

Cool People Who Did Cool Stuff
Cool Zone Media and iHeartPodcasts
As long as there’s been oppression, there’ve been people fighting it. This weekly podcast dives into history to drag up the wildest rebels, the most beautiful revolts, and all the people who long to be—and fight to be—free. It explores complex stories of resistance that offer lessons and inspiration for us today, focusing on the ensemble casts that make up each act of history. That is to say, this podcast focuses on Cool People Who Did Cool Stuff.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Sep 15, 2025 • 41min
Part One: Public Radio: From the Open Source Origins to the Pacifist Poets
Margaret talks with Bridget Todd about Jagadish Chandra Bose, the inventor of radio, and Kenneth Rexroth, the poet involved in the creation of public radio. Sources: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/kenneth-rexroth https://libcom.org/article/rexroth-kenneth-1905-1982 https://www.montecitojournal.net/2023/05/16/kenneth-rexroth-a-poet-of-montecito/ https://www.britannica.com/technology/telegraph https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/rescue-development-radio/ https://gizmodo.com/a-magician-used-the-first-pirate-radio-station-to-troll-1681527405 https://www.wshu.org/vintage-radio/2015-12-14/so-what-did-marconi-hear https://www.orarc.org/?p=2297 https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v06/n01/george-woodcock/elegy-for-an-anarchist https://discovernikkei.org/en/journal/2022/8/28/kenneth-rexroth/ https://crimethinc.com/2020/12/22/a-poem-by-kenneth-rexroth-painted-across-the-rooftops-of-the-world-on-the-occasion-of-his-birthday https://www.thing.net/~grist/ld/young/revkyoung.htm https://www.bopsecrets.org/rexroth/sf/1961.htm https://www.literatureandarts.com/kenneth-rexroth/project-four-2h97See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sep 14, 2025 • 30min
CZM Book Club: Hermetica, by Alan Lea, Part Seven
Margaret brings you the conclusion of the tale of Hermetica.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sep 10, 2025 • 55min
Part Two: Pirate Radio: From International Waters to Squatted Apartment Buildings
Margaret continues her talk with Bursts about the surprising history of pirate radio and the three way fight for control of the airwaves. Sources: https://files.libcom.org/files/radio-is-my-bomb-part-1.pdf https://files.libcom.org/files/radio-is-my-bomb-part-2.pdf https://files.libcom.org/files/Radio%20Alice.pdf https://autonomies.org/2023/02/italy-autonomia-5/ https://autonomies.org/2023/02/italy-autonomia-5/ https://www.thejournal.ie/ronan-orahilly-radio-caroline-death-5079760-Apr2020/ https://web.archive.org/web/20100524063428/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article7053070.ece https://web.archive.org/web/20071018203739/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2007/09/27/bvradio127.xml&page=1 https://web.archive.org/web/20110719070410/http://www.offshoreradio.de/fleet/shivering.htm https://www.bobleroi.co.uk/ScrapBook/SutchCityPics1/SutchCityPics1.htmlSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sep 8, 2025 • 47min
Part One: Pirate Radio: From International Waters to Squatted Apartment Buildings
Margaret talks with Bursts about the surprising history of pirate radio and the three way fight for control of the airwaves. Sources: https://files.libcom.org/files/radio-is-my-bomb-part-1.pdf https://files.libcom.org/files/radio-is-my-bomb-part-2.pdf https://files.libcom.org/files/Radio%20Alice.pdf https://autonomies.org/2023/02/italy-autonomia-5/ https://autonomies.org/2023/02/italy-autonomia-5/ https://www.thejournal.ie/ronan-orahilly-radio-caroline-death-5079760-Apr2020/ https://web.archive.org/web/20100524063428/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article7053070.ece https://web.archive.org/web/20071018203739/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2007/09/27/bvradio127.xml&page=1 https://web.archive.org/web/20110719070410/http://www.offshoreradio.de/fleet/shivering.htm https://www.bobleroi.co.uk/ScrapBook/SutchCityPics1/SutchCityPics1.htmlSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sep 7, 2025 • 36min
CZM Book Club: Hermetica, by Alan Lea, Part Six
Margaret continues with tale of Hermetica, the generation ship. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sep 3, 2025 • 43min
Part Two: The Surprising Stories Behind Foosball and Air Mail
Margaret continues her talk with Mangesh Hattikudur about the antifascist who invented table soccer and the socialist photographer who invented air mail. Sources: https://spainonthisday.com/alejandro-finisterre-the-inventor-of-table-football https://www.theguardian.com/news/2007/feb/24/guardianobituaries.spain https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alejandro_Finisterre https://historia-hispanica.rah.es/biografias/50737-alejandro-campos-ramirez https://raicesalaire.com/alejandro-finisterre/ https://www.revistadefrente.cl/el-poeta-anarquista-que-invento-el-taca-taca-para-la-ninez-victima-de-la-guerra-civil-espanola/ https://www.adiantegalicia.es/reportaxes/2019/09/08/alejandro-finisterre-la-historia-jamas-contada-del-genio-del-futbolin-en-el-ano-del-centenario-de-su-natalicio.html https://www.lambiek.net/artists/n/nadar.htm https://time.com/5289117/aerial-photography-drones-history/ https://www.thoughtco.com/the-first-impressionist-exhibition-183013See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sep 1, 2025 • 46min
Part One: The Surprising Stories Behind Foosball and Air Mail
Margaret talks with Mangesh Hattikudur about the antifascist who invented table soccer and the socialist photographer who invented air mail. Sources: https://spainonthisday.com/alejandro-finisterre-the-inventor-of-table-football https://www.theguardian.com/news/2007/feb/24/guardianobituaries.spain https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alejandro_Finisterre https://historia-hispanica.rah.es/biografias/50737-alejandro-campos-ramirez https://raicesalaire.com/alejandro-finisterre/ https://www.revistadefrente.cl/el-poeta-anarquista-que-invento-el-taca-taca-para-la-ninez-victima-de-la-guerra-civil-espanola/ https://www.adiantegalicia.es/reportaxes/2019/09/08/alejandro-finisterre-la-historia-jamas-contada-del-genio-del-futbolin-en-el-ano-del-centenario-de-su-natalicio.html https://www.lambiek.net/artists/n/nadar.htmSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Aug 31, 2025 • 29min
CZM Book Club: Hermetica, by Alan Lea, Part Five
Margaret brings you further along into the tale of Hermetica, the generation ship.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Aug 25, 2025 • 37min
Part Two: Alter-globalization Continues: How the Movement of Movements Used Carnivals and Riots to Fight Neoliberalism
Margaret continues talking about how people confronted trade summit after trade summit, fighting tooth, nail, and pom-pom against unelected world governance. Sources: https://crimethinc.com/2021/11/30/epilogue-on-the-movement-against-capitalist-globalization-22-years-after-n30-what-it-can-teach-us-today http://www.ainfos.ca/99/jun/ainfos00181.html https://crimethinc.com/2017/06/18/flashback-to-june-18-1999-the-carnival-against-capital-a-retrospective-video-and-comic https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/para/j18.htmSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Aug 24, 2025 • 38min
CZM Book Club : Hermetica, by Alan Lea, Part Four
Margaret brings you further along into the tale of Hermetica, the generation ship. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.