Cool Weird Awesome With Brady Carlson

Today in 1938, a California woman took a stand in court for the right to wear slacks instead of a dress in court. Here's the story of Helen Hulick and her campaign against "anti-slackism." Plus: today in 1929, the release of the film "Atlantic," which was actually the same film made multiple times in multiple languages.  California Retrospective: In 1938, L.A. woman went to jail for wearing slacks in courtroom (Los Angeles Times) Did a Woman Go To Jail for Wearing Slacks in 1938? (Snopes) ATLANTIC (1929) (BFI)   Not all heroes wear capes, some back our show on Patreon --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support

Today in 1943, a US Navy ship almost caused a gigantic tragedy, by inadvertently launching a torpedo at the president of the United States. Plus: this month in 1932, the UK’s Home Office got a complaint about ancient drawing known as the Cerne Abbas Giant and his “impassioned obscenity.” This WWII Naval Ship Was So Unlucky, It Almost Killed FDR (Task and Purpose) To Whom It May Concern (Futility Closet) Help us hit our targets as a backer on Patreon! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support

For Veterans Day, the story of the Comanche Code Talkers, 17 veterans of the second World War who created an unbroken code in their native language that saved lives and helped the US military effort.  Comanche language helped win World War II (US Army) Comanche Code Talkers (Comanche National Museum and Cultural Center) 124th Signal Battalion (ArmyHistory.org) --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support

Today in 1958, the Hope Diamond became property of the Smithsonian Institution. Legend has it the giant blue diamond carries with it a centuries-old curse... even though some of its owners have actually done just fine for themselves. Plus: a statue in Spain pays tribute to a heavy metal enthusiast known as the Rocker Grandma.  History of the Hope Diamond (Smithsonian Institution) The Secret History Of The Hope Diamond: How Pierre Cartier Sold A Cursed Jewel (Forbes) This Granny Rocks! (Eye on Spain) The real gems are our Patreon backers --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support

There's a new technique that could help people trying to fend off chronic nightmares - and it involves playing "neutral" piano chords at just the right times. Plus: an art museum in Germany discovers one of its Mondrian paintings has been on display upside down for decades! A piano chord helped reduce chronic nightmares, a study showed (Washington Post) Painting by Mondrian has been hanging upside down in German museum for decades (Paudal) Our Patreon backers keep this show sounding good every day --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support

It's National Tongue Twister Day, and among those who practice tongue twisters as part of their training are auctioneers. Here's a look at how they do their work. Plus: a visit to Montana's famous Ringing Rocks.  What it takes to be an art auctioneer at the largest auction house in the world (Insider) Auctioneer Practice Drills & Exercises (Western College of Auctioneering)   Ringing Rocks Point of Interest (Visit MT) No need to bid, just back our show on Patreon for $1 a month! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support

This day in 1916 was an important day in US Postal Service history - a rule change that came after the community of Vernal, Utah basically had a bank mailed to them, in installments of bricks. Plus: a developer in England tore down a pub that was considered a historic site, so they had to put the original pub back up in its original location with the original bricks. The Bank of Vernal: The "Parcel Post Bank" (US Postal Service) VERNAL'S PARCEL POST BANK (Utah Humanities) After Illegally Bulldozing Historic London Pub, Developers Were Ordered to Rebuild it ‘Brick by Brick’ (Good News Network) Our Patreon backers help us build every episode of the show --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support

Today in 1980, six counties in southern New Jersey voted on whether they should strike out on their own and become a separate state of South Jersey. And five of those counties actually voted yes! Plus: the Peace Tower on Canada's Parliament Hill has a giant clock that cannot ever be turned backwards. So how does it handle the end of Daylight Saving Time?  South Jersey voted to secede from NJ (App.) The 10 Most Iconic Clock Towers in the World (Architectural Digest) No matter which state you're in, you can help support this 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 Sandwich Day, and there are lots of great ones out there. The worst sandwich has a pretty clear champion - the Raines sandwich. Though to be fair, it wasn’t ever really intended to be eaten. Plus: back in 1984, the number one song on the Billboard pop chart was “Caribbean Queen” by Billy Ocean. He actually recorded different versions of the song featuring queens from different parts of the world to have hits everywhere.  To Evade Pre-Prohibition Drinking Laws, New Yorkers Created the World’s Worst Sandwich (Atlas Obscura) Billy Ocean - European Queen (Discogs)  Our Patreon backers make this show the best --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support

Around this time in 2001, eccentric Hollywood legend Marlon Brando held a 10-day seminar called “Lying For A Living" where he alternately taught acting and did very, very Marlon Brando things. Plus: this weekend in Florence, South Carolina, it’s the South Carolina Pecan Music and Food Festival. Marlon Brando’s Real Last Tango: The Never-Told Story of His Secret A-List Acting School (The Hollywood Reporter) SC Pecan Music & Food Festival  We coulda been a contender, we coulda been somebody. Oh wait, our Patreon backers made us somebody --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support

Today in 1800, President John Adams first moved into the president's house, which, despite rumors to the contrary, was always a White House. Here's how it gets repainted. Plus: for National Calzone Day, a visit to a place in West Virginia that serves a gigantic calzone challenge.  It takes a lot of work to keep the White House painted white! (White House Historical Association on Twitter) The Biggest Calzone In The World Is Melt In Your Mouth Good At This West Virginia Pizza Joint (Only In West Virginia) Every episode of our show gets a splash of color from our Patreon backers --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support

