Cool Weird Awesome with Brady Carlson

Today in 1918, the birthday of Venetia Burney, who at age eleven, did something few people have done: she named a planet! Plus: on this day in 1992 the people of Ripon, Wisconsin made what was then the world’s largest chocolate chip cookie. Venetia Burney Phair (1918-2009) (NASA) Ripon's signature Cookie Daze has been discontinued, chamber cites closure of cookie factory (Ripon Press) Our Patreon...

It's National Motorcycle Day, so it's a perfect day to tell the story of one of the most legendary riders of all time: Bessie Stringfield, whose cross country trips and daring won her the name "Motorcycle Queen of Miami." Plus: today in Lisbon, Maine, the three day Moxie Festival is getting underway. Overlooked No More: Bessie B. Stringfield, the ‘Motorcycle Queen of Miami’ (New York Times) Moxie...

It's National Ice Cream Month, and here's the story of a guy who tasted hundreds of millions of gallons of the sweet stuff: John Harrison, longtime ice cream tester. Plus: a kitten in Brooklyn got stuck in a car, until it heard a smartphone playing the sounds of other kittens.  The ice cream man whose taste buds are insured for $1m (The Hustle) Woman Coaxes Kitten Out of a Car Engine by Playi...

Today in 1785, the US Congress decided that the name of our country’s currency would be the dollar. Getting to that point was kind of a trek. Plus: today in 1957, a Black sports heroine won herself some gold. The Almighty Dollar (AdamSmith.org) Althea Gibson: Tennis Turmoil and Triumph (Library of Congress) For just one dollar a month you can help fund this show on Patreon!

Today in 1854, the end of one of the great hoaxes of its day: a fire in a Philadelphia museum destroyed what people of that time thought was a super-intelligent chess robot. Plus: today in 2011, people in a skyscraper in Seoul, South Korea, reported the building shaking like it'd been in an earthquake. The real cause was a lot more down to earth.  How a Phony 18th Century Chess Robot Fooled t...

Back in 1926, Poland wanted to thank the US for its aid during World War I, but instead of sending the usual diplomatic letter, they sent papers all around their country and got one out of every six Polish people to sign. Plus: today was the birthday of Bill Withers, who got an unusual going-away present from his employer when he switched to singing full time.  Poland Once Gave America a Birt...

Today in 1947, Wat Misaka became the first non-white player to be drafted into what is now the NBA. Here's some of his story. Plus: this weekend the Twin Cities host the Hmong International Freedom Festival.  Japanese American Former Basketball Star Inspired On And Off The Court (NPR) Hmong International Freedom Festival (Visit Saint Paul) Our Patreon backers are championship material

Today in 1938, the birthday of Billy Mills, a Marine veteran, activist AND a runner who won an Olympic gold medal in what’s been called the biggest upset in the history of the Games. Plus: in the 1950s, Frank Lloyd Wright designed a doghouse?  ‘There goes Billy Mills!’ (Indian Country Today) A Doghouse Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright Is Now on Display (Smithsonian) Our Patreon backers deserve...

A study from Ohio State University finds bats can remember a ringtone if they associate the sound with food - for years, in some cases. Plus: a French company is recycling old face masks and turning them into school supplies.  A rare discovery of long-term memory in wild frog-eating bats (Ohio State University) Plaxtil Recycles Used Face Masks Into School Supplies (Cool Hunting) Our Patreon b...

Today in 2006, Alaska Senator Ted Stevens famously told his colleagues that the Internet was not a dumptruck, it was a series of tubes, figuratively speaking. But here’s a story about some literal tubes that New York City once used to deliver mail. Plus: today in 2021, a woman who had asked the New York Yankees to be a batgirl 60 years earlier (and been rejected) finally got to live out her dream....

Today in 1880, the birthday of Helen Keller, the activist, author, speaker, and, on one occasion, a pilot. Never mind what randos on social media have claimed, here's the real story. Plus: Wimbledon is getting underway, and players who want to swear beware: the umpires have studied curses in multiple languages.  Did Helen Keller Fly a Plane? (Snopes) Do Wimbledon Umpires Learn Curse Words in...

This week in 1951, Life Magazine had a feature story about a guy with an unusual hobby: he rehearsed his own funeral. Plus: this weekend in Littleton, Colorado, it’s the Unicorn Festival! Jim Gernhart, the living corpse (Weird Universe) Unicorn Festival   Long live our Patreon backers

For National Typewriter Day, some of the stories that helped bring this device to life, including a guy in Italy who was trying to help a blind countess write letters. Plus: a giant typewriter in San Francisco about a century ago? It happened.  Typewriters Were Originally Created To Help The Blind (Dictionary.com) a curious story of the 14 ton Underwood Master Typewriter… (Red Letter Day zine...

