The Cracked Podcast

In 1848, on the eve of the California Gold Rush, there were less than 1000 white settlers living in the California territory. Within the next 2 years, that number would jump up to 100,000, making it the largest mass-migration in US history. In the early 1920s, the film industry would create a 2nd and more lasting population boom in California, as throngs of hopefuls moved cross-country to become rich and famous movie stars. By 1962, California was the most populous state in the union.The state now balances on a curious precipice. California produces a majority of the country's fruits, vegetables and nuts, yet is in the midst of a drought that's turning one region into a poisonous dust-bowl. The libertarian pot-farmers of the north use 8% of the state's electricity, yet are trying to secede and form their own state. San Francisco has been entirely taken over by the tech industry's wealthy and the city's tradition of taking care of its lowest class is falling by the wayside. Los Angeles has been a smog-riddled nightmare from the fever-dreams of John Carpenter ever since the auto industry deliberately razed the public transportation system. And an Austrian-sounding robot sent from the future to destroy humanity served as governor for 8 years.This week, we give Florida a break and take a look at the dark history of the Golden State. Jack O'Brien is joined by Cracked editors Dan O'Brien and Robert Evans as they discuss the state's unexpectedly high murder rate, its burgeoning marijuana industry, and why, since 1848, it's seduced millions into thinking they can get rich quick.

Dave Barry spent over 20 years of his life writing a nationally syndicated humor column every single week like clockwork. Over that span, he appeared in over 500 newspapers, wrote 30 books and won a Pulitzer Prize. And while he's now technically retired from his column at the Miami Herald, he still publishes books every year at the same clip.Now we live in a different world for humor writing. While the best comedians write for television and give away half of their jokes for free on Twitter, Dave is one of the last colossi of a fading art, whose influence on comedy and this very website is unmistakable.Cracked editors Jack O'Brien and Soren Bowie sit down for a long-form conversation with Dave about his new book, Live Right And Find Happiness (Although Beer is Much Faster), how he managed to find inspiration for his weekly column, the relationship between comedy and free speech, and the irrefutable weirdness of Florida.

Dave Barry spent over 20 years of his life writing a nationally syndicated humor column every single week like clockwork. Over that span, he appeared in over 500 newspapers, wrote 30 books and won a Pulitzer Prize. And while he's now technically retired from his column at the Miami Herald, he still publishes books every year at the same clip.Now we live in a different world for humor writing. While the best comedians write for television and give away half of their jokes for free on Twitter, Dave is one of the last colossi of a fading art, whose influence on comedy and this very website is unmistakable.Cracked editors Jack O'Brien and Soren Bowie sit down for a long-form conversation with Dave about his new book, Live Right And Find Happiness (Although Beer is Much Faster), how he managed to find inspiration for his weekly column, the relationship between comedy and free speech, and the irrefutable weirdness of Florida.

If you recall the 2006 movie 'The Prestige,' you'll remember the plot roughly follows how two Batmen fight an army of Wolverines created by David Bowie. Look it up. The most overlooked part of the film is when Nikola Tesla (played by Bowie) invents a freaking cloning machine and then sort of disappears because the movie needs to be wrapped up by the two-hour mark.What happens to Tesla? Where's the Tesla v. Edison sequel where Tesla is the most powerful man on Earth because he invents cloning in the late-1800s?This week on the podcast, recorded live at the UCB Sunset Theatre in Los Angeles, Jack O'Brien, Michael Swaim, Dan O'Brien, and Soren Bowie discuss 'The Prestige,' 'Wall-E,' the 'Indiana Jones' franchise and a number of other films with awesome sequels that don't exist, but should.

If you recall the 2006 movie 'The Prestige,' you'll remember the plot roughly follows how two Batmen fight an army of Wolverines created by David Bowie. Look it up. The most overlooked part of the film is when Nikola Tesla (played by Bowie) invents a freaking cloning machine and then sort of disappears because the movie needs to be wrapped up by the two-hour mark.What happens to Tesla? Where's the Tesla v. Edison sequel where Tesla is the most powerful man on Earth because he invents cloning in the late-1800s?This week on the podcast, recorded live at the UCB Sunset Theatre in Los Angeles, Jack O'Brien, Michael Swaim, Dan O'Brien, and Soren Bowie discuss 'The Prestige,' 'Wall-E,' the 'Indiana Jones' franchise and a number of other films with awesome sequels that don't exist, but should.

