The Cracked Podcast

Newsflash: You only have 407 days until the 2016 presidential election. Do you think you'll have enough time to make an informed decision? We think so. In fact, you could bury your head in the sand on Mars for another full year and still have enough time to suss out which candidate you think should be the leader of the free world.But why, over 13 months out, is every news outlet leading with an election story like it's coming up tomorrow and we still have approximately 45,000 candidates? Why are no serious Republican candidates calling out Trump for being a rodeo clown in a fancy suit? And why do people think Donald Trump can win when -- spoiler alert -- he's not going to become President?Dan O'Brien is joined this week by Cracked editors Kristi Harrison and Alex Schmidt to answer these burning questions and remind you that what's going on with the presidential election right now is a total farce; you can go back to your normal business until February 2016 at the earliest.

As we've pointed out many times before, just because a movie advertises itself as "based on a true story," that doesn't mean you should take anything that happens in the movie for fact. We're good at spotting the dichotomy with insane horror movies that sell themselves as "inspired by actual events." We know that in real life the doll doesn't actually come alive and gore the family to death; that it's a construction of the horror movie genre. But why, when it's a biopic or a historical drama, do we automatically assume that we're essentially watching a documentary with contemporary actors?This week guest host Dan O'Brien is joined by author Liana Maeby and Cracked editor Josh Sargent to discuss the weird relationship between truth and fiction, expectation and reality, and movies that changed the real stories that inspired them for better or worse -- usually worse.

As we've pointed out many times before, just because a movie advertises itself as "based on a true story," that doesn't mean you should take anything that happens in the movie for fact. We're good at spotting the dichotomy with insane horror movies that sell themselves as "inspired by actual events." We know that in real life the doll doesn't actually come alive and gore the family to death; that it's a construction of the horror movie genre. But why, when it's a biopic or a historical drama, do we automatically assume that we're essentially watching a documentary with contemporary actors?This week guest host Dan O'Brien is joined by author Liana Maeby and Cracked editor Josh Sargent to discuss the weird relationship between truth and fiction, expectation and reality, and movies that changed the real stories that inspired them for better or worse -- usually worse.

Think about the Disney princesses of the 1930s, 40s and 50s and what they actually accomplished in their films. Snow White: Hot girl falls asleep in the forest and is almost murdered by dwarfs until they realize how hot she is. Alice in Wonderland: English girl falls asleep at lunch, has crazy dreams, wakes up. Sleeping Beauty: Do you see where we're going with this?When you peel away your personal experiences with these movies and just think about their base elements, a dark subtext arises. The Disney filmography from the 1930s to today perpetuates an antiquated American value structure that depicts misogyny, racism, classism and narcissism, yet as kids watching these films and parents showing them to our children, we never think twice about it. Should we be more vigilant in deciphering what these movies are really about instead of just blindly trusting the logo on the Blu-Ray case?This week on the podcast Jack O'Brien and guest host Tom Reimann are joined by Cracked editors Alex Schmidt, Josh Sargent and Adam Tod Brown. They discuss the grim underpinnings of the Disney film library, how his earliest films are ripe with misogyny, and Jack's secretly horrifying childhood vacation to a Disney theme park.

Think about the Disney princesses of the 1930s, 40s and 50s and what they actually accomplished in their films. Snow White: Hot girl falls asleep in the forest and is almost murdered by dwarfs until they realize how hot she is. Alice in Wonderland: English girl falls asleep at lunch, has crazy dreams, wakes up. Sleeping Beauty: Do you see where we're going with this?When you peel away your personal experiences with these movies and just think about their base elements, a dark subtext arises. The Disney filmography from the 1930s to today perpetuates an antiquated American value structure that depicts misogyny, racism, classism and narcissism, yet as kids watching these films and parents showing them to our children, we never think twice about it. Should we be more vigilant in deciphering what these movies are really about instead of just blindly trusting the logo on the Blu-Ray case?This week on the podcast Jack O'Brien and guest host Tom Reimann are joined by Cracked editors Alex Schmidt, Josh Sargent and Adam Tod Brown. They discuss the grim underpinnings of the Disney film library, how his earliest films are ripe with misogyny, and Jack's secretly horrifying childhood vacation to a Disney theme park.

