Cool Weird Awesome with Brady Carlson

Each year New York City hosts huge crowds hoping to see the famous ball drop. But once the giant party is done and the revelers have headed home, the giant cleanup effort begins. Plus: the story of an Alabama man who quietly helped his neighbors in need for years. HOW DOES NYC CLEAN UP AFTER THE NEW YEAR'S EVE BALL DROP IN TIMES SQUARE? (Untapped New York) Farmer dies; town learns he secretly...

You may know about Pisa's world-famous leaning tower, but the city of Bologna has one too - and officials are planning to spend some big money to keep it from leaning too far and falling over. Plus: a year marks one Earth trip around the Sun. But then there's the Great Year or Platonic Year, which is... a whole lot more.  ‘Leaning tower’ in Italy on ‘high alert’ for collapse (CNN) The Platonic Yea...

This is our very last episode of 2023, so we’re telling the story of the final stop in our 26 letter alphabet: here’s where Z came from. Plus: the oldest known developed photo has been developed, but there's still a lot of mystery around it. Why Was Z Once Removed From The Alphabet? (Dictionary.com) Why Do Americans Say “Zee” but the British Say “Zed”? (Readers Digest) World’s Oldest Known Pho...

If this time of year is a little too drab and grey for your tastes, head to Puerto Rico’s northern coast for Festival de las Máscaras de Hatillo: the Festival of Masks. Plus: today in 1894, the birth of Burnita Matthews, the first woman to serve as a federal district judge in the US. In 1919 she managed to make silence speak volumes. Festival de las Máscaras de Hatillo (Discovering Puerto Rico)  B...

Today in 1935, a military mission you sure don’t see every day: at the direction of then-Lieutenant Colonel George S. Patton, American planes carried out a series of bombing runs in Hawaii to stop a volcano. Plus: this week in 2015, Vogue Magazine published a correction for the record books. 27 December 1935 (This Day In Aviation) Miscues That Made News (Robert Rector on Blogspot)  Keep this show...

Today in 2004, a 10 year old managed to save a lot of people from a massive tsunami because she remembered a lesson she’d learned in school about what happens right before a tsunami hits. Good thing she was listening. Plus: Asheville, NC's Omni Grove Park Inn is displaying the very fancy entries from the 32nd Annual National Gingerbread House Competition.  How Paying Attention in Elementary Sc...

Santa Claus may be the man with the bag in the US today, but in other parts of the world there are some very different gift givers. We'll ride with a few of them to celebrate the many ways people celebrate December 25. Merry Christmas! Around the world, kids’ Christmas gifts include KFC, books and ‘pooping logs’  (CNN) Christmas gift-bringers of Europe (JakubMarian.com)

Winter is officially here in the Northern Hemisphere. If it doesn't feel like it yet, grab a snow globe - we'll tell you how they got their start. Plus: in Newburgh in Fife, Scotland, they turn sketches by local kids into a set of holiday light sculptures. Was the Snow Globe Invented by Accident? (Snopes) A Scottish Town’s Annual Competition Invites Its Youngest Artists to Design ‘Wonky’ H...

No meeting has ever been bigger than the one that happened today in 1970, when the King of Rock and Roll met the President of the United States. We'll explain how it happened. Plus: around this time of year, animal lovers in New York City gather at a mostly secret spot inside Central Park to decorate a pet memorial tree. December 21, 1970: Elvis Presley Meets President Richard Nixon (National...

Today in 1946, the release of the movie “It’s A Wonderful Life.” It took a while for the movie to win its spot in the top ranks of holiday films - and the story on which the movie is based also took a little while to make its way into the world. Plus: that pool built under the gym floor in the movie? That's real. It’s a Wonderful Life was Based on a “Christmas Card” Short Story by Philip Van D...

Today in 1972 Apollo 17 returned from the moon. One of the lunar samples was sliced up and shared with every American state and hundreds of countries... except that we aren't quite sure where some of those rocks are now. Plus: if you’re anywhere near Cocoa Beach, Florida this holiday weekend, watch for the Surfing Santas! Louisiana’s missing moon rock found by Florida man recycling wooden plaq...

Today in 1778, the birthday of Joseph Grimaldi, the guy who basically invented clowning as we know it today. Here's some of his story. Plus: congratulations to the winner of the 2023 International Wedding Photographer of the Year Contest, and to the bird who helped make the winning photo happen. Here We Are Again!—How Joseph Grimaldi Invented the Creepy Clown (JSTOR) 10 STRANGE LONDON MEMORIAL...

