The Cracked Podcast

Most disaster movies make cannon fodder out of almost every single living person on the planet who isn't a president, a fighter pilot, or the one scientist who has the key to solving the alien/meteor/whatever problem. What about the rest of us? Isn't there a great story in the Armageddon expanded universe about a bunch of people partying like the world is going to end and then having to go to work the next day?What about the thankless IT workers of S.H.I.E.L.D. or any secret organization of that matter? Where are the stories of the people whose job it is to handle the IT tickets when Darth Vader's hologram doesn't work or Captain America forgets his password?In this live episode recorded at the Comikaze Expo in Los Angeles, Jack O'Brien is joined on a panel by Dan O'Brien, Soren Bowie, Michael Swaim, Tom Reimann, Katie Willert, Alex Schmidt, Adam Tod Brown, Cody Johnson and Josh Sargent to discuss movies that would be completely changed if you viewed them from the point of view of the little people.Also, be sure to buy tickets to our next LIVE podcast on Wednesday, January 6th at 7pm at the UCB Sunset theatre in Los Angeles. Jack will be joined by Dan O'Brien, Alex Schmidt and Carmen Angelica to talk about the frustrating intricacies and strange evolution of the English language. Tickets are only $5 and on sale here:  bit.ly/1OCNQTK

As everything in the world becomes more interconnected and as the cost of recording and storing data sharply decreases, we've seen a steep rise in the importance of statistics. It seems like there isn't a single facet of human life that isn't quantifiable now that our phones and watches are counting each step and and calorie, while Facebook and Twitter collects each thought.If you don't think data is important, look what happens when we lose it, or realize we didn't even have it at all. In 2015 we had two major hacks in Sony and Ashley Madison, found out Volkswagen's data was a complete lie, and discovered we never were even tracking US police shooting deaths, which is completely *$@#ed.2015 was a huge year for both the data we had and the data we lost. In our final episode of the year, Cracked editor-in-chief Jack O'Brien and Creative Director of Video Dan O'Brien are joined by FiveThirtyEight's Jody Avirgan, host of What's the Point, to recap the year in data.Also, be sure to buy tickets to our next LIVE podcast on Wednesday, January 6th at 7pm at the UCB Sunset theatre in Los Angeles. Jack will be joined by Dan O'Brien, Alex Schmidt and Carmen Angelica to talk about the frustrating intricacies and strange evolution of the English language. Tickets are only $5 and on sale here:  http://bit.ly/1OCNQTK

As everything in the world becomes more interconnected and as the cost of recording and storing data sharply decreases, we've seen a steep rise in the importance of statistics. It seems like there isn't a single facet of human life that isn't quantifiable now that our phones and watches are counting each step and and calorie, while Facebook and Twitter collects each thought.If you don't think data is important, look what happens when we lose it, or realize we didn't even have it at all. In 2015 we had two major hacks in Sony and Ashley Madison, found out Volkswagen's data was a complete lie, and discovered we never were even tracking US police shooting deaths, which is completely *$@#ed.2015 was a huge year for both the data we had and the data we lost. In our final episode of the year, Cracked editor-in-chief Jack O'Brien and Creative Director of Video Dan O'Brien are joined by FiveThirtyEight's Jody Avirgan, host of What's the Point, to recap the year in data.Also, be sure to buy tickets to our next LIVE podcast on Wednesday, January 6th at 7pm at the UCB Sunset theatre in Los Angeles. Jack will be joined by Dan O'Brien, Alex Schmidt and Carmen Angelica to talk about the frustrating intricacies and strange evolution of the English language. Tickets are only $5 and on sale here:  http://bit.ly/1OCNQTK

Take a trip in your mind back to May 18th, 1999. Bill Clinton was the president, 'Livin La Vida Loca' and 'No Scrubs' were at the top of the music charts, and there was hope that 'The Phantom Menace' would be a great movie. Then the next day happened; the movie was released, and a bit of our collective innocence was forever lost. There are  videos  of fans losing their shit with anticipation lining up to see the movie, and their reactions leaving the theater two hours later. Most said they loved it, but you can hear the twinge of doubt in their voices and see a blankness in their eyes, as if the brain was fighting itself, literally incapable of believing that the movie sucked. And in the coming years we obviously came to a consensus about the prequels: they were the most vile of garbage and George Lucas was persona non grata in the film industry.It's sixteen years later and we now hope we're in a different place, but it's easy to feel the parallels between where we are now and where we were in May 1999. We have no idea what 'The Force Awakens' will bring us later this week. We hope for the best, but also hope we're not too cynical in expecting the worst. On this week's podcast, Jack O'Brien is joined by Cracked executive editor Jason Pargin (aka David Wong) for a deep dive into the history of Star Wars and how we got to this very moment. They discuss what the original trilogy got right, where the prequels went wrong, and the complicated genius of George Lucas.

