When News Companies Tried To Deliver Newspapers Through Radio Transmissions (Cool Weird Awesome 1232)

Today in 1939, the opening of the World's Fair in New York. One of the inventions featured there was a way that newspapers could broadcast newspapers over the radio and have special receivers print out a copy of the paper for customers.

The “Hairy Eagle” Is A Decoration Made Partly With Abraham Lincoln’s Hair (Cool Weird Awesome 1185)

It's Abe Lincoln's birthday, and if you want to see a small bit of the man himself, you could try heading to Syracuse, New York, where there’s a bit of Abe Lincoln’s hair in a very unusual decoration known as the Hairy Eagle. 

The Emergency Broadcast Alert of 1971 That Wasn’t, At Least Outside Fort Wayne (Cruel Weird Awful 3)

If you were in Fort Wayne, Indiana on February 20, 1971, you might have felt like the end of the world was coming, all thanks to a mix-up from the Emergency Broadcast System.

By |2024-01-19T09:23:36-05:00June 17, 2023|Categories: Cruel Weird Awful, Podcasts|Tags: , , , |

The U.S. Had An Aunt Sammy As Well As An Uncle Sam (Cool Weird Awesome 857)

Today in 1926, America’s aunt made her debut on the airwaves. That would be Aunt Sammy, who gave cooking tips to millions of listeners in the early days of radio.

By |2022-10-03T08:06:50-04:00October 3, 2022|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , , , |

Bats Who Randomly End Up Living Together Sometimes Become Friends (Cool Weird Awesome 757)

If you have any friends that you first met as a roommate or dorm neighbor at college, this show is for you. Research from Ohio State University finds bats can become close when they’re made to live together too.

By |2024-04-18T08:57:28-04:00April 18, 2022|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , |

A Century Ago, Hugo Gernsback Predicted Telemedicine (Cool Weird Awesome 611)

These days, with everything moving further and further online, it's not a surprise that many of us can see our doctors through remote appointments. But a century ago, a radio enthusiast called Hugo Gernsback predicted a way that doctors could examine patients remotely, using radio waves. Plus: a giant blob of old pizza dough has become an odd kind of celebrity in New Orleans. 

By |2023-11-20T06:10:50-05:00September 13, 2021|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , |

Ora Nichols Took Radio Sound Effects To The Next Level (Cool Weird Awesome 595)

Today is National Radio Day, so it's a good day to talk about one of the legends of old-time radio: sound effects virtuoso Ora Nichols.

By |2024-05-06T08:41:09-04:00August 20, 2021|Categories: Cool Weird Awesome, Podcasts|Tags: , , , , , |
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