Cool Weird Awesome With Brady Carlson

A California company is building an all-electric platform designed specifically to keep classic and vintage cars with gas engines on the road, with much smaller carbon footprints. Plus: ever heard a jazz solo on the bagpipes? No? You might be missing out.  Thanks to Zero Labs, Any Classic Car Can Transform Into an Electric 'Clean Energy Hero' (Designboom) Jazz Bagpipes Exists and Is Amazing (Neatorama) The best combination of all is this show and its Patron backers!  --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

A team out of New Curtin University in Australia has found that pilot whales appear to imitate one of their predators, tricking them away from the hunt. And in equally clever but much more irritating news, a neighborhood in Ottawa, Ontario reports squirrels are stealing the LED lights out of their holiday displays.  Pilot whale study reveals copycat calls to outsmart predators (Science Daily) Red squirrels going nuts for Ottawa couple's Christmas lights, but reason remains a mystery (CBC) Join us on Patreon for $1 a month! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

For National Cookie Day, we take a closer look at the amazing and frequently disturbing history of gingerbread, including how one of the most famous royals of all time helped bring gingerbread people into the world. Plus: a lesson in patience from a musical great who made herself into a cookie-baking expert.  The History of Gingerbread (PBS) 5 Facts You Probably Don't Know About Christmas Cookies (Food and Wine) Neko Case: Pet Sounds (Spin) There's nothing sweeter than our backers on Patreon --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

Some galleries showcase works of art; others show you what it's like when there's nothing on the canvas. Today we pay a virtual visit to a museum where all the works explore the concept of nothingness. Plus: the Chic!ken photo project aims to show that chickens can be the subjects of fine art.  A Museum of Nothing (Metafilter) Portraits of “Most Beautiful Chickens on the Planet” Capture Their Underrated Beauty (My Modern Met) We've got something special going with our Patreon backers, be a part of it --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

Hyundai is now working to develop what it calls "ultimate mobility vehicles." When they encounter rough terrain the wheels can't pass through, these cars will be able to stand up on robotic legs and walk through. Plus: a guy on TikTok is winning fans with his four-wheel-drive off-road lawn mower.  Hyundai gets serious about unstoppable, four-legged 4x4 robo-cars (New Atlas) This Off-Road Lawn Mower on 38-Inch Mud Tires Can Flex with the Best (The Drive) We'd drive just about anywhere with our backers on Patreon --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

We use hundreds of billions of latex gloves a year, for a lot of important reasons. Scientists at Cranfield University in the UK are developing an eco-friendly latex glove that uses less energy to produce and will biodegrade in weeks rather than centuries. Plus: today in 1997, Kenny G set a world record for longest single note played on a saxophone.  How a new type of glove can reduce environmental damage (BBC) World's Longest Note Held on Saxophone (Complex) Kenny G Plans To Hold One Note On The Sax For An Entire Flight (Huffington Post) Our backers on Patreon are like our songbirds, join them today --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

Today in 1977, it was the premiere of Bing Crosby's final TV Christmas special, Merrie Olde Christmas, which featured a performance with Crosby's unlikeliest duet partner ever: David Bowie. Here's the story of how it came together. Plus: for Mark Twain's birthday, the story of the note he put on his front door for any potential burglars. When Bowie Met Bing: Mary Crosby Relives Their Iconic Duet (Dangerous Minds) Courtesy (Futility Closet) The best team-up of all time is the one we have with our Patreon backers, join us!  --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

Today is the traditional start of the holiday shopping season, and it's the day the Slinky, which has been given as a gift countless times over the years, first became a phenomenon, even though it was invented by accident. Plus: it's been about 50 years since wild turkeys returned to New Hampshire, and it was all part of a wildlife trade with West Virginia!  Slinky (Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia) West Virginia gave us wild turkeys 50 years ago because we gave them fishers (Granite Geek) We are still thankful for our backers on Patreon! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

It really happened! On Thanksgiving 2008, a float in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade came to a halt, there was a record scratch, and none other than Rick Astley came out to perform "Never Gonna Give You Up." Plus: a pianist in Thailand is never going to give up his very unusual audience.  An Oral History of Rickrolling (Mel Magazine) History of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade (I LOVE NY) Playing Piano for Macaques (Nag on the Lake) We're extra thankful this year for our Patreon backers! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

This week marks two years since the end of a lawsuit over who had the world record in car sales! Not that we're short on stories these days about people disputing numbers. Plus: if you want a calmer story, how about this one about an artist who makes ornate sculptures from apples?  5 Guinness World Records Controversies (Mental Floss) Lawsuits dropped over car sales record; Guinness opts to no longer track that particular record (Dearborn Press and Guide) Watch this expert apple sculptor create juicy delights (Boing Boing) Our Patreon backers are undisputably number one --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

