Cool Weird Awesome With Brady Carlson

Today in 1953, Jacqueline Cochran became the first woman to break the sound barrier. Then again, Cochran moved at high speed her whole career. Plus: today in 1838, the birthday of Alexander Miles, a Black inventor who made elevators what they are today.  JACQUELINE COCHRAN (National Air and Space Museum) Alexander Miles (National Inventors Hall of Fame) Who keeps this show flying? Our Patreon backers --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support

50 years ago today, a man named Donald Gorske ate a McDonald’s Big Mac. It was the first of over 30,000, and yes, he holds the world record for most Big Macs eaten by a single person. Plus: scientists at the University of Florida just got edible plants to grow in rock and dust taken from the moon about half a century ago. This American Hero Ate 30,000 Big Macs and Survived (VICE) Plants grow in lunar soil brought to Earth by Apollo astronauts (Washington Post) Our Patreon backers make every episode of our show tasty --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support

A company called Envision has designed a set of glasses that uses artificial intelligence to help blind people with a wide range of activities. They can decode text, detect color and describe outdoor scenes to the wearer, among many other functions. Plus: a cafe in Tokyo is geared toward the key demographic of writers trying to finish their manuscripts on deadline!  AI-powered smart glasses for the blind can read and recognize faces (Designboom) Unique Tokyo Café Only Serves Struggling Writers Working on Tight Deadlines (Oddity Central) Join us on Patreon for just a dollar a month! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support

The Canadian Tulip Festival is getting underway in Ottawa. Here's the history of the annual event, which (pun intended) has its roots in the history of World War II. Plus: if you can't make it to Ottawa, maybe you could drop by the Tulip Time Festival in Holland, Michigan.  Princess Margriet to make public appearance at Tulip Festival this weekend (CBC) 2022 Tulip Time Festival (Holland.org) Our Patreon backers make every episode of our show colorful --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support

This month in 1921, an American submarine known as R-14 ran out of usable fuel in the Pacific Ocean, and lost radio contact with the Navy. To get home, the crew turned the sub into a sailboat, making bunk beds and blankets into sails. Plus: a tattoo artist helps a friend get six-pack abs even when diet and exercise didn't get the job done.  A Submarine Made it Home with a Sail Made of Blankets (War History Online) HARD TO STOMACH I hate working out so I got my mate to tattoo me the perfect six pack instead – now I’m ready for the summer (The Sun) Our Patreon backers are the wind beneath our wings --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support

Today in 2018, Australian James Harrison gave blood for the last time. He had donated about once a week for some 60 years, and because his blood included a rare antibody, his donations helped save millions of lives. Plus: the website Typatone gives users a new way to make a little music online from their writing. James Harrison's story (Australian Red Cross) Make music while you write  (Nag on the Lake) Our donors on Patreon keep this show going. If you like the show, join them today!  --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support

Today in 1893, the highest court in the land made a controversial ruling that would profoundly affect Americans to this day: the US Supreme Court ruled that the tomato was a vegetable. Plus: today in 1999, Vermont not only named apple pie its official state pie, it outlined the officially correct way to serve the state pie.  The Supreme Court and the Great Tomato Controversy (IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law SCOTUS Now) The obscure Supreme Court case that decided tomatoes are vegetables (Washington Post) Vermont State Pie (Netstate) Our Patreon backers are as sweet as pie --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support

A new study finds colorful painted murals around, or in place of, traditional striped crosswalks may cause drivers to yield more around pedestrians and keep them safe. Plus: a team from two Australian universities studies concrete infused with old bits of tires to see if that might give us a more eco-friendly road surface.  Study Finds That Colorful Road Art Prevents Traffic Accidents by 50% (My Modern Met) Concrete made with old tires proves itself in real-world setting (New Atlas) Our Patreon backers help us get where we need to go --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support

Today is National No Homework Day. For many years in the US, every day was a no homework day - but then Sputnik happened. Plus: this weekend in North Carolina, it's the Smithfield Ham and Yam Festival.  How the Cold War Space Race Led to U.S. Students Doing Tons of Homework (History.com) Ham and Yam Festival  Our Patreon backers make it so we can do our homework on each episode of the show --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support

In Rambouillet, France, a startup is developing street lights that are bioluminescent - they’re powered by bacteria that glow. Plus: around this time in 1965, a woman sees a car selling for "1,395 bananas" and shows up at the dealership with actual fruit.  French Town to Light its Streets With Bacteria Luminescence That Needs No Electricity (Good News Network) Car sold for 1395 bananas (Weird Universe) Our Patreon backers always make us glow --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support

