Cool Weird Awesome With Brady Carlson

Today was the birthday in 1794 of George Merryweather, the inventor of his era’s most fascinating leech-based weather predicting contraption: the tempest prognosticator. Plus: today in 1953, a phone company director pretty much predicts the smartphones of today. A Council Of Leeches Used To Predict Storms Inside The "Tempest Prognosticator" (IFL Science) Is This Cellphone Prediction from 1953 Real? (Snopes) We prognosticate that when you back us on Patreon, we will strike the bell of knowledge over and over, and without resorting to leeches --- 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 1887 (or, by some accounts, 1888), the birthday of a composer who’s really only now getting the acclaim she deserves: Florence Price. Plus: did you know that it was a violation of iTunes terms of service to use it to build weapons? As Her Music Is Reconsidered, a Composer Turns 135. Again. (New York Times) 8 Ridiculous EULA Clauses You May Have Already Agreed To (MakeUseOf) With help from our Patreon backers we can make a symphony of new episodes --- 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 study from Japan's Tohoku University says that if current trends continue, everyone in the country will eventually end up with the same surname - though it might take a while to get there. Plus: some residents of Luna Pier, Michigan were apparently so concerned about eclipse tourists that the mayor says they asked him to stop the eclipse.  Everyone in Japan will be called Sato by 2531 unless marriage law changed, says professor (The Guardian) Solar Eclipse 2024: The only Michigan town that is in the path of totality (BridgeMI.com)  Add your name to our list of Patreon backers --- 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 month in 1941, a dog in the UK became a hero in a very strange way, stopping a bomb by answering the call of nature. Plus: starting today in Darien, Georgia, it’s the Blessing of the Fleet.  Urinating WWII Great Dane's medal sold (BBC) Dog cocked leg to extinguish Nazi bomb (Telegraph) The Blessing of the Fleet  You can be a hero for 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

It's International Carrot Day. If you want to see a really unique carrot, try Melbourne, Australia, where a guy named Nathan walks around town with a very large papier mache carrot. Plus: this weekend in Sebring, Florida, it's the Sebring Soda Festival. ‘There he goes with the carrot’: how walking the streets with a giant papier-mache vegetable made Nathan a Melbourne legend (The Guardian) Sebring Soda Festival  Back us on Patreon and we’ll keep bringing you stories of big veggies --- 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 1919, one of the strangest moments in the history of professional baseball, when major leaguer Ping Bodie took on an ostrich in an eating contest and won. Plus: a ketchup giant is installing dispensers on the sidewalks outside some of Chicago’s best-loved (and often ketchup-free) hot dog places.  A Yankee, an ostrich and 22 plates of pasta (MLB.com) Ping Bodie (Society for American Baseball Research) Heinz Is Putting Up Ketchup Dispensers To Tempt Chicagoans With Forbidden Condiment (Block Club Chicago) Want more food for thought? Back our show today 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 1978, the premiere of the iconic TV show “Dallas.” It was originally just supposed to be a miniseries, but it just kept winning over audience after audience - even some audiences that were behind the Iron Curtain. Plus: all month long in and around Mount Vernon, Washington, it's the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival. How 'Dallas' Won the Cold War (Washington Post) J. R. Ewing Shot Down Communism in Estonia (New York Times) Skagit Valley Tulip Festival  You don’t have to be as rich as the people on “Dallas” to back our show on Patreon (but if you are, definitely back us) --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/coolweirdawesome/support

It was probably more elaborate than your standard April Fools Day joke: today in 1906, the Chicago Tribune put together a two page "report," complete with pictures, about swarms of dinosaurs wrecking the city. Plus: it’s Easter Monday, and in the village of Hallaton, Leicestershire, England, it's the day for a competition known as Bottle Kicking. April 1, 1906: Chicago invaded by hordes of prehistoric monsters dealing death and destruction (Chicago Tribune) Bottle Kicking in Hallaton (Amusing Planet) Back this show on Patreon today - it just might help prevent dinosaurs from attacking Chicago (again) --- 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 week we’re replaying some of our finest episodes about some of the finest works ever created. In this episode from November 2019, we take a trip through the website Weird Universe's Gallery of Art Hung Upside Down. Plus: a 9 year old who can't stop doodling, even in class, is now a professional artist. He's paid to doodle.  ⁠The Gallery of Art Hung Upside-Down⁠ (Weird Universe) ⁠9-Year-Old Kid Who Kept Getting In Trouble For Doodling In Class Gets A Job Decorating A Restaurant With His Drawings⁠ (Bored Panda)  ⁠Backing Cool Weird Awesome on Patreon is great. But is it art? --- 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 week we’re replaying some of our finest episodes about some of the finest works ever created. In this episode from October 2021, the story of sculptor Edmonia Lewis. She was born in the 1840s to a Black father and a Chippewa mother, and became the first Native American and Black woman to become an acclaimed sculptor. Plus: the exhibit known as Little Canada features miniature versions of some of this big country’s most famous cities, landmarks and attractions. ⁠Edmonia Lewis⁠ (Smithsonian American Art Museum)  ⁠Little Canada⁠ ⁠As a Patreon backer you'll turn each day's show into a work of art! --- 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 week we’re replaying some of our finest episodes about some of the finest works ever created. In this episode from September 2020, why even researchers run into challenges in verifying whether a Rembrandt is really his work or just a simulation. Plus: an interactive online map of continental drift can show you where a town or city used to be hundreds of millions of years ago.  ⁠The Rembrandt Research Project: Past, Present, Future ⁠ ⁠A Supposedly Fake Rembrandt Might Just Be Real⁠ (Vanity Fair) ⁠Map Lets You See How Your Hometown has Moved Across 750 Million Years of Continental Drift⁠ (Good News Network) --- 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 week we’re replaying some of our finest episodes about some of the finest works ever created. In this episode from December 2022, the story of 19th Century English miniaturist Sarah Biffin, a renowned artist who was born without full arms or legs and whose life and work are the subject of an exhibition now running in London. Plus: British Columbia-based artist Elspeth McLean turns round stones from the ocean into colorful and extremely ornate mini mandalas. ⁠Who Was Sarah Biffin?⁠ (Philip Mould and Company) ⁠Sarah Biffin: the celebrated nineteenth-century artist born without arms or legs⁠ (Art UK) ⁠Found Ocean Stones Are Transformed Into Vibrant Mandalas You Can Hold in Your Hand⁠ (My Modern Met) ⁠Our Patreon backers help us make great art 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

