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PODCAST

Cool Weird Awesome with Brady Carlson

Three minutes each weekday of cool facts, weird news and awesome discoveries with Brady Carlson. Back us at http://patreon.com/bradycarlson

society & culture

All Episodes

00:03:02

The North Pole Moved Three Feet Because Of Dams

Cool Weird Awesome with Brady Carlson ·

2025/07/18

A Harvard study finds that the thousands of dams humans have built over the last couple centuries have locked up so much water it's actually affected Earth's poles! We'll try to explain. Plus: starting today in Michigan City, Indiana, it’s the Singing Sands Sand Sculpting Festival. Water storage in dams has caused minute shifts in Earth’s poles (Harvard's Advancing Earth and Space Sciences) The Singing Sands Sand Sculpting Festival It would be a dam shame if you didn’t back our show

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00:03:07

Watergate Salad Is An Actual Sweet Dish Named For Our...

Cool Weird Awesome with Brady Carlson ·

2025/07/17

Today in 1972, a break-in at the Watergate hotel that kicked off a huge political scandal... and also, somehow, gave a gelatin dessert the name "Watergate salad." Plus: in 2022, the National Portrait Gallery in Washington hosted an exhibit called “Watergate: Portraiture and Intrigue.”Jell-O Journalism: Investigating the Origins of Watergate Salad (Mental Floss)Watergate: Portraiture and Intrigue (National Portrait Gallery)This podcast is not a crook, but it is backed by our listeners on

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00:03:15

A Blood Sample From A Late Composer Is Powering A...

Cool Weird Awesome with Brady Carlson ·

2025/07/16

There's a new musical work that is, maybe, kind of, sort of from a composer who’s been gone three years. Plus: rice farmers in Gyoda, Japan turn their paddies into large-scale works of art. Musical Composer’s Brain Matter Is Still Making Music Three Years After His Death (My Modern Met)Tanjiro Emerges in the Fields as Gyoda Unveils 2025 Rice Paddy Art (Spoon + Tamago)Our show is powered by our backers on Patreon

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00:03:13

Guitarist Cordell Jackson Was Rocking Out Before...

Cool Weird Awesome with Brady Carlson ·

2025/07/15

Today in 1923, the birthday of Cordell Jackson, a guitarist who rocked out exactly the way she wanted to for over half a century. Plus: today in 2023, a Florida woman apparently took a fire truck out for a ride. Jackson, Cordell (Women In Rock Project) Woman accused of impersonating firefighter after stealing firetruck, Florida cops say (Miami Herald)Help our show rock out every day as a backer on Patreon

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00:03:00

A Burma-Shave Ad Offered A Trip To “Mars,” And A Guy...

Cool Weird Awesome with Brady Carlson ·

2025/07/14

A decade before Mariner 4 got to Mars (on this day in 1965), a company famous for its advertising jokingly offered its customers a chance to go to the Red Planet - and a very serious customer tried to get them to follow through. Plus: a design studio in France builds a walk-through installation out of nearly 800 old baguettes. Did Burma-Shave Offer to Send a Contest Winner to Mars? (Snopes)780 leftover baguettes turn into public pavilion by MERO studios in montpellier (designboom)Help this show keep

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00:03:04

Quiet Riot’s Biggest Hit Came From A Recording...

Cool Weird Awesome with Brady Carlson ·

2025/07/11

Today in 1983, Quiet Riot released its massive hit single "Cum On Feel The Noize," though they kind of tried to tank the recording session at the time. Plus: for 7/11, a story about a 7/11 with a tree in the middle of the store. Cum On Feel The Noize by Quiet Riot (Songfacts)This 7-11 in Monterrey Mexico has a tree growing through it. (lostfoundartny via Instagram)Rock out with us as a backer on Patreon

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00:03:09

Which Horse Is On Wyoming’s License Plate? It's...

Cool Weird Awesome with Brady Carlson ·

2025/07/10

Today in 1890, Wyoming became the 44th state in the Union. Its license plates feature a silhouette of a person, with cowboy hat in hand, riding a bucking horse. The story of which horse and which rider inspired that silhouette is a bit of a bumpy ride. Plus: starting tomorrow, it’s the Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix. Wyoming’s Long-lived Bucking Horse (Wyoming History)Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix Ride on over to our Patreon page to back this show

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00:03:07

The BBC Once Reported That Cows Might Have Accents

Cool Weird Awesome with Brady Carlson ·

2025/07/09

For Cow Appreciation Day, a look at the time in 2006 that news reports made it sound like scientists had proven that cows had regional accents like people do, only the story was a little more complicated than that. Plus: Solstice 2.0 is a kinetic clock that changes shape as the day goes on. Cows also 'have regional accents' (BBC)It's always silly season in the (BBC) science section (Language Log) Mesmerizing Kinetic Clock Expands and Contracts With the Passage of Time (My Modern Met)Back

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00:03:01

A Shop In Small-Town Nebraska Gave The World The Tin...

Cool Weird Awesome with Brady Carlson ·

2025/07/08

It's National Ice Cream Sundae Day, which might be a good day to visit Potter, Nebraska, the birthplace of the Tin Roof Sundae. Plus: Roswell, New Mexico is very popular with UFO tourists, but it's also home to the Miniatures and Curious Collections Museum. Why Is It Called Tin Roof Sundae? (Chowhound) The Miniatures and Curious Collections Museum of Roswell, NM, is filled with wonderful things (Boing Boing)Treat yourself! Back this show on Patreon

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00:03:03

Tiny Swarms Of Robots Might Help Us Get Through Sinus...

