Cool Weird Awesome With Brady Carlson

This month in 1918, two photographers took a picture of the Statue of Liberty. Except this wasn’t the giant statue that sits in the harbor in New York, it was a living Statue of Liberty formed with help from 18,000 members of the US military. Plus: today in 1939 Frank Sinatra made his first record, which reminds us of a great story from when Frank was making the original "Ocean's Eleven."  Human Statue of Liberty (Snopes) History, Military, Mole & Thomas, Woodrow Wilson, Antique Photograph, 1918 (GeorgeGlazer.com) The Rat Pack Photographer (Los Angeles Times) We could make a giant version of this show with 18,000 Patreon backers --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support

Today is Cow Appreciation Day, so here's the story of some very unusual cows in Latvia and a playwright who helped save them from disappearing for good. Plus: a medical mystery caused by too much disco? It happened.  Herd the moos? Latvia's symbolic blue cow back from the brink (Phys.org) Disco Felon (Weird Universe) Our Patreon backers are outta sight! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support

Today in 1918, the birthday of Venetia Burney, who at age eleven, did something few people have done: she named a planet! Plus: on this day in 1992 the people of Ripon, Wisconsin made what was then the world’s largest chocolate chip cookie. Venetia Burney Phair (1918-2009) (NASA) Ripon's signature Cookie Daze has been discontinued, chamber cites closure of cookie factory (Ripon Press) Our Patreon backers are so great, we should name planets after them --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support

It's National Motorcycle Day, so it's a perfect day to tell the story of one of the most legendary riders of all time: Bessie Stringfield, whose cross country trips and daring won her the name "Motorcycle Queen of Miami." Plus: today in Lisbon, Maine, the three day Moxie Festival is getting underway. Overlooked No More: Bessie B. Stringfield, the ‘Motorcycle Queen of Miami’ (New York Times) Moxie Festival Help us rev up for more episodes of the show as a backer on Patreon --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support

It's National Ice Cream Month, and here's the story of a guy who tasted hundreds of millions of gallons of the sweet stuff: John Harrison, longtime ice cream tester. Plus: a kitten in Brooklyn got stuck in a car, until it heard a smartphone playing the sounds of other kittens.  The ice cream man whose taste buds are insured for $1m (The Hustle) Woman Coaxes Kitten Out of a Car Engine by Playing Kitten Sounds on Her Phone (Laughing Squid) There's no one sweeter than our Patreon backers --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support

Today in 1785, the US Congress decided that the name of our country’s currency would be the dollar. Getting to that point was kind of a trek. Plus: today in 1957, a Black sports heroine won herself some gold. The Almighty Dollar (AdamSmith.org) Althea Gibson: Tennis Turmoil and Triumph (Library of Congress) For just one dollar a month you can help fund this show on Patreon! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support

Today in 1854, the end of one of the great hoaxes of its day: a fire in a Philadelphia museum destroyed what people of that time thought was a super-intelligent chess robot. Plus: today in 2011, people in a skyscraper in Seoul, South Korea, reported the building shaking like it'd been in an earthquake. The real cause was a lot more down to earth.  How a Phony 18th Century Chess Robot Fooled the World (History.com) Korea solves mystery of shaking skyscraper (SF Gate) Nothing mysterious about how our show works, it's funded by our backers on Patreon --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support

Back in 1926, Poland wanted to thank the US for its aid during World War I, but instead of sending the usual diplomatic letter, they sent papers all around their country and got one out of every six Polish people to sign. Plus: today was the birthday of Bill Withers, who got an unusual going-away present from his employer when he switched to singing full time.  Poland Once Gave America a Birthday Card That Was Signed By 5.5 Million Polish People (Good News Network) Soul man: Bill Withers (M Magazine) --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support

Today in 1947, Wat Misaka became the first non-white player to be drafted into what is now the NBA. Here's some of his story. Plus: this weekend the Twin Cities host the Hmong International Freedom Festival.  Japanese American Former Basketball Star Inspired On And Off The Court (NPR) Hmong International Freedom Festival (Visit Saint Paul) Our Patreon backers are championship material --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support

Today in 1938, the birthday of Billy Mills, a Marine veteran, activist AND a runner who won an Olympic gold medal in what’s been called the biggest upset in the history of the Games. Plus: in the 1950s, Frank Lloyd Wright designed a doghouse?  ‘There goes Billy Mills!’ (Indian Country Today) A Doghouse Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright Is Now on Display (Smithsonian) Our Patreon backers deserve gold medals for supporting this show --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support

