Adele and Kermit The Frog have a lot in common. Sure, they’re from different countries and they’re different species and one of them is a puppet. But in terms of taking your brain over by manipulating it with song, they’re the world’s foremost masters of a little trick called the appoggiatura. What is that magic Italian-derived word? How does it work? And how many other ways does the world prank your brain with music every day? On this week’s episode of The Cracked Podcast, Alex Schmidt is joined by Jamie Brew (Botnik, Clickhole) for tales of tuneful brain trickery. They’ll dig through the latest brain science, the biggest pop songs of today, and the history of opera for ways your noggin hears music and messes with you as a result. Also, this one has some fun musical examples! So how about that! Footnotes: http://www.cracked.com/podcast/the-weirdest-ways-music-pranks-human-brain/

The Weirdest Ways Music Pranks The Human Brain

Have you visited America’s heartland? And if you have...why are you so sure? “The heartland” is not a defined thing, with borders or flags or land made of literal hearts. The term actually comes from a British geographer named Halford Mackinder (a fantastic name), who coined “heartland” in 1904 to describe one central part of pre-WWI Europe. So why do we use “heartland” in the present day, to describe an aspect of the U.S.? Is it to imply ideas about it, without letting you consider those ideas on their merits? And are there other words in our language that get used the same way? On this week’s episode of The Cracked Podcast, Alex Schmidt sits down with Jason Pargin (better known as David Wong) to explore the most celebrated words in the English language that also trick us constantly. They’ll examine how throwing around the term “real” messes with everything from our gender roles to our dinner plate to our politics. They’ll uncover the creepy way certain words throw entire generations under the bus. And they’ll explore why philosophies like socialism and fascism are making a comeback in places like America’s Heartland (whatever that is). Footnotes: http://www.cracked.com/podcast/9-supposedly-important-words-that-donE28099t-mean-anything/

9 Supposedly Important Words (That Don’t Mean Anything)

Books: they’re almost definitely supposed to do something besides decorate wall space. After all, there’s a whole class about them every year in school. Also various scientific studies say our brains get concrete benefits from reading the written word. But what do we gain when that word is read to us? What do we gain when we let a writer’s meaning reach us like never before? And what happens to society itself when literature takes on the role of prototyping our future? On this week’s episode of The Cracked Podcast, Alex Schmidt sits down with the one and only LeVar Burton, host of the incredible ‘LeVar Burton Reads’ podcast. If you’ve watched TV in the last 40 years, LeVar’s gotten you excited about books directly (‘Reading Rainbow’), indirectly (the original ‘Roots’ TV adaptation), and science fictionally (decades of ‘Star Trek’ acting and directing). Today he and Alex explore how the world’s reacted to LeVar's unique literary mission. They’ll also walk through a history of science fiction prototyping, the near future of ‘Trek’ storytelling, and what literacy can do for all our futures if we let it. Footnotes: http://www.cracked.com/podcast/levar-burton-reading-sci-fi-where-weE28099re-headed-next/

LeVar Burton On Reading & Sci-Fi & Where We’re Headed Next

What do you do when a piece of entertainment lets you down? Maybe you complain about it to your friends. Maybe you nail its flaws with a sly tweet, or share a damning critical review. If you use any of those forms of outrage, it's probably because failed art can feel like it's happening TO us, not for us. But what if we told you anybody can take ownership of their viewing experience? What if holding one fun idea in your mind throughout an okay movie can change it into unforgettable entertainment? And most amazing of all: what if that could make ‘Star Wars’ prequels kind of watchable? On this week’s episode of The Cracked Podcast, Alex Schmidt is joined by comedian writer &amp; memoir-master Guy Branum for a celebration of fan theories, head canons, and other ways to read a movie better. They’ll re-discover everything from Julia Roberts’ heyday to Disney’s darkest hour. They’ll turn football movies into the Shakespearean tragedies they’ve always been. And if they can find the strength to do it, they’ll make ‘Entourage’ into something miraculously watchable. Footnotes: http://www.cracked.com/podcast/theories-headcanons-that-make-movies-1000x-better