For drivers in very snowy places, winter is time to put snow chains on car tires. It’s neither easy nor fun - but a new concept from two automakers could change that, by embedding snow chain-like paddles right into the tires. Plus: St. Charles, Missouri now has its own Soda Museum and Arcade! Hyundai’s New Push-Button Snow Chains Are Right Out of a James Bond Movie (The Drive) Massive soda memorab...

For National Monkey Day, the story of Jack, a baboon in South Africa who was so smart he worked for a railroad for nine years without a single mistake. Plus: The Arizona Daily Star is printing a page in each day’s paper this week that's unique wrapping paper designed by an artist from Tucson. Stranger Than Fiction: Jack the Signalman (Knoxville Daily Sun) These wrapping paper designs were crea...

A project out of the University of California - Davis uses images from a very well known navigation system to help slow the spread of invasive species. Plus: in the late 19th Century, a guy thought he could keep horses from freaking out around cars with something he called the Horsey Horseless. Google Weed View? Professor Trains Computer to Spot Invasive Weed (UC-Davis) The 50 Worst Cars of All Ti...

Today in 1906 a vote in Congress put an end to one of President Theodore Roosevelt’s top priorities: simplifying the way we spell words. Or, as he would have preferred, spel wurds. Plus: around this time of year a zoo in Japan starts offering warm water baths to their capybaras. Teddy Roosevelt’s Bold (But Doomed) Battle to Change American Spelling (History.com) Birthplace of the Capybara Hot Bath...

One of the most popular Hanukkah traditions these days is latkes, though this delicious part of the Festival of Lights has definitely seen a few changes over the years. Plus: this afternoon in Marengo, Indiana, Caroling in the Cave. How Latkes Became Hanukkah's Favorite Food (HowStuffWorks) Everything You Know About Latkes Is Wrong (The Atlantic) Caroling In The Cave/Marengo Cave (Visit Indian...

Red, yellow and green have been our standard stoplight colors for over a century. But researchers in North Carolina suggest a fourth color could help driverless cars and those steered by humans share the road. Plus: Chester, Illinois was home to the creator of Popeye and they have the statues all over town to prove it. A Study Proves Stoplights Need a Fourth Color: White (Popular Mechanics) The Po...

Today in 1949, the birthday of musician Tom Waits. His path has been unique and singular, accept no imitations… no really. A Tom Waits imitation once led the singer to sue a giant snack company. Plus: around this time in 2021, a security guard on his first day on the job drew eyes on a million dollar painting because he was "bored." When Tom Waits Sued Frito-Lay Over a Doritos Ad (Mental...

Today in 1872, the Chicago Tribune reported on the launch of a new fire station that would change the profession of firefighting forever by inventing the fire pole. Plus: around this time in 2002, the Supreme Court in Finland ruled that cab drivers would have to pay royalties for musicians (!) In response to White Chicagoans mocking the first Black fire crew in 1872, they wanted to prove themselve...

There was a really interesting piece on J-STOR recently that washes away the widespread idea that the Middle Ages in Europe was just unbelievably filthy. Why is it that we think the Middle Ages WAS so dirty? Plus: for Computer Science Education Week, a look at a deliberately difficult coding language called Malbolge.  Scrub-a-Dub in a Medieval Tub (JSTOR) The Middle Ages Were Cleaner Than We Think...

Today in 1974, the first time a person used a computer to order a pizza. It wasn't an online order, but it was still a big moment in the history of tech (and the history of pizza). Plus: today in 2020, the UK news outlet The Independent reported on a man in Italy who had a very strange week. Watch: Talking computer orders a pizza in 1974 (CBS News) Man fined after walking 280 miles to calm dow...

Today in 2010, the US Postal Service released a new stamp featuring the Statue of Liberty - well, sort of. And that “sort of” ended up being a big and expensive deal. Plus: a new device called The Super Smart Fridge could help grocery shoppers remember whether they still have some ketchup at home or whether they need more. GIVE ME LIBERTY OR GIVE ME TRIPLE SEVENS (Now I Know) Statue of Liberty (Li...

Today in 1858 the US issued a patent for the mason jar. And yes, the story of the mason jar starts with someone named Mason. Plus: congratulations to this year’s newly-announced winners of the Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards. A Brief History of the Mason Jar (Smithsonian) WINNERS ANNOUNCED! (Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards)  Our Patreon backers preserve this show and keep it growing!

At the airport in Las Vegas, there's a terminal you can't use to fly in and catch a Golden Knights game or drop by a casino. It's used only by one of the most out-of-sight airlines in the world, a secret airline known as "Janet." Plus: as humans consider missions further out into space, Jihee Kim designs a robot dog named Laika that could help keep astronauts from getting lon...