Cool Weird Awesome With Brady Carlson

Twenty years ago today, Channel Four in the UK first aired "Shattered," a show where contestants tried to stay awake the longest to win a grand prize. Plus: this month in 1970, German artist Wolf Vostell unveiled a work in Chicago in which he'd taken a 1957 Cadillac and encased it in concrete.  Shattered: legacy of a reality TV experiment in extreme sleep deprivation (The Guardian)  VOSTELL CONCRETE 1969–1973 JANUARY 1 (Smart Museum of Art) Sleep better knowing that you’ve backed this show on Patreon --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/coolweirdawesome/support

Today in 1959, Alaska became the 49th state in the Union. It’s unique in so many ways, like how a large part of one Alaskan community lives in a single 14 story building. Plus: a town in Romania is offering free bus passes to those who do a little exercise. Begich Towers, home to about half the population of Whittier, gets a much-needed overhaul (Anchorage Daily News) Can You Get a Free Bus Ticket by Doing 20 Squats in Romania? (Snopes) Help us build the Cool Weird Awesome community on Patreon --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/coolweirdawesome/support

For the first six days of the year in a small city in Ecuador, it's the Diablada de Píllaro, with people dancing in the streets in very colorful devil costumes. Plus: the website CryOnceAWeek.com wants to help you feel better by getting the tears flowing. Dancing With Devils: Latin American Mask Traditions (Ohio State University Libraries) In Píllaro, the Year Begins with Dancing Devils (Neatorama) cry once a week Join our community of backers on Patreon, it’s kind of like a nonstop celebration --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/coolweirdawesome/support

You may know about Pisa's world-famous leaning tower, but the city of Bologna has one too - and officials are planning to spend some big money to keep it from leaning too far and falling over. Plus: a year marks one Earth trip around the Sun. But then there's the Great Year or Platonic Year, which is... a whole lot more.  ‘Leaning tower’ in Italy on ‘high alert’ for collapse (CNN) The Platonic Year (Oxford University Press)

Each year New York City hosts huge crowds hoping to see the famous ball drop. But once the giant party is done and the revelers have headed home, the giant cleanup effort begins. Plus: the story of an Alabama man who quietly helped his neighbors in need for years. HOW DOES NYC CLEAN UP AFTER THE NEW YEAR'S EVE BALL DROP IN TIMES SQUARE? (Untapped New York) Farmer dies; town learns he secretly paid strangers’ pharmacy bills (Washington Post) Backers, there’s an exclusive bonus New Year’s episode for you on the Patreon page --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/coolweirdawesome/support

This is our very last episode of 2023, so we’re telling the story of the final stop in our 26 letter alphabet: here’s where Z came from. Plus: the oldest known developed photo has been developed, but there's still a lot of mystery around it. Why Was Z Once Removed From The Alphabet? (Dictionary.com) Why Do Americans Say “Zee” but the British Say “Zed”? (Readers Digest) World’s Oldest Known Photo to Ever Be Developed Reveals Two Mysterious Figures (My Modern Met) Thanks to our Patreon backers for supporting our show throughout 2023! --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/coolweirdawesome/support

If this time of year is a little too drab and grey for your tastes, head to Puerto Rico’s northern coast for Festival de las Máscaras de Hatillo: the Festival of Masks. Plus: today in 1894, the birth of Burnita Matthews, the first woman to serve as a federal district judge in the US. In 1919 she managed to make silence speak volumes. Festival de las Máscaras de Hatillo (Discovering Puerto Rico)  Burnita S. Matthews Dies at 93; First Woman on U.S. Trial Courts (New York Times) Join the parade of supporters on our Patreon page --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/coolweirdawesome/support

Today in 1935, a military mission you sure don’t see every day: at the direction of then-Lieutenant Colonel George S. Patton, American planes carried out a series of bombing runs in Hawaii to stop a volcano. Plus: this week in 2015, Vogue Magazine published a correction for the record books. 27 December 1935 (This Day In Aviation) Miscues That Made News (Robert Rector on Blogspot)  Keep this show flying as a backer on Patreon --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/coolweirdawesome/support

Today in 2004, a 10 year old managed to save a lot of people from a massive tsunami because she remembered a lesson she’d learned in school about what happens right before a tsunami hits. Good thing she was listening. Plus: Asheville, NC's Omni Grove Park Inn is displaying the very fancy entries from the 32nd Annual National Gingerbread House Competition.  How Paying Attention in Elementary School Can Save Lives (Now I Know) THE NATIONAL GINGERBREAD HOUSE COMPETITION DISPLAY (Omni Hotels) Back us on Patreon so we can keep sharing what we know - you never know who might need it! --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/coolweirdawesome/support

Santa Claus may be the man with the bag in the US today, but in other parts of the world there are some very different gift givers. We'll ride with a few of them to celebrate the many ways people celebrate December 25. Merry Christmas! Around the world, kids’ Christmas gifts include KFC, books and ‘pooping logs’  (CNN) Christmas gift-bringers of Europe (JakubMarian.com) --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/coolweirdawesome/support

