Tomorrow in Wales, a race where there are human runners and horses with riders on the same course, trying to get to the finish line ahead of each other. And it all started with an argument in a pub. Plus: starting tomorrow in Brooten, Minnesota, it’s Redhead Creamery Curd Fest.

44th MAN VERSUS HORSE

Redhead Creamery Curd Fest

Race on over to our Patreon page so you can back this show

Today in 1971 that the magazine Record World published an article about a new and very chill radio format that was the precursor of Easy Listening. Plus: this Saturday in New York City, it’s Pigeon Fest.

Music Only for a Woman: The Birth of Easy Listening (JSTOR)

Pigeon Fest

Help keep this show chill as a backer on Patreon

Today in 1841, a newspaper publisher from Belgium put out an article that included a mark he called “un point d’ironie.” The history of punctuation is full of efforts to choose a mark that would make it clear to readers when the writer is being ironic or sarcastic. Plus: a couple in Sweden finds a way to make their home more eco-friendly while keeping them warm during the country's very cold winters.

Can irony really be conveyed with punctuation? (Christian Science Monitor)

Swedish Family Encloses Entire Home in Greenhouse Glass to Create Year-Round Warmth (My Modern Met)

Leave your mark on this show as a backer on Patreon

Today in 2013, the US Supreme Court issued a ruling that put an end to something called the National Raisin Reserve. Here's why the US used to have a massive government stockpile of raisins. Plus: Memoria is a concept for a device for people with Alzheimer’s disease, prompting patients with information they might be trying to remember or use at that moment.

One grower’s grapes of wrath (Washington Post via Archive.org)

memoria home medical device and necklace help people with alzheimer's remember (designboom)

Grow our show as a backer on Patreon

Today in 1926, the birthday of Don Ritchie, a man who helped hundreds of people in the most difficult moments of their lives and helped them find ways to carry on. (If today's topic is uncomfortable for you, no worries, we'll talk with you again tomorrow.) Plus: now underway in Michigan, it's the Mackinac Island Lilac Festival.

If you or someone you know is having thoughts of suicide or a mental health crisis, there is help available right now from the National Suicide Crisis Lifeline at 988

An angel walking among us at The Gap (Sydney Morning Herald)

Mackinac Island Lilac Festival

Our show is listener supported by our backers on Patreon

Today in 1944, D-Day, the largest invasion force ever. There were hundreds of thousands of troops, tens of thousands of vehicles, over 100,000 tons of equipment, and at least one guy playing bagpipes. Plus: today in Franklin, Indiana, it’s the Hoosier Hills Fiber Festival.

Bill Millin (The Economist via Archive.org)

Hoosier Hills Fiber Festival

Make some noise on behalf of our podcast as a backer on Patreon

On any given day, anybody can defeat anybody else. Today in 1989, a not very well known American tennis player proved it with an upset for the ages against one of the top names in the sport. Plus: starting Saturday in Lincoln, Nebraska, it’s the Flatland Juggling Festival.

How Michael Chang defeated Ivan Lendl at the French Open in 1989 (The Guardian)

Flatland Juggling Festival

Want more stories about great upsets? Back our little show on Patreon today

National Cheese Day, and while cheese is one of the world’s most influential foods, that's not the whole story. Some people claim that they can tell the future… through cheese. Plus: for athletes who get tired just thinking about triathlons now have a race of their own: the Nice Tri.

The Un-Brie-Lievable History of Tyromancy (Saveur)

The Nice Tri

It would be really Gouda to back our show on Patreon