Cool Weird Awesome With Brady Carlson

It's National Ham Day, so we've got the story of a ham in Smithfield, Virginia that’s stood the test of time for over 120 years. Plus: if you build the LEGO Colosseum set, and you have a cat, that set could quickly turn into a cat bed. Isle of Wight Museum adds a new historic ham to the collection (WTKR) LEGO’s Colosseum Becomes a Regal Nap Spot for Cats Everywhere (My Modern Met)Help our show get old, tough and leathery when you back it on Patreon

Lots of teams have fans try really difficult challenges to win big prizes. Nearly all of them fail, but today in 1993, a guy in Chicago stepped onto the Bulls' home court for a million dollar shot… and made it. Plus: today in 1983, the release of “Murmur,” the first full album by rock greats R.E.M. And during the making of that record, a member of the band helped a very different recording project happen. The $1 million shot that changed sports contests forever (ESPN)R.E.M. Share Memories Of Debut Album Murmur Released 40 Years Ago Today (Stereogum)Back our show on Patreon, for a million dollars a month or just one, whichever is fine

It's National Board Game Day, so we’re going back in time to the very first board game in US history. Though explaining which game was the very first is slightly complicated. Plus: opening tomorrow in Kansas City, it’s the Museum of BBQ. What America’s first board game can teach us about the aspirations of a young nation (The Conversation)Museum of BBQRoll on over to our Patreon page and back this show today

Today in 1849, the US issued a patent for one of the smallest big ideas of the century: the safety pin. And a big factor behind that little invention was paying off a big debt. Plus: today in 1921, the birthday of Robert Wade, a chess master who once proved that even top notch players can have a bad day. Three Millennia of Safety Pins (The Atlantic)Worst chess defeat (Generalist Academy)Pin yourself to our Patreon page so you can support our show

Today in 1843, the birthday of Samuel W. Pennypacker. When he was governor of Pennsylvania his supporters tried to make certain types of editorial cartoons a crime (!) Plus: today in 1942, a funeral for John Pecinovsky, known as “the Half-and-Half Man,” because he would wear clothes that were white on one side and black on the other. When Cartoonists Were Criminals (Historical Society of Pennsylvania) John Pecinovsky, the Half-and-Half Man (Weird Universe) Feel free to make a cartoonishly large donation to our show on Patreon

This month in 1920, the magazine Electrical Experimenter featured the physiophone. It was a Hugo Gernsback invention that turned sound into electrical impulses, so Deaf people could feel the music. Plus: for National Library Week, a visit to the central library in Kansas City, where the building itself looks like a bookshelf. This Invention From the Grandfather of Science Fiction Was Promoted as Music For the Deaf (Paleofuture)Here’s The Story Behind the Kansas City Public Library’s Giant Community Bookshelf (Kansas City Library)Feeling inventive? Drop by our Patreon site and create a donation to support this show

Happy International Beaver Day! These toothy, flat-tailed rodents are some of the greatest builders on earth, and, as some scientific research has shown us, they build for the long term. Plus: for National Beer Day, the story of a beer receipt from ancient Mesopotamia. Beaver Dams Can Last Centuries, 1868 Map Shows (Treehugger)The Oldest Beer Receipt (Circa 2050 BC) (Open Culture)Build this show for the long term as a backer on Patreon

Spiders know what it's like to get distracted by excess noise. A new scientific paper finds certain arachnids in louder environments build their webs differently than those where it’s quiet. Plus: a film archive intern comes across a silent movie that researchers had long thought was lost to history. Getting Annoyed at Your Noisy Neighbor? Spiders Are, Too. New Research Finds They’ll Build Webs Differently in Loud Conditions (Smithsonian)Long-Lost Silent Film About Abraham Lincoln Discovered by an Intern (My Modern Met)Use the web to visit our Patreon page and back this show

Bike helmets have been more or less the same for many years, but there’s a new effort to make safer and more responsive headgear with 3D printing. Plus: for National Burrito Day, the story of the first restaurant to put the breakfast burrito on its menu. Safer bike helmet with new design of material (University of Gothenburg)  The Breakfast Burrito Was Invented At This Restaurant In New Mexico In The 1970s (Only In New Mexico)Ride on over to our Patreon page and support the show

It's National Ferret Day, so here’s the story of a ferret named Felicia who contributed to the field of physics as a kind of living pipe cleaner for some heavy-duty equipment. Plus: the Instagram account known as Chair of Virtue showcases and celebrates some of the wildest chair designs in the world. Felicia Ferret (Fermilab History and Archives Project via Archive.org) Bizarre True Story: Physicists Once Put a Ferret in a Particle Accelerator (Science Alert)Take a seat! This online magazine is dedicated to the wackiest chairs out there (It’s Nice That)Squeeze on over to our Patreon page so you can back this show

April Fools Day is when people try to mislead each other, sometimes the people you’d least suspect. Like how on this day in 1957, one of the world’s most steady and preeminent news outlets reported that spaghetti was growing on trees. Plus: today in 2015, someone played an April Fools Day joke on the community of Winters, California, installing an old parking meter in town. BBC’s 1957 April Fool’s “spaghetti-tree hoax” is more relevant than ever (Ars Technica)The Lonely Parking Meter (Atlas Obscura)No fooling, our backers on Patreon make this show possible

Today in 1889, the formal opening and dedication of the Eiffel Tower in Paris. What a strange life it’s had, including a proposal in the 1930s to add two huge car ramps to the sides of the thing. Plus: the tower gets a fresh coat of paint about every seven years, but it hasn't always been the same color. 1936 Crazy Project to Make the Second Floor of the Eiffel Tower Accessible by Car (Vintage Everyday)Painting the Eiffel Tower (Tour Eiffel Paris)Ride with our show every day as a backer on Patreon

Today in 1899, the birthday of Gladys Ingle. She was called a “wing walker," which meant she could walk on the wings of a plane in mid-flight and perform some of the most daring and death-defying stunts you could imagine. Plus: there's an online collection of uniforms for stewardesses and flight attendants through the years. Wing Walker Woman Climbs From One Plane to Another to Make a Mid-Air Tire Change in 1926 (Laughing Squid)Cliff Muskiet's Stewardess/Flight Attendant Uniform Collection Take off with our show as a backer on Patreon

Today in 1912, the planting of two cherry trees along the banks of the Potomac River in Washington DC. There are now thousands of cherry blossoms in the nation's capital, and it all happened thanks to one very determined woman and a bunch of great minds all thinking alike. Plus: today in 1969, the birthday of singer Mariah Carey, who once threw herself a Mariah Carey-themed birthday party. How the Cherry Blossoms Came to Washington (American Heritage)  Mariah Carey Threw Herself a Mariah Carey–Themed Party (Us Magazine)Help our show grow as a backer on Patreon

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!