Cool Weird Awesome with Brady Carlson

The new book "The First Ghosts" looks at how humans have been describing and depicting ghosts for thousands of years, including a Babylonian tablet showing a lonely, bearded ghost dude from 1500 B.C.E. Plus: today in 2013, a merchant naval officer said a great way to deter pirates off the Somali coast was to blast Britney Spears tunes.  Boo Who? The World’s Oldest Ghost Drawing May Have Been...

Today in 1966, the official release of "Incubus," the only Esperanto-language movie starring a pre-Star Trek William Shatner. The movie had such bad fortune some people actually thought it was cursed. Plus: a guy buys an airplane, and though he's never flown before, he taxis it down the runway, takes off and has to figure out how to land.  Eerie Cult Classic ‘Incubus’ Returns After Lengthy Ex...

Humans make a lot of jokes about the seventh planet from the sun. But do scientists who study Uranus think the jokes are funny? The website Futurism found out. Plus: today is the first day of Magic Week, and there's a magic shop in Burnsville, Minnesota that's the oldest in the US.  Here’s What Uranus Scientists Think About Your Disgusting Jokes (Futurism) The Oldest Magic Shop In The U.S. Is...

A lot of us kind of amble through museums, taking a few steps, looking at art, and then moving again. And one posture specialist says that "museum walk" is actually hurting our backs. Plus: a guy in Ontario proves that the best time to play the flute with both hands is not when you're behind the wheel.  Suffering From Lower Back Pain While Visiting a Museum? You’re Not Alone (Hyperallergic) D...

Today in 1975, game 6 of the World Series between the Cincinnati Reds and the Boston Red Sox. The iconic clip of Carlton Fisk waving his game-winning home run fair 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, except that they weren't in the bus-only lane. Or in a car. Or in that city.&nb...

Today in 1968, a high jumper from Oregon, Dick Fosbury, changed his sport forever by winning gold with an unusual jumping motion now known as the Fosbury Flop. Plus: today in 2018, passengers on a bus in Paris refused to make room for a rider using a wheelchair. So the bus driver made room.  Dick Fosbury flops to an Olympic high jump record (History.com) Paris bus driver hailed a hero for kic...

Today in 2001, a scientific journal published a study with an interesting name, which read in part: “Van Gogh, Chagall and pigeons." There's been a lot of research into how pigeons take in and process visual information, like art, and apparently it's pretty complex. Plus: in Detroit, a local news reporter does a story about a local skateboard park, and flawlessly rides a skateboard in the middle o...

Today in 1963, a black and white cat from the streets of France became the first cat to go into space. She didn't choose to go, of course, but she's a pioneer just the same - and until a few years ago, a greatly underappreciated one. Plus: today in 1922, a girl in Illinois made it to school after being run over by a train?!?  Félicette, the First Feline in Space, Finally Got Her Due (How Stuf...

Today in 1860, an 11 year old wrote to not-yet-president Abraham Lincoln, suggesting he grow some whiskers because "your face is so thin." Later, a bearded Abe visited the letter writer, Grace Bedell of Westfield, New York, and showed off his new look. Plus: today in 1957, an unusual demonstration in Port Washington, Wisconsin: the “Power Mower of the Future”! Letter to Grace Bedell (Abraham Linco...

This week in 1930, a phone utility in Indianapolis started moving its headquarters and rotating the building 90 degrees, all while keeping service going for customers and workers in the building. Plus: a state with no sharks brags that it has the fewest shark attacks of any state.  An Incredible Move: The Indiana Bell Telephone Building (Amusing Planet) Colorado tied for state with fewest sha...

We’re in the final week of National Hispanic Heritage Month, so we wanted to tell the story of the first Hispanic woman in space, Ellen Ochoa, talented and versatile even by astronaut standards. Plus: an art student in China breaks stuff for art's sake, through a very peculiar vending machine.  Ellen Ochoa: A Pioneer on Land and in Space (National Archives)  Broken Plate Vending Machine...

A startup in the UK has found a way to use mushrooms to create a new, greener kind of home insulation. But don't worry, it isn't just growing mushrooms inside the walls of your house. Plus: an Australian company that delivers coffee by drone is reworking its business model because nesting ravens are attacking their aircraft.  Your next house could be insulated by mushrooms (Fast Company) 'The...