Theories And Headcanons That Make Movies 1000x Better

Imagine a genie gave you one million dollars to make a movie. You’d immediately go into Working Your Ass Off Mode, right? After all, if you’re spending one whole million U.S. dollars, you’d want to make sure the script and production were as perfect as they could be. Now here’s the next version of that thought experiment: what if you got to spend FOUR HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS? What if you got to spend it making an Avengers story that tied together ten years of filmmaking? And here’s the scary part: what if your story forgot to make it clear that the villain was, ya know, on the wrong side of the conflict?&nbsp; On this week’s episode of The Cracked Podcast, Alex Schmidt is joined by comedy writers Chase Mitchell and Ben Joseph for a look at how some of the biggest movies of all time forgot to prove that their villain was in the wrong. And if they’re lucky they’ll find a way to explain how films from ‘The Little Mermaid’ to ‘Mission: Impossible - Fallout’ to ‘Avengers Thanos-stravaganza’ screwed up the basic building block of "good versus evil" without audiences noticing. Footnotes: http://www.cracked.com/podcast/9-movies-that-forgot-to-prove-villain-wrong/

9 Movies That Forgot To Prove The Villain Wrong

Here’s some common sense: the more complicated a machine gets, the more ways it can break down and fall apart. That applies to everything from cars to kids’ toys to Hollywood, and that last thing (Hollywood) is this principle’s most fun application. Because what happens to your favorite movie if any step of the process goes differently? Is it even still that thing you like if it has different writing/casting/directing/editing/releasing/endless continuing list of these things? On this week’s episode of The Cracked Podcast, Alex Schmidt is joined by podcasting titan Matt Gourley for a deep dive into all the ways our favorite franchises could’ve come together completely differently. From James Bond to Star Wars to even bigger pop cultural touchstones than those (!), they’ll discover how close we came to not even recognizing the movies, TV shows, and other entertainments closest to our hearts. Footnotes: http://www.cracked.com/podcast/11-pop-culture-alternate-histories-that-almost-happened

11 Pop Culture Alternate Histories That Almost Happened

Space: it’s the final frontier AND somehow the least popular frontier. A couple decades of successful shuttle launches passed unnoticed. A slew of orbital science experiments didn’t excite anybody. Even the Space Race wasn’t the nation-gripping drama we decided it was retroactively. Why isn’t space travel capturing more imaginations? Why aren’t people more stoked about it? And would it help if we did a rad podcast episode about the most kickass exploits in all of space history? On this week’s episode of The Cracked Podcast, Alex Schmidt is joined by ‘American Dad’ writer, Cracked legend, and prince of all our hearts Soren Bowie for a celebration of outer space heroics. They’ll dig into the death-defying (and sometimes, death-receiving) bravery that’s driven decades of space exploration, even though only a few of those bold explorers became famous in the aftermath. Plus, enjoy a special bonus story of how the very best of us went out into the universe in the form of a space probe. Footnotes: http://www.cracked.com/podcast/13-badass-astronaut-cosmonaut-stories-everyone-should-hear/

13 Badass Astronaut & Cosmonaut Stories Everyone Should Hear

We are fresh off the longest government shutdown in American history (with another around the corner, maybe!). We are also riding almost a decade of of sustained stock market growth, almost a decade of sustained job growth, and all kinds of other business-y news you heard about. And when those stories crossed your cable TV screen or Twitter feed, did you have any idea what they meant? And if so...c’mon, are you sure you’ve got all the context? On this week’s episode of The Cracked Podcast, Alex Schmidt sits down with Kai Ryssdal, the host of ‘Marketplace’ and the world heavyweight champion of that exact economic context you need. They’ll dig into how just one missed federal worker paycheck (let alone two!) ripples through the global economy for a long time. They’ll examine ways you can better understand what a stock market swing or jobs number actually means. Also stick around for valuable heads-ups on which chairpersons, directors, and CEOs tend to be extremely important indicators of our economic future, even though most people pay them no attention. Footnotes: http://www.cracked.com/podcast/how-to-be-less-confused-about-economy-with-kai-ryssdal
[TIMELY UPDATE: on Friday afternoon the U.S. government re-opened temporarily. Details here: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/25/us/politics/trump-shutdown-deal.html We will describe the shutdown as a present-tense thing in this episode because, as we’ll say early on, we taped this episode right before the government re-opened. Also we taped with that possibility in mind, so all our facts about the shutdown are accurate and are long-term focused.]

