Cool Weird Awesome with Brady Carlson

On this National Fashion Day, we have a letter from 3,800 years ago that shows some things never change, like teenagers nagging their parents for a fancier set of clothes. Plus: an artist in Japan designs a pair of jeans that look like they're hanging out unzipped... because that's something someone needs, apparently? Reading Ancient Mail (JSTOR)  Jeans designed to look like your fly is do...

Today in 1776, it's said that the Liberty Bell rang out in Philadelphia for the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence. More than two centuries later, a fast food giant put out fake ads claiming that it had acquired the Liberty Bell to help pay off the national debt. Plus: today in 1978, Def Leppard played its first-ever concert, in Sheffield, England, though it didn’t exactly...

Today in 1994, the start of a very unusual road trip: Alvin Straight drove 240 miles by lawn mower. Plus: next week in Wausau, Wisconsin, it’s the Taste ‘N Glow Balloon Fest.  Brotherly Love Powers a Lawn Mower Trek (New York Times) Taste 'n Glow Balloon Fest Ride with us as a backer on Patreon

Today in 1827, the people of Boonsboro, Maryland marked Independence Day by trying to build a stone monument to George Washington in a single day. It was a Washington Monument way before the opening of the Washington Monument in DC. Plus: today in Michigan, it's the Berrien Springs Pickle Festival. The Little-Known Story of the First Washington Monument (Smithsonian) After A More Than 16-Year...

Today in 1958, the Washington Post reported on a way to transform a Ford station wagon into a full-service campsite with the push of a button. Plus: this weekend in Congham, Norfolk, England, the World Snail Racing Championships. The 1959 Ford Country Squire Camper, the Pushbutton Dream Camper That Never Was (Auto Evolution) SNAIL RACING WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS   Click on this link and you can transfo...

Around this time of a year you may come to witness an eye-opening process in parts of Utah: it’s known as aerial fish stocking. Yes, they drop fish out of airplanes into bodies of water. Plus: in Traverse City, Michigan, there are still a few more days left of the National Cherry Festival. Utah is dropping thousands of fish from planes – again (CNN) National Cherry Festival We hope you’ll drop a f...

Longtime baseball fans know this is the day each year that former star Bobby Bonilla gets more than a million bucks from the New York Mets, as part of the strangest salary deal the sport's ever seen. Plus: today in 1997, Len Libby’s Chocolates in Maine unveiled an icon, Lenny the chocolate moose. What is Bobby Bonilla Day? Explaining why the former Met gets paid $1.19M every July 1 (ESPN) Lenn...

Today in 1919, the signing of the Treaty of Versailles, which ended the massive conflict known today as World War I and set a lot of postwar international standards, including standard musical pitch. Plus: the Vent Haven Museum in Kentucky showcases the world of ventriloquism, and this weekend it's hosting a a fun run and walk as The Dummy Run 5K. High Pitch, Low Pitch and Modern Pitch (Robb S...

This month in 1908, Anne of Green Gables was published. L.M. Montgomery's books have a lot of fans in Japan, which is why a community in northern Japan built a park called Canadian World, complete with a recreation of Anne's hometown of Avonlea. Plus: starting this Saturday in Washington state, it’s the Buckley Log Show. Abandoned Avonlea: Anne theme park in Japan now like a ghost town (CB...

Yes, the coconut's tropical, and it didn't migrate, but a 2017 research paper found that “Medieval England was unexpectedly full of coconuts.” So King Arthur and his entourage really could've wandered around in search of the Grail banging coconuts together! Plus: starting this Friday in Oklahoma, it’s the Fort Gibson Sweet Corn Festival. Coconuts in Medieval England Weren’t as Rare as...

This month in 1878, a horse named Sallie Gardner ran past a series of cameras in Palo Alto, California. The series of photos those cameras took paved the way for motion pictures. Plus: starting tomorrow in Deridder, Louisiana, it’s the Beauregard Watermelon Festival. Eadweard Muybridge (International Photography Hall of Fame and Museum)  Beauregard Watermelon Festival    Back our show on Patreon a...

Today in 1982, British Airways Flight 009 made a successful landing in Jakarta, Indonesia, after ash from a nearby volcano had shut down all of the plane’s engines. Plus: today in 2022, six new high school graduates in Port Jefferson, New York had to quickly duck out of the commencement ceremonies to go fight a fire. When volcanic ash stopped a Jumbo at 37,000ft (BBC) These high school seniors rac...