For International Firefighters Day, it's the story of Molly Williams, an enslaved Black woman who became the first known woman firefighter, and the first Black firefighter, in the United States. Plus: on the anniversary of Rhode Island declaring independence, a visit to one of the state's most unusual attractions.  Molly Williams, a black woman and a slave, fought fires years before the FDNY was formed was a pioneer for fellow female smoke-eaters (New York Daily News) Little Known Black History Fact: Molly Williams (Black America Web) Big Blue Bug In Rhode Island Just Might Be The Strangest Roadside Attraction Yet (Only in Rhode Island) Thanks to our Patreon backers, who light a fire under our show every day --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support

There’s evidence that people in the Stone Age took plaquettes, limestone representations of animals, put them near the fire and watched as the light created a kind of animation. Pretty high-tech stuff for 14,000 years ago. Plus: an enterprising young raccoon in Germany takes advantage of the rules. Stone Age people may have gathered at night to watch animated “fireside art” (Ars Technica) A wild raccoon moved into a German zoo and the keepers can't kick him out (Chicago Tribune) If you're animated about supporting this show, join us on Patreon! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support

Today in 2007, the king of grass court tennis, Roger Federer, played an exhibition match against his rival, clay court great Rafael Nadal. Not their only matchup, but for this one, the court was half grass and half clay, making it a so-called "battle of the surfaces." Plus: today in 1929, the birth of Link Wray, a guitarist so wild that his instrumental classic "Rumble" was once banned for fear that the song - which, again, had no words - might spur listeners into juvenile delinquency!  Nadal wins 'clay-grass' thriller (BBC) Guitarist Link Wray Dies (Rolling Stone) All of our Patreon backers are winners --- 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 time. In this episode from November 2019, we look at November 1883, when railroads across the United States adopted a uniform system of time, more or less getting all of us in sync with each other. But what was time like before then? Plus: Japan has had cat cafes, hedgehog cafes and bunny cafes. Now there's a minipig cafe! Time! (Library of Congress) Standard Time Zones In U.S. Mark 100 Years (New York Times) The Adoption of Standard TimeIan R. Bartky (Technology and Culture) Mipig Harajuku: We visit the new micro pig cafe in Tokyo (Sora News) It's definitely time to back Cool Weird Awesome 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 about time. In this episode from September 2020, we look at Tahoe Timescape, a project to take photographs over one thousand years. Plus: New York City is where King Kong ran wild in the movies, but a new statue could help rebuild the relationship between NYC and big apes. Artist tries 1,000-year time lapse photo of Lake Tahoe (US News & World Report) Photos: King Nyani, the Largest Bronze Gorilla Statue Arrives in NYC (Untapped New York) Help keep this show going for years to come 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 about time. In this episode from December 2020, we look at a study that found something interesting happens when we’re trying not to reveal something: our perception of time slows down. Plus: MIT physicists design a model for a super-accurate atomic clock that even accounts for quantum physics. New psychology research confirms that time slows down when you are concealing something (PsyPost) New type of atomic clock keeps time even more precisely (MIT News) It's time for you to join our amazing backers 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 about time. In this episode from March 2020, we look at the places on Earth where time is at its weirdest, the North and South Poles. Plus: it may be time to pay a visit to the World’s Largest Buffalo Monument! Time Has No Meaning at the North Pole (Scientific American) World’s Largest Buffalo Monument (Discover Jamestown) Geographic South Pole Marker photo by Eli Duke via Flickr/Creative Commons --- 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 time. In this episode from December 2019, we look at the time Samoa skipped a day on the calendar because of International Date Line and some trading partners. Plus: why break your back shoveling snow when you can design a radio-controlled  snowplow to do the work for you? Samoa to skip Friday, lose December 30th 2011 forever (Christian Science Monitor) Guy Creates The Ultimate Alternative To Shoveling Your Own Snow (Digg) Every day is a special anniversary when you're 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

For Earth Day we talk about an idea by designer, artist and architect Henry Glogau. He's designed a skylight that can turn seawater into clean drinking water, and then power LEDs with solar energy and the leftover salt brine. Plus: this weekend in Chicago, it's "Golden-Con," a convention for fans of "The Golden Girls."  Designer Creates Solar Desalination Skylight as Low-Tech Way to Produce Drinking Water (My Modern Met) Golden Girls Fan Convention, ‘Golden Con,’ Is Planned For 2022 (WRAL) Thank each of our Patreon backers for being a friend to the show --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support

Today in 1986, I was one of millions of people who watched Geraldo Rivera host the infamous live TV special "The Mystery of Al Capone's Vault." How did it come to be, and why did it go so far off course? Plus: today is day one of the 2022 Association of Lincoln Presenters Conference.  Oral History: When Geraldo Rivera Opened Al Capone's Vault (Mental Floss) Capone Vault-Cracking An Unrewarding Blast (Toledo Blade via Google News Archive)  The Association of Lincoln Presenters 2022 Conference  Our vault just contains thank you notes to all our Patreon backers --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support