SECRET PASSAGES

The collection of churches at Lalibela in Ethiopia are built deep down into volcanic rock and are connected in a series of tunnels and crypts underground. It is no wonder that they are the unofficial Eighth Wonder of the Ancient World. In a hidden chapel, the legendary Ark of the Covenant is monitored by one guard who is never allowed to leave its side. They say it has been there for 3000 years, but no one else has seen it. Lalibela is a place of great faith with a range of mysteries. Follow along on Instagram and Facebook (@secret.passages.pod). Get in touch at https://www.secretpassagespodcast.com/. Become a Patron at https://www.patreon.com/secretpassagespod. Researched, written, and produced by E.S. Rodenbiker. Cover art by @game.of.pricks.

Beyond Scotland’s mainland to the north is an archipelago of nearly 70 little islands. Collected together they are Orkney. The Maeshowe chamber at Orkney is older than the pyramids of Egypt. It is naturally occurring, but everything under its surface is due to the ancestors of the first people of these islands. The subterranean complex has held many treasures, legends, and stories for the Icelandic sagas. But the real magic comes at the Winter Solstice. Follow along on Instagram and Facebook (@secret.passages.pod). Get in touch at https://www.secretpassagespodcast.com/. Become a Patron, add a tip at https://www.patreon.com/secretpassagespod. Researched, written, and produced by E.S. Rodenbiker. Cover art by @game.of.pricks.

Paranormal explanations for the dangers of the Bermuda Triangle begin in the 1960s but stories of unexplained occurrences and disappearances have surrounded these waters since Christopher Columbus. Recurring strange happenings like the ghost ship of the Ellen Austin and the never-again-seen airplanes of Flight 19 brings varying accounts, ranging from UFOs to time portals to the lost civilization of Atlantis. The depths of the Atlantic are a mystery. Follow along on Instagram and Facebook (@secret.passages.pod). Get in touch at https://www.secretpassagespodcast.com/. Become a Patron, add a tip at https://www.patreon.com/secretpassagespod. Researched, written, and produced by E.S. Rodenbiker. Cover art by @game.of.pricks.

When over 1100 ancient manuscripts at the Sainte Odile Abbey in the mountains on the French and German border went missing, it was a mystery to the priests and local police. It's like they disappeared into thin air. Magic has always been in these mountains with stories of Celtic battles, Grimm’s fairy tales, and the miracles of the namesake saint of the abbey. But when a bookshelf in the library was found to swing open to an abandoned chamber, an amazing book heist was revealed. Follow along on Instagram and Facebook (@secret.passages.pod). Get in touch at https://www.secretpassagespodcast.com/. Become a Patron, add a tip at https://www.patreon.com/secretpassagespod. Researched, written, and produced by E.S. Rodenbiker. Cover art by @game.of.pricks.

In its time, the Hellfire Club gained a reputation as London's most notorious fraternity party with secret rituals, high stakes gambling, anonymous sex, and costumes to rival those of Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut. At what is now West Wycombe Park, where Downton Abbey and The Crown have filmed on-location, there are a series of tunnels and caves that hosted some of the most powerful people in the British Empire. What were they up to down in the dark? Follow along on Instagram and Facebook (@secret.passages.pod). Get in touch at https://www.secretpassagespodcast.com/. Become a Patron, add a tip at https://www.patreon.com/secretpassagespod. Researched, written, and produced by E.S. Rodenbiker. Cover art by @game.of.pricks.

There are many strange and wild things in the northern Cascades, a mountain range in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. There are still many undiscovered creeks, waterfalls, and ridges. And due to one AM radio show, there is an intense search for Mel's Hole. Follow along on Instagram and Facebook (@secret.passages.pod). Get in touch at https://www.secretpassagespodcast.com/. Become a Patron, add a tip at https://www.patreon.com/secretpassagespod. Researched, written, and produced by E.S. Rodenbiker. Cover art by @game.of.pricks.

Miners of Cerro Rico in Bolivia have worked for centuries on the threshold of sustainable life. The locals call it the Mountain that Eats Men due to its dangerous conditions. Still, they continue to dig for treasures. They pay their respects to El Tio, Lord of the Underworld, to help them survive. But there are other dark interests in Potosi. Follow along on Instagram and Facebook (@secret.passages.pod). Get in touch at https://www.secretpassagespodcast.com/. Researched, written, and produced by E.S. Rodenbiker. Cover art by @game.of.pricks.

Mikhailovsky Castle, in the middle of St Petersburg, is unlike anything else found in Russia. It is a fairy tale medieval castle complete with moats and drawbridges. It was designed by the paranoid Tsar Pavel I of the Romanov family dynasty and later housed a young Fyodor Dostoevsky. Inside there are walls of marble, wide gentle stairways, and dark corridors with hidden escape routes. It is a peculiar place, perfect for a palace coup. Follow along on Instagram and Facebook (@secret.passages.pod). Get in touch at https://www.secretpassagespodcast.com/. Researched, written, and produced by E.S. Rodenbiker. Cover art by @game.of.pricks.

'Twas the episode before Christmas... a time to look at the mysteries of Santa Claus and other gift-givers from Saint Nicholas to fairy stories of chimneys as doors to other worlds to Sinterklaas and to that jolly old man in the Coca Cola advertisements. Follow a reading of Twas' the Night Before Christmas to warm up through the cold, winter months. Follow along on Instagram and Facebook (@secret.passages.pod). Get in touch at https://www.secretpassagespodcast.com/. Researched, written, and produced by E.S. Rodenbiker. Cover art by @game.of.pricks.

