Cool Weird Awesome With Brady Carlson

Happy Hanukkah! In this episode from December 2022, we visit Hanukkah House in Houston. When most people mark Hanukkah with lights, they mean candles on a menorah. But Philip Grosman brings all the lights for the festival.⁠Houston's famous Hanukkah house shines bright for the holidays⁠ (KHOU)⁠This show is powered by our backers on Patreon!

A little over a century ago, a group of women, fed up with the overly commercial side of Christmas, formed the Society for the Prevention of Useless Giving, or SPUG. And they made a pretty big splash along the way. Plus: today in 1773, the Boston Tea Party, though it was known by a slightly wordier name in its time. Only You Can Prevent Useless Gifts (JSTOR)The Destruction of the Tea (Boston Tea Party Ships and Museum) You don’t have to turn in your Spug button to back our show on Patreon, because it’s very practical

Happy Bill of Rights Day! One of the original amendments Congress sent to the states for ratification made it into our governing document two centuries later. It's literally a long story. Plus: students at Osaka Public University in Japan just built a bicycle that flies. 27th Amendment or Bust (The American Prospect)Japanese Students Successfully Build a Flying Bike That Gets off the Ground by Pedaling (My Modern Met)Don’t wait a couple centuries to back our show on Patreon, join us today

It was this month in 1906 that radio pioneer Reginald Fessenden says he put a Christmas Eve transmission out on wireless that included a rendition of "O Holy Night," which would make it the first Christmas song ever played on the radio. Plus: if you’re into big holiday light displays, they don’t get much bigger or brighter than the ones in the Dyker Heights section of Brooklyn. Reginald Fessenden (National Park Service) Dyker Heights Christmas Lights Back our show on Patreon and we’ll keep sending sound out into the world too

Today in 1979, Germany’s federal parliament, the Bundestag, welcomed a new member, one Jakob Mierscheid. The catch? Jakob Mierscheid is a fictional character, he's completely imaginary. Plus: the last circulating US pennies are being auctioned off starting today. A dubious existence (Süddeutsche Zeitung via Archive.org) Last circulating cents to be sold in Dec. 11 auction (Coin World)Our Patreon backers make a real difference for our show, join them today

Today in 1962, NBC broadcast a documentary showing a daring and dramatic effort to rescue people from Communist East Berlin. What was unusual was that NBC had essentially funded that rescue project. Plus: a raccoon breaks into a store in Virginia, gets drunk, passes out and gets in trouble with the law. Escape From East Berlin (New York Times)Drunk raccoon found passed out in Virginia store bathroom after ransacking it: officials (WJLA)Join our Patreon backers and keep building this show

Today in 1970, the release of the Donny Hathaway song "This Christmas." It's become a holiday classic, even if it took a couple decades to get there. Plus: in the Czech Republic you can get an Advent calendar that’s made of salami. Donny Hathaway's "This Christmas" (Chicago Sun-Times via Archive.org) Salami Advent Calendar, Czech Republic (Present & Correct via Bluesky) Get to know our show better as a backer on Patreon

This year brought us some pretty awful wildfires. A project in Portugal called Trovador asks if robots could take on some of the post-wildfire work for us. Plus: a farm in Shelby, Ohio is offering yoga classes with its otters. tree-planting robot saves burned land from deforestation by putting seedlings in the ground (designboom)An 'otterly' good time: Ohio farm offers ‘world’s only’ yoga class where otters set the vibe (10TVOur show is 100 percent human-powered, thanks to our backers on Patreon

This week we're replaying our favorite shows about winged mammals. In this episode from April 2023, we visit two centuries-old libraries in Portugal where bat colonies actually offer some pretty useful service in protecting their extremely rare old volumes. Plus: there's a library in Washington state that collects unpublished manuscripts. These Portuguese Libraries Are Infested With Bats — and They Like It That Way (Travel + Leisure via Yahoo!)The Brautigan Library (Futility Closet)Help us build our library of new episodes as a backer on Patreon

This week we're replaying our favorite shows about winged mammals. In this episode from April 2022, research from Ohio State University finds bats can become close when they’re made to live together. Plus: in 1930, a BBC announcer came on the air to say “there is no news.” Like college roommates, vampire bats bond when randomly paired (Ohio State University)#OnThisDay 1930: the BBC’s news announcer said, “there is no news” (BBCArchive on Twitter)Our Patreon backers keep this show flying and making friends!