How To Be Less Confused About The Economy (with Kai Ryssdal)

“Social atomization” is a term that sounds like science fiction. It could be the title of a 1950s B-movie where a mad scientist vaporizes a dance party. But when sociologists use that term, “social atomization” is a complementary set of shifts you might have noticed lately: more loneliness, less societal trust, and an increasing feeling that nobody’s got your back. What does it mean if that’s happening to all of us? How can that happen without anybody intending it? And can that impact everything from your personal health to your national government? On this episode of The Cracked Podcast, Alex Schmidt sits down with Jason Pargin (who writes for the site as David Wong). They’ll explore why prior generations with rampant crime (!), Richard Nixon (!!), and the music of disco (!!!) feel better off and more cohesive than we do today. We’ll also take one step back and look at the awful reasons why some people are talking about this in the first place. And if we all stick together and trust each other, we might see a few ways out of this predicament. Footnotes: http://www.cracked.com/podcast/how-loneliness-epidemic-snuck-up-us-with-jason-pargin/

How A Loneliness Epidemic Snuck Up On Us (with Jason Pargin)

The most successful people in the world are SO EXCITED to call themselves that. Hard-charging, in-leaning, unstoppable titans of industry want everyone to know it. One of their favorite brags: never sleeping more than a few hours a night. Is that actually a cool thing? Should all of us let ourselves get talked into that lifestyle? And are a bunch of our daily habits that kind of smart-seeming bad health trap? On this episode of The Cracked Podcast, Alex Schmidt sits down with Jason Pargin (who writes for the site as David Wong). They want you to hang in there, friend. If there’s one takeaway from today’s episode (and there are so many more than just one!) it’s that you oughta receive all the healthy support you can get from others and from yourself. Other takeaways: an immense range of fascinating facts about our bodies, our culture, and the war they’re in at all times if we’re not careful. Footnotes: http://www.cracked.com/podcast/5-mainstream-health-habits-that-trick-you-into-feeling-lousy/

5 Mainstream Health Habits That Trick You Into Feeling Lousy

We’re fresh off ‘Green Book’ achieving its dream Oscar night (CONGRATULATIONS you made-up Hero Dad Story you!!!). But this week’s episode is about EVERY Oscars ceremony. Why? Because the Oscars dictate most of your movie-watching year: October-December = “good movies”, January-February = “failed attempts at good movies”, summertime = “movies seeking the big green Oscar better known as MONEY.” So we asked ourselves a question. We asked what might happen if the Oscars stopped dictating that schedule? And what if they stopped dictating it because the Oscars stopped happening at all, freeing up all of pop culture to function differently (and maybe function better)? On this week’s episode of The Cracked Podcast, please enjoy the oracular brilliance and Hollywood wisdom of comedians/podcasters Caitlin Gill, Dan Hopper, Amy Nicholson, and Danielle Radford, who joined Alex Schmidt for this LIVE episode from the UCB Sunset Theatre in Los Angeles. They’ll dig into the biggest possible pop culture thought experiment: what would happen if the Oscars went away. Footnotes: http://www.cracked.com/podcast/what-would-happen-if-oscars-went-away/

What Would Happen If The Oscars Went Away?