Take a trip in your mind back to May 18th, 1999. Bill Clinton was the president, 'Livin La Vida Loca' and 'No Scrubs' were at the top of the music charts, and there was hope that 'The Phantom Menace' would be a great movie. Then the next day happened; the movie was released, and a bit of our collective innocence was forever lost. There are  videos  of fans losing their shit with anticipation lining up to see the movie, and their reactions leaving the theater two hours later. Most said they loved it, but you can hear the twinge of doubt in their voices and see a blankness in their eyes, as if the brain was fighting itself, literally incapable of believing that the movie sucked. And in the coming years we obviously came to a consensus about the prequels: they were the most vile of garbage and George Lucas was persona non grata in the film industry.It's sixteen years later and we now hope we're in a different place, but it's easy to feel the parallels between where we are now and where we were in May 1999. We have no idea what 'The Force Awakens' will bring us later this week. We hope for the best, but also hope we're not too cynical in expecting the worst. On this week's podcast, Jack O'Brien is joined by Cracked executive editor Jason Pargin (aka David Wong) for a deep dive into the history of Star Wars and how we got to this very moment. They discuss what the original trilogy got right, where the prequels went wrong, and the complicated genius of George Lucas.

From 'Mad Max' to 'San Andreas' to 'The Avengers,' the most popular movies of our times are about how we fear our world will end. We're obsessed with stories of drought, natural disaster, nuclear war, zombies, aliens and robots. We fear the day science fiction turns into science fact, and while some movie apocalypses are basically pure make-believe, others seem eminently possible.So what are we doing about the threats of water and energy shortages? And are we destined to play out the doomsday scenarios we see in popular science fiction?In this special bonus episode taped live at the UCB Sunset theatre in Los Angeles, Jack O'Brien, Alex Schmidt and Michael Swaim are joined by three amazing guests to answer these questions and elaborate on the current state of the end of the world. On the science-fiction front, they're joined by Akiva Goldsman, the Academy Award-winning screenwriter of 'A Beautiful Mind' and 'I Am Legend'. And on the real science side, they're joined by Eric Fitch, whose company Purpose Energy is turning wastewater from beer into renewable energy, and Jon Freedman, whose working to shape international and domestic water policies on behalf of GE Water & Power.

From 'Mad Max' to 'San Andreas' to 'The Avengers,' the most popular movies of our times are about how we fear our world will end. We're obsessed with stories of drought, natural disaster, nuclear war, zombies, aliens and robots. We fear the day science fiction turns into science fact, and while some movie apocalypses are basically pure make-believe, others seem eminently possible.So what are we doing about the threats of water and energy shortages? And are we destined to play out the doomsday scenarios we see in popular science fiction?In this special bonus episode taped live at the UCB Sunset theatre in Los Angeles, Jack O'Brien, Alex Schmidt and Michael Swaim are joined by three amazing guests to answer these questions and elaborate on the current state of the end of the world. On the science-fiction front, they're joined by Akiva Goldsman, the Academy Award-winning screenwriter of 'A Beautiful Mind' and 'I Am Legend'. And on the real science side, they're joined by Eric Fitch, whose company Purpose Energy is turning wastewater from beer into renewable energy, and Jon Freedman, whose working to shape international and domestic water policies on behalf of GE Water & Power.

In 186 3, German chemist Julius Wilbrand was trying to make yellow dye and what he came up with was trinitrotoluene, also known as TNT . Twenty years went by until his creation was actually discovered to be explosive and another twenty went by until the first armies started using TNT to blow stuff up. So what was originally just a yellow dye for some lederhosen in the 19th century eventually became one of the most widely used and deadly explosives of the 20th. On this week's podcast, Jack O'Brien is joined by Cracked editors Soren Bowie and Kristi Harrison to share some of the various inventions and ideas throughout history that started off innocent, yet grew into something horrific. They talk about how a single letter in a medical journal started the heroin epidemic, how Hitler used America to model his empire, and how a conversation over a beer led to 160 million women disappearing from history.

In 186 3, German chemist Julius Wilbrand was trying to make yellow dye and what he came up with was trinitrotoluene, also known as TNT . Twenty years went by until his creation was actually discovered to be explosive and another twenty went by until the first armies started using TNT to blow stuff up. So what was originally just a yellow dye for some lederhosen in the 19th century eventually became one of the most widely used and deadly explosives of the 20th. On this week's podcast, Jack O'Brien is joined by Cracked editors Soren Bowie and Kristi Harrison to share some of the various inventions and ideas throughout history that started off innocent, yet grew into something horrific. They talk about how a single letter in a medical journal started the heroin epidemic, how Hitler used America to model his empire, and how a conversation over a beer led to 160 million women disappearing from history.

In Ron Howard's 1985 movie 'Cocoon,' a group of elderly people living in a Florida retirement community become magically rejuvenated by aliens. It plays out as a fantasy, a hilarious what-if scenario about old people acting young. The movie seems more fiction than science, but in the 30 years since the film's release, the branch of medicine devoted to curing aging has grown into possibly the next big thing.Aging has only been a problem since the beginning of time, a disease born into us by the very nature of being alive, but scientists believe we're not far off from therapies that could extend our lifespan by decades and keep us feeling like we're in our 30s the whole time.Jack O'Brien is joined by Laura Deming, a 21-year-old venture capitalist, who is funding the therapies of the future that will slow the process of aging. They discuss some of the breakthroughs in the field and Laura debunks some myths about current life extension treatments.Jack is then joined by Fiona Ginty, a principal scientist at GE working on the microimaging of cells. Fiona shares how this technology will aid in the fight against aging as that process might be built into our DNA.