Growing up we were taught to abide by the golden rule: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. But that's hard to maintain. People get in the way and always seem to let you down, right? A  co worker is a jerk to you and you don't know why. You hold a door for someone at the coffee shop and then that person and 15 of their friends all stand in front of you in line. What if there  were a simple hack to get  your enemies to work for you; some sort of jedi mind-trick for assholes?Well, lucky for you, that actually exists and Ben Franklin figured it out two centuries ago. He found that asking people he didn't get  get along with to do simple favors for him subconsciously forced them into liking him. It's kind of an anti-golden rule that doesn't flow off the tongue at all: Have others do unto you what you want and then they'll continue to do good unto you. ..or something like that. This week Jack O'Brien is joined by Cracked editors Jason Pargin (aka David Wong) and Alex Schmidt to discuss this "Ben Franklin effect" and why it explains some more troubling human behaviors like internet mob culture and why celebrities  slowly turn into their own personas.

Growing up we were taught to abide by the golden rule: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. But that's hard to maintain. People get in the way and always seem to let you down, right? A  co worker is a jerk to you and you don't know why. You hold a door for someone at the coffee shop and then that person and 15 of their friends all stand in front of you in line. What if there  were a simple hack to get  your enemies to work for you; some sort of jedi mind-trick for assholes?Well, lucky for you, that actually exists and Ben Franklin figured it out two centuries ago. He found that asking people he didn't get  get along with to do simple favors for him subconsciously forced them into liking him. It's kind of an anti-golden rule that doesn't flow off the tongue at all: Have others do unto you what you want and then they'll continue to do good unto you. ..or something like that. This week Jack O'Brien is joined by Cracked editors Jason Pargin (aka David Wong) and Alex Schmidt to discuss this "Ben Franklin effect" and why it explains some more troubling human behaviors like internet mob culture and why celebrities  slowly turn into their own personas.

Our main bread and butter at Cracked is pointing out the little things in movies that either brainwash our society as a whole, or are just simply so overused that they annoy the bloody hell out of us.  We've covered in our columns some of the movie clichés that bother us the most, like the slow clap or just about anything that happens in a dystopian YA movie.So this week we're dedicating a whole podcast to it. Live from the UCB Sunset theatre in Los Angeles, co-hosts Jack O'Brien and Michael Swaim are joined by Soren Bowie, Cody Johnston and Dan O'Brien to put to rest the worn-out movie clichés that just need to go away. We expect Hollywood to take note and change their upcoming slate of films accordingly.

Our main bread and butter at Cracked is pointing out the little things in movies that either brainwash our society as a whole, or are just simply so overused that they annoy the bloody hell out of us.  We've covered in our columns some of the movie clichés that bother us the most, like the slow clap or just about anything that happens in a dystopian YA movie.So this week we're dedicating a whole podcast to it. Live from the UCB Sunset theatre in Los Angeles, co-hosts Jack O'Brien and Michael Swaim are joined by Soren Bowie, Cody Johnston and Dan O'Brien to put to rest the worn-out movie clichés that just need to go away. We expect Hollywood to take note and change their upcoming slate of films accordingly.

Over the last decade, the internet has brought into public light some of the great social injustices hiding just beneath the surface of what we thought we knew about our society...or specifically what white men thought they knew about society. No topic – from abuse of police power to campaign finance reform – has been without vocal opposition from both sides of the issue.Yet one topic seems especially inflammatory, as it's been both helped and hindered by the very mechanism of the internet itself: sexism and sexual violence. Yes, Bill Cosby's victims were empowered by the medium and momentum to come forward and name their abuser. But dig deeper and a similar controversy sits quietly on the backburner as people refuse to name names and victims refuse to come forward, fearing public shaming and career endangerment.This week on the podcast, Jack O'Brien speaks with Cracked columnist Adam Tod Brown and comedian Dani Fernandez about the unseen difficulties faced by women in the internet age, the powers that try to silence female voices both online and in the real world, and why these issues are magnified in the comedy community.Go download the Howl app or go to Howl.FM and use the promo code CRACKED for a free one month trial of Howl Premium!