The Cracked Podcast

Serious Talk. It's Jack's last episode. After 11 years at Cracked, our intrepid editor-in-chief and podcast host extraordinaire Jack O'Brien is hanging up the cleats to tackle new projects, end world hunger and find the Zodiac killer.

But that doesn't mean this podcast is going anywhere. Jack is joined this week by NEW Cracked Podcast host Alex Schmidt as they sit down with Michael Swaim, Daniel O'Brien, Soren Bowie and Jason Pargin (aka David Wong) to reminisce over Jack's 11 years of service, how they all landed at Cracked and their favorite Cracked Podcast topics from the first 182 episodes.

To keep up with Jack, be sure to follow him on Twitter: twitter.com/jack_obrien

To follow your new Cracked Podcast host, you can find him on Twitter: twitter.com/alexschmidty

And if you need some hot new threads for the summer, be sure to check out our new Cracked Podcast MERCH: https://goo.gl/2J8Nh3

Also, be sure to come see the next live taping of the Cracked Podcast on Saturday, June 10th at 7pm at the UCB Sunset Theater in Los Angeles. Guests inlcude Daniel O'Brien, Tom Reimann, Jamie Loftus (The Bechdel Cast) and Dave Schilling (Bleacher Report, Grantland, Vice) as the Cracked crew discusses insane behind the scenes stories from movies and tv shows. Tickets are $7 and available here: https://goo.gl/lsCBDm

Footnotes:

Video: TED: James Flynn: Why Our IQ Levels Are Higher Than Our Grandparents: https://goo.gl/MMRp4L

Video: Clip from Fractured Flickers: https://goo.gl/UPBhG2

Book: Michael Shermer: Why People Believe Weird Things: https://goo.gl/fXBHp7

Podcast: Cracked: Insane Simpsons Easter Eggs (Explained By Simpsons Writers): https://goo.gl/zhfWQb

Podcast: Cracked: More Simpsons Writer's Room Stories (From a Simpsons Writer): https://goo.gl/7HVBM6

Book: Daniel O'Brien: How to Fight Presidents: https://goo.gl/yXfDjH

Article: Esquire: Todd Marinovich: The Man Who Never Was: https://goo.gl/C89avK

Podcast: Cracked: Why Class in America Isn't About Income: https://goo.gl/2tliZx

Article: Siderea: Class (American): https://goo.gl/tlmX4S

Article: Slate Star Codex: Staying Classy: https://goo.gl/2eYdF6

Article: Slate Star Codex: I Can Tolerate Anything Except the Outgroup: https://goo.gl/ZrwgcS

The world is full of systems and orders that we never really question because they've seemingly exited forever. And we're not talking about overthrowing the government or anything, we just mean basic things like how we take out our trash, when we vote and what movies we like to see when.

Think about it, why do all the big action-tentpole movies come out in the summer? Is it because kids are out of school? Beauty and the Beast has made a half-billion dollars domestically but it came out in March. If the next Spiderman came out in February, would nobody see it? Of course people would, so again, why all the big movies in the Summer?

This week on the podcast we're asking questions like these to some of the big staples of modern living. Jack O'Brien is joined by Adam Ganser and Alex Schmidt. They ask if there's a better way we can be voting, doing taxes and disposing of our trash, and make simple tweaks to improve professional sports, comic book movies and the 5-day work week.

And be sure to come see the next live taping of the Cracked Podcast on Saturday, June 10th at 7pm at the UCB Sunset Theater in Los Angeles. Guests inlcude Daniel O'Brien, Tom Reimann, Jamie Loftus (The Bechdel Cast) and Dave Schilling (Bleacher Report, Grantland, Vice) as the Cracked crew discusses insane behind the scenes stories from movies and tv shows. Tickets are $7 and available here: https://goo.gl/lsCBDm

Footnotes:

Article: Cracked: 5 Terrible Ideas That Solved Huge Global Problems: https://goo.gl/d4a0y

Article: New York Times: Seeking the Truth in Refuse (about William Rathje garbologist) https://goo.gl/eLjCfi

Podcast/Article: NPR: Utah Finds Surprising Benefits In 4-Day Workweek: https://goo.gl/RFic4C

Article: CNN Money: The 4-Day Work Week Is Real For Employees At These Companies: https://goo.gl/K7H1mA

Article: Slate: Maybe Making Election Day a Holiday Wouldn't Really Work: https://goo.gl/GDrj0u

Podcast/Article: NPR: Stanford Professor Loses Political Battle To Simplify Tax Filing Process: https://goo.gl/PzUDQq

Podcast: The Cracked Podcast: Real Superpowers and New Human Senses: https://goo.gl/gusNq4

Article: The New Yorker: Seeing With Your Tongue: https://goo.gl/da1hnQ

Video: Cracked: Why Everybody Wins if Batman & Superman Are Public Domain: https://goo.gl/qRUA5s

The world is full of systems and orders that we never really question because they've seemingly exited forever. And we're not talking about overthrowing the government or anything, we just mean basic things like how we take out our trash, when we vote and what movies we like to see when.