Today in 1969 Apollo 12 touched down on earth after landing on the moon, and if the stories are true, it brought with it a tiny tile containing line drawings by six Earth artists. Plus: since most of us aren't likely to visit the art installation on the lunar surface, maybe we can visit this museum in the Florida Keys that goes below the surface of the water.  The Most Exclusive Museum in the World is on the Moon (Interesting Engineering) Florida Keys’ History of Diving Museum Offers Virtual and In-Person Learning (Florida Keys and Key West) Our Patreon backers keep us exploring, join us for just $1 a month! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

Today in 1889, inventor Louis Glass moved his "nickel-in-a-slot" into a saloon in San Francisco, beginning the age of the jukebox and giving the generations without smartphones and streaming services the chance to push a button and listen to a song. Plus: Chris Nikic has just become the first person with Down syndrome to finish an Ironman triathlon. How the Jukebox Got Its Groove (Popular Mechanics) Chris Nikic is the First Person with Down Syndrome to Ever Complete a Full Ironman (The Sifter) Help keep our on-demand audio coming as a backer on Patreon! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

On this day in 1973, the Who's drummer, Keith Moon, collapsed and had to be taken to the hospital. Amazingly, the band chose a 19 year old from the crowd, Scot Halpin, to fill in for the rest of the show. Plus: this year's Pasadena Doo Dah Parade isn't just irreverent, it's irreverent and virtual!  The Hoosier That Rescued the World’s Biggest Band (Orange Bean Indiana) Pasadena Doo Dah Parade  Join us for a night, or every night, as a backer on Patreon --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

Robot roadside assistance? Toyota has applied for a patent for a system where self-driving drones could pull up to vehicles and give them some gas - or, if it runs on electricity, give it a charge. Plus: when you need to get a donor organ from one part of Italy to another, what do you do? Turn to a Lamborghini, of course.  Toyota Patent Shows Self-Driving Drone Tankers for Car-to-Car Recharging and Refueling (TheDrive) Italian Police Use Lamborghini To Transport Donor Kidney 300 Miles In Two Hours (Jalopnik) Race on over to our Patreon page and help fuel more episodes of the show! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

Scientists have determined that the Greenland shark lives longer than any known invertebrate, up to 400 years. How? We don't know, but it sure does seem chill about it. Plus: UK-based artist Sue Austin developed an underwater wheelchair, making the wide, wide sea a lot more accessible.  A Greenland Shark Living Today Could Have Been Alive in 1620 (HowStuffWorks) A Specially Adapted Underwater Wheelchair Brings Artist Sue Austin Beneath the Earth’s Surface (Colossal) Our Patreon backers keep this show from being all washed up --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

On National Take A Hike Day, we salute Emma "Grandma" Gatewood, who, in her 60s, became the first woman to hike the entire Appalachian Trail. Plus: on National Homemade Bread Day, we salute Pham Thi Bac's enormous bread loaves in Vietnam.  Ohio’s Most Famous Hiker––Emma “Grandma” Gatewood (Ohio History) The Great-Grandma Who Changed the AT Forever (Outside Online) Vietnamese Province Attracts Worldwide Attention for Its Giant Loaves of Bread (Oddity Central) Don't walk away from today's show without joining us as a backer on Patreon! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

The man known as the Father of the Blues, W.C. Handy, was born on this day in 1873, and it's not exaggerating to say rock and popular music wouldn't have played out the same way without him. Plus: if you have the blues because your cat keeps waking you up in the night, you may want to check out this new cat-friendly bedframe.  W.C. Handy (AllMusic) W.C. Handy, Father of the Blues (Library of Congress) Ingenious Bed Frame Has a Place for Cats to Play While Their Humans Rest (My Modern Met) The parents of our show are our backers on Patreon  --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

If you're an astronaut, way up there in space, chances are you started the day with a song. Why? It's a NASA tradition. Plus: an artist in California has turned "Star Trek" into a widescreen format, so it fits on modern TVs.  For decades, NASA has woken up its astronauts with music (The World) Paul McCartney Sings To Space Crew (CBS News) The Final Frontier (Futility Closet) Every time I think about our Patreon backers I want to jump up and sing --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

Fuel cells need a catalyst for an important reaction, and a team at American University has found that spinach may be the best raw material for a catalyst we've found yet. Plus: ever wanted to smell like old books? A new scent can help make it happen!  Spinach: Good for Popeye and the Planet (American University) Powell's Books creates unisex fragrance that smells like old books (Geekologie) Our Patreon backers power this show, join us for just $1 a month! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

We've dedicated statues, memorial walls, works of art, plaques, flags, bridges, roads and more to those who have served in the military. Here's the story of a living memorial in New York's Central Park to women who gave their lives while serving in World War I, that was almost forgotten over decades and generations, and how it was rediscovered in our time. Women in World War I (TheWorldWar.org) Tribute Ceremony at Newly Rediscovered Women's Overseas Service League Flagstaff and Grove in Central Park Honors Women Serving America in World War I and Beyond (WorldWarICentennial.org) --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message