This week we're replaying our favorite shows about winged mammals. In this episode from November 2020, researchers at Johns Hopkins University say bats can essentially “hear” into the future to find food. Plus: when The MTV European Music Awards let fans vote on the internet for Best Act Ever, the internet Rickrolled music history. Hearing the Future (Johns Hopkins University)MTV EMAs name Rick Astley ‘Best Act Ever’ (NME)Cool Weird Awesome will never give its Patreon backers up, will never let them down… 

This week we're replaying our favorite shows about winged mammals. In this episode from September 2021, research finds if you spend time with baby bats, you might hear them doing essentially the same babbling sounds that baby humans make. Plus: the YouTube channel Steadycraftin turns those orange into 3D printed robot figures. Baby Bats Babble Just Like Human Infants (Treehugger)Turning Plastic Pill Bottles Into Orange Robot Figurines (Laughing Squid)We hang on our Patreon backers’ every word

This week we're replaying our favorite shows about winged mammals. In this episode from June 2022, a study from Ohio State University finds bats can remember a ringtone for years if they associate the sound with food. Plus: a French company uses old face masks to make rulers and protractors for geometry class. A rare discovery of long-term memory in wild frog-eating bats (Ohio State University)Plaxtil Recycles Used Face Masks Into School Supplies (Cool Hunting)Our Patreon backers always remember how to make this show possible – thanks for your support!

A lot of people are out shopping today, so we'll look at the history of the unsung hero of all that fast and furious commerce, the bar code. Plus: If you’re in the community of Ariel, Washington, you might be marking DB Cooper Day. Scan here: Endowed professor delves into the history of the barcode (Clemson)A hijacker holiday in Washington (BBC)Scan yourself into our Patreon site as one of this show’s backers

Cranberry sauce is one of the most traditional Thanksgiving side dishes, but not in 1959. That was the year of what History.com has called the Great Cranberry Scare. Plus: years ago, the balloon wranglers at the big parade in New York used to just let them float free at the end of the event! How the Great Cranberry Scare of 1959 Set Off a Thanksgiving Panic (History.com)FREE-FLOATING NYC THANKSGIVING PARADE BALLOONS CAUSED MAYHEM (Untapped New York)We’re thankful every day for our Patreon backers, please join them in supporting our podcast

Today in 2021, the BBC reported on a winter storm that essentially trapped dozens of guests and an Oasis cover band for days at a Yorkshire inn… and they kind of loved it. Plus: a guy in France starts digging in his backyard and strikes gold. Actual gold. Storm Arwen: Customers set to spend third night at Britain's highest pub (BBC) A Man Was Digging in His Backyard—and Found a Hidden Treasure Worth $800K (Popular Mechanics)We wouldn't mind hanging out for a long weekend with our Patreon backers

Today in 1992, the fast food chain Rax filed for bankruptcy, a few months after launching an ad campaign featuring the fast food world’s first smart-alecky, ironic and probably very depressed mascot. Plus: a contestant in the Miss Mundo Chile pageant performed an original death metal song, complete with roaring throat singing. The Short, Sad, Strange Life of Mr. Delicious (NathanRabin.com)Miss Chile Contestant Stuns Audience With Original Death Metal Performance (My Modern Met)Back our podcast on Patreon so we don’t have to hire a cranky, overly chatty mascot to drum up business for us

Today in 1914, the birthday of Bessie Blount Griffin, physical therapist, inventor, forensic expert, writer, speaker.... the list goes on and on. Plus: a museum in Paris is auctioning off dozens of vehicles from popular movies and TV shows. BESSIE BLOUNT GRIFFIN (1914-2009) (Blackpast)Movie Car Museum Liquidating 50 Famous Vehicles at No Reserve (The Drive)Help move our show forward as a backer on Patreon

For years, we’ve been able to type on our devices just about anywhere we go. Now there’s a project that can let us type on just about any surface, not just on our phones or computers. Plus: tomorrow in Selma, North Carolina, it’s Santa's Groovy Disco Party. New AR system turns common surfaces into high-precision keyboards for faster input (Interesting Engineering)Santa's Groovy Disco Party (Johnston County NC)With just a little bit of typing and a dollar a month, you could fund this podcast on Patreon

Today in 1866, the first US patent for the yo-yo. It’s a device that’s been around in some forms since ancient times, and there have even been a few occasions when it’s gone into space. Plus: starting tomorrow in Claremore, Oklahoma, it's Dickens on the Boulevard. Toys in space (UPI)Dickens on the Boulevard (TravelOK)Don’t let this show spin in place! Back us on Patreon today