Cool Weird Awesome with Brady Carlson

We're replaying some of our favorite shows about astonishing rescues. In this episode from April 2023, skydiver Gregory Robertson saves a fellow skydiver’s life with a high-speed free fall. Plus: Paul Revere made his famous midnight ride in Massachusetts, and then sent an expense report to local authorities. Man rescues fellow skydiver seconds before impact  (UPI) Revere’s expense account reve...

Today in 1988, one of the strangest fights in the history of pro baseball: on one side, one of the top managers in the game. On the other, one of the top mascots. Plus: starting today in New Hampshire, it’s the North Country Moose Festival.   36 years ago, the Phillie Phanatic was beaten up by the Dodgers’ Tommy Lasorda (WHYY) North Country Moose Festival   If you’re a fanatic about our show, why...

Today in 1865, the birthday of Charles G. Dawes, who made a difference on the world stage while serving as US Vice President… and who made a difference on the American pop charts. too. Plus: now underway in Taiwan, the Keelung Ghost Festival. The Vice President Who Wrote a Hit Song (Mental Floss) Keelung Ghost Festival   Make our podcast a hit as a backer on Patreon

This week in 2015, a giant fast food chain decided to reach out to its biggest rival with an offer to join forces, and make one giant burger to rule them all. Plus: starting Saturday, it’ll be the Dog Days of Kentucky. McDonald's Declines Burger King's 'McWhopper' Offer (NBC News) Dog Days of Kentucky   You can back this show on Patreon for less than the cost of an extra value meal...

Today in 1845 may have been the birthday of Nellie Cashman, a woman whose life was one big and colorful story that played out all over the American West. Plus: today in 2018, the community of Mayo, Florida, decided to rebrand itself as the town of Miracle Whip. Nellie Cashman (Arizona Women’s Hall of Fame)  Mayo, Florida jokingly changes name to "Miracle Whip" (WCTV) From east to west, l...

Today in 1975, Queen began recording its classic track “Bohemian Rhapsody.” And depending on who you believe, the recording of this song has a connection with another long hit song from another massively popular group. Plus: a guy in Wisconsin decides an hour-long drive to Cabela's is "too long," but he has quite a Plan B. “I have never heard a better ‘rock’ piano”: The famous Triden...

Today in 1938, the birthday of Kenny Rogers. Few singers of his generation had as many hits as Rogers did, but apparently one guy was so into just one of those hit songs that he hired the singer to just do that one over and over. Plus: starting today, it’s the Connecticut Pickle Festival. Galleon Hedge Fund Scandal: The Cursing, The Paranoia And $4 Million For Kenny Rogers On Auto-Repeat (HuffPost...

Around this time in 1985, news reports were spreading about an unusual situation: two youngsters from Ireland, unbeknownst to pretty much all the adults, had hopped on a plane to the United States. Plus: starting tomorrow in Pennsylvania, it’s the Pittston Tomato Festival.  The story of the Dublin boys who ran away to New York (Irish Post) Pittston Tomato Festival   Fly on over to our Patreon page...

Sometimes the rise of a hot new technology comes with growing pains. In the case of TV, there was a risk of literal pains - which is why early sets came with “implosion guards." Plus: an airport group in India puzzles people with its choice for a customer satisfaction award. The Cover-Up (Tedium) No planes, no problem: India's 'no 1 airport' Khajuraho has zero flights (Times of In...

For decades, St. Mary's, Newfoundland, has been smelling decades-old tanks of fish sauce when the wind blew toward town. But at long last that's starting to change. Plus: a couple in Ohio welcomes two new babies into the world, on the perfect day. Decades in the making, work begins to remove rotten fish sauce from St. Mary's plant (CBC) Northeast Ohio twins born on the same day as both...

Today in 1891, the US government gave an explosive idea a try: they wanted to bring rain by putting dynamite in the air and then blowing it up. Plus: today in 2023, the Los Angeles Times reported on the popularity of climbing Yosemite's Half Dome, including the park's black bears (!) When the U.S. Government Tried to Make It Rain by Exploding Dynamite in the Sky (Smithsonian) Black bears a...

Today in 1935, President Franklin Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act into law. When there's confusion about whose Social Security Number is whose, it can get messy. Just ask one Hilda Witcher. Plus: starting tomorrow in North Carolina, it’s the Woodleaf Tomato Festival. Social Security Cards Issued by Woolworth (Social Security Administration) Woodleaf Tomato Festival   Secure this show’...

