Cool Weird Awesome With Brady Carlson

Today in 1944, the birthday of Diana Ross. In the 1960s she and the Supremes had hit record after hit record, and at one point, they were even the namesakes for a line of white bread. Plus: today in 1879, a newspaper article about an experiment in Belgium to see whether cats could be trained to deliver mail. Loafing Around – The Supremes White Bread (Voices of East Anglia via Archive.org)Mail-Delivering Cats You’ll hear a symphony when you back our show on Patreon

Today in 1843, the opening of the Thames Tunnel in London, the first tunnel of its kind and one inspired by a mollusc known as a shipworm. Plus: today in 2024, a story from Cheshire Live about a woman who came to the local animal hospital with a baby hedgehog in need of rescuing. Or at least that’s what she thought. The Epic Struggle to Tunnel Under the Thames (Smithsonian)Woman mistakes bobble for baby hedgehog and rushes it to Cheshire animal hospital (Cheshire Live)We think you’ll really dig backing our show on Patreon

Why have so many students spent so many spring breaks in our capital city? The story starts with a single teacher. Plus: today in 1944, the birthday of decorated Marine and actor R. Lee Ermey. In Palmdale, California, there's something called the R. Lee Ermey Musical Road. This One Guy Made the Washington DC Field Trip a Middle School Rite of Passage (Thrillist)City of Palmdale Opens Musical Road on R. Lee Ermey Avenue (City of Palmdale)Take a quick trip to our Patreon page and support our show

This week we’re replaying some of our favorite agricultural episodes. In this episode from August 2020, a farmer in western New York finds something in his fields that he definitely hadn’t planted: a giant old safe. Plus: the British Antarctic Survey studies satellite images and spotted 11 new colonies of Emperor penguins.What’s inside this mystery safe? Orleans Co. farmer says it should stay unknown (WHAM-TV)Scientists Just Discovered 11 New Emperor Penguin Colonies. From Space (Popular Mechanics)No mystery here – Patreon backers make every episode of Cool Weird Awesome possible!

This week we’re replaying some of our favorite agricultural episodes. In this episode from February 2020, dogs' amazing sniffing ability may be very useful for orchards as they try to head off a disease called citrus greening. Plus: police in New South Wales, Australia stop a man for using his cellphone while riding a horse.Dog sleuths sniff out crop disease hitting citrus trees (KCRA)Man riding horse stopped by police for using phone (Weekly Times Now)Outside of a dog Cool Weird Awesome’s Patreon backers are a person’s best friend. Inside of a dog it’s too dark to back anything. 

This week we’re replaying some of our favorite agricultural episodes. In this episode from June 2020, scientists at Washington State University are testing out a robotic system that might give us another way to pollinate as we try to help bees get their buzz back. Plus: researchers in Japan are testing out a pollination system using soap bubbles, like the ones kids like to create and pop.Robotic crop pollination awarded $1 million grant (Washington State University)Blowing bubbles: Soapy spheres pop pollen on fruit trees (BBC)Want to help something grow? Back Cool Weird Awesome on Patreon!

This week we’re replaying some of our favorite agricultural episodes. In this episode from April 2019, a robotics firm in New Zealand is testing a robot that’s supposed to move through the rows of the apple orchard, spot ripe fruit, yank it from the tree with lasers and bring it back to the farmer. Plus: a strongman/YouTuber ordered literally everything on the menu at his local Taco Bell for a single meal. Your Apples May Soon Be Picked By Laser-Shooting Robots (Wired)Brian Shaw Devours Nearly Everything on The Taco Bell Menu (Muscle and Fitness)

This week we’re replaying some of our favorite agricultural episodes. In this episode from July 2020, in 1988, a whole bunch of people in Nebraska got together to lift a nine-ton barn, move it 110 feet uphill, and rotate it clockwise. Plus: Harrison McIntyre build a mechanical contraption to launch M&Ms at his face.Nebraska family looks back on barn moving event (WOWT)Guy Builds Machine That Shoots Chocolate into His Mouth on Command (Interesting Engineering)Backing Cool Weird Awesome on Patreon is a little bit like a barn raising, every little bit helps

It's National Learn About Butterflies Day, so here’s the story of a guy who turned his backyard into a habitat for a rare type of butterfly, and it worked out pretty well. Plus: today is also National Save a Spider Day, and the community of Avoca, Iowa has saved a spider of a sort. How one man repopulated a rare butterfly species in his backyard (Vox)VOLKSWAGEN BEETLE SPIDER (Olio in Iowa)Keep this show flying as a backer on Patreon

This month in 1962, one of the last appearances of a ship that would reappear from time to time off the western coast of North America, decades after it was abandoned. Plus: today in 1967, the state of Utah officially designated its state cooking pot.Baychimo: The Adventures of the Ghost Ship of the Arctic (Manitoba Museum via Archive.org) STATE COOKING POT (Utah.gov)Back our show on Patreon so it will keep reappearing