On Indigenous Peoples Day, here's the story of sculptor Edmonia Lewis. She was born in the 1840s to a Black father and a Chippewa mother, and became the first Native American and Black woman to become an acclaimed sculptor. Plus: Happy Thanksgiving to our listeners in Canada. It’s a big country, except for the exhibit known as Little Canada, which features miniature versions of some of the country...

Glass is versatile stuff, but fragile. A new project out of McGill University is modeled after the material in mollusk shells and could make glass a lot more durable. Plus: in Brazil, Fabio Gomes Trindade makes outdoor art that incorporates the shapes and colors of the nearby trees and bushes.  Unbreakable glass inspired by seashells (McGill University) Street Artist Incorporates Flowering Pl...

Today in 1959, a write-in candidate for city council in São Paulo, Brazil, won a huge victory. The catch: that candidate was a rhinoceros from the São Paulo Zoo. Plus: today in 1935, a man in Houston, Missouri finds a hat he'd lost three years earlier.  Rhino Horns In On A Brazilian Election (Life Magazine) Hat Lost 3 Years Returns (Bend Bulletin) Vote for our show as a backer on Patreon!

One of the many things we’ve learned over the last 19 months or so is that a lot of people around us can get lonely and isolated, even if they want social contact. In the Netherlands, a grocery store chain is trying to help by offering Kletskassa , or "chat checkout," where customers and clerks can strike up conversations if they need them. Plus: October is National Roller Skating Month, and whene...

In a part of the world where the energy grid isn't as reliable as residents might like, Reedii rents out energy “capsules” to those who need to charge cellphones, plug in lights or use other powered devices. And the "capsules" are charged with solar power! Plus: did you know there are six asteroids named for the six members of Monty Python?  This Nigerian startup sells solar-powered batteries...

Today's the birthday of a mystery author known to millions of kids, Donald J Sobol. He wrote the Encyclopedia Brown series, about a 10 year old detective who solved cases because he knew, as his nickname suggested, all sorts of unusual and obscure facts in the era way before the internet. Plus: it’s National Taco Day, and here's the story of one of the largest tacos ever made.  Encyclopedia B...

It's International Coffee Day, so here's the story of a woman in Dresden, Germany, who made it a lot easier to brew coffee: Melitta Bentz, the inventor of the coffee filter. Plus: it's World Smile Day, and in Polk County, Oregon, there's a giant smiley face on a hillside made of trees! Overlooked No More: Melitta Bentz, Who Invented the Coffee Filter (New York Times) Giant Smiley Face on Oregon Hi...

A project out of a Saudi university has built a cooling system that uses salt, water and heat from sunlight, but not electricity. Plus: one of the finalists for induction into the National Toy Hall of Fame is sand. Just sand.  No Electricity? A New Cooling System Uses Sunlight and Saltwater (Interesting Engineering) 2021 National Toy Hall of Fame Finalists  Our show stays cool with help...

Today in 1954, Willie Mays made one of the most amazing plays in baseball history - an over the shoulder catch in deep center field, followed by a throw that kept the opposing baserunners from scoring. And yet, Mays was so great that some researchers say The Catch wasn't even his greatest catch! Plus: for Goose Day, a visit to Belfast to see a statue in honor of Alec the Goose.  The true 'Cat...

Today in 1881, Eleonora Sears was born in Boston. She would go on to be one of the most versatile and accomplished athletes of the early 20th century, excelling in dozens of sports, from tennis and squash to boxing and auto racing. Plus: the website House Rules catalogs all the fun homegrown variations people have come up with for classic board games.  A Woman to Know: Eleanora Randolph Sears...

Around this time in 2018 humans started removing mountain goats from Olympic National Park in Washington state. But for a range of reasons, they had to do it by putting the goats in harnesses and flying them out with a helicopter. Plus: around this time in 1997, Elton John improvised a song on a TV show using words from some guy's oven manual.  A National Park Is Airlifting Hundreds of Mounta...

If you listen to our show, your ears are doing the work, unless you’re a certain type of roundworm that researchers have just shown can react to sound even though they don't have any ear-like organs. Plus: a crater on the moon has a new name in honor of the great Black explorer Matthew Henson.  Earless worms 'listen' through their skin (Science Daily) Thanks to UCLA graduate student, a lunar...

Today was the day in 1962 that “The Jetsons” premiered on ABC. Fitting for a show about the future, it was the first color broadcast for the network. Plus: it's National American Pot Pie Day - though the world record in the category for “Largest pie, meat” belongs to a group of catering students from the UK. September 23, 1962…”The Jetsons” Debuts As First Color For ABC (Eyes of a Generation) ‘The...