Think about it, why do all the big action-tentpole movies come out in the summer? Is it because kids are out of school? Beauty and the Beast has made a half-billion dollars domestically but it came out in March. If the next Spiderman came out in February, would nobody see it? Of course people would, so again, why all the big movies in the Summer?

This week on the podcast we're asking questions like these to some of the big staples of modern living. Jack O'Brien is joined by Adam Ganser and Alex Schmidt. They ask if there's a better way we can be voting, doing taxes and disposing of our trash, and make simple tweaks to improve professional sports, comic book movies and the 5-day work week.

And be sure to come see the next live taping of the Cracked Podcast on Saturday, June 10th at 7pm at the UCB Sunset Theater in Los Angeles. Guests inlcude Daniel O'Brien, Tom Reimann, Jamie Loftus (The Bechdel Cast) and Dave Schilling (Bleacher Report, Grantland, Vice) as the Cracked crew discusses insane behind the scenes stories from movies and tv shows. Tickets are $7 and available here: https://goo.gl/lsCBDm

Footnotes:

Article: Cracked: 5 Terrible Ideas That Solved Huge Global Problems: https://goo.gl/d4a0y

Article: New York Times: Seeking the Truth in Refuse (about William Rathje garbologist) https://goo.gl/eLjCfi

Podcast/Article: NPR: Utah Finds Surprising Benefits In 4-Day Workweek: https://goo.gl/RFic4C

Article: CNN Money: The 4-Day Work Week Is Real For Employees At These Companies: https://goo.gl/K7H1mA

Article: Slate: Maybe Making Election Day a Holiday Wouldn't Really Work: https://goo.gl/GDrj0u

Podcast/Article: NPR: Stanford Professor Loses Political Battle To Simplify Tax Filing Process: https://goo.gl/PzUDQq

Podcast: The Cracked Podcast: Real Superpowers and New Human Senses: https://goo.gl/gusNq4

Article: The New Yorker: Seeing With Your Tongue: https://goo.gl/da1hnQ

Video: Cracked: Why Everybody Wins if Batman & Superman Are Public Domain: https://goo.gl/qRUA5s

Even though drugs and alcohol have been a social lubricant since before we could write anything down, we like to think of history as this boring, stuffy museum exhibit where kings and queens drank iced tea, ate flavorless biscuits and had sex like our parents did (they've never had sex!). But hold onto your molly water, legal marijuana and fidget spinners, kids: history is as shitfaced wasted as any frat party or music festival, you just have to dig a little deep to find it. Also, it's hard for high school history teachers to talk about how great Ulysses S. Grant was and talk about how drunk he was the whole civil war. So they just don't mention that last part. American hero!

In this week's episode, Jack O'Brien is joined by Cracked's Carmen Angelica, Alex Schmidt and Michael Swaim, as well as comedian Blake Wexler, for a deep dive into some of history's most secretly inebriated moments. They'll talk about wars that were almost started and wars that were ended thanks to booze, some surprisingly great accomplishments powered by LSD (please don't try them at home) and the American president who was so drunk all the time, it sort of puts the whole Trump presidency into horrifying perspective.

Footnotes:

Check out Blake Wexler's New Podcast 'Ya Booze Ya News': https://goo.gl/6Y1ZxS

​Article: Cracked: 6 Historic Events You Didn't Realize Everyone Was Drunk For: https://goo.gl/kOTF2F

Article: Cracked: The 5 Most Important Things Done While Blackout Drunk: https://goo.gl/TNzBHt

Article: Cracked: The 7 Most Unexpectedly Awesome Parties in History: https://goo.gl/eZHm2

Article: Cracked: The 5 Greatest Things Ever Accomplished While High: https://goo.gl/psM6y

Article: Cracked: The 5 Most Inspiring Things Ever Accomplished While Drunk: https://goo.gl/RWKf

Article: Cracked 5 Epic Bouts of Drunkenness That Made The History Books: https://goo.gl/cUhjDU

Article: Cracked: 7 Great Works of Literature Written While Wasted: https://goo.gl/XbMxOI