Happy Halloween! Today we pay a visit to a house in Waxahachie, Texas that's a real-world replica of the home of TV's Munsters. Plus: today in 2002, a soccer record that probably won’t ever be equaled: a team from Madagascar scored 149 goals against itself.  Welcome to the ‘Munsters’ Mansion in Waxahachie (Texas Monthly) Mingle with monsters (and Marilyn) at the Munster Mansion, a perfect replica of the fictional family’s house (Roadtrippers) Team repeatedly scores own goals to protest refs (ESPN) We'd gladly share all our Halloween candy with our Patreon backers --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support

Today in 1883, a bizarre headline in the New York Times: “Actor Demoralized By Tomatoes.” Why have audiences thrown tomatoes and other foods at performers? Plus: this weekend in Yardley, Pennsylvania, it’s Canal-O-Ween, a special stroll through a waterway of lit pumpkins.  AN ACTOR DEMORALIZED BY TOMATOES. (The New York Times) HAS THERE EVER BEEN AN ACTUAL CASE OF SOMEONE BEING PELTED WITH TOMATOES DURING A PERFORMANCE? (Today I Found Out) Canal-O-Ween: Pumpkins. Fire. Water. Magic - A Yardley, PA Experience (Experience Yardley) We want to throw a party for our Patreon backers, so join the party that keeps this show growing! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support

If you have fields, you almost certainly have weeds. Pulling them can take a lot of time or money, but farmers now have a new way to make that part of the job a lot easier: a weed-zapping robot that uses lasers. Plus: this weekend in Hiawatha, Kansas, runners are set to take part in the Great Pumpkin Relay. This new farming robot uses lasers to kill 200,000 weeds per hour (Interesting Engineering) City of Hiawatha October 2022 newsletter (City of Hiawatha) Our Patreon backers make every episode of this show grow, join them with your support today! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support

It's National Mule Day, so it's a great day to celebrate a mule who singlehandedly… showed up at some Major League Baseball games. Here's the story of the official mule mascot of the New York Mets. Plus: The Instagram account Les Facades de Paris focuses on the fabulous fronts of Paris’s shops, homes and other buildings. Double Bray: When the New York Mets Replaced Mr. Met With a Live Mule (Mental Floss) lesfacadesdeparis (Instagram via Messy Nessy) Our Patreon backers carry us forward every day  --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support

Today in 1944, the greatest concert in Carnegie Hall history, featuring a truly incomparable singer: the one and only Florence Foster Jenkins. Here's how the woman sometimes called the worst opera singer of all time ended up on one of the most famous stages of all time. Plus: today in 1912, the birthday of Grand Ole Opry comedian Minnie Pearl, who's celebrated in her hometown, Centerville, Tennessee, with a large statue made of chicken wire. THE WORST SINGER IN THE WORLD (Pacific Standard)  Remembering Florence Foster Jenkins (Carnegie Hall) Minnie Pearl Chicken Wire Statue (Atlas Obscura) With our Patreon backers we make beautiful music. Er, podcasts --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support

It's United Nations Day, and UN headquarters in New York City is a pretty interesting place if you like geopolitics, world history or beekeeping. Here's a closer look at the UN's own beehives. Plus: a group of artists is raising awareness about the risks of "ghost gear" from fishing boats by making sculptures out of the lost material that resemble the marine life that's in danger.  The United Nations Makes Its Own Honey (Untapped New York) Tons of Discarded Fishing Nets Are Formed into the Wildlife They Entangle in Sculptures by Ghost Net Collective (Colossal) Our Patreon backers keep this hive buzzing --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support

Happy National Apple Day! Today it's the story of Maria Ann Smith, who discovered the tart, juicy green apple now known around the world as the Granny Smith. Plus: today in 1969, the Beatles’ record company, Apple, got a telegram asking if Paul McCartney wanted to come to New York for a pretty special recording session. Who was Granny Smith? (City of Ryde via Archive.org) Jimi Hendrix Sought Paul McCartney for Supergroup with Miles Davis (Rolling Stone) This show grows like an apple tree thanks to our backers on Patreon  --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support

If we’re ever going to get to a world of self-driving cars we’re going to need ways to make sure that world is safe - and one way to keep pedestrians safe near autonomous vehicles may be… googly eyes. Seriously. Plus: this weekend in Pittsburgh, it's the Dirty Dozen Bike Race, which sends riders up the steepest hills in the city. Animated Googly Eyes Could Make Autonomous Cars Safer For Pedestrians (Gizmodo) Pittsburgh Dirty Dozen 2022  Help our show keep on driving as a backer on Patreon --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support

A New York company has developed a process called Inflatable Flexible Factory Formwork that can quickly build inexpensive, sturdy and affordable houses. This may be the one type of inflation people in 2022 want to see more of. Plus: this weekend in Nashville, a literal presidential race at the home of our seventh chief executive.  Structure-inflating construction tech could give 3D printing a run for its money (New Atlas) 7th President 7k Run  Help us build new episodes of this show as a backer on Patreon --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/coolweirdawesome/support