Will Ferguson is an award-winning writer and novelist. He’s lived across the globe from South America to Japan, but his work is inspired by his home: Alberta, Canada. Today, he tells us about three places that have shaped his writing: a Japanese garden, a ghost town that transformed into a theater hub, and a 12-foot statue of a fur trader.

This month, we're talking with Canadian writers and artists who find inspiration in their home province of Alberta. This episode was produced in partnership with Travel Alberta. Explore Canada's Wild Side.

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Robert Louis Stevenson’s 1886 classic “Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde” tells the story of a (SPOILER ALERT!) respectable doctor by day who lives out a double life at night. Stevenson may have been inspired by a real 18th century Scotsman, William “Deacon” Brodie, who made cabinets by day – one of which purportedly ended up in the Stevenson family home – and ran a burglary ring in his free time.

For more:

• Check out this Atlas article, “The Creepy Cabinet That Inspired Jekyll and Hyde”
• As well as the BBC’s “The Real Jekyll and Hyde?” and The National’s “A Parcel of Rogues: The double life of Deacon William Brodie”
• More on Robert Louis Stevenson’s penning of “Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde”
• And go back to the source: “The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde” and the account of Deacon Brodie’s trial over on Project Gutenberg

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Producer Gyldel Go takes you on a road trip through ancient California, from a forest of fossilized trees, to a bristlecone pine older than the Rosetta Stone, to a pair of boulders with a mysterious smooth spot.

Our new book, America Obscura, is out now! Order it today: https://www.atlasobscura.com/hubs/america-obscura

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