Cool Weird Awesome with Brady Carlson

Today in 1992, the fast food chain Rax filed for bankruptcy, a few months after launching an ad campaign featuring the fast food world’s first smart-alecky, ironic and probably very depressed mascot. Plus: a contestant in the Miss Mundo Chile pageant performed an original death metal song, complete with roaring throat singing. The Short, Sad, Strange Life of Mr. Delicious (NathanRabin.com) Miss Ch...

Today in 1914, the birthday of Bessie Blount Griffin, physical therapist, inventor, forensic expert, writer, speaker.... the list goes on and on. Plus: a museum in Paris is auctioning off dozens of vehicles from popular movies and TV shows. BESSIE BLOUNT GRIFFIN (1914-2009) (Blackpast) Movie Car Museum Liquidating 50 Famous Vehicles at No Reserve (The Drive) Help move our show forward as a backer...

For years, we’ve been able to type on our devices just about anywhere we go. Now there’s a project that can let us type on just about any surface, not just on our phones or computers. Plus: tomorrow in Selma, North Carolina, it’s Santa's Groovy Disco Party.  New AR system turns common surfaces into high-precision keyboards for faster input (Interesting Engineering) Santa's Groovy Disco Par...

Today in 1866, the first US patent for the yo-yo. It’s a device that’s been around in some forms since ancient times, and there have even been a few occasions when it’s gone into space. Plus: starting tomorrow in Claremore, Oklahoma, it's Dickens on the Boulevard. Toys in space (UPI) Dickens on the Boulevard (TravelOK) Don’t let this show spin in place! Back us on Patreon today

Today in 1959, the premiere of the show we know today as Rocky and Bullwinkle. It was an extremely irreverent show, especially for its time… and that’s why one of its jokes ended up getting the producers in trouble. Plus: Chicago is celebrating 50 years of its famous film reviewing duo, Siskel and Ebert. Watch the Banned Bullwinkle Bumper That Had Kids Ripping Off TV Knobs & Parents Furious (M...

Peelware is a company selling paper plates that can be reused more than a dozen times. When you're done using it, peel off the top layer and today in 2115, the release of the Robert Rodriguez movie 100 Years. peelable layers of paper plates break down without additional waste as single-use dishware (designboom) 13 Completed Movies That Were Never Released (Screenrant) Our Patreon backers make...

For National Take A Hike Day, we look back at a time in the 1800s when huge crowds bought tickets to see people walk around in loops for days at a time. Plus: for National Homemade Bread Day, the story of the bakery that made an eight-foot-long loaf for "I Love Lucy." The strange 19th-Century sport that was cooler than football (BBC)  How Competitive Walking Captivated Georgian Britain (...

It's National Pickle Day! These briny cukes are versatile, and so is the word "pickle," even if some of the meanings of the word aren't very food related. Plus: there's a place in Utah that's famous for serving up pickle pie. Why Do We Say We're 'In a Pickle'? (HowStuffWorks) Utah Enjoys Its Pickles In A Sweet And Savory Slice Of Pie (Chowhound) It would be a really big dill if you backed our show...

Today in 1946, an airplane flying over Massachusetts gets snow to fall out of a cloud on demand. And that helped bring about the rise of artificial snow. Plus: today in 2023, Amber Harris of Tasmania has a very unusual reason for being late to work. Hacking The Weather To Make Man-Made Snow — In 1946 (GBH) The Olympics Have 100 Percent Fake Snow—Here’s the Science of How It Gets Made (Scientific A...

Spider webs are both works of art and extremely practical, and there’s new research that finds they’re even more practical than we’ve realized. Plus: in Tulsa, Oklahoma, there's a new art installation made from more than 45,000 guitar picks. Spiders weave secret alarm system through web zigzags for prey detection, study finds (Interesting Engineering) BOK reveals new art installation made with...

On this Veterans Day, the story of a young machine gunner with the 101st Airborne. His wounded friend asked for a drink and boy did he ever find one. Auburn soldier’s WWII experience became Bastogne legend (State Journal-Register)

This week in 1922, the birthday of Kurt Vonnegut. He wrote some of the most striking and acclaimed novels of the 20th Century, but before he became a literary giant, he tried his hand at something more small-scale: a board game. Plus: today in 2017, a fast food chain in Argentina decided to team up with its usual rival for a good cause. Kurt Vonnegut’s Lost Board Game Is Finally for Sale (Open Cul...

