Cool Weird Awesome with Brady Carlson

Today in 1986, an audience in Amsterdam saw a play called “Going To The Dogs.” And it lived up to the name: all of the actors were German Shepherds. Plus: at Pomona College in California, there’s a tradition called “fountaining" where students get a birthday trip into a school fountain.  `Going to the Dogs' just the ticket in Amsterdam (Christian Science Monitor)   Five Steps to a Founta...

This week we're replaying some of our favorite undersea episodes. In this one from October 2019, the British Antarctic Survey partners with researchers in  Chile on a way to protect whales via satellite. Plus: the story of a paraglider who manages to land smoothly and carefully on a couch. Stranded whales detected from space (British Antarctic Survey) Parachute Landing On Couch (YouTube) Back...

This week we're replaying some of our favorite undersea episodes. In this one from April 2019, a researcher from Duke University spots female sand tiger sharks returning to the same shipwrecks, sometimes over months or even years. Are they taking rest stops on their migration routes? Are they mating there - like a pirate-themed make-out spot for sharks? Plus: sand sculpture artisans return to Port...

This week we're replaying some of our favorite undersea episodes. In this one from June 2021, the story of the robotic fish called Charlie and Charlene, and how they were developed by the Central Intelligence Agency. Plus: one place you might mark National Surfing Day is the Santa Cruz Surfing Museum in California. Meet Catfish Charlie, the CIA’s Robotic Spy (IEEE Spectrum) Santa Cruz Surfing Muse...

This week we're replaying some of our favorite undersea episodes. In this one from December 2020, a team out of New Curtin University in Australia finds that pilot whales appear to imitate one of their predators, tricking them away from the hunt. And in equally clever but much more irritating news, a  neighborhood in Ottawa, Ontario reports squirrels are stealing the LED lights out of their h...

This week we're replaying some of our favorite undersea episodes. In this one from November 2020, scientists determine that the Greenland shark lives longer than any known invertebrate, up to 400 years. How? We don't know, but it sure does seem chill about it. Plus: UK-based artist Sue Austin developed an underwater wheelchair, making the wide, wide sea a lot more accessible. A Greenland Shark Liv...

The late Queen Elizabeth II once said being a royal meant your life was full of tradition. And there was a lot to tradition to keep track of - like how her birthday was celebrated more than once each year. Plus: a Super Nintendo game in Japan where tennis players used to drop S-bombs.  Why Does the Queen Have Two Birthdays? (Mental Floss) A Game With The Word "Shit" Was Just Re-Released On Th...

In September 1924, a truck accidentally discovered a series of tunnels underneath Washington DC. There were lots of rumors, but it turned out a local guy had just dug them himself, for "exercise." Here's his story. Plus: the new book from photographer Enda O'Flaherty, "Life Is Elsewhere," visits abandoned schoolhouses in rural Ireland.  Smithsonian Bug Expert By Day; Eccentric Tunnel Digger B...

Today in 1950, the Coshocton, Ohio Tribune carried a news story with one heck of a headline: “Kitten Scales Matterhorn: Veteran Mountain Climbers Are Astonished”! Here's how the cat, later nicknamed Matt, got there. Plus: a small plaque in Denmark marks a big moment in rock music history.  The cat that climbed the Matterhorn (Weird Universe) Commemorating the debut of Led Zeppelin in 1968 Hel...

Today is National Read A Book Day, which reminds us of an article from HowStuffWorks that tries to answer a complicated question: “What is the oldest book in the world?” Plus: Ithaca, New York is home to a tribute to the world of growing, eating, sharing and decorating gourds.  What Is the Oldest Book in the World? (HowStuffWorks) Ithaca is ‘gourd-geous’: Welcome to Gourdlandia, where the wor...

Today in 1856, the steamboat Arabia sank in a river - and it wouldn't be seen again until 1988, when it showed up in a cornfield in Kansas. We'll explain how sometimes ships lost at sea are found somewhere else. Plus: Floating Motors is a company that converts vintage autos into seaworthy vessels. How a Champagne-Laden Steamship Ended Up in a Kansas Cornfield (Atlas Obscura) Floating Motors Turns...

Today in 1859 the night sky was about as bright as it's ever been, thanks to a massive geomagnetic storm known today as the Carrington Event. Plus: this weekend the Denver Chalk Art Festival gets underway in Colorado.  Telegraphs Ran On Electric Air in Crazy 1859 Magnetic Storm (WIRED) Colorado's Most Colorful Event -  Denver Chalk Art Festival   We're listener powered, support us o...

