Cool Weird Awesome with Brady Carlson

It's National Landline Telephone Day, so we're talking about a phenomenon from the early landline days, when being a little too well understood on the phone was apparently considered kind of girly. Plus: North Korea has called off a marathon in Pyongyang for reasons. No, really, that's pretty much how the official statement put it. When the Telephone Was Considered Feminine (JSTOR Dail...

Today in 1959, Mattel brought a new toy to the North American International Toy Fair in New York City. The Barbie doll has since become famous all over the world, but few places have more of a connection to Barbie than the state of Wisconsin. Plus: today in 1965, a story in The News-Star newspaper with the headline "Clumsy Burglars." And boy were they. 5 things we know about Willows, the...

Tomorrow is National Cereal Day. Today, we’re spending some quality time with the boxes that house those breakfast staples… especially the ones decades ago that came with playable records. Plus: about half a millennium after Michelangelo was born (this day in 1475), the Victoria and Albert Museum in London announced that on a wax sculpture, they had found what appeared to be the artist’s thumbprin...

By some accounts today is National Pickup Truck Day.  One of the world’s most notable trucks is in Santo Domingo, in the Dominican Republic. For the last three decades or so, it’s been hanging five stories up on the side of a building. Plus: a hockey team in Ontario has apologized for sending fans a letter essentially asking them to stop being smelly at games (!) This 1992 Chevy Pickup Has Been Ha...

National Salt Awareness Week begins today in the UK. We’ll let medical experts tell you how much salt is right for you and your diet, but we can look at a broader question: why is it that we keep salt and pepper shakers together at the table? Plus: starting today in New Zealand, the Golden Shears World Shearing And Woolhandling Championship. Why Are Salt and Pepper Paired? (AllRecipes) Golden Shea...

Today in 1855 US lawmakers approved $30,000 in funding for “the purchase of camels and the importation of dromedaries, to be employed for military purposes." We had our own "Camel Corps"! Plus: today in 1875, the first indoor game of hockey took place in Montreal, and it ended in a not that surprising way. The U.S. Army’s “Camel Corps” Experiment (Army Historical Foundation) First i...

Today in 1965, the premiere of “The Sound of Music.” Generations of fans around the world have been singing along to songs like "Do-Re-Mi,: but those fans can be singing very different songs depending on which language they’re singing in. Plus: a moment of well-meaning misunderstanding at an animal rescue center in the UK. "The Sound of Music" across three languages (Jabal al-Lughat...

Today is National Strawberry Day, and in Poland, one of the foods that goes best with strawberries is pasta. Plus: starting today in Wabasha, Minnesota, it’s the Grumpy Old Men Festival. Strawberry Spaghetti Is The Sweet Polish Pasta You Need To Try (Mashed) GRUMPY OLD MEN FESTIVAL   It would be sweet for you to join our community of supporters on Patreon

We have a few days left in National Children's Dental Health Month, so today we’re telling the story of William Addis, the first person to mass produce toothbrushes - and one who came up with his big breakthrough in unusual circumstances. Plus: for National Pistachio Day, a visit to the World's Largest Pistachio (TM) in Alamagordo, New Mexico.  Who invented the toothbrush and when was it i...

Today in 1978, writer Dave Voelker set off on a hike across frozen Lake Erie. Experienced hikers can definitely cover that much ground in a weekend, but a frozen Great Lake can be a little more complicated than a hiking trail. Plus: today in 1969, a rough moment for John Edward Kilty of Manchester, England, showing why it’s always good to listen closely in court.  Walking on water: Tales of perilo...

Today in 1972, the birthday of Manon Rhéaume, who made history as the first woman to ever play in the National Hockey League. Plus: today is National Tortilla Chip Day. There are lots of ways to celebrate, like recreating the work of a Reddit user who, in 2021, made a prom dress out of old bags of Doritos. Manon Rheaume realizes her NHL debut was ‘not just another game’ (SportsNet)  I made a prom...

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder can be a big challenge for some people. There’s a research project underway to see if becoming a DJ can help with ADHD. Plus: a big mathematical mind wanted a very specific shape on his tombstone. A new spin on ADHD treatment (Virginia Tech University)   Why This Great Mathematician Wanted a Heptadecagon on His Tombstone (Scientific American) “He’s the DJ,...

Today in 1977, the show that famously broadcast “live from New York” put on a special show live from New Orleans. While you can’t exactly call what happened a trainwreck, it has definitely stayed a one and done. Plus: today in 1989, TIME magazine noted that a TV ad for Nike sneakers wasn’t quite what it appeared to be. The Big Uneasy: When SNL Went to Mardi Gras (Vulture) Advertising: If the Inamu...

