Cool Weird Awesome with Brady Carlson

This month in 1959, an expedition set out to clear up some of the confusion around Hannibal’s legendary crossing of the Alps by recreating that journey, complete with an elephant. Plus: authorities in Maryland say they've apprehended a bank robber with a cat-themed MO you don't see very often. The British Alpine Hannibal Expedition (JohnHoyte.com) Cat burglar steals kitten, tries to rob ba...

Some obscure video games help shed light on the early days of the industry. But people who study those early days sometimes have to do a lot of digging. Plus: today in 2019, a news report on a guy who left quite a legacy for Iowans trying to go to college. Press ‘start’ on ’70s arcade history (University of Virginia) Iowa man used his secret fortune to send 33 strangers to college (CBS News) Inser...

Today in 1945, the Seattle Daily Times newspaper revealed a great wartime hoax: for several years, a key military factory had been cosplaying as a neighborhood! Plus: Hyve is an autonomous off-road rover that hosts a colony of live bees and lets them sort of go on a pollination tour. Boeing made an entire fake neighborhood to hide its bombers from potential WWII airstrikes (Seattle Times) nicolas...

Today in 1966, a ground technician in the UK was doing some ground testing of an English Electric Lightning fighter jet… when suddenly the test was no longer on the ground. Plus: today is the start of The Great Montreal Poutine Fest. How a RAF Ground Engineer Accidentally Took Off in a Fighter Jet (Interesting Engineering) The Great Montréal PoutineFest (Tourisme Montreal) Help this show fly every...

A research study out of the University of Cambridge finds that putting the right level of physical pressure can essentially double the lifespan of an electric vehicle battery. Plus: today in 1987, Guns 'n' Roses released the album "Appetite for Destruction," and a music video shoot for one of the songs proved the band was living the title. Physical pressure could make EV batterie...

It's International Chess Day. In Japan, there’s a popular chess-like game known as shōgi, and one of the variants of that game is played on a scale that’s hard to even describe. Plus: designer Pierre Cardin celebrated the moon landing (on this day in 1969) with a moon dress. Armageddon (Futility Closet) Pierre Cardin’s Moon Dress (Weird Universe) Make a move over to our Patreon page and back t...

We're replaying more of our favorite baseball-themed episodes this week. In this one from March 2020, a look at how baseballer Keith Comstock managed to engineer a baseball card in which he’s being hit in, shall we say, a very sensitive place. Plus: Atlanta-based salon owner Heidi Oley had to close her shop during the pandemic, so she practiced her skills on her boyfriend and posted the result...

We're replaying more of our favorite baseball-themed episodes this week. In this one from October 2019, a sports tech company develops a high-tech compression sleeve for pitchers with sensors, to track whether a pitcher’s arm is getting tired as a game goes on, or if that arm is at risk of a more serious injury. Plus: a pitcher who called himself “Phenomenal” Smith irritates his teammates and...

We're replaying more of our favorite baseball-themed episodes this week. In this one from June 2020, we look at the time when sports mascot drama almost left us all talking about the Atlanta Chicken instead of the San Diego Chicken. Plus: we'll explain why is at the Gerald Ford Presidential Library in Michigan as well as the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. Profiles in Pluma...

We're replaying more of our favorite baseball-themed episodes this week. In this one from July 2020, the Charleston, S.C. RiverDogs got some extra attention for holding a "Nobody Night," long before the pandemic prompted major league teams to play games in front of zero attendees. Plus: Muscotah, Kansas pays tribute to its local celebrity, early baseball star Joe Tinker, by building...

We're replaying more of our favorite baseball-themed episodes this week. In this one from September 2021, Willie Mays made one of the most improbable plays in baseball history, known today as “The Catch," though really, that was only one amazing part of this amazing play. Plus: Belfast has a statue of Alec the Goose, who they say a century ago used to walk young children to and from schoo...

Today is National Piña Colada Day. This drink was already famous when Rupert Holmes put together his song about it - which is good, because originally he had a very different pair of words at the center of the song. Plus: the sitcom The Goldbergs found a way to get laughs from a real life story involving this hit song. Rupert Holmes ("Pina Colada Song") (Songfacts) Rupert Holmes' &#...

Today in 1832, people in what is now the far north woods of New Hampshire were in the middle of a border dispute and decided, we’re just gonna do our own thing. Plus: today in 2024 in Cornwall, beachgoers did their darndest to reel in an ice cream truck that had been pulled out to sea by the tide. Our Town: The Republic of Indian Stream (New Hampshire Magazine) Tourists rush to save ice cream van...

