Cool Weird Awesome With Brady Carlson

Astronauts who live and work on space stations have to make sure to clean every last spot in their quarters, partly to keep big balls of moldy goo from growing! There's research underway to help keep the microbes from moving in. Plus: starting tomorrow in Kingwood, West Virginia, it’s the Preston County Buckwheat Festival.  Keeping mold out of future space stations (Ohio State University) Preston County Buckwheat FestivalHelp our show grow as a backer on Patreon --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/coolweirdawesome/support

Today in 1929, Lieutenant James H. Doolittle did what no other pilot had done before: take off, fly and land only using instruments and radio. Plus: today in 2021, Japan's Narita Airport had to delay a flight because of a turtle on the runway. Flying Blind (Air & Space Forces Magazine) Errant turtle closes runway, delays turtle-themed plane at Japan's Narita Airport (The Mainichi)  Back our show on Patreon and we’ll keep flying high together --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/coolweirdawesome/support

Around this time in 2011, two people in Oklahoma gave themselves and their part of the state a very off-the-beaten-path anniversary gift: the Winganon Space Capsule. Plus: ever hear someone call a run-down cafe or bar a “hole in the wall”? There’s a coffee shop in the Philippines that serves drinks through an actual hole in the wall. The Winganon Space Capsule: Oklahoma, We Have A Problem (MAKE)  filipino café serves beverages straight through a hole in a concrete wall (designboom) Help this show blast off (so to speak) as a backer on Patreon --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/coolweirdawesome/support

Today in 1977, the first broadcast of the Happy Days episode in which Henry Winkler’s character, The Fonz, jumps over a shark on water skis. "Jumping the shark" is a phrase we use today to talk about shows that get weird and go downhill, but why was Fonz jumping over the shark to begin with? Plus: starting tomorrow in Springfield, Missouri, the Cider Days festival. Henry Winkler is 'very proud' to be the face of the 'jump the shark' meme (Yahoo! Entertainment) CIDER DAYS  Back this show on Patreon before we eventually jump the shark --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/coolweirdawesome/support

Today in 1986, Australian cricketer Dean Jones stepped up during a really important match, literally leaving it all on the field as he played through high heat and humidity, dehydration, exhaustion and illness. Plus: today in 1911, the birthday of author William Golding, whose biggest novel only became a hit after being rejected over and over again. 'I can't remember a thing after 120 in that innings' (The Cricket Monthly) William Golding (Biography) If you’re feeling up to it, how about backing our show on Patreon --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/coolweirdawesome/support

For National Cheeseburger Day, here’s the story of the guy who brought us one of the world’s most massive and massively popular burgers: Jim Delligatti, the inventor of the Big Mac. Plus: a designer in Belgium, Mathilde Wittock, has come up with a way to upcycle used tennis balls into furniture. Michael "Jim" Delligatti, Big Mac creator, dead at 98 (CBS News) Artist Makes Furniture Out of Tennis Balls That Otherwise Would Take 400 Years to Decompose in Landfills (Good News Network) Back this show on Patreon for less than the cost of a Big Mac a month --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/coolweirdawesome/support

New research finds that couples can keep a conflict from escalating by taking a short break - and I mean, really short - during an argument. Plus: for National Pet Bird Day, a heavy metal band led by a South African Grey Parrot doing "death squawking” over the music. Cheaper than couples counselling: take a five-second break (University of St. Andrews) Hatebeak (Metal Archives) No need to pause if you’re headed over to the Patreon page to back our show --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/coolweirdawesome/support

For Mexican Independence Day, the story of how Mexican music and movies found fans in a place you might not expect: post-war Yugoslavia. Plus: what's even wilder than a video of two bicyclists doing some of their best stunts?  A video of two bicyclists doing some of their best stunts while also on a moving train. In mid-'60s Yugoslavia, mariachi music was really popular (The World)  A Series of Bike Stunts Performed on a Moving Train (Neatorama) Spread this podcast worldwide as a backer on Patreon --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/coolweirdawesome/support

The trope about Friday the 13th is that it's extra-unlucky and scary, so to address any fears his young viewers might have about this day, Mister Rogers decided to make it a really fun day, especially for the King of the Neighborhood of Make-Believe. Plus: today in 1991, Nirvana had quite a wild release party for their landmark record "Nevermind." HOW MR. ROGERS MADE FRIDAY THE 13TH LESS SCARY (Now I Know) FOOD FIGHT! Nirvana gets thrown out of their record release party on Friday the 13th, 1991 (Dangerous Minds) Thanks so much to our neighbors who back us on Patreon --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/coolweirdawesome/support

Today in 1995, the Harlem Globetrotters lost! It hasn't happened often, but we'll tell you about two times the storied team didn't come out on top. Plus: this Saturday in Vermont, it’s the Rutland Whoopie Pie Fest. Harlem Globetrotters’ 8,829-game winning streak snapped (History.com) KING OF THE LOSERS I played for the worst basketball team of all time – we lost 17,000 games but I loved every single minute of it (The Sun) RUTLAND WHOOPIE PIE FEST --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/coolweirdawesome/support

