Cool Weird Awesome with Brady Carlson

This week we're replaying some of our favorite episodes about the old ball game. In this episode from May 2021, an 11 year old pitcher in upstate New York, Katie Brownell, brings her A-game to the Little League field. She not only pitches a perfect game, she strikes out all 18 batters she faces! Plus: Houston's famous Art Car Parade is back this weekend.  Meet Katie Brownell, the girl who...

This week we're replaying some of our favorite episodes about the old ball game. In this episode from July 2020, we celebrate Leroy "Satchel" Paige, perhaps the most legendary pitcher baseball ever saw. Paige was a star for decades, and once pitched three scoreless innings in the major leagues at age 59. Plus: we'll visit the man who earned the world's first degree in ninja s...

This week we're replaying some of our favorite episodes about the old ball game. In this episode from March 2019, we hear about the first pro ump in the big leagues. When Billy McLean wasn't calling balls and strikes, he was occasionally challenging hecklers to fistfights. The first major-league umpire was a Philadelphian (Philly.com)

This week we're replaying some of our favorite episodes about the old ball game. In this episode from October 2021, we remember the iconic World Series moment when Carlton Fisk waved his game-winning home run fair. The legendary clip was caught by the camera kind of by accident. Plus: a couple in the UK gets a ticket because a traffic camera caught their car driving in the bus-only lane, excep...

Dad jokes may not be good jokes, but they may be good for us: a study from The British Psychological Society shows how telling a very simple, groan-inducing joke is a pretty complex process. Plus: why scientists in Germany are naming their new anti-fungal compounds after Keanu Reeves. 'Dad jokes? That’s the way eye roll…’ (British Psychological Society) Keanumycins: Keanu Reeves inspires name...

A team at the University of Manchester has developed a kind of “cosmic concrete” for building structures on Mars - and the key ingredient comes from potatoes. Plus: today in 1991, the Wall Street Journal reported on an unusual training session for the Seattle Police Department. Scientists develop a ‘cosmic concrete’ that is twice as strong as regular concrete (University of Manchester) Seattle Pol...

The University of Cambridge did a study about robotic wellbeing coaches. And it turns out that if we want robots to help us help ourselves… they need to be cute. Plus: NASA has developed a “space cup” which will hold liquids on the International Space Station even without a lid! Robots can help improve mental wellbeing at work – as long as they look right (University of Cambridge) NASA's sci-f...

Today in 1944, the U.S. Air Force carried out a bombing raid in Montana. Even stranger, they did so at the request of the governor. We'll explain. Plus: you’ve heard the saying everything that’s old is new again? That’s the idea behind the new image series ‘What is lost is (not) lost forever.’ Harmon’s Histories: Kaboom! Wartime explosions rock Miles City, Baker (Missoula Current) midjourney envis...

Today in 1873, the town of Ulysses, Kansas was first established - but not where you’ll find the modern day town of Ulysses, Kansas. We'll explain why they moved, just a few decades after putting themselves on the map. Plus: for the birthday of Mister Rogers, a look at a data visualization of all of his iconic cardigans.  Old Ulysses, Kansas (Legends of Kansas) A Chart Chronicles the Colors o...

Drones are becoming increasingly useful, but they can get damaged and grounded pretty quickly. A team at MIT has found bee-inspired workarounds that would keep impaired robotic crafts flying. Plus: today in 1958, the release of “Johnny’s Greatest Hits” by Johnny Mathis, considered the first ever greatest hits album.  Resilient bug-sized robots keep flying even after wing damage (MIT) First Ev...

Students at Northwestern University have developed SteadyScrib, a customized pen that’s designed to help people with Parkinson’s disease keep writing. Plus: if you prefer old-school typing, the “Shift Happens” simulator lets you type on a virtual typewriter. Don't forget those carriage returns! A pen designed for Parkinson’s patients (Northwestern) An Interactive Typewriter Simulator With a Realis...

Can you build a wall out of eggshells? You can if you're the Mexican design studio MANUFACTURA, which developed a sustainable way to make bricks out of discarded shells and bio-binders. Plus: the nonprofit group in Oregon called Washed Ashore uses a different kind of waste to make art.  3D-Printing Bricks From Discarded Eggshells (Cool Hunting) Washed Ashore: Art to Save the Sea   Let's...

