{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"What’s Up, Wake","title":"Lost Towns and Ghost Stories: A Conversation with Heather Leah","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":2592,"description":"In this episode, local storyteller, historian, and author Heather Leah shares how she began writing online more than a decade ago, grew a large following by blending deep research with engaging “hidden history,” and why preserving local stories matters as places vanish. She discusses mysteries like the Village Subway beneath Cameron Village, underwater communities beneath Jordan Lake such as Seaforth, and how towns can be erased from maps and memory. Heather explains balancing fun, shocking history with heavier subjects, her approach to ghost stories as cultural history, and why the Dorothea Dix property feels especially haunted. She also describes her research process, how followers contribute leads, and how she turned her work into her first book, “Lost Towns of North Carolina,” built through travel, photos, and interviews with people connected to lost communities.\n00:00 Meet Heather Leah\n03:15 How It All Started\n04:56 From Community to History\n06:21 Vanishing Places\n09:03 Jordan Lake Ghost Towns\n13:00 Towns Wiped Off Maps\n14:00 Balancing Light and Heavy\n16:29 Ghost Stories as Culture\n18:18 Dorothy Dix Haunted History\n20:11 Crybaby Lane Investigation\n21:49 Paranormal Tours\n24:13 Story Idea System\n25:15 Follower Submitted History\n27:50 From Posts to Book\n31:37 Researching Lost Towns\n35:19 Book Launch Emotions\n37:47 Time Travel Raleigh\n40:41 Where to Find Heather\n41:35 Final Thanks","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/3FPpkJ7JIRSxqmup6bUJfqr8_rMrqpK7grf9C8PwVsk/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9iNmM5/OWRmY2Y4NDg0ZDEy/YjlmZjdkZDdhNDI2/OTJiZC5qcGVn.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}