This week we’re replaying some of our finest episodes about some of the finest works ever created. In this episode from October 2021, a look at the research into how pigeons take in and process visual information, like art. Apparently it's pretty complex. Plus: in Detroit, a local news reporter does a story about a local skateboard park, and flawlessly rides a skateboard in the middle of his report!  ⁠The Pigeon as Art Critic⁠ (Scientific American) ⁠Van Gogh, Chagall and pigeons: picture discrimination in pigeons and humans⁠ (NIH) ⁠Pigeons' Discrimination of Paintings By Monet and Picasso⁠ (Researchgate) ⁠News anchor ends local skatepark dispatch by shredding into the sunset⁠ (AV Club) ⁠Pigeons also recognize our Patreon backers as the best --- 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 1931, the birthday of William Shatner, Captain Kirk from the original “Star Trek” series. Of course, if a different show he was supposed to star in had gone ahead, Shatner might not have ended up as Captain Kirk at all. Plus: tomorrow in Chicago, it’s St. Ryan’s Day, where anyone and everyone named Ryan is invited to come by and celebrate being a Ryan.  The failure of one toga-clad TV pilot completely altered the landscape of Sixties pop culture (MeTV) Ryan Meetup  Without our Patreon backers, this show would’ve ended up just like that failed TV pilot --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/coolweirdawesome/support

It's our show's fifth birthday! It's also the birthday in 1962 of the first Taco Bell restaurant, which had a "chili burger" on its original menu. Plus: for National Fragrance Week, a visit to San Francisco's Aftel Archive of Curious Scents.  Was the 'Bell Beefer' Burger Among Taco Bell's First Offerings? (Snopes) This San Francisco Bay Area museum stinks (Boing Boing) Our Patreon get an exclusive bonus episode today - it’s like a 2 for 1 deal at a fast food place! --- 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 1967, a Japanese athlete Shizo Kanakuri, finished a Olympic marathon that he’d started in 1912. Better late than never! Plus: a college student asks a professor a question and gets a reply long after graduation. Better late than never for Japan's first, "slowest" Olympian (Japan Times) Hannah Jung For all the people that think they are bad at responding to emails (Hannah Jung on Twitter via Bored Panda) Don’t wait to back our show on Patreon - tomorrow you’ll get an exclusive supporters-only bonus episode --- 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 1963, the opening of a bridge in Longview, Washington. that wasn't for cars, or bikes, or even pedestrians. It was a bridge for squirrels. Plus: Milan's Palazzo Morando is hosting an exhibit of photos featuring the colorful street fashions of people in the Congo and other African countries.  Nutty Narrows Bridge opens in Longview on March 19, 1963. (HistoryLink) African Street Style and Global Subcultures Celebrated in Retrospective Photography Exhibition (My Modern Met) Keep building this show up 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 1941, the birthday of Wilson Pickett, a legend of soul and R&B music, and one who had an engineer save one of his future hit songs from a very hungry tape machine. Plus: today in 1970, the birthday of musician and actor Queen Latifah, who is known for a very specific requirement in her movie contracts. "Mustang Sally" at 45 (Interview) – Sir Mack Rice and Spooner Oldham Tell The Story (Rock Cellar)  Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson & 9 Other Actors With Bizarre Contract Clauses (ScreenRant) Ride on over to our Patreon page 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

It’s Sleep Awareness Week, and today we’re talking about the part of sleep people usually like the least: the part where the alarm clock wakes us up. Or, in the time before alarm clocks, the part where the local "knocker-up" pounded on the doors to get people out of bed. Plus: the story of how rock singer Bret Michaels asked to adopt a huskie named Bret Michaels. A 2,000-Year History of Alarm Clocks (Atlas Obscura) Musician Bret Michaels to adopt dog who saved kitten's life (3 News Now) Now is the time to support our 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

For Alfred Einstein's birthday, the story of how he and fellow prominent physicist Leo Szilard co-designed a unique kind of refrigerator in the 1920s. Plus: the letter Einstein wrote in 1936 for a time capsule that would be opened in a thousand years. Einstein’s Little-Known Passion Project? A Refrigerator (WIRED) Missive (Futility Closet) It would be an Einstein-level genius move to back our 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