Cool Weird Awesome with Brady Carlson ·

2025/07/07

Lots of people have warned about robot invasions, but not like this: tiny bots that don’t want to take over the world, but want to help clear your sinuses of germs. Plus: a group of 15 monkeys living at Kyoto University's primate research institute figure out a way to escape their habitat. Light-powered robot swarms may replace antibiotics for tough sinus infections (Interesting Engineering)Monkeys use trees to catapault themselves out of Japanese laboratory (Daily Telegraph)Let’s all swarm this

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00:03:04

How Fireworks Illuminate Independence Day, The Way...

Cool Weird Awesome with Brady Carlson ·

2025/07/04

America's second president once said that Independence Day should always feature "illuminations." We'll explain how those pyrotechnics illuminate the sky each July 4. Plus: Seward, Nebraska is a relatively small community, but it goes big every time this holiday rolls around. The chemistry behind fireworks (University of Pennsylvania) Seward Is A Small Town In Nebraska That Offers Plenty Of Peace And Quiet (Only In Your State)Help make our Patreon page blow up (so to speak) with

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00:03:24

The Original Version Of The Michelin Man Was Kind Of...

Cool Weird Awesome with Brady Carlson ·

2025/07/03

For National Tire Safety Week, the story of a character made of tires, one of the most famous mascots in advertising history… and one who was originally kind of a hot mess. Plus: starting today in Pittsburgh, it’s the World Beard and Moustache Championships. Michelin Man: The Inside Story (CNN)2025 World Beard and Moustache Championships Bounce over to our Patreon page and help support this show

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00:03:01

Graham Island, The Mediterranean’s Disappearing...

Cool Weird Awesome with Brady Carlson ·

2025/07/02

This month in 1831, the Mediterranean Sea got a whole new island, one that European powers bickered over for a few months before the debate ended pretty abruptly. Plus: starting Friday in New Hope, Pennsylvania, it’s the Red, White & Blueberries BBQ Bash. The Mediterranean's short-lived 'Atlantis' (BBC)Red, White & Blueberries BBQ Bash Here’s hoping we see a lot of backers rise up on Patreon (and that their support also doesn’t sink back a few months later)

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00:03:25

How Canada’s Flag Ended Up With A Maple Leaf Instead...

Cool Weird Awesome with Brady Carlson ·

2025/07/01

Happy Canada Day! The flag you’ll see at events across the country today has quite an origin story: one guy, one red pen and a lot of potential roadblocks. Plus: for National Postal Worker Day in the US, the story of how the Postal Service set up an office in Antarctica. A letter, a red pen and a hand-drawn sketch: How George Stanley created Canada's flag (CBC) Little America, Antarctica, Post Office (US Postal Service)Fly the flag for our show as a backer on Patreon

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00:03:05

June Robertson McCarroll, The Doctor Who Painted A...

Cool Weird Awesome with Brady Carlson ·

2025/06/30

Today in 1867, the birthday of June Robertson McCarroll, a doctor in California who made a big difference for safety by painting a line down the middle of a road. Plus: starting today in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, it’s the American Jump Rope National Championship. Dr. June Robertson McCarroll Was the Valley’s First Woman Doctor—but She’s Best Known for a Transportation Innovation (Coachella Valley Independent) American Jump Rope National Championship Drive over to our Patreon page and back this

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00:03:10

Fashion Week: The Jumpsuit Century

Cool Weird Awesome with Brady Carlson ·

2025/06/27

We’re replaying some of our favorite shows about clothes and the people who wear them. In this episode from May 2019, the fascinating and unlikely history of the garment that got its name because it was the outfit of choice for people jumping out of airplanes. Plus: we know there’s no jumpsuit like an Elvis jumpsuit. Quartz noted that one of the King’s suits, the white peacock-themed one, sold at auction in 2008 for a record $300,000.Jumpsuits (Quartz)Elvis Hoodie (GearHuman)Back Cool Weird Awesome

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00:02:51

Fashion Week: The Fabric With A Built-In Cooling System

Cool Weird Awesome with Brady Carlson ·

2025/06/26

We’re replaying some of our favorite shows about clothes and the people who wear them. In this episode from August 2020, a research team in China invents a fabric that can transfer heat away from us and back into the surrounding air. Plus: for National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day, the story of the biggest chocolate chip cookie of all time. New fabric could help keep you cool in the summer, even without A/C (Science Daily)Largest biscuit / cookie (Guinness World Records)Nobody’s cooler than the Cool

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00:02:38

Fashion Week: The Plastic Bags Of Today Could Be The...

Cool Weird Awesome with Brady Carlson ·

2025/06/25

We’re replaying some of our favorite shows about clothes and the people who wear them. In this episode from July 2021, a multi-country research project thinks old plastic bags might be useful to the fashion industry. 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

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00:03:05

Fashion Week: Bioprinting Clothes (And More) Out Of...

Cool Weird Awesome with Brady Carlson ·

2025/06/24

We’re replaying some of our favorite shows about clothes and the people who wear them. In this episode from May 2021, a research team at the University of Rochester and the Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands makes some big advancements in bioprinting, which is 3D printing with living materials. Plus: a pro golfer and a race car driver set a world record for longest golf drive into a moving vehicle. Will your future clothes be made of algae? (University of Rochester)Watch a Pro Golfer

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00:03:20

Fashion Week: The First Top Hat Got Its Inventor...

Cool Weird Awesome with Brady Carlson ·

2025/06/23

We’re replaying some of our favorite shows about clothes and the people who wear them. In this episode from January 2021, the story of the debut of the top hat, and what a debut it was. Plus: the time in 1974 that a team at MIT built a 35 pound yo-yo and dropped it from a 21 story building. History of the Top Hat (International Formalwear Association via Archive.org)James H. Williams, Jr. and the world’s largest yo-yo, 1974 (MIT Black History)Hats or not, we think our Patreon backers are tops

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