Cool Weird Awesome with Brady Carlson

Today in 1986, a newspaper column by film critic Gene Siskel helped to turn a local snack favorite in Chicago into a signature of the city. Plus: if you like holiday displays, there’s a pretty unusual one in Hatfield, Pennsylvania, a family of plywood moose. Chicago’s love affair with popcorn goes back 150 years, from Cracker Jack to Garrett Mix (Chicago Tribune) Hatfield Landmark ‘Nacho the Woode...

Today in 1972, Apollo 17 landed on the moon. So far, it’s the last mission that put human beings on the lunar surface.  And it was the only Apollo mission where the dust all over that surface gave an astronaut a strong allergic reaction. Plus: around this time in 2011, a cat in Italy named Tommasso kind of inherited a multi-million dollar estate. The Apollo Astronaut Who Was Allergic To The Moon (...

Kids have been writing letters to Santa for well over a century. Those letters are a fascinating, hilarious and sometimes jaw-dropping window into our own history. Plus: iIf you’re looking for an attraction worthy of the holiday season, you might head to Williams Bay, Wisconsin, to see the World’s Tallest Glass Tree. A Brief History of Sending a Letter to Santa (Smithsonian) WORLD’S TALLEST GLASS...

Today in 1965, CBS broadcast “A Charlie Brown Christmas.” It's one of the iconic TV holiday specials today, but pretty much everyone who put the TV special together thought it was going to be a failure. Plus: today in 2004, a basketball comeback for the books, courtesy of Houston Rockets star Tracy McGrady. Life After Snoopy (Stanford Magazine via Archive.org)  The Christmas classic that almost wa...

Nothing says the holidays like a creepy devil creature hitting you with sticks! In some European countries, there are parades focused on Father Christmas's evil counterpart, Krampus. Plus: starting tomorrow in Oklahoma, it’s the Minco Honey Festival.  Austria's Krampus Parades, Where Santa's 'Evil Twin' Will Beat You With a Broom (Travel + Leisure)  Minco Honey Festival   Backing Cool Weird Awesom...

This month in 1893, the formal start of an effort to build a new kind of seagoing vessel: a ship with rolling wheels. Plus: now underway in Louisiana, it’s the Natchitoches Christmas Festival. Across the Ocean in One Hundred Hours (The Illustrated American via Google Books)  98th Annual Natchitoches Christmas Festival Roll on over to our Patreon page and back this show

Today in 2023, a news report on the end of an era: a pastry chef in Anchorage, Alaska was, for the last time, building his massive and renowned holiday village out of gingerbread. Also on this day in 2023: a diner in China posted a photo of their food on social media, and ended up with a lot more entrees than anybody could eat. ‘I had a good run’: Pastry Chef Joe Hickel on his final Hotel Captain...

Today in 1976, Pink Floyd was trying to take a photo of an inflatable pig flying over a power plant for one of its iconic album covers… only the situation literally got out of hand. Plus: today in 1971, the release of the debut album by the Electric Light Orchestra, which accidentally got released with the wrong album title because of a phone call gone wrong. Pink Floyd's Pig Gets Loose (Songfacts...

During National Car Donation Month, some drivers may trade out gas-powered cars and trucks for electric ones. But EVs aren't the only alternative: for decades, people have built and driven cars powered by firewood. Plus: this Saturday in Milwaukee, it’s the Santa Cycle Rampage. Wood Gas Vehicles: Cars That Run on Firewood (Amusing Planet) Santa Cycle Rampage in Milwaukee (Wisconsin Bike Fed) Power...

This week we’re replaying some of our past episodes about the holiday and its traditions. In this episode from November 2022, we look at how the sitcom "WKRP In Cincinnati" put together its absolutely legendary Thanksgiving episode. Turkeys Away: An Oral History (Classic TV History) We give thanks today (and every day) for our Patreon backers, and for all our listeners and fans! 

This week we’re replaying some of our past episodes about the holiday and its traditions. In this episode from November 2021, the story of the woman who accidentally invited a stranger to Thanksgiving, and then she and her new dinner guest became friends. Plus: in 1957, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade went ahead despite the rain, which led to an odd problem. Young man who was accidentally invit...

This week we’re replaying some of our past episodes about the holiday and its traditions. In this episode from November 2019, we look at how Thanksgiving leftovers once changed the entire way we eat. Plus: a big moment for (literally) underground music, the Holiday Cave Sing at Mammoth Cave in Kentucky. The Rise and Fall of the TV Dinner (Cheddar on YouTube) Mammoth Cave hosts 40th annual holiday...