Today in 1973, one of the greatest boxers of all time tried a different sport for a day… and it really didn’t go well. Plus: on this day in 1967, a news story about a swimmer who broke a world record but got disqualified on wardrobe grounds. Joe Frazier Almost Drowned On National Television 40 Years Ago Today (Sports Illustrated)  Sylvia Ester, World-Record Swimmer (Weird Universe) Keep this podca...

Today in 1930, a Guernsey cow known as Elm Farm Ollie became the first cow to go up in a plane, and the first one to be milked during the flight (!) Plus: today in 2012, a pro golfer hits a ball that accidentally rolls up a guy's pant leg (!!) Elm Farm Ollie: The Story of the First Cow to Take Flight (San Diego Air & Space Museum) Trending: Mickelson's ball ends up in man's shorts...

Today in 1989, two players in a chess tournament faced off… and set a record for the longest tournament chess match of all time. Plus: today in 1921, a nun in St. Paul, Minnesota made educational history. The Longest Tournament Chess Game (Chess.com)  School Patrol Flagpole (Atlas Obscura) It’s your move, make it a good one by backing our show on Patreon

The most famous giant president heads are the ones on Mount Rushmore in South Dakota, but many president buffs also swear by a different set in Virginia… though those heads have definitely had a rough go of it. Plus: a CBC report in 1987 features grocery store price checkers who were really on a roll. Inside Virginia’s Decaying President Heads: Where They Came From, Where They Are, How to Tour (Ro...

We’re replaying some of our favorite episodes about the 16th President. In this episode from November 2019, the legend of how President Lincoln once served as a kind of wedding planner at the White House. Plus: Marlborough, Massachusetts hosts the New England WizardFest, where you can immerse yourself in the world of witches and wizards. Adams moves into the White House, Nov. 1, 1800 (Politico) Di...

We’re replaying some of our favorite episodes about the 16th President. In this episode from February 2021, a groundbreaking detective uses her ingenuity to get President-elect Lincoln to Washington DC when there were threats against him. Plus: the family of the late Alex Trebek does some good with the suits he wore on Jeopardy! Pinkerton Spy, Feminist Icon  (Crimereads) The woman who helped prote...

We’re replaying some of our favorite episodes about the 16th President. In this episode from February 2022, the Lincoln Memorial Undercroft, a space underneath the famous memorial that's a result of the engineering it took to build on that spot. Plus: a farmer in Takoma Park, Maryland honored the late president by carving his name into a beech tree. Over and over. Lincoln Memorial Undercroft  ...

We’re replaying some of our favorite episodes about the 16th President. In this episode from October 2021, a handwritten letter from an 11 year old convinces presidential candidate Abraham Lincoln to grow a beard. Plus: in 1957, an unusual demonstration in Port Washington, Wisconsin: the “Power Mower of the Future”! Letter to Grace Bedell  (Abraham Lincoln Online) The Simplicity “Air-Conditioned L...

We’re replaying some of our favorite episodes about the 16th President. In this episode from February 2020, President Lincoln gets an offer from a fellow leader to send elephants to the United States, and he has to gently put the guy off. Plus: when elephants who haven't seen each other in a while get back together, they do some big, loud and adorable stuff. Lincoln Rejects the King of Siam’s...

This month in 1964, the talk of the art world was an exciting avant garde painter named Pierre Brassau… except that this painter was actually a chimpanzee, and Pierre Brassau was a big old hoax. Plus: the young lady in the famous Sun Maid raisin logo was inspired by an actual person. The Monkey Artist Hoax (Today I Found Out) Our history (Sun Maid) Paint the future of this podcast as a backer on P...

Born today in 1929, Hal Blaine, a session drummer who played on not just some of the biggest hits of the 1960s, but hundreds of them. Plus: today in 1999, the first major online livestream, which brought something like 1.5 million users together to watch a Victoria’s Secret fashion show.  Remembering Hal Blaine (Drum Magazine) February 5, 1999: First Major Webcast in Victoria’s Secret (This Day In...

Today in 1948, the birthday of Vincent Furnier, who rock music fans know better as Alice Cooper.  Onstage he was wild, provocative, shocking; offstage he spent a lot of time helping a certain comedy legend get some sleep. Plus: science geeks on the internet figure out a solution to a seemingly impossible postal conundrum. How Alice Cooper and Groucho Marx got to be midnight buds (Las Vegas Review-...