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.

Finding The Great Gatsby in Louisville

May 14, 2025 00:14:55 14.32 MB Downloads: 0

You might think of The Great Gatsby as a classic New York City novel –  but the events that set off the action of the story actually take place somewhere else. In Louisville, Kentucky. It’s where Daisy and Gatsby first meet, and where Daisy marries Gatsby’s rival, Tom Buchanan (boo, hiss!) In today’s episode, we track down the footsteps of author F. Scott Fitzgerald, who spent two tumultuous months of his life near Louisville while stationed at an Army camp during WWI. And we’ll try to find the places that might have inspired his most famous work… 

Plus: Track down Fitzgerald’s footsteps in Louisville and find events related to the 100th birthday of the Great Gatsby.

This episode was produced in partnership with Louisville Tourism.