This week we’re replaying some of our past episodes about the holiday and its traditions. In this episode from November 2019, we celebrate that for which we are all most grateful: the bewildering foods that inexplicably become part of our annual Thanksgiving dinners. Plus: at this time of year, enthusiasts who turn their houses into massive holiday light displays, like the one known as Peteyville...

This week we’re replaying some of our past episodes about the holiday and its traditions. In this episode from November 2020, we remember the 2008 Macy’s parade, the only parade that’s ever been Rickrolled in real time, by Rick Astley himself. Plus: a dad in Thailand has started playing piano concerts for a group of wild macaques living in an abandoned theater. An Oral History of Rickrolling  (Mel...

Today in 2012, football fans got to see one of the most spectacularly wrong plays in NFL history, one known today simply as “the butt fumble.” Plus: today in 2017, a report on what could have been the greatest crossover event in movie history, with an icon of slasher movies facing off against two icons of stoner movies. A Decade of Butt Jokes and Misery, It’s the Butt Fumble’s Birthday (The Ringer...

Today in 1789, North Carolina became the twelfth state to ratify the US Constitution. In the central part of the state there's an unincorporated community that locals named Whynot for a pretty unusual reason. Plus: starting Saturday in Milwaukee, it’s Trainfest, which bills itself as the largest operating model railroad show in the US. Whynot, North Carolina Was Named Out of Sheer Boredom (Conde N...

Today in 1969, at a session for soul and funk icon James Brown, drummer Clyde Stubblefield laid down what's probably the most sampled beat of all time. Plus: today in 2021, the premiere of "Sooyii," the first movie filmed entirely in the Blackfoot language. Funky Drummer — pop history was made when James Brown hollered ‘Hit it!’ (Financial Times)  Film shot entirely in Blackfoot language, on triba...

For World Toilet Day, we turn our attention to a bathroom at California Polytechnic State University that's unusual even for that campus. Plus: it's National Play Monopoly Day. Do you know the full names of the game's mustachioed mascot and the police officer who sends people to Jail without passing Go? Cal Poly’s unconventional bathroom: A campus mystery revealed (KCPR)   Real names of 23 fiction...

Today in 1963, AT&T launched the first commercial telephone service where customers could use touch-tone devices instead of rotary dial. It started with just two communities in western Pennsylvania, but of course it spread, way way beyond that. Plus: a couple in southern Australia comes home to find a koala sitting on their floor. 50 years ago, touch-tone phones began a communication revolutio...

Today in 1920, the Royal Australian Navy added a woman to its ranks for the very first time. Her name was Nancy Bentley, she was six years old, and the Navy “enlisted” her in an effort to save her life. Plus: starting tomorrow in New Orleans, it’s Beignet Fest. Before her time – the tale of Navy’s first female sailor (NavyHistory.au) BEIGNET FEST   We’d like to enlist you to support our show on Pa...

Today in 1919 (or, by some accounts, 1922), the birthday of Veronica Lake, a movie star whose iconic hairstyle won over millions of fans, even when she gave up that trademark look to help the US win World War II. Plus: a design studio in Barcelona, Bel & Bel, is giving new life to the front panels of old Vespa scooters by turning them into stylish office chairs. The Peek-A-Boo Girl Gets Cut: I...

Today in 1965, a landmark moment in the history of televised profanity: an f-bomb live on the BBC! We'll look back at some choice moments where people used choice words on the air. Plus: today in 1957, an article in the Guardian newspaper where a guy suggests bringing the world back toward faith by sending a bishop into space. Bleep This: A Brief History of Profanity on Television (Mental Floss) B...

Tonight in 1833, the beginning of a bright show in the evening sky, one that was so bright and so busy, some people started to freak out about it. Plus: today in 2015, an NFL game featuring a special set of jerseys turns into a washout for colorblind football fans. November 12-13, 1833: The Night the Stars Fell (Newspapers.com) When Red (Bills) Met Green (Jets), Colorblind Fans Lost (New York Time...

For Veterans Day, the story of Vietnam-era servicemember Douglas Hegdahl. He tricked his captors into thinking he was "the incredibly stupid one," but by using his incredibly sharp memory, he was able to memorize (and later share) information about hundreds of American POWs, in the hopes of keeping them safer and healthier until they could come home. Lest We Forget (US Naval Institute via Archive....

Today in 1971, the release of the fourth Led Zeppelin album. The opening track, "Black Dog," still gets played and shared today, and it got its name from a very unusual visitor to the studio. Plus: in 2023, a researcher came across the original version of the photo on the Zeppelin album's cover, the one with the older man carrying a big bundle of sticks on his back. Headley Grange Led Zeppelin at...