Cool Weird Awesome with Brady Carlson

If you’re mourning Notre Dame cathedral today, well, you’re not the only one.  Here’s a story from its long history that might make you feel a little more hopeful, a story of stone heads that disappeared - and reappeared hundreds of years later. Plus: a few examples of how cathedrals are full of surprises, and not always high-minded ones.  After 184 Years, a Cousin of the French Presiden...

Tax Day gives a lot of us the blues - which, as it turns out, actually kind of works. April 15th is the birthday of one of the greatest singers of all time: the Empress of the Blues, Bessie Smith. As for taxes, we have some news you can use - at least if you're an unsavory character. According to US tax law, stolen property must be reported as income.  Forebears: Bessie Smith, The Empress Of...

During the Cold War, the CIA flew U2 planes all over the globe, to see what the Soviets were up to. And in doing so, documented all kinds of geographical features from up above. Two researchers decided to go back through these photos - not for their Cold War history but for archaeology. And it turns out, these photos showed a lot. Plus: this weekend in Woodstock, Illinois, the Great Lakes Steelpan...

The surest sign of spring is neither the calendar nor the weather. It’s the reappearance of Peeps, which are the stuff of candy and cultural legend now. Not only are there billions of them produced, eaten and/or used in dioramas every year, there's a PeepsMobile, a converted Volkswagen Beetle with a giant yellow Peep on top, and there's PeepResearch.org - an entire website devoted to researching w...

 The family that races hot rods together... stays together. For National Siblings Day, the story of  Brittany, Ashley and Courtney Force,  three sisters who have found an unusual way to spend time together: they're professional funny car drivers. And if you're not celebrating Abby Machuda Day yet, you will, once you hear what she did for her siblings.  Brittany Force still raci...

 Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville invented a way to document sound more than a decade before Thomas Edison developed his wax cylinders. So why isn't he remembered as the king of recording? Because he hadn't figured out one key feature: playing the sound back. Plus: ever wondered what it's like inside an anechoic chamber, which masks almost every sound possible? Really quite and kind of freak...

Researchers out of Brigham Young University have been working to quiet one of the most ungodly noises in the world - airplane bathrooms. Turns out changing the design of the pipes can make it a lot quieter, unlike that snoring guy in the next row. Plus: a dude in New Mexico has the worst luck with his own restroom.  A New Design Promises to Quiet the Terrifying Roar of Flushing an Airplane To...

 A long cold winter is behind us - unfortunately potholes are underneath us.  In Michigan, 12 year old Monte Scott counted 50 potholes on his street alone - and started filling them in himself. Fortunately, a research team at Drexel University is working on a bioconcrete that might stop potholes before they start. Plus: ever wanted to see an opera performed in a swimming pool? Come to Ap...

It was 50 years ago today that a doctor implanted a temporary artificial heart in a patient - a pretty big leap forward in heart surgeries, given that transplants were only about a year old back then. Plus:  since April is National Donate Life Month, and the theme is “Life is a beautiful ride,”  complete with bicycles, the story of a very unusual kind of ride - a nearly naked backwards b...

 An apple a day keeps the coming war with robots away?  A New Zealand company is testing a robot that’s supposed to move through an apple orchard, spot ripe fruit, yank it from the tree and bring it back to the farmer.  They're either helping us do a hard job or taking the first step toward an agricultural Skynet. Oh, and speaking of food-related horror: a strongman found out what h...

You can apply for just about any set of numbers and letters to adorn your motor vehicle, so long as they’re a) not already taken and b) abide by your state’s rules. California residents have been putting the Golden State's rules to the test in some odd ways lately. Plus: an LA museum dedicated to the wild world of velvet paintings is trying to stave off financial troubles. Hopefully they won't tak...

I spent part of the weekend chasing down a little bit of musical and culinary history in Greenfield, Wisconsin, just outside Milwaukee. That’s home to Organ Piper Pizza - 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 Fool's Day prank, in whi...

On this day in 1861 the tiny European country of San Marino presented President Abraham Lincoln with honorary citizenship. There’s another leader named Lincoln who’s aspiring to greatness, and may yet achieve it - if, like Honest Abe, she can clean up the big mess in front of her. She's the new mayor of Fair Haven, Vermont: Lincoln the goat. Plus: Brian Chirls took the approval ratings from Richar...

It's Opening Day - and no matter who wins and who loses, baseball fans will have something to say about the umpires. The first pro ump in the big leagues was a man named Billy McLean - who, when he wasn't calling balls and strikes, was occasionally challenging hecklers to fistfights. Link:   The first major-league umpire was a Philadelphian (Philly.com)

This year’s big growth industry: buying stuff online while you’re hammered. That's according to a new survey that finds one in four respondents admitted to buying stuff on the internet while they've been drinking. Drunk buying is now a $39.4 billion dollar industry... would this be a good time to mention this show is on Patreon ?  Americans Spent Over $39 Billion While Drunk Shopping Last Yea...

Brady has an eight year old in the house today! To celebrate the big guy's birthday, we're taking a look at the many great eight year olds out there, making things a little more awesome. And check out the Memphis Zoo's new Lego sculptures, including a 625-pound Lego polar bear family that you definitely wouldn't want to step on.  The heart-warming tale of the 8-year-old chess champion is quin...

Researchers in Europe make a stunning discovery: playing hip-hop to cheese makes it taste better. Maybe they should have played a few songs to a collector's coin in Germany that's not getting a great reaction.   Link: Cheese Exposed To Hip Hop Tastes Better  (Swissinfo.ch)  Link: A German Mint Just Released A Coin Commemorating 70 Years Of Currywurst, And It's Unspeakably Ugly...

Millennial memes are a crock. They're not really killing lunch. Or bar soap. Or doorbells. But an often-discarded piece of their beloved avocados may end up saving lunch, thanks to a new kind of cutlery made from bioplastics .  This weekend head to Virginia City, Nevada for the 41st International Collegiate Mining Games . Can your college hang with the Mackay Muckers of the University of Neva...

That feeling when you've had a horrible day and everything's gone wrong and all you really want is to sit down and have a beer... and then a beer shows up . It's the real-life story of a giant flood, two guys who lived through it, and what they found after. Lincoln Journal Star: 'A gift sent from the heavens' — Magic beer fridge found in flooded field