When Two Frenchmen Apparently Fought A Duel In Hot Air Balloons (Cruel Weird Awful 4)
It's been called “the most ridiculous duel in history": two guys in France apparently decided to duel while they were flying hot air balloons.
Robert Wadlow Was Known For His Heart As Well As His Height (Cool Weird Awesome 955)
Today was the birthday in 1918 of Robert Pershing Wadlow. Fans of world records remember him as the tallest man who ever lived, but there was more to the Alton Giant than his height.
Wanda And Jamal, The Best Accidental Thanksgiving Friends Ever (Cool Weird Awesome 664)
For some people it can be hard to think of anything to be thankful for in this screwy year. But maybe this can help: the story of Wanda Dench and Jamal Hinton, who accidentally ended up together on Thanksgiving and became good friends. Plus: a rainy Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade leads to a very weird situation for one of the iconic giant balloons.
Two Families Escaped East Germany In A Homemade Hot Air Balloon (Cool Weird Awesome 614)
Today in 1979, a story that sounds like it came straight out of a movie: two families in Communist East Germany escaped to the West by making and flying a hot air balloon. Plus: Today in 2018, Denise Mueller-Korenek broke the world record for “fastest bicycle speed in slipstream": 183.9 mph.
“Soft Electronics” Means Even Devices With Holes In Them Could Still Work (Cool Weird Awesome 563)
Our high-tech devices are amazing but also kind of fragile. But a team at Virginia Tech has a solution: “soft electronics” that can not only keep working when they’re damaged, they can heal themselves. Plus: NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Caltech have been using high-altitude balloons to measure seismic activity, and they're hoping to send those balloons someday to monitor Venusquakes!
In This Town, The Pay Phones Are Going To Ring At The Same Time, For Art (Cool Weird Awesome 500)
It's our 500th episode! We're celebrating with a visit to the Compass Festival in Leeds, which will feature an art installation that will ring many of the community's pay phones at exactly the same time.