Western New York has some extremely beloved culinary traditions, and one of the most beloved is in Rochester, New York, where it's known as the Garbage Plate. Plus: yodelers in Switzerland have come up with some clever and effective ways to beat the heat this summer. How the Garbage Plate surpassed Kodak as Rochester's signature thing (Rochester Democrat and Chronicle)  Swiss yodellers reh...

Today in 1990, scientist Sue Hendrickson famously spotted several vertebrae on a bluff in South Dakota. The dinosaur found that day, named Sue in Hendrickson's honor, has become as one expert put it, the Rosetta Stone of Tyrannosaurus Rex. Plus: in the garden of physicist Erwin Schrödinger (born today in 1887) there's a cat-like feature. And depending on the way the light hits that feature...

This month in 1817, residents of Gloucester, Massachusetts saw something quite out of the ordinary: a sea serpent who just hung around the coast for days and days. Plus: authorities in Colorado say they arrested a man for allegedly breaking into a locomotive and then, like, surfing on top while it was moving. Regaling tales of the Gloucester Sea Serpent, a forgotten legend of cryptozoology (GBH) M...

Today in 1984, two athletes at the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles tried one of the oldest tricks in the book… they tried to pull a switcheroo. Plus: for World Lion Day, the story of one of the all time great lion photos, with six male lions all chillaxing together on a hill in Tanzania.  In 1984, These Puerto Rican Twins Hatched an Insane Plan to Switch Places at the Olympics (Remezcla) The Story...

This week we're replaying our favorite shows about beating the heat. In this episode from March 2021, a surprising research finding: choosing a hot sandwich instead of a cold one might help keep you from ordering extra food. Plus: an unusual performance in 1912, of Guiseppi Verdi’s opera Aida at the base of the Great Pyramid in Egypt! Consumers Buy More Food When They Order Cold Meals and Drin...

This week we're replaying our favorite shows about beating the heat. In this episode from August 2020, a fabric with its own built-in cooling system suggests we maybe wouldn’t need to cool rooms, if the people in those rooms were already cool. Plus: for National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day, the story of the biggest chocolate chip cookie of all time, in Flat Rock, North Carolina. New fabric could...

This week we're replaying our favorite shows about beating the heat. In this episode from September 2020, a discovery that may make the world a little better: a thermoelectric cooler that’s so small, the naked eye can’t see it. Plus: for the International Day of Sign Languages, a celebration of interpreters at heavy metal concerts. UCLA scientists create world’s smallest ‘refrigerator’  (UCLA)...

This week we're replaying our favorite shows about beating the heat. In this episode from June 2022, the story of the yakhchāl, a storage building which could keep foods cold all year long. And they were used over 2,000 years ago. Plus: Munfordville, Kentucky has its own Stonehenge. Yakhchāls, Āb Anbārs, & Wind Catchers — Passive Cooling & Refrigeration Technologies Of Greater Iran (Pe...

This week we're replaying our favorite shows about beating the heat. In this episode from June 2023, a look at the history of air conditioning, in which you’ll find quite a few times where people said, are we sure this is a good idea? Plus: a zoo in Japan holds a lion escape drill with some help from a human inside a lion costume. The Unexpected History of the Air Conditioner (Smithsonian) Jap...

It's National Avocado Day, so we’re going to take a look at one of the most popular ways we use avocado, and how an actual pirate is part of that recipe’s history. Plus: starting tomorrow in California, it's the World Dog Surfing Championships. We Can Thank A Pirate For Writing Down The Oldest Guacamole Recipe (The Takeout)    WORLD DOG SURFING CHAMPIONSHIPS   Our backers on Patreon keep t...

Today in 2010, the Wall Street Journal reported on a lawsuit pitting two titans of toothpaste against each other over showing toothpaste on their packages. Plus: starting today in Idaho, it’s the Yellow Pine Harmonica Festival.  And May the Best Nurdle Win (Wall Street Journal) YELLOW PINE HARMONICA FESTIVAL Keep this show clean and fresh as a backer on Patreon

It's National Lipstick Day. During World War II, lipstick became one way that women in Allied nations could show their true feelings about public enemy number one. Plus: the community of Luverne, Minnesota, has just installed the tallest nutcracker in the world. Why women in Allied countries wore red lipstick to protest Hitler during WWII (Snopes) Giant nutcracker, Verne the Patriot, introduce...

Today in 1887, the birthday of Marcel Duchamp. He was both an accomplished artist and an artistic provocateur, like the time he released a “new” work of art that was a reproduction of the Mona Lisa, on which he had painted a mustache. Plus: in January 1917, Duchamp and some fellow artists and performers declared the creation of the Free and Independent Republic of Greenwich Village.  When Marcel D...