Cool Weird Awesome With Brady Carlson

Competitive juggling is a sport that requires skill, concentration, technical mastery and creativity. And there's a push to bring it to the Summer Games someday. Plus: the Sun and Earth are now in an alignment with Saturn, which means our most famous ringed planet is at its brightest in the night sky.  A circus act turned extraordinary sport is making its case for the Olympics (Inverse) You need to see the solar system's most dazzling planet shine its brightest (Inverse) Cool Weird Awesome's Patreon backers are our best and brightest --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

The Summer and Winter Games are typically held once every four years, but for decades the rest of us have been getting into the Olympic spirit through video games. Here are a few of the most unusual ones. Plus: the story of a fencing match that definitely could've only happened in the real world.  15 of the most notable Olympic video games ever made (Yardbarker) France win fencing gold (BBC) Insert coin and you'll be like our awesome Patreon backers! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

In ancient Greece, the Olympics were for men only. But from what we can tell, women representing 16 city-states would come together every four years to weave a robe for Hera, the queen of the gods, and hold a footrace for single women. Plus: the 1960 Summer Games were the first to be telecast in the US. In the days before satellites, it took a lot of work to get tapes from the Rome Games to the US broadcast networks.  The Women: Were The Ancient Olympics Just For Men? (Penn Museum) Rome, Italy, 1960 (Britannica) Everyone is welcome in our Patreon community, join us!  --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

The original Olympic flag flew over the Games for the first time in 1920, in Antwerp, Belgium, but before it could be passed to the next host city, the “Antwerp flag” disappeared - for over seven decades. Plus: scientists have taught a robotic hand to play Super Mario Bros., because why wouldn't you?  OLYMPICS: NOTEBOOK; Missing Flag Returns to Glory, Courtesy of a Prankster (New York Times) Scientists 3D Print Robotic Hand That Can Play Nintendo (Interesting Engineering) We pass all the credit for our show to our Patreon backers --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

Whenever the Olympic Games take place we see athletes giving their all to win gold and glory - but we also see great examples of competitors who show character and kindness toward each other. Here’s the story of two of those athletes, who ended up winning the only half-silver, half-bronze medals in Olympic history. Plus, a musical group finds out that the International Olympic Committee does enforce its trademark rights.  The Silvonze Medalists (Now I Know) International Olympic Committee threaten to sue Brit folk legends for ‘Beer Olympics’ song (The Sun) We'd share our Olympic medals with our Patreon backers, if we had some --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

The men's marathon at the 1904 Olympics could have won a gold medal for biggest trainwreck in Summer Games history. Here's how dirt, dehydration, dogs and more helped make this as bizarre a run as they get. But then the 1904 Games were strange for several other reasons as well. We'll explain why.  Running a marathon was never crazier or harder than during the 1904 St Louis Olympics (ABC Australia) 8 Unusual Facts About the 1904 St. Louis Olympics (History.com) Supporting our show isn't a marathon process, just back us on Patreon! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

For better or for worse, the Summer Olympics are finally here. We thought it would be a good time to look back at some of the lesser-known events in the history of the Games, like painting and cannon shooting. Plus: Tomas Gomez headed to the driving range just ahead of a storm, and his ball ended up getting hit by lightning.  Painting for Gold Medals: When Art Was an Olympic Discipline (Artnet) Switzerland land military patrol gold (Olympics.com) Olympic Games Medallists - Other Sports (GBRAthletics.com) When the Olympics Gave Out Medals for Making Medals (Mental Floss) One in a million? Teen's golf ball struck by lightning at Topgolf venue in Texas (Golf Week) We'd give gold medals to all our Patreon backers if we were the Olympics --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

We've had stoplights to direct us and our vehicles through intersections for around a century now. A design studio in Moscow has a concept for a high-tech refresh of stoplight technology. Plus: LEGO builder Douglas Hughes pays tribute to the late, legendary game show host Alex Trebek with a LEGO kinetic sculpture of Jeopardy! The traffic light gets a dazzling, 21st century makeover (Fast Company) A Tribute To Trebek (BrickNerd) Our Patreon backers keep this show fresh and high-tech --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

Like his famous brother Ernest, who was born today in 1899, Leicester Hemingway was a novelist and a storyteller. But Leicester did something even Ernest never did: he created his own micronation. Here's the story of the Republic of New Atlantis. Plus: back in 1958, a farmer in Florida made his first payment on a new Chevrolet in an unusual way.  Contents of a country: Leicester Hemingway’s Republic of New Atlantis (University of Texas) Miscellany, Jul. 21, 1958 (TIME) Join our Patreon backers, who help us bring this show to people in dozens of countries --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

Today in 1969, astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the moon. But as the Apollo 11 mission went on, they had a problem: a broken switch threatened to keep them from returning to Earth. Fortunately, they had a solution: office supplies. Plus: the Lunar Lander Dwelling in Washington state is a 250 square foot getaway in the shape of the lunar module. When Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong Were Nearly Stranded on the Moon (History.com) The Lunar Lander Replica House Just Might Be The Most Unique Home In Washington (Only in Washington) Our Patreon backers always help this show blast off, join them!  --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