​

Article: The Guardian: Drunk in Charge: https://goo.gl/JuPlE0

Article: The AV Club: 45 Years Ago Today Dock Ellis Pitched a No-Hitter While High on LSD: https://goo.gl/kFK1yv

​Video: Bill Clinton Laughs At Drunk Boris Yeltsin: https://goo.gl/aEcvkT​

Even though drugs and alcohol have been a social lubricant since before we could write anything down, we like to think of history as this boring, stuffy museum exhibit where kings and queens drank iced tea, ate flavorless biscuits and had sex like our parents did (they've never had sex!). But hold onto your molly water, legal marijuana and fidget spinners, kids: history is as shitfaced wasted as any frat party or music festival, you just have to dig a little deep to find it. Also, it's hard for high school history teachers to talk about how great Ulysses S. Grant was and talk about how drunk he was the whole civil war. So they just don't mention that last part. American hero!

In this week's episode, Jack O'Brien is joined by Cracked's Carmen Angelica, Alex Schmidt and Michael Swaim, as well as comedian Blake Wexler, for a deep dive into some of history's most secretly inebriated moments. They'll talk about wars that were almost started and wars that were ended thanks to booze, some surprisingly great accomplishments powered by LSD (please don't try them at home) and the American president who was so drunk all the time, it sort of puts the whole Trump presidency into horrifying perspective.

Footnotes:

Check out Blake Wexler's New Podcast 'Ya Booze Ya News': https://goo.gl/6Y1ZxS

​Article: Cracked: 6 Historic Events You Didn't Realize Everyone Was Drunk For: https://goo.gl/kOTF2F

Article: Cracked: The 5 Most Important Things Done While Blackout Drunk: https://goo.gl/TNzBHt

Article: Cracked: The 7 Most Unexpectedly Awesome Parties in History: https://goo.gl/eZHm2

Article: Cracked: The 5 Greatest Things Ever Accomplished While High: https://goo.gl/psM6y

Article: Cracked: The 5 Most Inspiring Things Ever Accomplished While Drunk: https://goo.gl/RWKf

Article: Cracked 5 Epic Bouts of Drunkenness That Made The History Books: https://goo.gl/cUhjDU

Article: Cracked: 7 Great Works of Literature Written While Wasted: https://goo.gl/XbMxOI

​

Article: The Guardian: Drunk in Charge: https://goo.gl/JuPlE0

Article: The AV Club: 45 Years Ago Today Dock Ellis Pitched a No-Hitter While High on LSD: https://goo.gl/kFK1yv

​Video: Bill Clinton Laughs At Drunk Boris Yeltsin: https://goo.gl/aEcvkT​

Dana Gould is one of comedy's "that guys." His footprint is everywhere -- from writing on top-line hits like The Simpsons to cult-status titles The Ben Stiller Show -- and there's a chance you've never heard of him. If you're like Dana and you've spent the last quarter century hopping from great writers room to great writers room, while still managing to be a stand-up, a podcast host, and the voice of an animated gecko (not that one), you gain insights into life, entertainment and politics that a lot of us aren't privy to.

So on this week's podcast, Jack O'Brien, Daniel O'Brien and Michael Swaim sit down with Dana for an extended conversation about the world-building processes behind The Simpsons and Parks & Rec, Elvis Costello's worst night ever, and the cognitive dissonance of the average Trump supporter. We also ask him about Gex.

Footnotes:

Podcast: Cracked Podcast: Insane Simpsons Easter Eggs (Explained By Simpsons Writers): https://goo.gl/zhfWQb

Podcast: Cracked Podcast: Why Narcissism Is Our National Mental Disorder: https://goo.gl/Mnr0Wh

Podcast: The Dana Gould Hour: Episode Archive: https://goo.gl/HQ0zzl

TV: IFC: Stan Against Evil: https://goo.gl/zmDvud

Article/Podcast: Freakonomics: The Academic Origins of China's One-Child Policy: https://goo.gl/GR02B1

Book: Peter Doggett: You Never Give Me Your Money -- The Beatles After the Breakup: https://goo.gl/bXCDp2

Documentary: The Making of 'Dr. Strangelove': https://goo.gl/G56fqU

​

Article: Cracked: 12 Classic Movie Moments Made Possible By Abuse and Murder: https://goo.gl/hvav0

Article: Cracked: 5 Great Movie Scenes Made Possible By Reckless Endangerment: https://goo.gl/81V33

Check Out Jack's May Spotify Playlist: https://goo.gl/sDnx2L

Dana Gould is one of comedy's "that guys." His footprint is everywhere -- from writing on top-line hits like The Simpsons to cult-status titles The Ben Stiller Show -- and there's a chance you've never heard of him. If you're like Dana and you've spent the last quarter century hopping from great writers room to great writers room, while still managing to be a stand-up, a podcast host, and the voice of an animated gecko (not that one), you gain insights into life, entertainment and politics that a lot of us aren't privy to.

