A “fire in the belly”: it’s a metaphor for motivation that sounds like terrible medical trouble. Our culture tells us a little bit of anger -- a little bit of that ulcerative-sounding “fire in the belly” -- helps us accomplish a little bit more. But what if that phenomenon can go farther? What if righteous anger led to some of the most impressive architecture, music, cartoons, and other great achievements of the past couple centuries? And what if the backstories there are hilarious every time?

On this episode of The Cracked Podcast, Alex Schmidt is joined by comedians Billy Wayne Davis and Rivers Langley for a look at the most incredible things ever done purely out of spite. They’ll dig into tales of 1800s tycoons, 2010s Vermonters, and other noted maniacs re-shaping our cities. They’ll explore how several of your favorite musicians made whole chunks of their catalog just to piss off the label. And in a final look at human motivation itself, they’ll put a microscope on the thin, blurry line between desire and fury.

Footnotes: https://www.cracked.com/podcast/the-12-most-incredible-things-ever-done-purely-out-spite/