We’re only a few centuries into the era of detective work. 19th century criminologists like Eugene Vidocq invented modern forensic techniques, standardized criminal databases, and the basic approach that underpins police investigations to this day. You would think this revolutionary shift would make our lives less spooky. But what if we told you history is full of mysteries that received diligent investigations, only to turn up stranger scarier questions? On this episode of The Cracked Podcast, Alex Schmidt is joined by writers/comedians/history mystery superfans Jenny Jaffe and Carey O’Donnell to rediscover history’s strangest disappearances, murders, and more. They’ll explore all kinds of baffling tales that confounded professional investigators from the past through today. And stick around for some plain ol' fun new theories on these old cases. Footnotes: http://www.cracked.com/podcast/10-creepy-unsolved-mysteries-from-history/

10 Creepy Unsolved Mysteries From History

The phone you are reading this text on is easy to hold...if you’re a man. That’s according to statistics on average hand size &amp; average phone size. If you’re a woman? Good luck taking one-handed pictures on this slightly-too-big brick that might give you repetitive stress injuries men don’t experience. Of course a phone is merely a device (that you do everything in your life on). But what if there’s a mountain of data proving women get erased from all aspects of modern society, from design to media to medicine? And what if that erasure is a full-on life-or-death issue that (almost) no one is talking about? On this episode of The Cracked Podcast, Alex Schmidt is joined by journalist, activist, and author Caroline Criado Perez. They dive into an array of facts, figures, and critical lacks of data, all gathered in her amazing new book ‘Invisible Women: Data Bias In A World Designed For Men’. They’ll also explore the conscious &amp; unconscious biases that drive women out of the workforce, swing voters into screwing over their own countries, and cause massive problems we could fix with a little more awareness...and maybe even a modest investment in studying human organs besides the penis. Footnotes: https://www.cracked.com/podcast/the-bizarre-hassles-women-face-in-our-world-designed-men/

The Bizarre Hassles Women Face In Our World Designed For Men

Notes are annoying. Nobody likes to spend weeks and months crafting an idea only to be told what’s wrong with it. Flip side to that: we often have blind spots when it comes to our creative projects. And that goes for everybody, even the creators of the most famous and successful entertainment of all time, because surprise -- almost every movie and TV show you love needed saving from creative notes that are (in hindsight) blisteringly obvious. On this episode of The Cracked Podcast, Alex Schmidt is joined by Cracked editor/columnist Dan Hopper and by writer/comedian Kandice Martellaro for a look at the most quotable, lovable, Oscar-winning movies of all time...and how they almost fell apart at the ideas step. They’ll also discover series-killing TV episodes that got rehearsed and staged and brought within a hair of terrifying America. And yes, don’t worry, they one hundred percent discover which iconic franchise almost made its villain a confusing monkey. Footnotes: https://www.cracked.com/podcast/10-great-movies-tv-shows-that-were-almost-disasters

10 Great Movies & TV Shows (That Were Almost Disasters)

If you ask the average American to name ten things from World War II, Benito Mussolini won’t often make the list. But “Il Duce” seized power long before Hitler, spent more than two decades reshaping Italy in his image, and coined that “Fascist” term we all yell these days. Isn’t it strange that we never focus on Mussolini when we hearken back to WW2? Could he be a useful historical touchstone for understanding the present day? And did you know modern Italy is so steeped in Mussolini, its rising political stars CELEBRATE his brutal genocidal legacy? On this episode of The Cracked Podcast, Alex Schmidt is joined by historian &amp; scholar Ruth Ben-Ghiat and by comedian &amp; podcaster Adam Tod Brown. They're taking a timely look at the most ignored fascist government of all time. They’ll debunk common myths about Mussolini’s train-centric reign. They’ll reveal the shockingly brazen Mussolini acolytes in modern Italian politics, supported by Fascism’s soccer subculture and normalized legacy. Also stick around for the shocking parallels between 2010s world leaders and Mussolini’s 1920s quest to Make Italy Great Again. Footnotes: https://www.cracked.com/podcast/what-fascist-italy-reveals-about-modern-america/

