Cool Weird Awesome With Brady Carlson

Darwin, Minnesota is where you find a 17,400 pound ball of twine that one guy made over the course of 30 years. Here's the twine ball's story. Plus: to no one's surprise, researchers find that cats prefer to get food for free instead of having to work for it.  Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota (Roadside America) Darwin, Minnesota names ‘Weird Alley’ in honor of twine ball troubadour ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic (The Current) Cats prefer to get free meals, rather than work for them (University of California-Davis) Our Patreon backers are the best in any state --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

On this anniversary of the release of Windows 95, we look at the origin story of the Comic Sans typeface, which has more haters than most fonts ever get (and a few lovers, too). Plus: engineering students help a dad who uses a wheelchair take his new baby for walks in a stroller.  How we made the typeface Comic Sans (The Guardian) The Story Behind Comic Sans (Fonts.com) Students adapt wheelchair to allow teacher's husband to take baby for a walk after brain surgery (CBS News) Our Patreon backers are like a great typeface: sleek, sophisticated and helpful  --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

It's a complicated story, but part of what is now eastern Tennessee was once part of western North Carolina - and today in 1784, they tried to break away and form their own state, called Franklin. Plus: a visit to a unique art museum off the coast of Cyprus. State of Franklin (Tennessee Encyclopedia) On this day, the state of Franklin starts its brief existence (National Constitution Center) This Sculpture Museum Is 32 Feet Below Water (Hyperallergic) Be a part of the show as a backer on Patreon! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

Today is National Radio Day, so it's a good day to talk about one of the legends of old-time radio: sound effects virtuoso Ora Nichols. Plus: researchers at The Ohio State University say they’ve found a weed commonly grown on farms that could help make a greener, more sustainable jet fuel, only its name isn't the most inspiring.  Female Pioneer Credited With Bringing Sound Effects To Radio (KUOW) Stinkweed could make a cleaner bio-jet fuel, study finds (The Ohio State University) Join us as a backer on Patreon for just $1 a month! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

It’s National Aviation Day and National Potato Day, and amazingly, there's a story that brings them both together. Boeing used sacks of potatoes in place of humans when it began testing in-flight WiFi. Plus: in 1994, American Airlines released an 18 page book of its in-flight recipes, for anyone looking to recreate airline food at home.  Boeing uses potatoes to improve Wi-Fi signals (USA Today) The American Airlines Recipe Book (Weird Universe) Keep this show flying high as a backer on Patreon --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

It's not a direct route, but two researchers have figured out a way to take waste plastic, feed it to special bacteria, and then end up with nutritious protein powder. We'll explain. Plus: a guy has been growing plants inside a big glass bottle for decades - and because the bottle is sealed, they basically water themselves over and over! €1 Million Prize for Plastics-to-Protein Research Awarded to Steve Techtmann, Ting Lu (Michigan Technological University) Thriving since 1960, my garden in a bottle: Seedling sealed in its own ecosystem and watered just once in 53 years (Daily Mail) You can keep our show growing as a backer on Patreon! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

Today in 1947, two men who had climbed Oregon's Mount Hood and stayed overnight woke up to find a surprise: a quart of milk and the morning newspaper. Who would climb a mountain just to leave those items? Plus: a study out of the University of Greenwich finds that bees get an actual buzz out of naturally-occurring caffeine. A quirky little mystery from 1947 on the summit of Mount Hood is finally solved (The Oregonian) Bumble bees show an induced preference for flowers when primed with caffeinated nectar and a target floral odor (Current Biology) Help keep our show buzzing along as a backer on Patreon --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

Summer is beach season, and for those times when people leave litter and other waste behind, there are two separate projects to develop robots to clean up after them. Plus: Sunny, the radiated tortoise at the Dallas Zoo, gets a personalized, hand-built scratching station for those hard-to-get itches.  This beach-cleaning robot sifts sand for the tiny plastics that humans miss (Fast Company) BeachBot, an AI-powered robot that cleans cigarette butts at the beach (Designboom) Watch This Lucky Tortoise Enjoy His Homemade Scatcher Device Crafted From Broom Heads (Good News Network) You can join us as a backer on Patreon, or build a robot that backs us on Patreon if you prefer --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

We're revisiting some of our favorite stops on the roads and highways this week. In this episode from August 2019, we visit a giant potato in Idaho that you can rent. Or, technically, a 28 foot long, 12 foot wide structure built in the shape of a potato. Plus: a man from the UK traveling through Amsterdam learns that an Airbnb listing for a "clean room with a private bathroom" can technically refer to a shipping container next to a port-a-potty. Unusual places to stay in the USA (Lonely Planet) Giant potato in Idaho available to rent on Airbnb for $200 a night (Insider) Amsterdam tourist unwittingly pays for shipping container in Airbnb booking  (Sky News) Stay with Cool Weird Awesome as a backer on Patreon! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

We're revisiting some of our favorite stops on the roads and highways this week. In this episode from December 2019, we head to Enterprise, Alabama, a community where you'll find in the middle of town a statue of a Greek woman holding a boll weevil. Plus: meet the most destructive holiday force ever, Treezilla! Boll Weevil Honored (Library of Congress) Treezilla! The Godzilla Christmas Tree (Steven Newland on YouTube) You can back Cool Weird Awesome on Patreon for just $1 a month! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

