Cool Weird Awesome with Brady Carlson

Today is Denmark’s Constitution Day. That document broadly guarantees the right to personal expression, including burning the country’s flag. But doing that same thing to other countries’ flags is 100 percent against the law. Plus: starting today, it's the Georgia Peach Festival. History and Debate of Flag Burning (Debate.org) Georgia Peach Festival   Exercise your right to back our show on Pa...

Today in 1991, a rare early print of the Declaration of Independence went up for auction, and the story of how it came up for sale is pretty weird. Plus: starting tomorrow in Pasadena, California, it's the 17th annual Classic Tetris World Championship. Did a Bargain Hunter Find Original Print of Declaration of Independence? (Snopes) Classic Tetris World Championship   You can back our show on...

This is Museum Week, and while a lot of us love visiting these institutions, some people dropped by some of the best museums in the whole world and they weren’t feeling it. For reasons. Plus: starting Friday in Collinsville, Illinois, the International Horseradish Festival. 15 Hilariously Terrible Reviews of Wonderful Museums (Mental Floss)   International Horseradish Festival   We give our Patreo...

Today in 1975, the city of London had some unexpected weather. At a time the calendar might have suggested summery weather… it snowed. Plus: this Saturday in North Carolina, it’s Asheville HoneyFest.  London weather: What happened the strange time it snowed in London in the middle of summer (MyLondon.news) Asheville HoneyFest 2026 (Center for Honeybee Research) Our Patreon backers support this sho...

It’s Dinosaur Day, so we’re headed to a spot in Bolivia where you can see thousands of dinosaur tracks all at once, in an almost inexplicable setting. Plus: this weekend at Spring Mill State Park in Mitchell, Indiana, it’s Limestone Weekend.  The Incredible Dinosaur Wall of Bolivia (Kuriositas) Limestone Weekend, Spring Mill State Park   Join our wall of fame, so to speak, as a backer on Patreon

Today in 1856, Abraham Lincoln gave a speech that was so powerful, so unforgettable, that nobody documented it and so now it’s known as Lincoln’s “Lost Speech.” Plus: today in 1917, the birthday of John F. Kennedy, who used the power of words as a 10 year old to ask his dad to raise his allowance. Abraham Lincoln's Lost Speech (RogerJNorton.com) A Plea for a raise (Letters of Note) Don’t wait...

Today in 1974, the start of the National Hockey League draft. It’s remembered today as the time hockey’s Buffalo Sabres made a groundbreaking choice: the first time a team drafted someone who didn’t exist. Plus: starting today, Durant, Oklahoma is kicking off its Magnolia Festival. Unknown Stories of WNY: The man behind the Legend of Taro Tsujimoto (WGRZ) Magnolia Festival of Durant OK You’re a so...

Today in 1937, the opening of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco - or, more accurately, the beginning of the opening of the Golden Gate Bridge. The city was so pumped, the celebrations went on for days. Plus: starting Friday in Pennsylvania, it’s the Johnstown PolkaFest.  The 1937 Golden Gate Bridge Opening Was Completely Bananas (KQED) Johnstown PolkaFest   Open up our Patreon page and back...

Today in 1936, the St. Louis Globe Daily Democrat newspaper had a headline you might not expect: "Robot Warns Pedestrians of Red Light Crossing Danger." We'll explain. Plus: on the birthday Lenny Kravitz, the story of the time a job seeker apparently tried to put his meeting with the musician to professional use. This 'Voice in a Box' Warned Pedestrians About Jaywalking in 19...

For today’s holiday we wanted to replay an episode from 2020 about the speech future president James A. Garfield gave at the first Memorial Day event at Arlington National Cemetery in 1868. It was, shall we say, not a short speech.  ⁠10 Things To Remember About Memorial Day⁠ (Mental Floss)

This week in 2023, some students in Fort Meade, Maryland, tried to wrap up their time in school in a big way… by trying to put the school up for sale. Plus: New Orleans hosts what is believed to be its first opera, on the way to becoming the "Opera Capital of North America." Pranksters list Anne Arundel County high school on Zillow for $42,069. Nice. (Baltimore Banner)  10 Ridiculously W...

Today in 1932, Amelia Earhart became the first woman and only the second person to make a nonstop solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean. But she wasn’t the first female pilot - in fact, she learned to fly from another well-known woman aviator. Plus: around this time in 2006, a park in Boston got an odd new addition now known as the Jamaica Pond Bench. Neta Snook (Ames History) What’s up with the b...