Winter is officially here in the Northern Hemisphere. If it doesn't feel like it yet, grab a snow globe - we'll tell you how they got their start. Plus: in Newburgh in Fife, Scotland, they turn sketches by local kids into a set of holiday light sculptures. Was the Snow Globe Invented by Accident? (Snopes) A Scottish Town’s Annual Competition Invites Its Youngest Artists to Design ‘Wonky’ Holiday Lights (Colossal)  Help us make more episodes like this one as a backer on Patreon! --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/coolweirdawesome/support

No meeting has ever been bigger than the one that happened today in 1970, when the King of Rock and Roll met the President of the United States. We'll explain how it happened. Plus: around this time of year, animal lovers in New York City gather at a mostly secret spot inside Central Park to decorate a pet memorial tree. December 21, 1970: Elvis Presley Meets President Richard Nixon (National Portrait Gallery)  The Secret Christmas Tree for Pets in Central Park (Untapped New York) Meet up with us on our Patreon site and help make this show a big hit --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/coolweirdawesome/support

Today in 1946, the release of the movie “It’s A Wonderful Life.” It took a while for the movie to win its spot in the top ranks of holiday films - and the story on which the movie is based also took a little while to make its way into the world. Plus: that pool built under the gym floor in the movie? That's real. It’s a Wonderful Life was Based on a “Christmas Card” Short Story by Philip Van Doren Stern (Today I Found Out) Jimmy Stewart Owed His Most Memorable Holiday Performance to World War II (HistoryNet) The Pool in ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ is Real (Aqua Magazine) A mama dollar and a papa dollar a month on Patreon is all it would take to support this show --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/coolweirdawesome/support

Today in 1972 Apollo 17 returned from the moon. One of the lunar samples was sliced up and shared with every American state and hundreds of countries... except that we aren't quite sure where some of those rocks are now. Plus: if you’re anywhere near Cocoa Beach, Florida this holiday weekend, watch for the Surfing Santas! Louisiana’s missing moon rock found by Florida man recycling wooden plaques into gun stock (The Advocate - Baton Rouge, LA) Finding lost moon rocks is his mission (Los Angeles Times) Surfing Santas In Cocoa Beach  We thank our Patreon backers to the moon and back --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/coolweirdawesome/support

Today in 1778, the birthday of Joseph Grimaldi, the guy who basically invented clowning as we know it today. Here's some of his story. Plus: congratulations to the winner of the 2023 International Wedding Photographer of the Year Contest, and to the bird who helped make the winning photo happen. Here We Are Again!—How Joseph Grimaldi Invented the Creepy Clown (JSTOR) 10 STRANGE LONDON MEMORIALS AND THE HISTORY BEHIND THEM (Look Up London) Bird Landing on Bride’s Head Wins 2023 International Wedding Photographer of the Year Contest (My Modern Met) No joke, our Patreon backers make every episode of the show happen --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/coolweirdawesome/support

For drivers in very snowy places, winter is time to put snow chains on car tires. It’s neither easy nor fun - but a new concept from two automakers could change that, by embedding snow chain-like paddles right into the tires. Plus: St. Charles, Missouri now has its own Soda Museum and Arcade! Hyundai’s New Push-Button Snow Chains Are Right Out of a James Bond Movie (The Drive) Massive soda memorabilia collection opens to the public in St. Charles (FOX2Now) Drive on over to Patreon and back our show! --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/coolweirdawesome/support

For National Monkey Day, the story of Jack, a baboon in South Africa who was so smart he worked for a railroad for nine years without a single mistake. Plus: The Arizona Daily Star is printing a page in each day’s paper this week that's unique wrapping paper designed by an artist from Tucson. Stranger Than Fiction: Jack the Signalman (Knoxville Daily Sun) These wrapping paper designs were created by Tucson artists (Tucson.com) Don’t monkey around, go straight to our Patreon site and back this show --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/coolweirdawesome/support

A project out of the University of California - Davis uses images from a very well known navigation system to help slow the spread of invasive species. Plus: in the late 19th Century, a guy thought he could keep horses from freaking out around cars with something he called the Horsey Horseless. Google Weed View? Professor Trains Computer to Spot Invasive Weed (UC-Davis) The 50 Worst Cars of All Time (TIME via Archive.org)  Help us grow our show as a backer on Patreon --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/coolweirdawesome/support

Today in 1906 a vote in Congress put an end to one of President Theodore Roosevelt’s top priorities: simplifying the way we spell words. Or, as he would have preferred, spel wurds. Plus: around this time of year a zoo in Japan starts offering warm water baths to their capybaras. Teddy Roosevelt’s Bold (But Doomed) Battle to Change American Spelling (History.com) Birthplace of the Capybara Hot Bath Celebrates 40 years of Rodent Relaxation (Spoon + Tamago)  As a backer on Patreon, you’ll help this show spell success every day  --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/coolweirdawesome/support

One of the most popular Hanukkah traditions these days is latkes, though this delicious part of the Festival of Lights has definitely seen a few changes over the years. Plus: this afternoon in Marengo, Indiana, Caroling in the Cave. How Latkes Became Hanukkah's Favorite Food (HowStuffWorks) Everything You Know About Latkes Is Wrong (The Atlantic) Caroling In The Cave/Marengo Cave (Visit Indiana) --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/coolweirdawesome/support