This month in 1863, the founding of a town that made history: Mitchelville was the first town in the United States to be governed by formerly enslaved people. Plus: it’s National Girl Scout Day, and a scout troop in Muskogee, Oklahoma gets the credit for the first ever sale of Girl Scout cookies in 1917. This Island in South Carolina Has the First Self-governed Town of Formerly Enslaved People in the U.S. (Travel and Leisure)Statue commemorates first cookie sale (Muskogee Phoenix)You can help build our show as a backer on Patreon

Women’s History Month is here, and in 1920 a group of women made history in Jackson, Wyoming, as one of the first-ever all-female town councils in the United States. Plus: for National Worship of Tools Day, a visit to the world's largest chainsaw. Petticoat Rulers: 1920 All Women Jackson Town Council Inspires Women Today (Wyoming Public Media)Big Gus is the world's largest chainsaw (Boing Boing)Our Patreon backers rule

It's National Landline Telephone Day. In the landline era, if you were out in the world and needed to call someone, you usually had to find a phone booth to do it - and at one time, college students tried to cram themselves into those booths by the dozens. Plus: the story of a stray cat who decided to start dropping flowers off at a lady's front door. Cramming People Into A Thing: A Photo History (Mental Floss)Thoughtful Pregnant Stray Cat Brought Pink Flowers to a Woman’s Door Who Then Let Her Inside to Give Birth (Laughing Squid)There’s plenty of room for backers on our Patreon page, no one will feel crammed!

Today in 1998, a little-noticed line in a funding bill for the National Sea Grant Program led the United States to declare that there were not five but six Great Lakes. Plus: starting tomorrow in south Georgia, it’s the Valdosta-Lowndes Azalea Festival. When Lake Champlain Became A Great Lake… For 18 Days (All That’s Interesting)Valdosta-Lowndes Azalea Festival Our Patreon backers make this show great, support our show today!

Today in 1945, George Nissen received the patent for a “tumbling device” which we now call the trampoline.  And while most of the time that device has been used for tumbling, during World War II the trampoline became a key part of training fighter pilots. Plus: this month in 1929, the start of a high-flying advertising campaign known as the Baby Ruth Flying Circus. Trampoline Training During World War II (West View Trampoline Community via Archive.org) The day Baby Ruth candy bars rained down from heaven (Aerotech News)Help our show bounce higher and higher as a backer on Patreon

Today in 1884 was probably the birthdate of a pioneer in aerial photography, Edith Keating. Plus: today is the first day of the Toronto Sketch Comedy Festival. In 1920s New York, This Woman Typist Became a Pioneering Aerial Photographer (Smithsonian)Toronto Sketch Comedy Festival Fly high with this podcast on Patreon

In New Orleans, king cake is a Mardi Gras tradition, though it's one that started with an earlier holiday. Plus: this month in Janesville, Wisconsin, the Lincoln-Tallman Museum hosts the Gowns & Guns Exhibit. The Tradition Behind The Mardi Gras King Cake (Southern Living) Gowns & Guns Exhibit (Janesville Area Convention & Visitors Bureau) Don’t give up this show for Lent, back it on Patreon

Today in 1931, President Herbert Hoover signed a bill that made “The Star-Spangled Banner” the national anthem of the United States, more than a century after it was written. Another fun fact about the anthem: there's an official Spanish-language version. Plus: today in 1920, the birthday of James Doohan. His Star Trek character, Mr. Scott, has a plaque in the town where he's supposed to be born in 2222. Not Lost in Translation: The Life of Clotilde Arias (National Museum of American History) LINLITHGOW FUTURE HERITAGE Thanks to all our Patreon backers (or, in Spanish, gracias)

Earlier this week we had a story out of the community of Boring, Oregon, which is named for a guy named William Boring. In other words, it’s anything but boring in Boring, and today we have the story to prove it. Plus: it’s the last day of February everywhere except for a cemetery in Ashmore, Illinois, where a tombstone seems to say February has 31 days. No, the town of Boring wasn't named such because it was a dull place to be (KGW)St. Omer Cemetery Witch Grave (Atlas Obscura)Back our show on Patreon and you’ll make the world a lot less boring

Today in 1944, the end of a contest in which baseball’s Philadelphia Phillies decided to take on a nickname, briefly becoming known as "blue jays." Plus: today in 1980, a 70s icon wins the one and only Grammy for Best Disco Recording. How the Phillies also briefly became 'Blue Jays' (MLB.com)“I Will Survive” wins the first—and last—Grammy ever awarded for Best Disco Recording (History.com)Give yourself the nickname of “backer” when you support our show on Patreon