Today in 1873, Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis received a patent for what the paperwork called "Improvement in Fastening Pocket-Openings.” Their blue jeans were originally meant for people when they were out working in really hard, tough jobs. And ironically, that’s what ended up making jeans popular for everyday use. Plus: the Netherlands has a job for people on the internet! How Blue Jeans Beg...

Today in 1946, the birthday of professional wrestling’s Eighth Wonder of the World, Andre the Giant. What a movie they could make about this guy’s life, and arguably the weirdest scene would be the time he came to Baghdad to wrestle in front of a future Iraqi dictator. Plus: it's Lettuce Month, which means it's time for the annual lettuce eating contest for the University of Minnesota'...

For International Museum Day, we look back at the first museum, which came into the world around 2500 years ago thanks to one very prominent and very busy princess. Plus: a traffic camera system in New York City tries to issue a speeding ticket for a replica car in a museum in northern Illinois. The Woman Who Opened the World’s First Museum in 500 BCE (Messy Nessy Chic) Illinois’ Volo Auto Museum...

This week we're replaying some short episodes about long races. In this one from March 2024, Japanese athlete Shizo Kanakuri begins a marathon in 1912... and finishes in 1967. Plus: a college student emails the professor with a question and gets a reply quite a long time after the course was over. Better late than never for Japan’s first, “slowest” Olympian (Japan Times) Hannah Jung For all th...

This week we're replaying some short episodes about long races. In this one from April 2021, Jessica Anderson sets a world record in the London Marathon, though one that wasn’t recognized as such right away. Plus: NoseID is a pet identification system that can help out a lost dog in record time. Woman Denied ‘Fastest Nurse’ Record Because She Didn’t Wear a Dress, Later Awarded Title  (Sports I...

This week we're replaying some short episodes about long races. In this one from July 2021, a look at the men’s marathon from the 1904 Olympics in St. Louis. You couldn’t write a weirder race than this one. Plus: American athletes took home a record 239 medals at the 1904 Games, for one very unusual reason. Running a marathon was never crazier or harder than during the 1904 St Louis Olympics  ...

This week we're replaying some short episodes about long races. In this one from July 2019, Cynthia Arnold of Missoula, Montana ran the Missoula Marathon while pushing a six year old, a four year old and a one year old in a triple stroller. Plus: Tony Fisher bought some salami and did the only logical thing with it: construct a 2x2x2 Rubik’s Cube out of it. Mom Runs 3:11 Marathon With a Triple...

This week we're replaying some short episodes about long races. In this one from April 2023, the Sydney to Melbourne Ultra Marathon in 1983 ends up being won by a guy you wouldn’t have expected. Plus: Delaware hosts the Wilmington Coffee Fest. When age and modesty won the race  (Sydney Morning Herald) The 61-Year-Old Shepherd Who Shuffled His Way to an Unlikely Ultra Win  (Adventure Journal vi...

Colleges and universities all seem to have their own particular customs and traditions, but few have made students take a vow against one guy, as the University of Oxford did for centuries. Plus: today in 2018, some 18,000 people in Mexico City set a record for a particular type of photo. The persistence of tradition: the curious case of Henry Symeonis (Oxford Bodleian Library)  18,000 Mexicans ge...

National Train Day is this Saturday, and that may be an opportune time to drop by Budapest, Hungary, which is home to an entire train service run by children. Plus: starting today in Louisiana, it’s the Rayne Frog Festival.  The Budapest Children’s Railway (Kottke)   Rayne Frog Festival (Rayne Chamber of Commerce and Agriculture)  Keep this show on the tracks as a backer on Patreon

Today in 1927, the birthday of Edsel Ford Fong, who became an institution in San Francisco’s Chinatown. People said he was the rudest waiter in the world… and they loved him for it (!) Plus: a new installation at a modern art museum in Berlin lets visitors build with hundreds of thousands of wooden blocks. Memories, anecdotes and snippets through time of Sam Wo (SFGate.com via Archive.org)  Lina L...

Today in 1924, the Olympic Games were underway in Paris. And it was at these Games that a former Olympian swimming champion won a medal far outside the water. Plus: Clinton, Iowa has unveiled a series of wooden sculptures around town that nod to the community’s history with timber.  5 Odd Events from the 1924 Games We Will Sorely Miss at the Paris Olympics (Outside Online) Experience the Thomas Da...

For Orange Juice Day, the story of how the Florida Department of Citrus teamed up with Marvel Comics to create a superhero that promotes orange growers. Plus: NASA teams up with the alphabet for a new public tool called Your Name In Landsat. The Story of Marvel's New Branded Superhero, Captain Citrus (AdWeek) This tool from NASA uses fractions of the earths surface, taken by satellite, to spel...