logo
episode-header-image
Nov 2023
14m 41s

Dolly Parton’s Dreambox

SiriusXM and Atlas Obscura
About this episode

We will always love Dolly Parton, who’s installed a “dreambox” time capsule at her amusement park. In it, there’s a secret song that no one will hear until the legendary artist turns 100. 

LEARN MORE about Dolly’s songwriting prowess in Unlikely Angel, a book by Hamilton College professor Lydia Hamessley.

Up next
Today
How Polar Explorers Entertained Themselves
Early polar explorers faced long nights and dangerous expeditions. To entertain themselves, they wrote and published niche newspapers and periodicals. Atlas Obscura’s community editor Allegra Rosenberg reads an essay exploring this unique polar tradition. Read her full essay here ... Show More
11m 45s
Yesterday
The Last Limburger Plant in America
Chalet Cheese Cooperative in Monroe, Wisconsin is the last cheese plant left in America that makes the ultra-stinky Limburger cheese: a cheese that inspires equal parts loving and loathing, has been banned for its assaulting smell, and that once sparked a feud between two cities. 
14m 29s
Jul 7
Where You Would Spend Your Last Day Before the Apocalypse
A few weeks ago, the Atlas Obscura staff told us where they would spend their last days before the apocalypse. Now we’re sharing your stories – from a childhood home in a small town in Illinois, to a trip in Eastern Europe, to a pizzeria in Brooklyn and a cave in Utah. Plus: We w ... Show More
10m 50s
Recommended Episodes
Dec 2019
Dolly Parton's America (with Jad Abumrad)
There are icons, and then there’s Dolly Parton. The country singer-turned-actress-turned-cultural phenomenon has produced a nearly unparalleled body of work, in both quantity (Parton is the sole or co-author of more than three thousand songs) and in legacy. Despite releasing her ... Show More
40m 50s
Oct 2023
254. Dolly Parton: How to Make Decisions (Even If They Break Your Heart)
In this special episode, Glennon, Abby, and Amanda sit down with icon Dolly Parton for a heartfelt conversation about how to start something new at 77, how she mothers the world, and how she broke her own heart when Elvis asked to record her hit song.  Plus, the advice Dolly woul ... Show More
41m 24s
Dec 2023
Encore: Saint Dolly | Backwoods Barbie | 201
There are few celebrities more beloved than Dolly Parton. In her decades-long career, she’s cultivated loyalty with her fans by always being true to her roots. But before she was the musician we know and love today, Dolly was just a poor girl in rural Tennessee with a song in her ... Show More
53m 51s
Oct 2019
Tennessee Mountain Trance
We journey into the Dollyverse dimension: "Tennessee Mountain Home."Like all law abiding Tennesseans, Jad grew up with the song on a loop. He hadn’t planned to talk with Dolly about it, but much to his surprise, he is drawn into a Tennessee Mountain Trance. The trance opens a por ... Show More
40m 27s
Dec 2020
S10 Ep 12: Dolly Parton
This is a BIG one!!! Straight out of Nashville, the one and only Country ICON Dolly Parton joins us on Table Manners.We chatted to Dolly - dressed head to toe in festive gear - back in October, before her beautiful book Storyteller had reached these shores and before we knew she ... Show More
44m 48s
May 2023
The Cult of Dolly Parton
America's favorite buxom, rhinestone-clad Southern songstress, Dolly Parton, has a "cult following" like no other celebrity. Thanks to her unmistakable image, her "Dollyisms," her theme park, her illustrious music, and her ability to transcend politics, "Saint Dolly" has become s ... Show More
52m 50s
Dec 2023
Encore: Saint Dolly | Girl Singer | 202
When Dolly makes it to Nashville, stardom doesn’t come as quickly as she’d hoped. But landing a spot as the Girl Singer on Porter Wagoner’s show brings her much closer to her dreams. There’s just one problem — Porter controls every aspect of her career. And Dolly’s ready to strik ... Show More
45m 47s