Cool Weird Awesome With Brady Carlson

"Rust: The Art Gallery" is in Manchester, England, and it showcases the artistic effects of rust and deterioration, as curated by artist and longtime rust connoisseur Stephen Raw. Plus: two French artists create a set of geometric shapes on special paper that can ignite into what look like mini fireworks shows.  This Gallery Is Dedicated to the Aesthetic Joys of Rust (Hyperallergic) Incendiary poster series creates its designs with special pyrotechnic powder (Creativeboom) Our show never gets rusty and that's because of our Patreon backers --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support

Every Christmas Eve, at 6pm, the people of Abbadia San Salvatore in Italy light pyramids of wood called fiaccole they they've carefully collected and stacked for weeks. On what's one of the coldest and darkest nights of the year, the work together to celebrate with heat and light for everyone. Plus: the story of an annual gift comedian Steve Harvey gave to a teacher who had something to say about his career choice.  The "Fiaccole" In Abbadia San Salvatore: A Ritual Of Fire To Light Up Christmas (ItalianWays.com) Steve Harvey Gifted a TV Every Year to the Teacher Who Said He'd Never Be on Television (Oprah.com) Happy Christmas Eve to everyone, especially our Patreon backers! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support

The history of Christmas cards has taken some strange turns over the years, but maybe none stranger than when Surrealist icon Salvador Dalí made Christmas cards for Hallmark. Plus: Australia tries to prevent highway hypnosis by offering drivers signs with trivia questions (and answers).  These Salvador Dali Christmas cards outraged Hallmark shoppers in 1960 (Washington Post) Australian road signs among world's weirdest (Perth Now) Our Patreon backers make our show into a work of art every day  --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support

Today in 1966, the Beatles were trying to make one great take of their new song “Strawberry Fields Forever,” and with help from producer George Martin and engineer Geoff Emerick, they ended up making that one great take out of two half takes. Plus: the YouTube channel The Brick Wall created a LEGO system to give you just the right amount of wrapping paper for each gift.  Mixing, editing: Strawberry Fields Forever (Beatles Bible)  An Automated LEGO Wrapping Paper Cutting Machine That Scans the Exact Dimensions of the Gift to Wrap (Laughing Squid) No one I think is in our Patreon backers' tree  --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support

In the late 1980s Romania was still behind the Iron Curtain, but its people wanted to see and hear film, TV shows and music from the US and other countries. Irina Nistor used her voice to bring some of that outside media to the people. Plus: it's said the story of the "Loyal Women of Weinsberg" began today in 1181.  The voice that brought Hollywood films to communist Romania’s TV screens (The Guardian) Medieval warfare : a history by Maurice Hugh Keen  Use your voice to support this show on Patreon --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support

Harvard, Nebraska is home to about a thousand people and six historic markers, one of which tells the strange but true story of a teenager who ended up owning the city jail. Plus: if you’re still looking for a present for somebody this week, how about an official Tetris waffle maker?  The Jailhouse That Got Accidentally Sold (Amusing Planet) History of Harvard (Harvard, Nebraska) Tetris Waffle Iron (The Awesomer) Our Patreon backers helped us get a high-tech new microphone! Join them and help make this show even better! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support

Today in 1977, the Not Ready For Prime Time Players were joined by perhaps the most unusual guest host ever: Miskel Spillman, an 80 year old grandma from New Orleans and the winner of the "Anyone Can Host SNL Contest." Plus: an iconic world record has fallen! Meet the new loudest burper in history.  Saturday Night Live's Anyone Can Host Contest (Mental Floss) The World's Loudest Burp Record Has Been Broken. Hear It. (K102) Our Patreon backers are the best cast we could ever work with --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support

3D printing is getting bigger and bigger. There are so many amazing ways we can use the technology. And the range of substances you can use in 3D printing projects is growing, too - including a new project that uses bacteria to make a 3D ink. Plus: people who really want to get into the holiday spirit are heading to a rental unit in Utah - that has been designed to look like the home of the Grinch. This Ink Is Alive and Made Entirely of Microbes (New York Times) Would You Spend the Night in the Grinch’s Cave? (Architectural Digest) Our Patreon backers are the best Whos in Whoville --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support

Today in 1979, two guys in Canada dreamed up one of the most popular board games of all time: Trivial Pursuit. Here's how it all went down. Plus: it's said today was the birthday of Emperor Nero. Legends claim he fiddled while Rome burned but archeologists found evidence that he rotated while eating dinner.  The High School Dropout Who Co-Created Trivial Pursuit (Today I Found Out) Nero’s Rotating Dining Room (CNRS News) Our Patreon backers are probably great Trivial Pursuit players, because they are smart --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support

Today in 1901, the first table tennis tournament concluded in London. It's also known as ping pong, and there were plenty of other proposed names back in the early days. Plus: in St. Paul, Minnesota, a theater company is putting on a stage version of “It’s A Wonderful Life” with a twist that the Federation might not like.  The Rise of Table Tennis and Ping Pong Diplomacy (VICE) History of Table Tennis (International Table Tennis Federation) St. Paul theater company to stage ‘Star Trek’/’It’s a Wonderful Life’ mashup, performed in Klingon (Twin Cities Pioneer Press) Join our Patreon backers today for as little as $1 a month! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support

