Cabinet of Curiosities

A Historical Tour of the Unbelievable, the Unsettling, and the Bizarre

By: Aaron Mahnke, Harry Marks - contributor

Narrated by: Aaron Mahnke

This program features a bonus conversation between Aaron Mahnke, the book's author and creator of the smash-hit iHeartPodcast series, and journalist and screenwriter Dana Schwartz.

The new audiobook is based on the long-running hit podcast by Aaron Mahnke, which has translated into over 120-million downloads to date, and a monthly average of over 2 million listeners.

The podcast, Aaron Mahnke’s Cabinet of Curiosities, has delighted millions of listeners for years with tales of the wonderful, astounding, and downright bizarre people, places, and things throughout history. Now, in Cabinet of Curiosities the book, learn the fascinating story of the invention of the croissant in a country that was not France, and relive the adventures of a dog that stowed away and went to war, only to help capture a German spy. Along the way, listeners will pass through the American state of Franklin, watch Abraham Lincoln’s son be rescued by his assassin’s brother, and learn how too many crash landings inspired one pilot to leave the airline industry and trek for the stars.

For the first time ever, Aaron has gathered scores of his favorites in print, and curated them into a beautiful, topical collection for devoted followers and new fans alike.

A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin's Press

©2024 Aaron Mahnke and Harry Marks (P)2024 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

"Cabinet of Curiosities hand-picks the most curious and interesting moments of history and spins them into delicious, snack-sized treats with the fun, friendly feeling of campfire tales. The ideal holiday gift for the history buff in your life!"—Delilah S. Dawson, New York Times bestselling author.

“Aaron’s stories bring history to life in a way that’s reminiscent of Paul Harvey’s approachable style, and of course, those curveball endings. What a great way to learn about our curious past!”—Brad Meltzer, bestselling author of The Nazi Conspiracy

“An overflowing buffet of informational appetizers of delight—Mahnke, as always, knows how to compel us with our own history.”—Chuck Wendig, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Accidents

Pure Enjoyment!

This book was FUN! Amazing while being informative. Links between people and events I would never otherwise known!

love love love

Absolutely love this book, I cant recommend enough. Aaron Mahnke and team are killing it!

Fantastic!

Love this! Liks 5 minute mysteries or mysteries at the museum. Short historical stories. Near perfect narration. Very enjoyable.

Interesting

If you are a fan of Lore, you'll love Cabinet of Curiosities. It's interesting...Aaron Mahnke's voice is grating, which takes away from the enjoyment of this varied collection of curiosities.

Great stories

Two thumbs up for Aaron's stories and his performance. Quite entertaining. Thanks Aaron for all of your hard work researching etc. It is much appreciated.

A cabinet of anecdotes

The author was a great narrator. Hearing the book rather reading it on the page makes these curiosities so much more memorable.

Wonderful Stories

I love Aaron, and all of his works are right up my alley. Arranged perfectly, stories were all interesting, and Aaron has a great voice for storytelling

there were some good stories but

there were some good stories but many times it felt like a weak story was propped up by the" rest of the story" format. I can see people liking it, after all Family Feud is on the air.

Between the lines

The last remarks at the end of each anecdote are cringeworthy at best. The narrator is distractingly jumpy. The pieces of interview between chapters are indescribably terrible. The thorough collection of knowledge singlehandedly kept this thing afloat.

Stranger than fiction

I enjoyed this book. I have not listened to the authors podcast or anything. Found the title and saw a sample and my curiosity was piqued.
The strange and bizarre stories sometimes have you questioning “can this be real”
But overall fun - nothing serious, just entertaining read.
I was surprised to find that I knew one of the curious stories told but all others were unknown to me and I’m sure to many. I’d recommend this book if you want to enjoy a little “weird but true” moment.