Factual America podcast explores people’s fascination with abandoned places
In one of the most popular episodes so far of the Factual America podcast, host Matthew Sherwood discusses the soon-to-be-released documentary Closed for Storm by Youtube star Jake William and producer John Shaw to explore the popularity of stories around deserted locations.
Abandoned places have become an online phenomenon over the past few years, with people having a keen interest in exploring and documenting derelict buildings.
Natural and human-caused disasters and putting life on pause because of them are neither new, nor foreign concepts, especially in the context of a pandemic.
In the documentary, Jake looks at what he considers to be one of the most iconic locations in America, and perhaps the crown jewel of his journey through the ‘abandoned’ phenomenon: The Six Flags New Orleans amusement park.
It’s a place on the bucket list of many urban explorers but more a story of how a standing symbol of happiness has become the haunting ghost of joys past.
Speaking about why stories around deserted locations are popular, Jake says: “I’ve been trying to ask myself this question for a while too. For me, it’s the nostalgia and the idea that something like an amusement park or a mall etc., meant for pleasure, fun and entertainment gets to be the complete opposite of that – something that’s stuck in a different era, a different state. The stark contrast is fascinating, but also thinking about how much money is being wasted on something like this. (…) I’ve taken it upon myself to tell this story.”
The Six Flags New Orleans’ story has unfolded in unexpected ways since it was closed for good after Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005, leaving the amusement park submerged like a modern version of Atlantis.
Based on their conversation during the podcast, it has become apparent that the general perception surrounding the park is one of hopelessness, rooted in the natural fear of abandonment that humans have, as the residents have personal connections to it, generally in the form of childhood memories.
They can’t help but feel a heavy sense of not being cared for by the city, especially after a traumatic event that prompted most to shelve their hopes and dreams, and reconstruct their lives because of an event that only lasted a couple of days.
John aptly pointed out that its existence is a painful reminder of the ordeal, as it sits there like “a monument of Katrina, one of the lasting scars of New Orleans”. Left in a complete and utter state of decay, it has become representative of the capitalist mindset that people feel places more value on profits than lives.
You can hear more in the Closed for Storm episode of Factual America, which is also on Apple Podcast, Google Podcast, Spotify, Stitcher, and YouTube.