical investigative podcast about
people, objects and their stories.
1. We discover antiques
2. We interview experts about them
3. We attempt to return the object to its original owner
Recent Episodes
Season 4
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EP 21 - Breaking News · Bulletin · Buffalo [Part 1]
Summary: In this episode we inspect a photo slide taken in 1942. We travel to Tampa, Florida to uncover the truths about this picture of a woman falling out of a building. This episode will focus on suicide prevention and the celebration of life.
Interviews: Laura, Scott MacGullivray and April Barbosa
Date: February 8th, 2024
Duration: 25:01
Season 3
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EP 20 - Physicist · Fortress · Family
Summary: In this episode we travel to a park with Brazil’s oldest standing factory - a collection of ruins built around 1804.
Interviews: Flaviomiro Mendonça - Fernando and Nery Mendonça - Laura Mendonça
Date: April 28th, 2023
Duration: 31:28
* Available in English and Portuguese
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EP 19 - Book · Banker · Brazil
Summary: In this episode we uncover secrets inside a 100 year old Rudyard Kipling short story novel. Our leads take us to a bathroom, old abandoned stations and to the grandson of the man who signed it in 1924.
Interviews: Sílvia Diniz - Bill Burns - Archibald Searby
Date: April 14, 2023
Duration: 54:18
* Available in English and Portuguese
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EP 18 - Mask · Monkey · Mebêngôkre
Summary: In this episode we trace back the origins of an indigenous Brazilian mask, eventually talking with a member from the Kayapó community who made it.
Interviews: Ben Hess - Claudia López - Mydjere Kayapó-Mekrangnoti
Date: December 2, 2022
Duration: 33:44
* Available in English and Portuguese
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EP 17 - Radiola · Reggae · Revolution
Summary: In this episode we listen to a sound - Brazilian reggae. We learn about Brazil’s most prolific record collector and radiola builder, none other than from his daughter.
Interviews: Ademar Danilo - Karlena Costa
Date: November 18, 2022
Duration: 38:14
* Available in English and Portuguese
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EP 16 - Jesus · Jail · Juvenile
Summary: In this episode we take a sip of a pink soda drink sold in the northeast of Brazil. We speak to the last living son of the drink’s creator, who was born the same year his dad was put in jail.
Interviews: Vagner do Vale - Cristiane Muniz Thiago - Elir & Zezé Gomes - Lídia Nicolau
Date: November 4, 2022
Duration: 46:01
* Available in English and Portuguese
Meet the Host
Listen along to Object Obscura’s captivating storytelling by creator and host, Thatcher Warrick Hess. A historian, linguist and journalist, Thatcher has conducted over 50 interviews ranging from well-renowned experts to everyday families across the globe.
He founded the Obscurity Podcast Network DBA in 2021 to produce historically and linguistically accurate bites of audio journalism.
- Words from our Listeners -
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ on Apple Podcasts
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"I loved it. I'm from São Luís, Brazil and I didn't know some of the curiosities you told [us] on the episode. It's not very easy to find content about those particular things from Maranhão, you're doing a great job. Thanks!"
Lya B.
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"I just listened to the podcast. I thought it was f*ckin' - so good... The phone conversations [the host] had with the lady... was really sweet and [the host] reconnecting these objects with the owner was really beautiful. I'm looking forward to listening to the rest!"
Kaleb R.
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"It was so engaging and the entire production made the story captivating. I felt like I was in the room as the story was being told with the sound effects. The story behind the object makes me think of the prints my life is making in the sand of time. Looking forward to more. Highly recommend this podcast."
Elizabeth A.
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"[The host] has a marvelous way of finding a little thread that most of us would overlook as just a common detail and finding just the right way to pull on it so it unravels a rich story waiting to be told from on history's hidden tapestries..."
Bill W.
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"I never thought that objects could tell such a cool story... The podcast author does an amazing job of bringing in aspects of culture, language, history, and... articulates the stories in such a way that it brings a good level of mystery and suspense while also ending them with a richness that really makes the stories come to life."
Tera W.