Back about 120 or so years ago, in Berlin, Germany, you might have encountered a strange sight: a man named Wilhelm Von Osten asking math questions of a horse named Clever Hans. Was the horse actually solving the problems, or was something else at work? Plus: Today in 1989, the town of Avesta, Sweden created the world’s largest Dala horse. Clever Hans: The Horse Who Could Do Math (Amusing Planet) World's Largest Dalecarlian Horse (Bookofjoe) Nobody's as clever as our Patreon backers --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support

This week we're replaying some of our favorite episodes that take place up in the air. In this one from July 2019, the story of Larry Walters, who entered aviation history as the pilot of a craft called Inspiration I. That craft was a lawn chair attached to 42 large weather balloons. Plus: some high school students in Toronto, Ontario use a weather balloon to launch a Lego figure into near space. Up, Up, and Away! Did Larry Walters soar above Los Angeles in a lawn chair attached to helium weather balloons? (Snopes) Teens Put Lego Man in 'Space' (Actually Stratosphere) Back Cool Weird Awesome on Patreon and help it, um, fly!  --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support

This week we're replaying some of our favorite episodes that take place up in the air. In this one from April 2019, two researchers go back through old CIA surveillance photos, not for their Cold War history, but for archaeology. And it turns out, these photos showed a lot. Plus: in Woodstock, Illinois, the Great Lakes Steelpan Festival gets underway. Declassified U2 spy plane images reveal bygone Middle Eastern archaeological features (Phys.org) Great Lakes Steelpan Festival --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support

This week we're replaying some of our favorite episodes that take place up in the air. In this one from March 2020, we marked the birthday of Jerrie Cobb, who could have been the first woman in space but ended up flying to great heights nonetheless. Plus: it was on this day in 2011 that a museum in the Netherlands first put on exhibit a work called “Peanut Butter Floor," which was exactly what it sounds  like. Jerrie Cobb, America's first female astronaut candidate, dies at 88 (NBC News) Cobb, Geraldyn “Jerrie” M., Aviation Pioneer (National Aviation Hall of Fame) Peanut Butter Floor (Bookofjoe) Our backers on Patreon give Cool Weird Awesome wings! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support

This week we're replaying some of our favorite episodes that take place up in the air. In this one from July 2019, Patrouille Swiss, the official aerial acrobatics team for Switzerland, flew over the community of Langenbruck for a festival honoring a local aviation hero... or tried to. They weren’t actually over Langenbruck. Plus: New York City  is now home to Poster House, the first American museum that’s fully  about posters and their history. Swiss aerial display team flies over yodeling festival by mistake (Deutsche Welle) WoodyFest in Okemah, OK Poster House Is the First Museum in the United States Dedicated Exclusively to Posters Help Cool Weird Awesome soar to new heights as a backer on Patreon! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support

This week we're replaying some of our favorite episodes that take place up in the air. In this one from June 2020, we mark the anniversary of a pretty unusual moment in the history of human flight: the time an airplane flew over the English Channel that was entirely powered by its pilot. Plus: watching the heaviest airplane ever built take off is a sight to see. Pedal-Driven Plane Flies Channel (Washington Post) Gossamer Albatross' famed flight 33 years ago today (Hartford Courant) Good Lord: Watching The World's Heaviest Aircraft Take Off (Geekologie) Fly high as a Cool Weird Awesome backer on Patreon --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support

Happy Hanukkah! For this holiday we're replaying a show from 2019 about a growing sport in New York City. Major League Dreidel takes the Hanukkah favorite and turns the intensity way, way up. Plus: an agency in Nova Scotia decided people needed a break from ads during the holidays, and released some ad-free ads. Competitive Dreidel-Spinning Is a Thing. Here's How Major League Dreidel Got Started. (Civilized) Creative agency buys $10k of blank ad space to give everyone a break from ads (It's Nice That) Cool Weird Awesome is listener supported. Thanks to our Patreon backers! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support

Today in 1952, PEZ received a US patent for its famous dispensers, which, like the candies they contain, were first intended to help people quit smoking. Plus: researchers in Germany can now make eco-friendly, cost-effective insulation out of popcorn.  The History of PEZ (PEZ.com) Researchers Make Insulation Board Out of Popcorn (Treehugger) Our Patreon backers are so, so sweet  --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support

On or around this day in 1922, a pilot wrote the first skywriting message in the United States. It was a way to demonstrate an advertising technique that would be a big part of business for the next few decades. Plus: today in 2019, fans at a Hershey Bears’ hockey game set a record for most stuffed animals tossed onto the ice. How Skywriting Works (How Stuff Works) Watch: Hershey Bears’ teddy bear toss shatters world record as 45,650 stuffed animals hit the ice for charity (The Patriot-News)  Our Patreon backers set a record for coolest people ever --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support

Today in 1954, a woman in Alabama, Elizabeth Hodges, became the first person in modern history to be hit by a meteorite. Here's some of her story. Plus: for Mark Twain's birthday, the time he answered a very long question in a print column with just three words.  In 1954, an Extraterrestrial Bruiser Shocked This Alabama Woman (Smithsonian) Asked and Answered (Futility Closet) Our Patreon backers are stars --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support