We're revisiting some of our favorite stops on the roads and highways this week. In this episode from August 2020, we have the story of a water tower in northern Kentucky that was supposed to be an advertisement, but ended up becoming a local landmark. Plus: we'll explain one version of how Chicken Dinner Road in  Idaho got its name. Why does the Florence water tower say 'Florence Y'all,' anyway? (WCPO) The Story Of How Chicken Dinner Road In Idaho Got Its Name Is Strangely Fascinating (Only in Idaho) Y'all should join us as backers on Patreon --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

We're revisiting some of our favorite stops on the roads and highways this week. In this episode from May 2020, we visit a rock in Newbury, New Hampshire, with the words "CHICKEN FARMER I  STILL LOVE YOU" painted on it, and try to figure out why. 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? (NHPR)  Merrill, Wisconsin: Chicken Holding Burger, Beer (Roadside America) We owe all of our episodes to our backers on Patreon! Join us now and help us make even more!  --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

We're revisiting some of our favorite stops on the roads and highways this week. In this episode from April 2021, we look at Route 66, the interstate highway with the most memorable roadside attractions - including the giant fiberglass sculptures known as Muffler Men and Uniroyal Gals. Plus: a sculpture contest at Baltimore’s American Visionary Art Museum: the Honey, I Shrunk The Kinetic Sculpture Race! Cruise through the Land of Lincoln on IL's Route 66 (Roadtrippers) Giant Women: The Uniroyal Gal (Roadside America) Honey, I Shrunk the Kinetic Sculpture Race (American Visionary Art Museum) Our Patreon backers are giants in the world of podcasting --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

Today in 2016, Celeron, New York unveiled and dedicated a statue of its most famous resident, TV legend Lucille Ball. It took the place of a different statue from 2009 that had been nicknamed "Scary Lucy." Plus: this day in 1928 was the birthday of artist Andy Warhol, who, among many other accomplishments, helped make Pop Tarts popular. New Lucille Ball statue replaces ‘Scary Lucy’ (CNN) 13 Things You Never Knew About Pop-Tarts (Huffington Post) Unlike Ricky with Lucy, we always put our Patreon backers in the show  --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

The Olympic Games are supposed to bring the countries of the world together, but that isn't always what happens. Several times the Games have been canceled, and at other times, boycotts have led some countries to hold their own alternative competitions. Plus: we mark the birthday of the great Black scientist and inventor Dr. Shirley Ann Jackson. ...And Meanwhile In Philadelphia (Sports Illustrated) Spartakiade: A Bolshevik alternative to the Olympics (The Charnel House) Counter Olympics (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum) GANEFO I Sports and Politics in Djakarta (RAND Corporation) Boycott nations will stage own games (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette via Google News)  Dr. Shirley Ann Jackson (Black-Inventor.com) Help our show do more shows like this one as a backer on Patreon! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

Today in 1911, a very strange thing happened in a baseball game: a guy on second base ran backwards and stole first base, the base he'd just been on. Here's his very unusual story. Plus: today in 1901 music legend Louis Armstrong was born in New Orleans, but if you want to take part in events to commemorate his birthday, you’re a month late. Germany Schaefer (Society for American Baseball Research) FAQ (Louis Armstrong House via Archive.org) Our Patreon backers have stolen our hearts --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

Sometimes the Olympic athletes who don’t win are the ones who make big impressions. That includes swimmer Eric Moussambani of Equatorial Guinea, who was a hit at the 2000 Summer Games despite finishing well behind the rest of the competitors in his event. Plus: Canadian high jumper Derek Drouin won a gold medal in 2016 when his doctors might have preferred that he rest at home!  African novice makes big splash (BBC) Olympic high jump champion Derek Drouin competed in Rio with a double stress fracture in his back (National Post) Our backers on Patreon make every episode of our show a winner  --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

Competitive juggling is a sport that requires skill, concentration, technical mastery and creativity. And there's a push to bring it to the Summer Games someday. Plus: the Sun and Earth are now in an alignment with Saturn, which means our most famous ringed planet is at its brightest in the night sky.  A circus act turned extraordinary sport is making its case for the Olympics (Inverse) You need to see the solar system's most dazzling planet shine its brightest (Inverse) Cool Weird Awesome's Patreon backers are our best and brightest --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

The Summer and Winter Games are typically held once every four years, but for decades the rest of us have been getting into the Olympic spirit through video games. Here are a few of the most unusual ones. Plus: the story of a fencing match that definitely could've only happened in the real world.  15 of the most notable Olympic video games ever made (Yardbarker) France win fencing gold (BBC) Insert coin and you'll be like our awesome Patreon backers! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

In ancient Greece, the Olympics were for men only. But from what we can tell, women representing 16 city-states would come together every four years to weave a robe for Hera, the queen of the gods, and hold a footrace for single women. Plus: the 1960 Summer Games were the first to be telecast in the US. In the days before satellites, it took a lot of work to get tapes from the Rome Games to the US broadcast networks.  The Women: Were The Ancient Olympics Just For Men? (Penn Museum) Rome, Italy, 1960 (Britannica) Everyone is welcome in our Patreon community, join us!  --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message