Today in 2001, while the world watched a tragedy unfold, there was an amazing story happening far from those sites: an effort to help a six month old baby get a transplant that would save her life. 9/11 attacks nearly kept a life-saving organ from an infant. Here’s how we met the moment. (The Tennessean) --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/coolweirdawesome/support

Today in 1999, a news report about how Norm Michael was drafted by the NFL's Philadelphia Eagles. The catch? He'd been drafted in 1944. Plus: a new musical instrument Stacco uses marbles, magnets, a drum-like surface and artificial intelligence. This day in sports history: The player who didn’t know he’d been drafted for 50 years (Yahoo! Sports)  musical instrument ‘stacco’ produces chimes and sounds by moving magnetic marbles on it (designboom) Back our show on Patreon today and we’ll create new episodes for years to come --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/coolweirdawesome/support

Today in 1890, the birthday of Colonel Harland Sanders, the founder and public face of Kentucky Fried Chicken, and who, for a while, was also a pretty big critic of the fast food brand he started. Plus: back in 2020, KFC announced a movie featuring Mario Lopez playing the Colonel?!? Colonel Sanders Once Competed Against KFC And Got Sued (Tasting Table) Mario Lopez will play Colonel Sanders in KFC-Lifetime original movie ‘A Recipe for Seduction’ (FOX 2 Now) The secret recipe for our show is support from listeners like you on Patreon --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/coolweirdawesome/support

Today in 1919, the birthday of Wilson Greatbatch, who made implantable pacemakers a reality for millions of patients. A pretty big legacy for a guy who considered himself a “humble tinkerer.” Plus: today in 1954, a report on a guy who was supposed to a defend a beer drinking title but first had business to attend to at another bar. Wilson Greatbatch (National Science and Technology Medals Foundation)  Miscellany, Sep. 6, 1954 (TIME) Power our show today as a backer on Patreon --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/coolweirdawesome/support

This month in 1966, an extraordinary rescue of a group of students who had gotten stranded on a remote island in the Pacific Ocean and managed to live there successfully for over a year. Plus: starting this Saturday on Easdale Island in Scotland, it’s the World Stone Skimming Championships. A real life Lord of the Flies: The 50-year-old story of a group of teens stranded on an island (CBS News) The World Stone Skimming Championships  Let’s work together to support this show on Patreon --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/coolweirdawesome/support

For decades Gerber has been the biggest name in baby food. In 1974, the company tried offering a line of ready-to-eat foods in glass jars for adults... which maybe didn't go so well. Plus: starting this Friday in Pennsylvania, it’s the Bowers Chile Pepper Festival. Baby food for adults was just as sad as it sounds (The Hustle) Bowers Chile Pepper Festival  Back our show on Patreon for less than a jar of Gerber Singles a month --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/coolweirdawesome/support

Today in 1877, the birthday of Charles Downing Lay. He won the first American medal at the 1936 Olympics, for…. town planning? Plus: starting this Friday, it’s the South Carolina Apple Festival. And the Medal Goes To... (Brooklyn Public Library) South Carolina Apple Festival  Help plan a bright future for our show as a backer on Patreon --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/coolweirdawesome/support

For this Labor Day holiday we thought we should pay tribute to what may have been the strangest ways to make a living in its time: the so-called "department store scapegoat" who was kept on staff to be "fired" from time to time. Plus: today in 1903, Scott Perky applied for a patent for a bidirectional typeface. Fact-Checking Steve Jobs: Was “The Customer Is Always Right” Really Coined by a Customer? (Slate) Scott Perky’s Bi-Directional Text (Weird Universe) If you don’t back us on Patreon today, we’ll have to fire Tom, because it’s his fault --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/coolweirdawesome/support

This week we’re replaying some of our favorite shows about planets and stars and galaxies and the people who have studied them. In this episode from May 2020, the story of an important if not technically perfect image: the first picture ever taken from the Hubble Space Telescope. Plus: an Irish bee enthusiast spends time at home building a beehive out of LEGO. How Fixing the Hubble Spacecraft Works (How Stuff Works) 30 years of Hubble: Three decades of space wonder began with an underwhelming image that proved extremely important (Independent UK) Un-bee-lievable! Beekeeper builds fully functioning beehive entirely out of LEGOs (Fox 6 Now) Our Patreon backers are like the Hubble Space Telescope of backers: the best --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/coolweirdawesome/support

This week we’re replaying some of our favorite shows about planets and stars and galaxies and the people who have studied them. In this episode from July 2019, we look at one of the most prominent July 4th events before American independence, an astronomical event in 11th Century China. Plus: Oatman, Arizona's Sidewalk Egg Frying Challenge offers a different kind of July 4th celebration. Supernova 1054 – Creation of the Crab Nebula (SEDS) Sidewalk Egg Frying Challenge in Oatman, Arizona Celebrate America’s best podcast by backing Cool Weird Awesome on Patreon! --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/coolweirdawesome/support