It's back to school season, and while some classrooms will have their own pets this year, none will be quite like Room 8, a stray cat turned classroom cat turned legend. Plus: the Michigan State Fair gets underway today, and hopefully goes better than the botched attempt at a fair back in 1839.  Room 8, The Cat That Adopted An Echo Park School, Died 50 Years Ago Today (LAist) The Michigan Sta...

We've known for years that there are ways to turn our movements into energy. A new project out of Singapore wants to turn clothes into high-tech batteries powered by our movement. Plus: meet the Garbage Shirt, made partly from recycled plastic bottles.  Scientists Found a Way to Turn Your Body Into a Battery ... With Your Clothes (Popular Mechanics) This Shirt Is Made From Garbage (Urbandaddy...

At the Minnesota State Fair, there's a contest to choose a new ambassador for the state's dairy farms. And for almost 50 years, a sculptor made butter likenesses of the contestants. Here's a little about how Linda Christensen and her colleagues did it. Plus: the Instagram account push.pushbuttons showcases some of the coolest and most pushable buttons in the world around us.  For nearly 50 ye...

MIRA is a small robotic surgery system that's set for testing on the International Space Station - and could end up helping astronauts prepare for long-term missions to the Moon as part of the Artemis project. Plus: cold brew takes a long time to brew, except when you brew it with lasers!  SURGICAL ROBOT COULD PERFORM SURGERIES BY ITSELF ON SPACE STATION (Futurism) Cold brew coffee—pew, pew,...

It's National Dog Day, so it's a good day to tell the story of Bobbie a dog who once walked home more than 2,500 miles after being separated from his family. Plus: it’s day one of the three-day Mackinac Island Fudge Festival. Bobbie, The Wonder Dog Who Walked 2,500 Miles to Home (Amusing Planet) Mackinac Island Fudge Festival   We would walk 500 miles for our Patreon backers, and we would wal...

Today in 1944, the birthday of Pat Martino, a jazz guitar great who once had to relearn the instrument that had won him so much acclaim. Plus: Today in Deming, New Mexico, it’s the 43rd Annual Great American Duck Race.  Pat Martino discusses relearning to play guitar after a near-fatal brain aneurysm left him with amnesia (Lehigh Valley Live) Jazz Guitar After Brain Damage (Discover Magazine)...

Today in 1919, one of the strangest moments in the history of baseball: a pitcher won a game in which he was struck by lightning! Plus: today in 2006, the International Astronomical Union redefined what a planet was, leaving poor cold little Pluto in the lurch and leading to a new verb.  A lightning strike fueled baseball's most electrifying performance (Accuweather) Aug. 24, 2006: Pluto Depl...

Today in 2021, a very long wait was over. Researchers harvested three bunches of dates from trees that had sprouted from seeds over two thousand years old. Plus: today in 1989, the biggest human chain of all time, stretching hundreds of miles through three countries.  After 2,000 Years, These Seeds Have Finally Sprouted (The Atlantic) A Chain of Friendship: Reflections on the Baltic Way and I...

Today in 1893, writer Dorothy Parker was born. Those who knew her say nobody had a sharper wit - and we have the one-liners to prove it. Plus: a design studio in Tokyo may have a solution for all the waste styrofoam out there.  10 Things You Might Not Know About Dorothy Parker (Mental Floss) we+ recycles styrofoam waste into dark, monolithic furniture collection (designboom) Join our sharp, w...

For National Photography Day, here’s a remarkable photographic story from the 1890s: a guy in Norway made his own candid camera. Plus: today in 1935, the birthday of Story Musgrave, the only astronaut to serve on missions on all five space shuttles. 19-Year-Old Student Hides Spy Camera In His Clothing To Take Secret Street Photos In The 1890s (Bored Panda) Veteran Astronaut Story Musgrave (Smithso...

Scientists once thought stingrays were silent, but a recent recording project found out they make noise after all. Now they want to know why they make noises - and for who? Plus: today in 2018, Jessie the parrot may have said way too much.  Stingrays recorded making sounds for the first time—but why is a mystery (MSN for Kids) Parrot swears at London firefighter trying to rescue it from roof...

The new 3D printing project called To Grow A Building is working on a method to 3D print the components of structures out of dirt, with the goal of reducing the significant amount of emissions that come from using standard building materials. Plus: if you want to take a unique spin through geography, try the website Notable People. These 3D-printed dirt walls grow a garden when you water them (Fas...

For mountaineers, success and safety can depend on good communication. A piece in Outside magazine featured two Deaf climbers who have their own system when they’re climbing, and they plan to use that system in climbing the highest peaks on each continent. Plus: if you like vacations in remote locales, this island in the south Atlantic Ocean is about as remote as it gets.  How Two Deaf Mounta...