So on this week's podcast, Jack O'Brien, Daniel O'Brien and Michael Swaim sit down with Dana for an extended conversation about the world-building processes behind The Simpsons and Parks & Rec, Elvis Costello's worst night ever, and the cognitive dissonance of the average Trump supporter. We also ask him about Gex.

Footnotes:

Podcast: Cracked Podcast: Insane Simpsons Easter Eggs (Explained By Simpsons Writers): https://goo.gl/zhfWQb

Podcast: Cracked Podcast: Why Narcissism Is Our National Mental Disorder: https://goo.gl/Mnr0Wh

Podcast: The Dana Gould Hour: Episode Archive: https://goo.gl/HQ0zzl

TV: IFC: Stan Against Evil: https://goo.gl/zmDvud

Article/Podcast: Freakonomics: The Academic Origins of China's One-Child Policy: https://goo.gl/GR02B1

Book: Peter Doggett: You Never Give Me Your Money -- The Beatles After the Breakup: https://goo.gl/bXCDp2

Documentary: The Making of 'Dr. Strangelove': https://goo.gl/G56fqU

​

Article: Cracked: 12 Classic Movie Moments Made Possible By Abuse and Murder: https://goo.gl/hvav0

Article: Cracked: 5 Great Movie Scenes Made Possible By Reckless Endangerment: https://goo.gl/81V33

Check Out Jack's May Spotify Playlist: https://goo.gl/sDnx2L

The script is different but the wording is always roughly the same. Every few months some retiring journalist, former tech-mogul or aspiring Tomi Lahren-type goes viral because they've had it up to *here* with these gosh darn millennials. Between their clamoring for single-payer healthcare and their complaining about unpaid internships, it's like they hate America or something. Why can't they appreciate what they've got and be exactly what the generation before wants them to be?We've heard it a million times and, frankly, it's all bullshit. You know how we know? Because every generation has been lodging the same 4 complaints about their successors since the beginning of the written language (and probably before that too). Grug and all the other teens don't care about hunting mammoths like their fathers, they just sit around playing with those newfangled *wheels* all day. As long as we keep having kids, this will happen until the end of time.On this week's podcast, resident Gen-X'er-in-chief Jack O'Brien welcomes young upstarts Katie Goldin, Brett Rader and Josh Sargent onto the show to discuss why this never-ending argument is bullshit. They discuss some flaws in logic behind popular anti-millennial rants and call out some shady statistics that news outlets circulate to prop-up these arguments.And make sure to get tickets to our next LIVE Cracked Podcast, coming up on Saturday, May 13th at 7pm at the UCB Sunset Theatre in Los Angeles. Jack O'Brien is joined by Cracked's Carmen Angelica, Alex Schmidt and Michael Swaim, and comedian Blake Wexler to combine the podcast's two favorite topics: great moments in history and binge drinking. They'll discuss the drafting of the US Constitution, the Russian Revolution and other famous moments in history where everyone was completely sh*tfaced. Tickets are only $7 and available here:  https://goo.gl/PWmm2y Footnotes:Article: Cracked: This Millennial Rant Deserves A Trophy For Being Most Wrong: https://goo.gl/7xeex8 Article: The Society Pages: Adventures in Garbage-Millennial Confirmation Bias: https://goo.gl/cri4JA Article: Cracked: 5 Lies Millennials And Baby Boomers Believe About Each Other: https://goo.gl/lFWuCt Article: Cracked: 4 Terrible Parts of Pop Culture (With Weird Bright Sides): https://goo.gl/fIEPXj Article: The New Yorker: The Big Uneasy: https://goo.gl/RyCzrx Article: The New Yorker: The "Founder" Generation's Creation Myth: https://goo.gl/Fn73e8 Book: Morley Winograd: Millennial Momentum:  https://goo.gl/PfxdRb This episode is brought to you by Audible (www.audible.com/CRACKED) and Adam and Eve (www.adamandeve.com code: CRACKED).