What Fascist Italy Reveals About Modern America

You’re going to live a long time. Congratulations! That’s good! There are zero ways that is bad news! Yet if you talk about our future 50, 40, or even 10 years from now, people might tell you that’s fantastical wishful thinking. They may say the environment/politics/economy/incoming meteor dooms us all no matter what we do, so who cares. Why is assuming the world’s going to end so common? How come people talk about it with a wry jokey glint in their eye? And why does every generation tell that “joke” even though the world keeps on spinning? On this episode of The Cracked Podcast, Alex Schmidt sits down with Jason Pargin (who writes for Cracked as David Wong) to dig into what you need to remember about our wretched hellscape. They’ll pick apart the fearful thinking that deactivates lots of people for no positive reason. They'll examine how people actually behave when the world actually is ending. And they'll explore the fantastic news that you’ll probably live to see a future Past You would kill for. Footnotes: https://www.cracked.com/podcast/the-end-of-the-world-mentality-and-why-thatE28099s-ridiculous

The End-Of-The-World Mentality (And Why That’s Ridiculous)

Over 2000 years ago, Aristotle wrote that it’s “evident” the Earth is round. One generation later, Greek mathematician &amp; geographer Eratosthenes achieved a solid ballpark estimate of the Earth’s circumference. Again, that was over 2000 years ago. So how are we now in a world where many people believe our world is flat? What if those Flat Earth People do believe in climate change, in a hilarious way? And is there any chance this is all the Internet’s fault? On this episode of The Cracked Podcast, Alex Schmidt sits down with Dana Gould ('The Simpsons', 'Stan Against Evil', incredible stand-up comedy, so much more) for a deep dive into the world’s strangest newest conspiracy theories. They’ll look at how YouTube, social media, and bizarre message boards give us rabbit holes like never before. And they’ll examine how you can move forward in a world where all data gets bent out of shape by people helping each other do it. Footnotes: https://www.cracked.com/podcast/the-9-strangest-newest-conspiracy-theories-thriving-online/

The 9 Strangest Newest Conspiracy Theories Thriving Online

Nothing says “summer” like a massive alien invasion of the planet Earth. Oh sure, that invasion never happens in life. But in movie after movie, space alien fleets descend on our little blue marble with intent to kill. Why do they tend to time that invasion with Northern Hemisphere summertime? Why are there so many common bonds between all alien invaders, even though the universe contains an infinite array of extraterrestrial possibilities? And how are audiences up for the same aliens losing the same battle every single movie? On this episode of The Cracked Podcast, Alex Schmidt is joined by Cracked editor/columnist/human resistance leader Dan Hopper to wonder about that exact thing. They’ll explore the bizarre way alien blockbusters line up with each other time and time again. They’ll dig into basic strategic errors that hamstring the alien fleets, even though us much less advanced humans know better. They’ll also leave you with The Two Kinds Of Alien Movies, and a greater sense of why we fill multiplexes to see motherships laser our cities at all. Footnotes: https://www.cracked.com/podcast/12-foolish-mistakes-that-ruin-every-movie-alien-invasion/

12 Foolish Mistakes That Ruin Every Movie Alien Invasion

If you lend a filmmaker your fighter jet, what do they owe you in return? Thanks to America’s military might and the world’s appetite for cinematic explosions, that weirdly specific question get asked a lot. Did you know the U.S. government influences dozens of movies and shows every year? Do you think Hollywood would pass up free Pentagon stuff to protect Hollywood's “artistic vision” for Transformers 8? And if you find out what the government cut out of movies and TV, does that tell you exactly what the government doesn’t want you to know? On this episode of The Cracked Podcast, Alex Schmidt is joined by Adam Tod Brown (Unpopular Opinion) and Nic Wegener (American Dad) for a look back at America’s strange history of government overreach into scripts, shoots, and entire concepts for movies and TV. You’ll discover which movies traded script control for Air Force gear, which entire TV era sold out to Big Anti-Drug, and the exact Defense Department policy on what the military does in an alien invasion. Footnotes: https://www.cracked.com/podcast/15-odd-changes-u.s.-government-forced-into-movies-tv