Some chip brands hit it big on store shelves - but one brand that won legions of adoring fans in prisons. For National Potato Chip Day, the story of The Whole Shabang. Plus: March 14 is Pi Day, because the number Pi starts with 3.14. Supercomputers have helped find the next 62.8 trillion digits that follow.  Chips So Good You'll Have to Go to Jail to Get Them (NBC News) A Supercomputer Just C...

Today in 1781 astronomer William Herschel pointed his telescope toward Uranus. But long before the internet’s favorite planet got its very pun-filled name, an astronomer wanted to give it a much more chill one. Plus: modern day scientists have plenty of theories on how Uranus ended up on its side.  Uranus: the first planet discovered with a telescope (Science Museum London) There's a New Hypo...

Daylight Saving Time begins early this Sunday. People have been complaining about the time change, or the lack thereof, since it first came up. So how did it first come up? Plus: around this time in 1998, the UK’s House of Commons did away with a longstanding rule involving hats.  How a New Zealand insect hunter created daylight saving time (The Week) Commons toppers are old hat (The Independ...

Today in 1931, the US Supreme Court issued a ruling that seems to say that a guy who stole an airplane was not guilty of breaking the law against stealing motor vehicles. Though it’s actually a little more complicated than that. We'll explain. Plus: a Lego fan has proposed the company produce a new set that looks like the famous Edvard Munch painting The Scream. HOW TO SELL A STOLEN PLANE (Now I K...

Motorcycles just don’t have many of the same safety advantages as cars and trucks. So a company in Sweden is taking one of those safety features and adding it to a rider’s outfit: introducing airbag pants! Plus: March is National Peanut Month, so just a reminder that there is a NUTmobile that drives around the country doing events on behalf of nut producer Planters. Swedish company unveils world’s...

Today in 2016, researchers released a study that showed how to influence rats to make risky bets in a “rat casino.” Plus: for National Cereal Day, the story of how Chex lovers in South Korea lobbied for years to get a green onion flavored version of the product.  New research: Flashing lights and music turn rats into problem gamblers (University of British Columbia) South Korea Gets Long Awai...

Today in 1475 Michelangelo was born. One of his masterworks was the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, though if a poem he wrote about the job is to be believed, making all that great art was pretty painful. Plus: a series of portraits of every US president with a mullet. Labor Pains (Slate) every american president, but  they're all cool and they all sport a mullet (Cam Harless on Twitter) Paint...

The news site Inverse stopped me in my tracks with their recent article “Can Cats Tell Time? Yes, But It's Complicated.” And, when we look at the relationship between cats and time, it is complicated. Plus: This weekend in Nenana, Alaska, it’s the annual Tripod Days, including a contest known as the Nenana Ice Classic. Can Cats Tell Time? Yes, But It's Complicated (Inverse) Nenana Ice Classic &nbs...

Today was the birthday in 1860 of the first woman to serve as a mayor in the United States, Susanna Madora Salter, of Argonia, Kansas. She wasn’t looking to make history and didn’t even run for the job, but then sometimes you choose the moment, and other times the moment chooses you. Plus: in the new book Locked Down Looking Up, photographer Doris Mitsch shows the composite images she took during...

Today in 1793, the U.S. Mint issued its first circulating coins, which were one-cent pieces. Here's a little bit about how we got the penny and some of its most memorable designs. Plus: in Falls Church, Virginia, there’s a sculpture of a fighter jet that’s covered in around 14,000 pennies. History of the Penny (Modern Coin Mart) It’s a penny! It’s a plane! It’s a quirky sculpture behind a Virginia...

AI chatbots are big again, so let's hang out with the OG AI chatbot: Microsoft Word letter writing helper extraordinare, Clippy the paper clip. Plus: a cemetery in Illinois marks an impossible anniversary every February.  The Twisted Life of Clippy (The Seattle Met) St. Omer Cemetery Witch Grave (Atlas Obscura) It looks like you'd like to support this podcast. Would you like to join our commu...

There's a team at Northwestern University that's ready to help the tired vocal cords of the world: a wearable device that can tell when a voice needs a break. Plus: it's the birthday in 1902 of John Steinbeck, who wrote some timeless literary classics and also a werewolf novel.  First wearable device for vocal fatigue senses when your voice needs a break (Northwestern University) Beast of Ede...

Today in 1955 Steve Jobs was born. His biggest contributions to the tech world are well known, but one you might not have heard of? Steve Jobs was also the first person to order a pizza on the internet. Plus: this weekend in Anchorage, Alaska, the annual Outhouse Races. AppStorey talks with Steve Green about Steve Jobs, The Smithsonian and how a pizza with basil became the first food delivered via...