Today in 1947, the birthday of Burkey Belser, the designer of the nutrition facts label, and someone whose influence is close by pretty much any time we buy groceries. Plus: for National Ice Cream Sundae Day, a visit to Las Cruces, New Mexico, home to a green chile sundae. Burkey Belser, designer of ubiquitous nutrition facts label, dies at 76 (Washington Post) New Mexico’s green chile sundae land...

We're getting ahead of Shark Week this year with a story of an ocean mystery: why do great white sharks have a kind of secret gathering place in the Pacific Ocean? Plus: an installation at this year's Venice Biennale might take you back to the stories you read as a kid. White Shark Café: The mysterious meeting spot for great whites in the middle of the Pacific Ocean (Live Science) Mind-Ben...

For International Kissing Day, here's the story of Richard Ramsey, who spent a work day getting kissed by colleagues to test whether there were any ill effects from certain cosmetic additives. Plus: today in 2023, a news report about a roadworthy car in Pennsylvania designed to look like a 1950s bumper car. My Coal Tar Valentine (LIFE)  Knoebels replica bumper car hits Lackawanna County roads...

We’re also a couple days away from the anniversary of the day in 1915 that one of the most famous symbols of the newly independent country went on a cross-country train tour. Plus: tomorrow in Epping, New Hampshire, it’s a stop on the Døds Diving tour. ⁠The Liberty Bell Tour of 1915: A Journey of Patriotism and Unity⁠ (Texas State Historical Association) ⁠DØDS Diving World Tour⁠ ⁠Backing our show...

Today in 1979, the US Mint released a new dollar coin featuring suffragist leader Susan B. Anthony. The Mint struck hundreds of millions of them, expecting high demand… but that’s not really how it played out. Plus: for National Disco Day, the story of a gas station chain whose locations have a “disco bathroom.” The Susan B. Anthony Dollar 40 Years After Its Debut (Govmint.com) This Kentucky Gas S...

Today in 1874, the debut of the Sholes and Glidden desk typewriter. This was not the first typewriter, but it was the first one to become a hit with customers. It’s also the reason that so many English language keyboards don’t read ABCDEFG but QWERTY. Plus: today in Illinois, it’s the Elizabeth Freedom Festival.  A brief history of the QWERTY keyboard (CNET) Elizabeth Freedom Festival   Type the a...

It's National Soda Pop Day, so we're going to tell the origin story of the name 7UP... or we would if there was one. The guy who created the soda never explained what the name meant, even though there have been lots of theories. Plus: we wrap up Pride Month with a visit to Toronto, which is home to the World's Longest Rainbow Road. Untangling the Lie of the 7Up Origin Story (The Soda F...

There's a cathedral in southwestern England with a remarkable medieval astronomical clock, and on a door that leads into the workings of this clock there's a small medieval hole that carpenters cut so that the cathedral's cat could go in and out while on mouse patrol. Of course people in modern times love it. Plus: for National Day in Seychelles, the story of the world's smallest n...

Today in 1931, a scientist in Florida brought home a baby chimpanzee. Already at home: a human baby. And the scientist decided he would raise the two little ones in the exact same way to see how chimp and human measured up. Plus: starting today in Minnesota, it’s Akeley Paul Bunyan Days. This Guy Simultaneously Raised a Chimp and a Baby in Exactly the Same Way To See What Would Happen (Smithsonian...

We’re in a time of huge technological changes… but today we’re talking about an upgrade that's relatively small. Or, at least, the users of this particular new tech are small. And ratty. Plus: starting Saturday in Duluth, Minnesota, it’s the Chum Rhubarb Festival. BYU engineering students design new wearable tech for search and rescue rats... yes, rats! (Brigham Young University) Chum Rhubarb...

Around this time in 2004, the end of a decade-long court challenge. It was about a guy who turned up at casinos and beat the house at roulette, thanks to a lot of observation and a lot of calculation. Plus: this weekend in Wisconsin, it’s the Ellsworth Cheese Curd Festival.  Court backs gambler (The Age) Ellsworth Cheese Curd Festival Backing our show on Patreon is always a safe bet

Today in 1959, groundbreaking for the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial in St. Louis. The Gateway Arch has a unique design that mostly supports its own weight. Or at least that's what the math tells us. Plus: some one-star reviews of the Arch find it too archy. How the St. Louis Arch Stands Against All Odds (HowStuffWorks) Wild one-star Google reviews of the Gateway Arch (FOX 2 Now) Our Pa...