15 Odd Changes The U.S. Government Forced Into Movies & TV

Sidney Gottlieb is a name you do not know. If you did, you’d know about decades of CIA projects ruining countless minds with drugs and torture. You’d also know about the CIA’s secret San Francisco bordello, collaboration with Axis Powers war criminals, and borderline wacky fixation on turning drugs into brain-controlling weapons. On this week’s episode of The Cracked Podcast, Alex Schmidt sits down with scholar, journalist and author Stephen Kinzer, diving into astonishing stories from Stephen's new book ‘Poisoner In Chief: Sidney Gottlieb and the CIA Search for Mind Control’. Discover the most important and powerful government agent you’ve never heard of, and how he pioneered everything from global “black sites” to 1960s counterculture, all with zero oversight and a hell of a lot of LSD. Footnotes: https://www.cracked.com/podcast/how-cia-quest-mind-control-drove-world-insane/

How The CIA Quest For Mind Control Drove The World Insane

The Indiana Jones movies are true to life. Not about that specific guy being real, or about certain magical canon being real, or about the archaeological profession being a parade of sex ’n Nazis. Still, here’s what ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’ and its ilk get right: archaeologists dig up crazy nightmare horrors OFTEN. So on this spooktacular episode of The Cracked Podcast, Alex Schmidt joins Jason Pargin (who writes for Cracked as David Wong) for a trip through the astonishing horrors found by actual real-life archaeologists, because that stuff is much scarier and more fascinating than any horror movie. Listen for the terrifying Aztec death whistle! Discover the ancient cave that devoured a guy! And gain a stronger sense of how pants-crappingly awful the past was (and how lucky we are to be in the present). Footnotes: https://www.cracked.com/podcast/15-archaeological-discoveries-scarier-than-any-horror-movie/

15 Archaeological Discoveries Scarier Than Any Horror Movie

How’s your local shopping mall doing? Have you checked on it lately? Swing by sometime, because its department store might've turned into a call center or a hospital or a go-kart track. On this episode of The Cracked Podcast, Alex Schmidt is joined by the one and only Kai Ryssdal (Marketplace, Make Me Smart) for a look at surprising, strange, and shocking stories from all over the U.S. economy. Discover an international pig flu, a 26-word statement that built the modern Internet, and more amazing ways cash is ruling everything around you. By the way, if you’re an American listener, you spent the past few years funding an astonishingly huge bailout. Surprise! Listen for details! Footnotes: https://www.cracked.com/podcast/5-parts-u.s.-economy-that-are-stranger-than-you-think

5 Parts Of The U.S. Economy That Are Stranger Than You Think

Freedom sucks...and that is why we have to defend it. Because our democracy involves doing a lot of stuff that takes energy, takes time, and lacks that Michael Bay Quality that only a surprise missile launch can provide. So on this episode of The Cracked Podcast, Alex Schmidt and special guest Jason Pargin (who writes for Cracked as David Wong) are exploring the ways being afraid of everything (an easy action) can stop us from being free. Discover the decades-long tradition of some Americans wanting to give up everything in exchange for not needing to think, the centuries-long tradition of people inciting fake panics, and the reasonable ways you can help change things for the better. Footnotes: https://www.cracked.com/podcast/why-fear-based-democracies-arenE28099t-free-with-jason-pargin/

Why Fear-Based Democracies Aren’t Free (with Jason Pargin)

In the court of public opinion, Richard Nixon got off easy. Seriously! If you lived Richard Nixon’s life, and did Richard Nixon’s crimes, you would be THRILLED if your Famous Crime was a minor hotel burglary. On this episode of The Cracked Podcast, Alex Schmidt is joined by the incredible Dana Gould for a trip through world-famous scandals that somehow never get a closer look. With each story, they’ll dig into the forgotten and astonishing details of those scandals that were apparently too mind-blowing for the public to remember. So throw on some headphones, and discover the ways Elizabeth Holmes, O.J. Simpson, the Enron fellas, and more infamous maniacs are much more bizarre than you realized. Footnotes: https://www.cracked.com/podcast/9-infamous-scandals-with-crazy-details-everybody-forgot/