The script is different but the wording is always roughly the same. Every few months some retiring journalist, former tech-mogul or aspiring Tomi Lahren-type goes viral because they've had it up to *here* with these gosh darn millennials. Between their clamoring for single-payer healthcare and their complaining about unpaid internships, it's like they hate America or something. Why can't they appreciate what they've got and be exactly what the generation before wants them to be?We've heard it a million times and, frankly, it's all bullshit. You know how we know? Because every generation has been lodging the same 4 complaints about their successors since the beginning of the written language (and probably before that too). Grug and all the other teens don't care about hunting mammoths like their fathers, they just sit around playing with those newfangled *wheels* all day. As long as we keep having kids, this will happen until the end of time.On this week's podcast, resident Gen-X'er-in-chief Jack O'Brien welcomes young upstarts Katie Goldin, Brett Rader and Josh Sargent onto the show to discuss why this never-ending argument is bullshit. They discuss some flaws in logic behind popular anti-millennial rants and call out some shady statistics that news outlets circulate to prop-up these arguments.And make sure to get tickets to our next LIVE Cracked Podcast, coming up on Saturday, May 13th at 7pm at the UCB Sunset Theatre in Los Angeles. Jack O'Brien is joined by Cracked's Carmen Angelica, Alex Schmidt and Michael Swaim, and comedian Blake Wexler to combine the podcast's two favorite topics: great moments in history and binge drinking. They'll discuss the drafting of the US Constitution, the Russian Revolution and other famous moments in history where everyone was completely sh*tfaced. Tickets are only $7 and available here:  https://goo.gl/PWmm2y Footnotes:Article: Cracked: This Millennial Rant Deserves A Trophy For Being Most Wrong: https://goo.gl/7xeex8 Article: The Society Pages: Adventures in Garbage-Millennial Confirmation Bias: https://goo.gl/cri4JA Article: Cracked: 5 Lies Millennials And Baby Boomers Believe About Each Other: https://goo.gl/lFWuCt Article: Cracked: 4 Terrible Parts of Pop Culture (With Weird Bright Sides): https://goo.gl/fIEPXj Article: The New Yorker: The Big Uneasy: https://goo.gl/RyCzrx Article: The New Yorker: The "Founder" Generation's Creation Myth: https://goo.gl/Fn73e8 Book: Morley Winograd: Millennial Momentum:  https://goo.gl/PfxdRb This episode is brought to you by Audible (www.audible.com/CRACKED) and Adam and Eve (www.adamandeve.com code: CRACKED).

The term 'movie magic' typically refers to the technical brilliance of bringing dinosaurs to life onscreen or how Denzel Washington can make an entire theatre of men and women pregnant with a single knowing glance. But there's a second type of movie magic that often goes overlooked: when movies are so good, we don't notice when their characters' plans' make absolutely no sense. All the great ones do this. In 'Return of the Jedi', all of the main characters get captured attempting to break Han Solo out of Jabba's palace, but it's all good because that was seemingly their plan all along? Why wait to get captured when you can just drop in, lightsabers blazing, bust your dude out of the carbonite and smoke fools in an epic prison breakout? Seems like Luke wanted to fight the Rancor all along.There's a whole category of these where bad guys try to weaponize monsters. From the 'Alien' series to 'Jurassic World', it's just a bad idea. Christopher Nolan is a real magician when it comes to bad movie plans. 'The Dark Knight', 'The Dark Knight Rises', and 'The Prestige' all have glaring examples of movie schemes that don't hold up under an ounce of scrutiny.So, join Jack O'Brien, Michael Swaim, and David Christopher Bell as they discuss the failing of Nolan's villains, why 'Westworld' makes no sense, and how the dudes in 'Jaws' had a bigger boat the whole damn time.And make sure to get tickets to our next LIVE Cracked Podcast, coming up on Saturday, May 13th at 7pm at the UCB Sunset Theatre in Los Angeles. Jack O'Brien is joined by Cracked's Carmen Angelica, Alex Schmidt and Michael Swaim, and comedian Blake Wexler to combine the podcast's two favorite topics: great moments in history and binge drinking. They'll discuss the drafting of the US Constitution, the Russian Revolution and other famous moments in history where everyone was completely sh*tfaced. Tickets are only $7 and available here:  https://goo.gl/PWmm2y Footnotes:Video: Cracked: 3 Ridiculous Movie Schemes That Make No Sense:  https://goo.gl/BGkAFW Article: Cracked: 6 Terrible Plans in Movies That Just Sort of Work Out:  https://goo.gl/DA0Hk Article: Cracked: The 6 Most Pointlessly Elaborate Movie Murder Plots:  https://goo.gl/nuKW4V Article: Cracked: 6 Famous Movie Villains Whose Evil Schemes Make Zero Sense:  https://goo.gl/zkR1RT Article: Cracked: 6 Huge Movie Plot Twists That Caused Even Bigger Plot Holes:  https://goo.gl/L3957 This episode is brought to you by Squarespace (www.squarespace.com code: CRACKED), and ZipRecruiter (www.ziprecruiter.com/cracked).