It's National Ice Cream Day, so it's a good day to tell the story of Agnes B. Marshall. The "Queen of Ices" helped make this frozen treat the icon that it is today. Plus: on this day in 1975, ground control played the song “Hello Darlin” by country star Conway Twitty to astronauts in Earth orbit. Only this version of the song was a little different. The 19th-century entrepreneur who pioneered modern ice cream (The Hustle) Do You Remember When Conway Twitty Sang 'Hello Darlin' in Russian? (Wide Open Country) Nobody's cooler than our backers on Patreon --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

Washington DC is home to monuments, memorials and the largest library in the world. Here's some of the history of the Library of Congress. Plus: a real estate listing for waterfront land in Ontario had a price of $99,000, though with one big consideration. 10 Facts You Probably Didn’t Know About The Library Of Congress (DCist) Fascinating Facts (Library of Congress) Vacant lot in Ontario could be a steal at $99K — if only it wasn't under water (CBC) Wherever you are, you can keep this show strong as a backer on Patreon! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

Today in 2006, Twttr launched; and in its early days the social media platform gained vowels in its name and fame for a cute whale that would show up during its then-regular outages. Here's the story of Lifting A Dreamer, aka the "Fail Whale." Plus: if you’re a fan of scuba diving or snorkeling, the Geneinno S2 undersea scooter is a new high tech way to do it.  Twitter launches (History.com) Lifting A Dreamer (the Twitter Fail Whale) and Beyond (Yiying Lu) An Underwater Sea Scooter for Exploring the Ocean (UrbanDaddy) Our Patreon backers are the ones who lift this show up every day, join them today! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

This week in 2005, Kyle MacDonald of Montreal had a red paperclip. This week in 2006, MacDonald had traded away the paperclip, and, after a few more trades, ended up with a house. Plus: over in the UK, some small towns have traded out the phones in some of their big red phone boxes for a new use.  Paperclip Cottage Cafe (Tourism Saskatchewan) From paper-clip to house in 14 trades (CBC) How Small English Towns Are Turning Their Iconic Red Telephone Boxes Into Public Heart Defibrillators (Laughing Squid) We wouldn't trade our Patreon backers for anything in the world --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

A multi-country research team has found ways to turn polyethylene, a key ingredient in single-use plastic bags, into lightweight fabric. So those bags that we don't want to throw out but can't always easily recycle? We might end up wearing them. Plus: many of us spend a lot of our waking hours typing, but James Cook turns his typing into art. Plastic Bags Could Be Recycled Into Wearable Fabrics, Says New Research (Designboom) This Artist Draws Using Only Letters and Numbers on Old Typewriters (The Sifter) Help make this podcast even more fashionable as a backer on Patreon! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

Today in 2006, the largest photograph ever taken was released to the world. It’s known today as The Great Picture: 31 feet tall, 107 feet wide. Here's how it was taken. Plus: in Tokyo, a giant 3D screen outside a train station is featuring a giant 3D calico cat that stares down at the people several stories below. Big picture thinking! World’s largest photograph measuring 31ft high and 107ft wide goes on display (and it needed the biggest camera ever made to take it) (Daily Mail) World's Largest Pinhole Camera Takes World's Largest Photo (ABC News) A giant cat appears in front of Shinjuku station! (DreamNews) Our Patreon backers help us make pictures with words in every episode of the show, join them!  --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

Today in 1929, the then-territory of Alaska flew its flag for the first time. That flag, which is still used today, was designed by a 13 year old of Aleutian descent, Benny Benson. Plus: it was this day in 1872 that John F. Blondel of Maine made pastry history.  Benny Benson: An Alaska Kid Who Made History (Alaska Historical Society) The Hole Truth: Celebrating a Huge Day in Doughnut History (The Fiscal Times) Make history as one of our Patreon backers! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

There was a story recently about how NASA was partnering with Tide laundry detergent to work on a way to do laundry in space. Which means we don’t already do laundry in space, and there are some pretty big reasons why. Plus: the Royal Mail delivers a letter addressed to a woman who’d been on TV, only the writer didn't exactly have the woman's address.  NASA and Tide team up to do laundry in space (CNET) Astronauts' Dirty Laundry (NASA) Royal Mail delivers letter addressed to 'woman in Cornwall shed' (BBC) Help keep this show fresh as a backer on Patreon! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

Today in 1928, the Chillicothe Baking Company in Missouri began publicly selling something new: bread that had been sliced by a multi-bladed machine, and the world gained a new way to measure greatness. Plus: today in 2017, a meteor found a way to use Earth as a “slingshot” so alter its orbit and eventually orbit Jupiter. ‘Home of Sliced Bread’: A small Missouri town champions its greatest thing (Washington Post's Retropolis) One express ticket to Jupiter, please (Phys.org) Our Patreon backers are the greatest thing since, well, sliced bread  --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message

Today is the birthday of Roger Babson, who once hired stonecutters to carve giant motivational slogans into a series of boulders in Massachusetts during the Great Depression. Plus: a research team from Harvard and MIT has announced a new high-tech face mask with disease-spotting biosensors. It can spot germs more or less in real time!  Babson’s Boulders: A Millionaire’s Odd Dogtown Legacy (New England Historical Society) Face masks that can diagnose COVID-19 (Harvard) Our Patreon backers keep us thinking positive every day! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message