A study from Ohio State University finds bats can remember a ringtone if they associate the sound with food - for years, in some cases. Plus: a French company is recycling old face masks and turning them into school supplies.  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! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support

Today in 2006, Alaska Senator Ted Stevens famously told his colleagues that the Internet was not a dumptruck, it was a series of tubes, figuratively speaking. But here’s a story about some literal tubes that New York City once used to deliver mail. Plus: today in 2021, a woman who had asked the New York Yankees to be a batgirl 60 years earlier (and been rejected) finally got to live out her dream.  THE PNEUMATIC TUBE MAIL SYSTEM IN NEW YORK CITY (Untapped New York) In 1961, the Yankees told her she couldn’t be a batgirl. Sixty years later, it happened. (Washington Post) Help get our show through the tubes of the internet as a backer on Patreon! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support

Today in 1880, the birthday of Helen Keller, the activist, author, speaker, and, on one occasion, a pilot. Never mind what randos on social media have claimed, here's the real story. Plus: Wimbledon is getting underway, and players who want to swear beware: the umpires have studied curses in multiple languages.  Did Helen Keller Fly a Plane? (Snopes) Do Wimbledon Umpires Learn Curse Words in Multiple Languages? (Snopes) Today's links come from Snopes, but everything else is made possible by our Patreon backers --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support

This week in 1951, Life Magazine had a feature story about a guy with an unusual hobby: he rehearsed his own funeral. Plus: this weekend in Littleton, Colorado, it’s the Unicorn Festival! Jim Gernhart, the living corpse (Weird Universe) Unicorn Festival  Long live our Patreon backers --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support

For National Typewriter Day, some of the stories that helped bring this device to life, including a guy in Italy who was trying to help a blind countess write letters. Plus: a giant typewriter in San Francisco about a century ago? It happened.  Typewriters Were Originally Created To Help The Blind (Dictionary.com) a curious story of the 14 ton Underwood Master Typewriter… (Red Letter Day zine) Every letter we type is made possible by our Patreon backers --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support

A family in rural Kentucky with a rare blood disorder had blue complexions for decades - until a doctor found a way to treat it. Plus: June is Great Outdoors Month, and in Norway, there’s a great spot outdoors that might exhilarate you - or might make you turn green.  The True Story of the Blue People of Kentucky (How Stuff Works) Kjeragbolten (Futility Closet) Join our Patreon backers and make this show colorful --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support

Summer is here in the Northern Hemisphere, and a lot of people are looking to keep themselves and some of their foods and drinks cool. That's what the storage building known as the yakhchāl did thousands of years ago. Plus: a guy in Munfordville, Kentucky built his own Stonehenge. Yakhchāls, Āb Anbārs, & Wind Catchers — Passive Cooling & Refrigeration Technologies Of Greater Iran (Persia) (Cleantechnica) Kentucky’s Stonehenge is one man’s rocky wonderland (FOX Lexington) Our Patreon backers are the coolest of the cool --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support

Today in 1863, West Virginia became a state - though back in the 18th Century, there were several efforts to meld this land with parts of Pennsylvania, Kentucky and Maryland and create an entirely different entity called Vandalia or Westsylvania. Plus: if visiting Stonehenge for the solstice is too much of a trek, why not head to western Nebraska and see Carhenge?  Westsylvania: The Fourteenth Colony (Battleground) ‘Blood, sweat, and beers’: Nebraska’s Carhenge may be less mysterious than its English counterpart, but it’s just as bizarre (Roadtrippers) If our Patreon backers formed their own state, it would be a pretty amazing state --- 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 about music that sounds a little different. In this episode from April 2020, music scholars at Cambridge University studied musical manuscripts without modern notation and reconstructed what they would have sounded like. Plus: in 1982 Key West,  Florida declared independence from – and war on – the United States. For not very long. First performance in 1,000 years: ‘lost’ songs from the Middle Ages are brought back to life (Cambridge University) That Time the Florida Keys Tried to Secede from the US by Dropping Conch Fritter Bombs (Vice) On this day in 2020 Patreon backers made another great episode of Cool Weird Awesome happen. Join them!  --- 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 about music that sounds a little different. In this episode from April 2020, it's the story of the American Beetles - a knockoff band that toured South  America, without quite telling everyone they weren't the genuine article. Plus: Spanish artist Bichopalo is not only making beautiful music, he's making beautiful musical instruments, too. How the fake Beatles conned South America (BBC) Beautiful Musical Machines Perform Otherworldly Tunes (Geeks Are Sexy) Please back us on Patreon, oh yeah, like we back you, oh yeah  --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support