Get ready, Northeastern Pennsylvania—TV’s ultimate adventurer, Josh Gates, is bringing his thrilling tales of exploration to Wilkes-Barre for “An Evening of Legends, Mysteries, and Tales of Adventure” this Thursday, June 19 at the F.M. Kirby Center.

Best known as the globe-trotting host of Expedition Unknown—which airs on Discovery Channel and streams on Max—Gates is no stranger to the world’s most fascinating and perilous quests. From haunted tombs and ancient pyramids to pirate legends and missing aviators, his passion for history, mystery and discovery is unmatched.

In this one-night-only live experience, fans will get a behind-the-scenes look at his adventures, exclusive sneak peeks from the upcoming season of Expedition Unknown, and insight into some of the greatest archaeological puzzles of our time—including investigations into the Great Pyramid of Giza and the infamous man-eating lions of Tsavo.

Don’t miss your chance to join Josh Gates for a night of globe-spanning storytelling. Tickets are still available—reserve yours today and set off on an unforgettable, globetrotting adventure.

Ahead of his visit to the F.M. Kirby Center, we caught up with Josh to talk about his favorite expeditions, upcoming mysteries in the new season of Expedition Unknown and what fans can expect from his live show.

Your show, “An Evening of Legends, Mysteries, and Tales of Adventure” brings your TV adventures to a live audience—what can fans expect from the experience?

If you are a fan of Expedition Unknown, it’s a great way to go behind the scenes and learn more about our adventures and our expeditions, to see exclusive footage and to learn about our new season. We have a new season that’s just about to kick off, so we’ll be sharing exclusive clips and details about our upcoming expeditions. And if you’re just discovering the show, it’s a really fun evening of adventure. We’re talking about some of the greatest archaeological mysteries and legends in history. So, it’s a really fun evening of exploration.

You’ve traveled the world in search of answers to some pretty big mysteries—has there been a destination or discovery that surprised you or challenged what you thought you knew?

I think the right answer is Northeastern Pennsylvania—the most beautiful spot in the country, which is actually true. I’ve spent a little bit of time there recently, and Honesdale is just the most amazing place. I had some incredible meals in the area—like at Native, which is amazing—and then ate at this really incredible restaurant, Black Walnut in Callicoon, NY, which totally knocked my socks off. So, the diplomatic answer is the wonders of Northeastern Pennsylvania.

But look, you know, my job takes me all over the world, and so we’ve had the opportunity to visit some incredible destinations. This coming season on the show, we’re going to Göbekli Tepe in Turkey, which is the oldest man-made construction ever discovered in history. These are very enigmatic buildings that were made about 12,000 years ago. And so, to travel back in time and visit a place that was made by human hands just after the last Ice Age is absolutely jaw-dropping.

Our journeys take us deep into the Pacific to places like Micronesia, where islands and axe holes that most people have never heard of—including me—are just loaded with incredible culture and history. So, places like that are always surprising to me. And I’m always just kind of amazed at how much there is still to discover in the world. You know, we’re still making these incredible discoveries, and so, to me, the most surprising thing is how much we still have to learn about our past.

From ancient tombs to urban legends, your work spans a wide range of topics. Is there a story or mystery that continues to fascinate you, even after all these years?

I am, like a lot of aviation enthusiasts, of course, obsessed with Amelia Earhart. I’ve long been an admirer of Earhart, and so I would love to see her Lockheed Electra hanging in the Smithsonian. And so, if I had unlimited time and resources, I’d be scouring the Pacific for her plane. I would love to see that found.

I also have a real love of Maya history. We’ve done some amazing shows in Central America and the Maya world. We have a big special coming up this year on the Great Pyramid—another building I’m fascinated by that we’re still learning things about—this wonder of the world that still continues to provide new information to us. I think if I had all the time in the world, I’d go searching for Earhart.