The entertainment industry has a great way of being subtly racist while proclaiming their open-mindedness. Case in point: the Sony email hack revealed the studio didn't pursue a sequel to the Denzel Washington film 'The Equalizer' because "the international motion picture audience is racist." No, not America, we solved that whole racism thing, it's the rest of the world that's racist.Look at the triumph of new network shows like 'Empire' and 'Black-ish.' The media decries their success as random or flukey when actually there's a much simpler and less demeaning explanation for their accomplishments: people want to watch shows about the African-American experience and it's a market that's vastly under-served.This week on the podcast, Cracked editor-in-chief Jack O'Brien sits down for 3 conversations about the racist stuff in pop-culture that white people just don't see. First, he is joined by Kevin Avery of 'Last Week Tonight' and 'Denzel Washington is the Greatest Actor of All Time Period,' then he hops on the phone with Kid Fury and Crissle West from 'The Read,' and wraps up with a conversation with 'Yo Is This Racist?' host Andrew Ti.

The entertainment industry has a great way of being subtly racist while proclaiming their open-mindedness. Case in point: the Sony email hack revealed the studio didn't pursue a sequel to the Denzel Washington film 'The Equalizer' because "the international motion picture audience is racist." No, not America, we solved that whole racism thing, it's the rest of the world that's racist.Look at the triumph of new network shows like 'Empire' and 'Black-ish.' The media decries their success as random or flukey when actually there's a much simpler and less demeaning explanation for their accomplishments: people want to watch shows about the African-American experience and it's a market that's vastly under-served.This week on the podcast, Cracked editor-in-chief Jack O'Brien sits down for 3 conversations about the racist stuff in pop-culture that white people just don't see. First, he is joined by Kevin Avery of 'Last Week Tonight' and 'Denzel Washington is the Greatest Actor of All Time Period,' then he hops on the phone with Kid Fury and Crissle West from 'The Read,' and wraps up with a conversation with 'Yo Is This Racist?' host Andrew Ti.

Pop quiz, hotshot. Did you know that 'Speed', the Keanu-on-a-bus 90s action tent-pole was originally developed as a completely different film? At first, the script was written as an ensemble drama about a cast of strangers on a bus working together to stop a terrorist, but once Keanu signed on, it was rewritten as the fast and dumb classic we know and love today.So many huge Hollywood films have little-known stories like these, where one decision changes the entire film and the lives of everyone involved. In other cases, these stories don't provide an alternate history as much as they provide a new context that makes re-watching the film a completely different experience.This week on the podcast, Jack O'Brien is joined by Earwolf's Matt Gourley to discuss some of the stories unearthed from his podcast 'I Was There Too' and then chats with Cracked editor David Christopher Bell about overlooked behind the scenes stories from the films of David O. Russell, Stanley Kubrick and more.

Pop quiz, hotshot. Did you know that 'Speed', the Keanu-on-a-bus 90s action tent-pole was originally developed as a completely different film? At first, the script was written as an ensemble drama about a cast of strangers on a bus working together to stop a terrorist, but once Keanu signed on, it was rewritten as the fast and dumb classic we know and love today.So many huge Hollywood films have little-known stories like these, where one decision changes the entire film and the lives of everyone involved. In other cases, these stories don't provide an alternate history as much as they provide a new context that makes re-watching the film a completely different experience.This week on the podcast, Jack O'Brien is joined by Earwolf's Matt Gourley to discuss some of the stories unearthed from his podcast 'I Was There Too' and then chats with Cracked editor David Christopher Bell about overlooked behind the scenes stories from the films of David O. Russell, Stanley Kubrick and more.

Anthropomorphic goatee and director of 'The Jinx' Andrew Jarecki has recently taken criticism from many sides regarding the ending of his documentary series. Some condemn the way he sat on critical evidence and withheld it from the police, while others criticize how he inserts himself into the story of 'The Jinx' and how its final episode fraudulently plays with chronology. But if Robert Durst goes to prison, do the ends justify the means?Other popular documentaries have an even less legitimate relationship with the truth. Morgan Spurlock's results from 'Super Size Me' haven't been able to be replicated; 'Searching for Sugarman' conveniently leaves out that Rodriguez knew he was world famous in a number of other countries; and 'Fahrenheit 9/11' is basically pure propaganda, yet their entertainment value is undeniable and carries weight despite these criticisms.This week on the podcast, Jack O'Brien is joined by editors Jason Pargin (aka David Wong) and Josh Sargent to talk about the recent documentary boom and some of the genre's most popular entries from the last 10 years. They have a spoiler-filled discussion about 'Serial' and 'The Jinx', talk through the tricks documentarians use to manipulate truth, and whether their ultimate obligation should be to honesty or entertainment.