9 Infamous Scandals (With Crazy Details Everybody Forgot)

Filmmaking is complicated. There are a thousand steps between “I have an idea” and “I have a completed film for your theater to screen.” And sure, most people know all that. But here’s one way being alive is more interesting than people think it is: every one of those moviemaking steps can get extremely weird, without the audience having any idea...unless they listen to podcasts like ours. On this episode of The Cracked Podcast, Alex Schmidt is joined by comedy writers Gonzalo Cordova and Alan Denton. They’ll explore the biggest recent movies, and the extraordinarily strange work that went into making them. Find out which Oscar movie got patched like a video game, several days after it was in theaters. Discover which animal overran the set of your favorite action movie franchise. And keep listening for the set of international financial crimes that built Hollywood’s hottest production company. Footnotes: https://www.cracked.com/podcast/11-major-recent-movies-with-secretly-bizarre-productions

11 Major Recent Movies (With Secretly Bizarre Productions)

Military history: it’s supposedly just battles between armies. But what about the countries who launched elaborate assaults on other nations’ minds? Or beseiged their own citizens’ sanity? On this episode of The Cracked Podcast, Alex Schmidt is joined by comedians/podcasters Adam Tod Brown (Unpopular Opinion) and Jeff May (Sideshow’s Side Show) for the strangest, silliest, oddest psychological warfare ever plotted by national governments. Discover tales of elected officials and professional militaries dreaming up pranks, toys, holograms, and more bizarre tools for crushing their enemies...even if the execution of those plots would boggle the mind. Footnotes: https://www.cracked.com/podcast/13-insane-psy-ops-real-governments-tried-to-pull-off/

11 Insane Psy-Ops Real Governments Tried To Pull Off

Basically everyone gets called “weird” at some point. For some, it’s a quick fun jab received between Prom King duties. For others, it’s part of an entire life stuck being an outsider. On this episode of The Cracked Podcast, Alex Schmidt is joined by journalist Olga Khazan, author of ‘Weird: The Power of Being an Outsider in an Insider World’. They’ll take a deep dive into personal stories and scientific studies about life as a weirdo. Discover the cultural, social, mental, and physical ramifications of living outside society’s norms. Also stick around for the surprising upsides of that kind of life. Because here’s one way being alive is more interesting than people think it is: being “weird” can be a person’s greatest strength. Footnotes: https://www.cracked.com/podcast/the-surprising-scientific-truth-about-living-as-outsider/

The Surprising Scientific Truth About Living As An Outsider

There is nothing good about the novel coronavirus. And please take its danger seriously! Stay home if you can! Also, speaking of staying home: as we all make changes to grapple with this global pandemic, have you noticed there are a few things you don’t miss? A few events and social practices and gas-guzzling drives you’re better off without? On this episode of The Cracked Podcast, Alex Schmidt is joined by Adam Tod Brown (Unpopular Opinion, MTV, Playboy) and Dan Hopper (Ranker, The New Yorker, CollegeHumor) for a look at some things COVID-19 put on hold -- specifically the most foolish, inefficient, straight-up bad things in the entire world. So throw on some headphones and have a fun &amp; critical think about everything from the Olympics to April Fools Day to an insanely wasteful daily practice we should’ve questioned a lot sooner. Footnotes: https://www.cracked.com/podcast/6-things-shut-down-by-coronavirus-that-shouldnE28099t-return/

6 Things Shut Down By Coronavirus (That Shouldn’t Return)

1901 is generally considered the start of modern baseball. And ever since that year, Major League Baseball has played its annual season of professional games. They’ve shortened the season a few times, and they’ve skipped the World Series twice (1904 and 1994). But for almost 120 years, baseball has refused to take a break. America’s baseball players kept socking dingers through two world wars, one flu pandemic, several economic depressions, and all kinds of other situations that make enjoying a ballgame awfully tricky.&nbsp; The 2020 season may or may not start play later this year. But either way, a few clever Chicago sportscasters have made history with a virtual approach to keeping things going. So on this episode of The Cracked Podcast, Alex Schmidt calls up Chicago White Sox play-by-play announcer Jason Benetti, to explore what it’s like simulating a sports season that may never happen outside of his PlayStation 4. They’ll also examine the weird way virtual sports can turn meaningful, discover how Taiwan resumed real baseball a week ago, and dig into sports’ role as a canary in the coal mine of modern American society. Footnotes: https://www.cracked.com/podcast/sports-in-time-coronavirus-with-jason-benetti

