Cool Weird Awesome with Brady Carlson

It was on this day in 1876 that the U.S. first fell in love with the banana, when it was introduced at the World's Fair in Philadelphia. Though, back then, eating a banana was quite a bit different than it is today. Plus: on National Doughnut Day, we mark the moment in 2012 when festival-goers in Ukraine proved doughnuts were as good for art as they were for snack time.  Banana: The Fate of t...

Many of us are getting ready for our weekly shopping trips over the weekend, figuring out what we want to put in our carts. Those carts, by the way, are all due to a guy in Oklahoma who, on this day in 1937, decided to take the shopping basket and give it wheels. Plus: on National Cheese Day we pay tribute to the hardest, chewiest cheese in the world: churrpi!  June 4, 1937: Humpty Dumpty and...

Today in 1967, the town of St. Paul, Alberta officially opened the world’s first UFO landing pad. So why is there a UFO landing pad in east central Alberta? Plus: on this date in 1941, a man called Richard Burgess received a patent for exercise wings - but don't worry, they weren't intended to get their users to fly.  Ready and waiting: Alberta town built world’s first UFO landing pad 45 year...

For a time the powers that be only named hurricanes after women. Roxcy Bolton spoke out for years to change that policy, arguing that women “deeply resent being arbitrarily associated with disaster.” Plus: roller coasters are fun to ride, but they're even more fun when the passengers are all teddy bears.  A Woman to Know: Roxcy Bolton (A Woman To Know) Knuffelberen in #UNTAMED (Walibi Holland...

The word "dinosaur" was coined in the 1840s, but people have been finding dinosaur fossils for thousands of years. So what did people think dinosaur bones were before we had an idea that dinosaurs existed? Plus: if your dream is to find a dinosaur-shaped waffle cone with a scoop of ice cream in its mouth, there's a place in southern California that can help you.  What Did People First Think W...

Most audio these days (including this show) is recorded digitally, but there are lots of ways to document sounds, including one that's built around a paper cup-turned-microphone. Plus: a programmer has designed a face mask with a lit up, virtual mouth!  An audio recording made using a cup. (Dust To Digital on Instagram) I have finished my face mask (Tyler Glaiel on Twitter) The sweetest sound...

Agent 007 is known for living as large as you can - fast cars, fancy clothes, expensive hotels, and fancy food and drink. But writer Ian Fleming once admitted that Bond was originally going to eat pretty much just one food. Plus: if you're going to stick with a single food, why not the extraordinary pies made by Karin Pfeiff-Boschek and their intricate, artistic pie crusts?  Ian Fleming Expla...

There are lots of human efforts to help bees out, but there’s also some new research out that says bees help themselves by taking steps to get plants to flower earlier than usual. Plus: a man in Canada ordered hair cream in 2012, and it just arrived this month. Patience is a virtue!   Bumblebees Bite Plants to Force Them to Flower (Seriously) (Scientific American)  Toronto man says...

Amazingly, the English alphabet added its last letter in 1524, and no, that letter wasn't Z. We'll explain how an Italian grammarian convinced the world to add one more letter to the list. Plus: Andoni Bastarrika is a Basque artist who works with sand, but we’re not talking about basic beach sand castles here. Do You Know the Last Letter Added to the Alphabet? (It Wasn’t Z) (Readers Digest) Meet T...

If you miss the speeches that often come at a Memorial Day ceremony, we have a story for you: the story of the speech future president James A. Garfield gave at the first Memorial Day event at Arlington National Cemetery in 1868. It was, shall we say, not a short speech.  10 Things To Remember About Memorial Day (Mental Floss)

Our world is filling up with artificial intelligence, and now, so is the world of dogs. Researchers at Yale University have been testing whether dogs will take commands from robot voices. Plus: someone, somehow, posted a video that appears to show a motorized Porta-Potty. We just report these things, we can't always explain them.  Dogs Obey Commands Given by Social Robots (IEEE) Ridin’ Dirty:...

It's National Waitstaff Day, and whether or not you're back to dining out, it's a good time to figure out a little of where restaurants come from. (It's complicated.) Plus: the website ThisWordDoesNotExist creates words that sound real but aren't.  When Did People Start Eating In Restaurants? (History.com) ThisWordDoesNotExist.com is rewriting the dictionary with the help of AI (The Verge) Th...

