Cool Weird Awesome with Brady Carlson

Today in 1938, the birthday of Paul Craft, an acclaimed songwriter and musician whose catalog includes probably the world’s best known religious country football song: “Drop Kick Me Jesus (Through The Goalposts Of Life).” Plus: starting this Friday in Glasgow, Scotland, it’s the World Pipe Band Championships. Drop Kick Me Jesus (Through The Goalposts Of Life) (Songfacts) World Pipe Band Championsh...

If you’re near Moses Lake, Washington in the next couple days, you can try an iconic fair food: the Spaceburger. Plus: today in 1911, Hawaii's Duke Kahanamoku breaks a world swimming record by so much that the athletic organizers can't quite believe it. History & Mysteries of the “Space Burger” in Moses Lake, WA (The Quake 102.1)  Duke Kahanamoku (Library of Congress) Space out with us...

We've done a lot of shows about robots, and we've done a lot of shows about pizza. Now, we're doing a show about a robot that's learning to make pizza with help from a team at Virginia Tech. Plus: Baltimore is home to the world’s tallest five-sided building in which the sides are all equal length. But first, pizza: Team creates assistive robotics that can make you a meal (Virginia...

Sarah Winchester's decades-long renovation project turned an eight-room farmhouse into hundreds of rooms, and sparked endless rumors that at least some of those rooms are haunted. Plus: starting tomorrow in Ohio, it’s the Reynoldsburg Tomato Festival. Everything you think you know about the Winchester Mystery House probably isn't true (SFGate) TOMATO FESTIVAL REYNOLDSBURG, OHIO  Help us bu...

Today in 1928, the birthday of Andy Warhol. He made a mark with his paintings of Campbell's Soup cans, though the company wasn’t immediately thrilled with his work. Plus: starting tomorrow in Indiana, it’s the Van Buren Popcorn Festival. Why Campbell Soup hated, then embraced, Andy Warhol’s soup can paintings (CNN) Van Buren Popcorn Festival   If you like the art we produce every day, back it...

It's World Ant Day, so we’re looking at an ant species that got so comfortable living in New York City that it earned the nickname “ManhattAnt.” Plus: if you missed National Mustard Day over the weekend, check out a pizzeria in New Jersey known for making the "mustard pie." Scientists identified the ‘ManhattAnt’ — and they have theories on why it’s taking over NYC (CNN) Papa's To...

Today in 2018, a dad in Sydney, Australia saw his kid in danger and put himself on the line to make sure that kid was safe. Here's his story. Plus: today in 1922, a very quiet moment in the history of telecommunications. Heroic father breaks skull leaping off 4m balcony to cushion son’s fall (News.com.au) Telephones Were Silenced for One Minute After Alexander Graham Bell Died (Smithsonian) Yo...

Today in 1981, the debut of MTV. It brought music videos to the mainstream, but it didn't invent them - in fact, there were proto-music videos almost a century before the cable channel first appeared. Plus: starting tomorrow in Santa Fe, New Mexico, the 4th Annual Youth Hoop Dance Championship. The Complete History of the Music Video: From the 1890s to Today (Open Culture) 4TH ANNUAL YOUTH HOO...

Today in 1928, the debut of Leo, MGM's roaring lion. One of the lions that played Leo in the movies used up more than a few of its nine lives while traveling for the movie studio. Plus: starting today in Indiana, it’s the Jasper Strassenfest. Meet ‘Leo The Lucky’—The MGM Lion Who Cheated Death 6 Times (Forbes) Jasper Indiana Strassenfest  Send a little good luck to this show as a backer on Pat...

Today in 1863, the birthday of Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company. The automaker has had a huge impact on the auto industry, but not all of its ideas worked out. Like the time it tried to reinvent the (steering) wheel. Plus: starting tomorrow in Brownstown, Indiana, it’s the Jackson County Watermelon Festival.  Mercury “Wrist-Twist” Steering Tried a Tesla Model S–Style Yoke in 1965 (Mot...

New research finds a way to take waste plastic that might end up in landfills and turn it into a common pain medicine. Plus: starting Friday in South Dakota, it's Clark Potato Days. Microbes transform plastic waste into paracetamol (University of Edinburgh) CLARK POTATO DAYS   Our backers have transformed this show into what it is today, join them on Patreon

Today in 1934, a big day in the history of sending mail by rocket. There's a whole history of rocket mail that goes back two centuries. Plus: today in 2017, the birth of a calf in Kerrville, Texas. that looked a little like a certain fire-breathing member of KISS. The rise and fall of rocket mail (Engadget)  Texas calf resembles Kiss rocker Gene Simmons (BBC) Help launch our show forward as a...