This week we’re replaying a few of our sweetest episodes. In this show from January 2020, astronauts on the International Space Station bake chocolate chip cookies. But baking cookies in space is a little different than baking them on Earth. Plus: a new device called the Exolung can keep air flowing for virtually as long as a diver likes.  ⁠Space-baked cookies not chips off old block ⁠ (The Columb...

This week we’re replaying a few of our sweetest episodes. In this show from June 2019, Wilmington, Ohio and Latrobe, Pennsylvania are split over which town was the true birthplace of the banana split. Plus: the mind-melting TV show known as the Banana Splits Adventure Hour was actually supposed to have an entirely different name! ⁠Wilmington Banana Split Festival⁠   ⁠Birthplace of the Banana Split...

This week we’re replaying a few of our sweetest episodes. In this show from November 2019, we get a look at a meringue that's just about the lightest dessert ever made. Plus: the story of a light-emitting fungus gnat in Brazil, which is maybe not as appetizing as the first story. ⁠World’s Lightest Dessert Is 96 Percent Air, Weighs Just One Gram⁠ (Oddity Central) ⁠First South American insect th...

This week we’re replaying a few of our sweetest episodes. In this show from December 2020, we take a closer look at the amazing and frequently disturbing history of gingerbread, including how one of the most famous royals of all time helped bring gingerbread people into the world. Plus: a lesson in patience from a musical great who made herself into a cookie-baking expert.  ⁠The History of Gingerb...

This week we’re replaying a few of our sweetest episodes. In this show from July 2021, we meet Agnes B. Marshall, who helped make ice cream the icon that it is today. Plus: ground control once played the song “Hello Darlin” by country star Conway Twitty to astronauts in Earth orbit. Only this version of the song was a little different. ⁠The 19th-century entrepreneur who pioneered modern ice cream⁠...

Today in Readlyn, Iowa, it's the start of Grump Days - because Readlyn proudly bills itself as home to "857 friendly people and one old Grump!" Plus: today in 1955, Paul Bunyan died? Even though he’s a legendary person and didn’t really live? That's what a grave marker in Minnesota claims, anyway. THE TOWN WHERE IT’S FUN TO BE A GROUCH (Now I Know) Paul Bunyan's Gravesite (At...

Wedding season is definitely here, and today we’ll tell you about a wedding tradition that used to have one very clear meaning and then did a 180. Plus: Stand With Pride is a network of people who volunteer to serve as stand-in parents when families of origin refuse to attend LGBTQ+ weddings. Why Do Couples Tie Cans to Wedding Cars? (New York Times) He inspired people to be stand-in parents at gay...

Lou Gehrig famously ended his consecutive games streak in the spring of 1939, not long before he was diagnosed with ALS. But on this day in 1939, he played one last exhibition game in Kansas City. Plus: today in 1977, the Kansas City Royals take to the field in Milwaukee with borrowed uniforms after a thief took off with most of their road gear. Hall of Fame opened the day of Lou Gehrig’s final ga...

Today in 1993, the release of the blockbuster movie Jurassic Park. One of the small but key roles in that movie is the work of Jophery Brown, actor and a stuntman who's performed in some of the biggest movies of the last few decades. Plus: Sal Giardino's New Jersey gravestone is hard to miss: it's a giant black lightbulb featuring the words "World's Greatest Electrician."...

Legend has it that today in 1529, two armies in Switzerland decided that instead of having a war, they would have some soup. Plus: Idaho's Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve is holding a centennial celebration through September. In Switzerland, the soup quarrelling politicians share (BBC) 100 Years of the Craters of the Moon (Visit Idaho) Let’s sit down over some virtual soup t...

Today in 1520 the beginning of what may have been the biggest, most expensive party of all time, involving two kings, 18 days and $19 million. Plus: starting tomorrow in New Orleans, it’s the French Market Creole Tomato Festival. The Field of the Cloth of Gold (Historic-UK.com)  French Market Creole Tomato Festival   No need to spend millions, you can back our show for just a dollar a month on Pat...

For the birthday of Tetris, the story of a 13 year old who played so deep into the NES version of the game that it crashed - and the gamers who found ways to keep playing even past that "end" point. Plus: starting tomorrow the town of Metropolis, Illinois is hosting its annual Superman Celebration.  It’s Possible to Hack Tetris From Inside the Game Itself (WIRED) Metropolis Superman Cele...

If you're traveling abroad this summer you'll need a passport - unless you're one of a very small number of very prominent people who don't need to use passports. Plus: this week Louisville, Kentucky is home to Ali Fest. Does the President Have a Passport? (Slate)  Ali Fest in Louisville, KY  Travel over to our Patreon page to get bonus episodes and lots of other extras - no passpo...