It was on this day in 1990 that the Hubble Space Telescope took its first photo from space. Unfortunately the telescope had a problem with one of its mirrors that required astronauts to go up and fix. Plus: for World Bee Day, the story of an Irish bee enthusiast who built a hive out of LEGO.  How Fixing the Hubble Spacecraft Works (How Stuff Works) 30 years of Hubble: Three decades of space w...

This day in 1780 was a very strange day for New England. The sun decided to leave the sky around 10 in the morning, leaving everything pitch black and scaring the heck out of the locals. Plus: this day in 1964 was a very strange day for Andy Warhol, who received a very interesting letter from the Campbell Soup Company.  'mark well the gloom': SHEDDING LIGHT ON THE GRAET DARK DAY OF 1780 (Envi...

We explore one of the great mysteries of our time: why is there a rock in Newbury, New Hampshire, with the words "CHICKEN FARMER I STILL LOVE YOU" painted on it? Plus: why is there a giant statue of a chicken eating burgers on top of a restaurant in Wisconsin? Lots of chicken mysteries out there, I guess.  You Asked, We Answered: What's Up With That 'Chicken Farmer I Still Love You' Rock? (NH...

Imagine a unicycle, but there's no seat, the wheel is much bigger and you ride inside it. That's a monowheel, and while it may not be a casual rider's cup of tea, extreme sports people are way into them. Plus: how would you like to recreate a piece of art in your house that's made of fortune cookies?  Rise of the Monowheel (Mashable) Want a Gigantic Pile of Cookies in Your Home? 1,000 People...

A new Harvard study finds those systems that suggest words to us when we type on our smartphones are actually shaping the way we write sentences and messages. The new app Drive + Listen can take you on the most realistic virtual road trip of our time.  Predictive text systems change what we write (Harvard) Listen to local music as you 'drive' through your favourite city with this new app (Lon...

Otters are known to choose favorite rocks to carry around and juggle - it's a real sight to see. Researchers at the University of Exeter have been trying to figure out why otters juggle. Meanwhile: Juneau, Alaska just set up a joke hotline for residents looking for a laugh while staying at home. Otters juggle stones when hungry (Science Daily) City of Juneau started a joke hotline to cheer people...

The moon waxes and wanes in its phases month after month, and it always comes back. Except for that time in 1110, when records indicate that the moon vanished for months, or maybe even a year or longer. Scientists finally think they know what happened. Plus: a Japanese newspaper has a secret message about social distancing - but you have to be social distancing to read it.  In 1110, The Moon...

Chris Sedden was looking at scans of a site near where he lived, and spotted something “a bit odd, and a bit round.” It might be a lost henge! Plus: the community of Dorset finds a way to hold the annual "knob"-eating contest even while everyone's staying home.  Lost henge? Digging archaeology online during lockdown (The Guardian) World-famous 'Knob-eating contest' held online for the fist ti...

Colleges and students are trying to make the best of the current difficulties - like with virtual commencement ceremonies, for example. But there are still some traditions that are hard to replicate online, like Meredith College's annual presentation of a class doll at the end of the year. Plus: meet Graham Walters, who rowed his way across the Atlantic Ocean, only to find the world had changed co...

There's been a surge in popularity for jigsaw puzzles lately - not bad for an idea that was originally meant to teach kids in London about the countries of Europe. Plus: today marks the 10th anniversary of the world record for the largest group hug. Anyone want to try to break that record next year?  Here’s How Those Hot Jigsaw Puzzles Are Made (New York Times) Piecing together the history of...

The city of Pompeii was buried by Mount Vesuvius almost 2,000 years ago. And yet something there may sound very familiar to us today: the community had a pretty elaborate recycling system. Plus: why staff at the Sumida Aquarium in Tokyo are encouraging people to video chat with their eels. Did the Ancient Pompeiians Invent Recycling? New Research Suggests They Used Trash to Build City Walls (and M...

Missing the sounds of a full restaurant on a Saturday night? Several well-known ambient sound apps and platforms feature a wide range of soundscapes, including restaurants, that might bring those familiar sounds back to you. Plus: the story of a dude in Wisconsin who woke up the neighborhood with his guitar shredding.  The Sound of Silence (Eater) Miss Reading in Public? Bring the Sounds of t...

Authorities in Belgium are calling on citizens to do their duty and help the country's potato farmers by ordering frites twice a week - fitting, since Belgium is home of the world's only Frietmuseum and considers itself the birthplace of the fried potato. Plus: today in 2008, the passing of the man who made the Pringles can possible. And he included that iconic tube of chips in his final wishes.&n...