Cool Weird Awesome with Brady Carlson

This week we're replaying some of our most caffeinated episodes. In this episode from September 2020, we have the story of Brazilian athletes who, without travel funds from the government, had to earn their way to the Olympics in Los Angeles by selling coffee beans. Plus: in Bedford, Pennsylvania, there's a building shaped like a big metal coffee pot. Brazilian Athletes Perked Up The 1932 Games Wi...

Today in 1993, Rhode Island adopted coffee milk as its official state drink. And in that state, coffee milk is kind of a world unto itself. Plus: today in Whiting, Indiana, Pierogi Fest is getting underway. What is coffee milk and why is Rhode Island obsessed with it? (WGBH) PIEROGI FEST A round of coffee milks for our Patreon backers, please!

Plastic food wrap is useful stuff, but not eco-friendly. Now Rutgers University has a green alternative, and it’s not exactly wrap. You kind of spray it on. Plus: Officials in Hollister, California wanted new, slightly curved street lines painted. What they got was... not that.   Rutgers Scientist Develops Antimicrobial, Plant-Based Food Wrap Designed to Replace Plastic (Rutgers) Incorrectly...

In the collection of the Cincinnati Art Museum, there’s a mirror from 16th Century China that has been keeping a secret for centuries. And, at long last, that secret is out. Plus: the Metropolitan Museum of Art is using augmented reality to show the colorful paint and designs that used to be on some ancient statues.  Cincinnati Art Museum Discovers That a Rare 16th Century Mirror Reveals a Hi...

University of Pennsylvania researchers are developing a teeth cleaning system out of nanoparticles. Plus: Blizzbrush is an antimicrobial sponge the makers say can do the job of a toothbrush in just ten seconds. Shapeshifting microrobots can brush and floss teeth (University of Pennsylvania) 3D printed 'blizzbrush 5.0 toothbrush-sponge' cleans entire mouth in just 10 seconds (designboom) Our Patreo...

Digital currencies are having a rough 2022, but one alternative currency has been doing pretty well for itself lately. That’s the wooden money made in Tenino, Washington. Plus: if you feel like you’ve been to every museum and you’re not sure what to do next, try the German Food Additives Museum. Why Tenino is still printing wooden money (KING 5) There is a museum dedicated to food additives in Ham...

On this day in 2008 things got weird during a recording of The Price Is Right, when a contestant kept hitting the big money in a round of Plinko. Plus: today in Key West, Florida, it’s preliminary round two of the annual Hemingway Look-Alike Contest. THE PRICE IS FIXED (Now I Know) SLOPPY JOE’S 41ST ANNUAL HEMINGWAY® LOOK-ALIKE CONTEST JULY 21-23, 2022   You don't need to hit a dollar on the...

We’re in the heat of summer, and here’s the story of a guy who's helped millions cool down: Omar Knedlik, the inventor of the ICEE. Plus: today in 1924, actor Don Knotts was born in Morgantown, West Virginia. The town pays tribute to its famous resident with a statue downtown. Remembering Omar Knedlik, the Rural Kansas Man Who Invented the ICEE (Kansas Public Radio) Don Knotts Statue (Atlas Obscur...

Today is International Chess Day, so here are a few of the stories about how which pieces were on the board changed over the centuries. Plus: today in 1969, humans landed on the moon. The world was in awe - except for one famous artist.  How did chess pieces get their names? (Big Think) “It Means Nothing To Me”: Picasso Unimpressed by Moon Landing (Hyperalllergic) Every move we make is thanks...

Today in 1911, a big day for the city of Pittsburgh: after an effort that lasted decades, the city won back the H at the end of its name! Plus: on this day in 1982, Hall of Fame shortstop Luke Appling hit an unusual home run.  THE PITTSBURGH “H” (Visit Pittsburgh) Most Unlikely Homerun Ever! 75 Year Old Luke Appling's Home Run in Old Timers Game in D.C. 1982 (via YouTube) However you spell it...

Today in 1914, the birthday of Gino Bartali. The Italian cycling star won the Tour de France in 1938, and won a second time a decade later. But what was even more impressive was what he did in between those two wins. Plus: today in 1995, researchers in Slovenia found what was believed to be the oldest musical instrument ever discovered.  Gino Bartali (Yad Vashem) Hear the world’s oldest instr...

Many people hope humans will eventually walk on Mars. But there's a lot to sort out before that can happen, including this question: how does the way we tell time change when we have humans on more than one planet? Plus: today in Boulder, Colorado, it’s Tube To Work Day. A meander through Martian minutes and the meaning of local time (Interconnected) Tube To Work Day   Our Patreon backers hel...

Summer is usually shorts weather, but there’s some new research on pants that’s worth a look, especially when you know that the pants at the center of this work are from 3,000 years ago. Plus: the South Carolina Peach Festival is getting underway this week in the community of Gaffney. The world’s oldest pants are a 3,000-year-old engineering marvel (Ars Technica) South Carolina Peach Festival Our...

This month in 1918, two photographers took a picture of the Statue of Liberty. Except this wasn’t the giant statue that sits in the harbor in New York, it was a living Statue of Liberty formed with help from 18,000 members of the US military. Plus: today in 1939 Frank Sinatra made his first record, which reminds us of a great story from when Frank was making the original "Ocean's Eleven."  Hu...

Today is Cow Appreciation Day, so here's the story of some very unusual cows in Latvia and a playwright who helped save them from disappearing for good. Plus: a medical mystery caused by too much disco? It happened.  Herd the moos? Latvia's symbolic blue cow back from the brink (Phys.org) Disco Felon (Weird Universe) Our Patreon backers are outta sight!

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....