If You’re Going To Break Into Somebody’s House, Don’t Leave A Finger Behind (Cruel Weird Awful 1)

The world is sometimes a horrible place - and Cruel Weird Awful is here to guide you through the worst of it. Today, the story of a guy who got caught trying to break into somebody's house because the resident slammed the front door on the suspect's finger and when he fled, the finger stayed behind.

By |2023-06-03T13:02:11-04:00June 3, 2023|Categories: Cruel Weird Awful, Podcasts|Tags: , , , |

Ellen Ochoa Blazed Trails In Space (And Played The Flute Up There) (Cool Weird Awesome 633)

For National Hispanic Heritage Month, here's the story of the first Hispanic woman in space, Ellen Ochoa, talented and versatile even by astronaut standards. Plus: an art student in China breaks stuff for art's sake, through a very peculiar vending machine.

The Great Green Wall Is Regreening Parts of Africa’s Sahel (Cool Weird Awesome 559)

It's the World Day to Combat Desertification and Drough, so it's a good time to check in on the Great Green Wall, a multi-country project in and around Africa’s Sahel region to re-green areas that have turned to desert because of overuse, expanding desert and climate change. Plus: a retired couple in China's Gobi Desert have been running their own regreening project for nearly 20 years, planting tens of thousands of drought-resistant trees by themselves! 

By |2021-06-17T09:50:36-04:00June 17, 2021|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , , , , |

Norton I Of San Francisco Declared Himself Emperor Of The United States (Cool Weird Awesome 545)

On the anniversary of the opening of San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge, here's the story of another one of the city's icons: Norton I, a man who proclaimed himself emperor of the United States and people went along with it. Plus: a Chinese millionaire has bought a soccer team and has added himself to the roster, and people are going along with it. 

By |2021-05-27T09:22:52-04:00May 27, 2021|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , , |

Put This Sensor On Your Food And See If It’s Safe To Eat (Cool Weird Awesome 383)

A sensor developed at MIT uses a set of microneedles to push through packaging and determine whether the food inside is safe to eat, which could prevent food waste and help head off outbreaks of salmonella. Plus: did you know China is apparently home to several thousand glass footbridges, where you can walk across and see what's underneath?

By |2021-02-04T10:32:41-05:00September 17, 2020|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , , , |
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