This week we're replaying our favorite shows about writers and the printed page. In this episode from September 2022, National Read A Book Day brings to mind an article from HowStuffWorks called “What is the oldest book in the world?” Plus: Ithaca, New York is home to a tribute to the world of growing, eating, sharing and decorating gourds of all kinds. What Is the Oldest Book in the World?  (...

This week we're replaying our favorite shows about writers and the printed page. In this episode from March 2020, Sri Lankan author Sybil Wettasinghe set a world record for the most alternative endings in a single book. Plus: in the early days of COVID-19, a pilot in Austria goes up in the air to do his part for social distancing. Children’s book gets Guinness record with 1,250 alternative end...

This week we're replaying our favorite shows about writers and the printed page. In this episode from May 2019, one of the most interesting moments of Walt Whitman’s life, the time he reviewed his own book in the newspapers. Plus: Plymouth, North Carolina hosts the North Carolina Black Bear Festival. “Walt Whitman and His Poems” by Walt Whitman (Whitman Archive) “Promoting Himself” (Library of...

This week we're replaying our favorite shows about writers and the printed page. In this episode from January 2020, the New York Public Library didn’t have a copy of one of the most iconic children's books of all time for decades, because a librarian didn’t like it. Plus: two pranksters added silent records to a jukebox, but customers decided they liked the quiet. Top 10 Checkouts of All T...

This week we're replaying our favorite shows about writers and the printed page. In this episode from November 2020, we look at book dedications. Most are straightforward, but there are surprises. Plus: a scientific report sheds light on the pelagornithid, perhaps the largest flying bird ever. Brilliant Book Dedications  (Sad and Useless) Scientists Reveal What May Be the Largest Flying Bird E...

A Harvard study finds that the thousands of dams humans have built over the last couple centuries have locked up so much water it's actually affected Earth's poles! We'll try to explain. Plus: starting today in Michigan City, Indiana, it’s the Singing Sands Sand Sculpting Festival. Water storage in dams has caused minute shifts in Earth’s poles (Harvard's Advancing Earth and Space...

Today in 1972, a break-in at the Watergate hotel that kicked off a huge political scandal... and also, somehow, gave a gelatin dessert the name "Watergate salad." Plus: in 2022, the National Portrait Gallery in Washington hosted an exhibit called “Watergate: Portraiture and Intrigue.” Jell-O Journalism: Investigating the Origins of Watergate Salad (Mental Floss) Watergate: Portraiture an...

There's a new musical work that is, maybe, kind of, sort of from a composer who’s been gone three years. Plus: rice farmers in Gyoda, Japan turn their paddies into large-scale works of art. Musical Composer’s Brain Matter Is Still Making Music Three Years After His Death (My Modern Met) Tanjiro Emerges in the Fields as Gyoda Unveils 2025 Rice Paddy Art (Spoon + Tamago) Our show is powered by o...

Today in 1923, the birthday of Cordell Jackson, a guitarist who rocked out exactly the way she wanted to for over half a century. Plus: today in 2023, a Florida woman apparently took a fire truck out for a ride. Jackson, Cordell (Women In Rock Project)  Woman accused of impersonating firefighter after stealing firetruck, Florida cops say (Miami Herald) Help our show rock out every day as a backer...

A decade before Mariner 4 got to Mars (on this day in 1965), a company famous for its advertising jokingly offered its customers a chance to go to the Red Planet - and a very serious customer tried to get them to follow through. Plus: a design studio in France builds a walk-through installation out of nearly 800 old baguettes. Did Burma-Shave Offer to Send a Contest Winner to Mars? (Snopes) 780 le...

Today in 1983, Quiet Riot released its massive hit single "Cum On Feel The Noize," though they kind of tried to tank the recording session at the time.  Plus: for 7/11, a story about a 7/11 with a tree in the middle of the store. Cum On Feel The Noize by Quiet Riot (Songfacts) This 7-11 in Monterrey Mexico has a tree growing through it. (lostfoundartny via Instagram) Rock out with us as...

Today in 1890, Wyoming became the 44th state in the Union. Its license plates feature a silhouette of a person, with cowboy hat in hand, riding a bucking horse. The story of which horse and which rider inspired that silhouette is a bit of a bumpy ride. Plus: starting tomorrow, it’s the Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix. Wyoming’s Long-lived Bucking Horse (Wyoming History) Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix...

For Cow Appreciation Day, a look at the time in 2006 that news reports made it sound like scientists had proven that cows had regional accents like people do, only the story was a little more complicated than that. Plus: Solstice 2.0 is a kinetic clock that changes shape as the day goes on. Cows also 'have regional accents' (BBC) It's always silly season in the (BBC) science section (L...