You’ve dealt with extreme environments, close calls and the occasional creepy encounter—how do you balance the thrill with real danger?

We always say that Expedition Unknown is an uncontrolled environment. So, anything can and will happen on an adventure. And so much of what we do is about managing that risk. You know, if you want to go on an expedition and you wanna have adventure, there is going to be this element of the unknown. You just can’t plan for everything. But if you’re going to trek off into the jungle or head into the icy tundra, you have to plan accordingly, right? It’s been said that adventure is what happens when people don’t plan ahead. And so, it’s really, for us, about managing risk and planning our expeditions carefully.

But yes, we’ve ended up in lots of hairy situations over the years. The show definitely has moments that are dangerous and uncontrolled. We go diving in flooded tombs, we’re dangling off cliffs, we’re trekking deep into the jungle to explore ruins in places where there’s really dangerous wildlife. So, you never know what’s gonna happen.

You’re not just a host—you’re an explorer, storyteller and author. What keeps your curiosity alive after uncovering so many fascinating tales around the globe?

Well, I grew up in the ’80s, and so Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Goonies were on repeat in my house. But I think, like all kids—or kids at heart—I love a mystery. I think we all love a mystery. We’re all drawn to the unknown. Whenever we hear some tale of buried treasure or a vanished civilization, we all kind of lean into these stories. They have such a natural hook. For me, to be able to go and explore these stories and put boots on the ground—it’s such a privilege that it’s easy to keep that curiosity alive, because these mysteries are timeless.

At the show, we’ll get a sneak peek of your recent travels. Can you share one of the most exciting excursions you went on for the upcoming season, and what made it your favorite?

One of our most exciting excursions this season is to East Africa to do a story on the man-eating lions of Tsavo. This is an incident that occurred just over a century ago, when the British were trying to build a railway across Kenya. Their railway workers were stalked and hunted by two African male lions who killed and ate 135 people at the work site. The lions’ pelts and their skulls are held in the Field Museum in Chicago, and we’re working with scientists who, even now—a century later—are learning more about these lions. What caused them to become man-eaters? And what allowed them to get away with it for so long? It took nine months to capture and kill these lions. So, this is an amazing story from the past that new discoveries are still being made about.

We’re also going to be exploring the legendary female pirate, Anne Bonny, who I think needs a better publicist. She’s one of the coolest characters in pirate history, and a lot of folks don’t know her name, but she was this really fierce pirate in a very male-dominated workspace, if you will, in the Golden Age of Piracy. She’s a really imposing character. She was eventually caught and sentenced to hang, but before she did, she vanished into the pages of history—so we don’t know what happened to her. So, an amazing story chasing down her whereabouts—and her treasure, of course.

Are there any legends, mysteries, or unsolved stories from Northeastern Pennsylvania that you’d love to investigate someday?

That’s a great question. Well, first of all, you tell me—what do I need to come and check out there? We did come to Pennsylvania a few seasons ago to do a show on The Doan Gang. They were this group of outlaws that were operating primarily in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, and we worked with our friends at the Mercer Museum there to do a show looking for their lost loot and their lost hideout.

But the great thing about mysteries and legends is, there’s a lot of them. You know, there might be a lake monster in Lake Wallenpaupack, so we may have to pack up our binoculars and come look for that.

Any hints about future expeditions or mysteries on your radar?

We are really excited that, in the fall, we’re going to be doing a big two-part special in the Great Pyramid of Giza, which has been in the news a lot over the last few years because there’s a controversy over whether there may be additional hidden chambers inside the Great Pyramid. They’ve used remote sensing technology to possibly detect more chambers. And so, we’re gonna go there and explore the Great Pyramid from top to bottom—and really separate fact from fiction about this incredibly famous world wonder.

And as it is the 40th anniversary this year of The Goonies, we’re going to be doing a Goonies special later in the year, where I’m going to go to Oregon and live out childhood fantasies of searching for pirate treasure off the Oregon coast.