A family in rural Kentucky with a rare blood disorder had blue complexions for decades - until a doctor found a way to treat it. Plus: June is Great Outdoors Month, and in Norway, there’s a great spot outdoors that might exhilarate you - or might make you turn green.  The True Story of the Blue People of Kentucky (How Stuff Works) Kjeragbolten (Futility Closet) Join our Patreon backers and ma...

Summer is here in the Northern Hemisphere, and a lot of people are looking to keep themselves and some of their foods and drinks cool. That's what the storage building known as the yakhchāl did thousands of years ago. Plus: a guy in Munfordville, Kentucky built his own Stonehenge. Yakhchāls, Āb Anbārs, & Wind Catchers — Passive Cooling & Refrigeration Technologies Of Greater Iran (Persia)...

Today in 1863, West Virginia became a state - though back in the 18th Century, there were several efforts to meld this land with parts of Pennsylvania, Kentucky and Maryland and create an entirely different entity called Vandalia or Westsylvania. Plus: if visiting Stonehenge for the solstice is too much of a trek, why not head to western Nebraska and see Carhenge?  Westsylvania: The Fourteent...

This week we're replaying some of our favorite episodes about music that sounds a little different. In this episode from April 2020, music scholars at Cambridge University studied musical manuscripts without modern notation and reconstructed what they would have sounded like. Plus: in 1982 Key West,  Florida declared independence from – and war on – the United States. For not very long. First...

This week we're replaying some of our favorite episodes about music that sounds a little different. In this episode from April 2020, it's the story of the American Beetles - a knockoff band that toured South  America, without quite telling everyone they weren't the genuine article. Plus: Spanish artist Bichopalo is not only making beautiful music, he's making beautiful musical instruments, to...

This week we're replaying some of our favorite episodes about music that sounds a little different. In this episode from September 2020, we look at an organ in Germany that is, for more than 600 years, trying to play a John Cage score the way he wanted it to be played: "As Slow As Possible." Plus: a YouTuber trains his cat to put out fires, sort  of. John Cage musical work changes chord for f...

This week we're replaying some of our favorite episodes about music that sounds a little different. In this episode from August 2020 we look at the Oomphalapompatronium, a creation of Boston-area musician,  composer and inventor Len Solomon. And it definitely fits the name.  Speaking of words that fit with what they describe, did you know about  the word "aptronym"? Meet the Guy Who...

This week we're replaying some of our favorite episodes about music that sounds a little different. In this episode from April 2019, we visit Organ Piper Pizza in Greenfield, Wisconsin. As you eat, an organist plays an enormous  Wurlitzer organ, which also controls stage lights, disco balls, a mechanical gymnast and a family of singing ducks. Plus - a story that's, amazingly, not an April Foo...

It’s Portugal Day, and no doubt there will be celebrations across the country, including the capital city, Lisbon. Though there was a time in the 19th century when the capital of Portugal was not only outside Lisbon, it was outside Portugal. Plus: Today in 1972, the number one song on the Billboard pop chart was “The Candy Man” by Sammy Davis Jr. He recorded it in just two takes, convinced the son...

This past Monday was National Day in Sweden, but it's Thursday that the real fun gets underway, because that’s when people eat pea soup and pancakes. Together. Plus: graduating seniors at Basha High School in Chandler, Arizona celebrate the end of the school year with the Paper Toss.  PEA SOUP AND PANCAKES – SWEDEN’S THURSDAY FAVOURITE (Routes North) Basha High School end of year paper toss v...

Today in 1867, Frank Lloyd Wright was born. He would go on to design some of the most striking buildings ever built, from houses, to museums, to office buildings to... gas stations. Plus: some of Wright's many other designs were never built, though now they’re being brought to life in virtual reality thanks to 3D rendering.  Lindholm Oil Company Service Station (FrankLloydWright.org) Three un...

Firefighting is dangerous work, in part because of the exposure to dangerous chemicals. Researchers are learning more about those exposures thanks to a simple silicone wristband. Iceland’s new tourism program sets the country’s horses to work on giant keyboards, sending out-of-office emails to your bosses and colleagues so you don’t have to. How a $1 wristband could help track firefighters exposur...