It is hard to survive on the Greenland ice cap. Just ask the Thule people and their ancestors. They tell stories to fill the flat white void with spirits and creatures. Others have tried to make it on the ice but did not stick around. The Cold War U.S. Army base Camp Century built a 50s-style town under the ice, but it was all a show. The top-secret Project Iceworm only came to the surface recently when the snow started to melt. Follow along on Instagram and Facebook (@secret.passages.pod). Get in touch at https://www.secretpassagespodcast.com/. Researched, written, and produced by E.S. Rodenbiker. Cover art by @game.of.pricks.

There are some places that draw people near naturally. In the Mendip Hills of the West Country, a cave includes chambers called Hell’s Ladder, Hyena Den, and the Lake of Gloom. The name is not so foreboding. It's a little silly actually. For thousands of years, Wookey Hole and its famous witch have taken hold and not let go. Follow along on Instagram and Facebook (@secret.passages.pod). Get in touch at https://www.secretpassagespodcast.com/. Researched, written, and produced by E.S. Rodenbiker. Cover art by @game.of.pricks.

The conditions of the early 1900s - war, pandemic, greed - drove people to come together in a dark room to be guided by a medium in an otherworldly sitting. The Fox Sisters, Davenport Brothers, and Mina Crandon the Blonde Witch of Lime Street all rose in supernatural fame. The magician Harry Houdini investigated the practice as a hoax, altering his friendship with spiritualist adherent Sir Arthur Conan Doyle in the process. Follow along on Instagram and Facebook (@secret.passages.pod). Get in touch at https://www.secretpassagespodcast.com/. Researched, written, and produced by E.S. Rodenbiker. Cover art by @game.of.pricks.

Down in the vaults off Edinburgh's Royal Mile there are numerous puzzle pieces of the past. Find the remains of craftspeople, displaced Highlanders, and the victims of the city's infamous serial killers: Burke and Hare. Follow along on Instagram and Facebook (@secret.passages.pod). Get in touch at https://www.secretpassagespodcast.com/. Researched, written, and produced by E.S. Rodenbiker. Cover art by @game.of.pricks.

Drugrunners can be like magicians whose dark tricks are hard to spot unless you know where to look. The best of these is the drug lord known as Shorty or El Chapo. His legend grew escaping capture by Mexican Marines and vanishing from maximum security prison, twice. He is the master of escape whose narcotunnels may go through your street or hide in your favorite chicken restaurant. Follow along on Instagram and Facebook (@secret.passages.pod). Get in touch at https://www.secretpassagespodcast.com/. Researched, written, and produced by E.S. Rodenbiker. Cover art by @game.of.pricks.

The northern castle called the Guardian of the Dales has its fair share of legends about battles, knights, kings and queens. Down below the cliffside castle walls where the river bends there is a submerged cavern large enough for York Minster. The once and future king awaits with his knights of the round table. Be warned, do not steal the sword. Follow along on Instagram and Facebook (@secret.passages.pod). Get in touch at https://www.secretpassagespodcast.com/. Researched, written, and produced by E.S. Rodenbiker. Cover art by @game.of.pricks.

Conspiracy theories abound in Washington D.C. about Illuminati influence, Freemason design, and Egyptian alien technology. The mysteries through a garbage tunnel under the Captiol Building are a little more grounded. A web of connecting buildings, hideaway rooms of countless scandals, bunkers, and an empty tomb still waiting to be filled. Follow along on Instagram and Facebook (@secret.passages.pod). Get in touch at https://www.secretpassagespodcast.com/. Researched, written, and produced by E.S. Rodenbiker. Cover art by @game.of.pricks.

The island of Gotland is a strange and wild place where myth and legend are still very much alive. Tall stone slabs with realistic pictures tell stories of gods and heroes, of other worlds than our own. No one really knows what they mean. They are a mystery found nowhere else in Scandinavia, but they are in abundance on Gotland where hidden forces await. Follow along on Instagram and Facebook (@secret.passages.pod). Get in touch at https://www.secretpassagespodcast.com/. Researched, written, and produced by E.S. Rodenbiker. Cover art by @game.of.pricks.

Enter a stirring world of trap doors, underworld mob bosses, revolving bookcases, big band jazz, and mysterious cover-ups involving presidents and silent movie stars. Taste bootlegged gin in the Mystery Room of the Arizona Biltmore or unlock the concealed cellar at the 21 Club on W 52nd in New York. That is if you can find a way inside. Follow along on Instagram and Facebook (@secret.passages.pod). Get in touch at https://www.secretpassagespodcast.com/. Researched, written, and produced by E.S. Rodenbiker. Cover art by @game.of.pricks.

There are things we cannot see but we know are there. Interstellar ghost hunters in the underground Boulby mine off the Yorkshire coast quietly search for the mysterious dark matter particles that bind the universe together. Follow along on Instagram and Facebook (@secret.passages.pod). Get in touch at https://www.secretpassagespodcast.com/. Researched, written, and produced by E.S. Rodenbiker. Cover art by @game.of.pricks.

Folk around Liverpool have always had theories about the eccentric Williamson Tunnels under Edge Hill. They contain forgotten heirlooms and a true mystery of the city. No one in heaven or on earth can make sense of the folly. Follow along on Instagram and Facebook (@secret.passages.pod). Get in touch at https://www.secretpassagespodcast.com/. Researched, written, and produced by E.S. Rodenbiker. Cover art by @game.of.pricks.