This week we're replaying episodes that are anything but phoned in. For this episode from January 2021, the first transcontinental conference call had a very special guest on the line. Plus: a restaurant in Montreal has a menu that weighs the pros and cons of each dish. This 1915 conference call made history  (Computer World) Flashback 1914: Transcontinental Phone Line Finished  (Sound & V...

This week we're replaying episodes that are anything but phoned in. For this episode from July 2021, researchers found that for some Maasai herders in Tanzania, wrong number calls are an opportunity to get to know someone new. Plus: in 1294, a hermit monk chastised the cardinals of the Catholic Church for going years without choosing a new pope. So they promptly elected the monk. ‘Wrong number...

This week we're replaying episodes that are anything but phoned in. For this episode from November 2021, the first automatic dial network happened because of a business dispute between two undertakers. Plus: the story of John Baxter Taylor, Jr, the first Black American to win an Olympic gold medal. Almon B. Strowger: The undertaker who revolutionized telephone technology  (Spark Museum of Elec...

This week we're replaying episodes that are anything but phoned in. For this episode from October 2021, the story of how an Indianapolis utility physically moved its 11,000 ton, eight story central office to a different location, while people worked inside. Plus: the governor of Colorado announces (with tongue firmly in cheek) that his state is tied for the state with the fewest number of shar...

This week we're replaying episodes that are anything but phoned in. For this episode from April 2022, the story of several communities in Indiana that started their own wired telephone service, and the wire they used was plain old fence wire. Plus: Kansas City celebrates Fountain Day. Barb-Wire telephone line  (Insulators.info) Barbed Wire Telephone Lines Connected The Old Frontier  (Successfu...

Here in the US, we're getting ready for trick or treaters on this Halloween night. But in Scotland, kids go guising instead - because there, you can’t go door to door for candy without giving a bit of a show. Plus: a visit to a very creepy medical museum in Lexington, Kentucky. Halloween in Scotland (Historic UK) The Creepiest Museum In The Country Can Be Found Right Here In Kentucky (Only In...

A lot of us enjoy a good pretend-scare around this time of year.  But around this time in 1986, a school in California offered up a Halloween hoax that was a little too on the nose for the student body. Plus: a public library in Massachusetts has a ghost hunting kit that patrons can check out and use. School Prank--Pupils Told That War Has Started (Los Angeles Times) Ghost Hunting Kit Available at...

For National Cat Day, we have the story of how one of the biggest museums in the world once had to deal with a large collection of feral cats. Though of course the museum wasn't the only workplace in the UK that had cats in important places. The British Museum podcast: The purrrplexing story of the British Museum cats (British Museum) Bureaucats: The felines with official positions (BBC) Help...

Today in 1978, the premiere of the TV movie “KISS Meets The Phantom Of The Park. It was meant to be a big moment for the band, but that's not quite how it worked out. Plus: today in 1933, a newsreel announced that to stop traffic jams in Bronxville, New York, police would enforce a three-second limit on kisses at the train station. KISS Meets The Phantom Of The Park (BradyCarlson.com)  Kiss Ge...

New York City's subway system is, of course, mostly underground, but some of the equipment that isn't is hiding in plain sight. Like an equipment room that’s disguised as a brownstone in Brooklyn Heights. Plus: Austria could someday have electric towers designed to look like some of its signature animals. A Fake Brownstone in Brooklyn Hides a Secret Subway Ventilator (Untapped New York)  ...

In the Great Depression, people had to get creative to handle the many economic challenges that were coming their way.  Like how Pismo Beach, California found a good stand-in for regular currency: clamshells. Plus: three black bears at a zoo in California get a visit from a wild black bear. Clamshell Currency (Hakai Magazine) When Seashells Were Money (Messy Nessy Chic)  'Polite Visitor:'...

Ahead of National Hug a Sheep Day on Saturday, the story of a special treat that farmers in Wales used to make: Sheep-Shearing Cake. Plus: this Saturday in Claremore, Oklahoma, it’s the Route 66 Pecan & Music Festival.  Welsh Shearing Cake or Cacen Gneifo (Daffodil Kitchen) Route 66 Pecan & Music Festival   It would be shear perfection (pun intended) if you backed our show today on Patreon

It's National Color Day, so we have the story of how "jet black" became a phrase for a deep, dark black hue (and it isn't because of the jets that fly us around). Plus: today in 1973, the birthday of Ichiro Suzuki, a guy who kept his dog off the sports page for a very unusual reason. A forgotten gemstone that reigned during the Victorian era comes back into focus (CNN) Being Ichiro (New York Times...