Sports In The Time Of Coronavirus (with Jason Benetti)

On this episode of The Cracked Podcast, Alex Schmidt is joined by New York Times-bestselling author Jason Pargin (pen name David Wong) for a close look at mistakes society needs to stop making now, and stop making always. Alongside that, they’ll explore ways you can help people survive this coronavirus thing, just by being thoughtful. Footnotes: https://www.cracked.com/podcast/common-beliefs-that-make-disasters-worse-with-jason-pargin/

Common Beliefs That Make Disasters Worse (with Jason Pargin)

On this week’s episode of The Cracked Podcast, Alex Schmidt is joined by comedy writer &amp; “Creature Feature” podcast host Katie Goldin for a run through animal-specific myths springing up around coronavirus. They’ll break down whether nature *really* is “returning”, what the heck is going on with bats and tigers, and why your housecat is being smart about this situation. Also they’ll reveal some actually-fascinating true animal elements of the world shutting down that haven’t crossed your Twitter feed. Footnotes: <a href="https://www.cracked.com/podcast/bizarre-myths-amazing-facts-about-animals-coronavirus" target="_blank">https://www.cracked.com/podcast/bizarre-myths-amazing-facts-about-animals-coronavirus</a>

Bizarre Myths & Amazing Facts About Animals & Coronavirus

On this week’s episode of The Cracked Podcast, Alex Schmidt is joined by the incredible Andy Daly, star of ’Review’ and all of the rest of TV. This podcast is inspired by Dalton Wilcox’s long-simmering project ‘Bonanas For Bonanza’, a rewatch podcast (theoretically) tackling all 431 episodes of the 1959-1973 Western adventure TV show ‘Bonanza’. It turns out even the earliest 'Bonanza' episodes are quite odd -- which begs the question, how weird can a long-running show get? Alex and Andy answer that with examples (and audio!) from ‘Gunsmoke’, ‘One Tree Hill’, ‘Lassie’, and more surprising pillars of American television history. Footnotes: https://www.cracked.com/podcast/7-bizarre-moments-from-bizarrely-long-running-tv-shows/

7 Bizarre Moments From Bizarrely Long-Running TV Shows

Alex Schmidt is joined by Jody Avirgan (FiveThirtyEight, 30 For 30) and Nicole Hemmer (historian, author 'Messengers Of The Right'). Jody and Nicole host a fantastic new podcast called 'This Day In Esoteric Political History'. On this show, the three of them share amazing stories from T.D.I.E.P.H., and from elsewhere, about America facing shutdown-level crises. It turns out the United States often faces pandemics, crashes, and weather cataclysms that disrupt national life for months or even years. Those events don't loom large in our collective historical memories, despite being important reminders of our country's resilience in the face of bizarre national danger...and reminders that thoughtful collective action is as American as apple pie, baseball, and revolting against the British. Footnotes: https://www.cracked.com/podcast/6-little-known-crises-lockdowns-u.s.-history

6 Little-Known Crises And Lockdowns Of U.S. History

Alex Schmidt is joined by Adam Tod Brown and Chet Wild, the hosts of Unpopular Opinion’s “The 90s Sucked” podcast. They’re exploring huge, meaningful, world-altering ways the 1990s never stopped happening to us. They’ll also reveal which element of the ‘90s stuffs the nation’s landfills to this day, which ‘90s band happily played a show in a living room, and which ‘90s after-effects are most worth looking out for in 2020, 2024, and beyond. Footnotes: https://www.cracked.com/podcast/5-weird-ways-1990s-never-ended/

5 Weird Ways The 1990s Never Ended

Alex Schmidt is joined by Sarah Pappalardo (Reductress) and Dave Weigel (The Washington Post) for a look ahead at an election that’s practically happening tomorrow. Could one party take both houses of Congress? How is the Presidential race shaping up? And will American voters have to jack up their pandemic risk just to plunk down a ballot?&nbsp; Footnotes: https://www.cracked.com/podcast/how-bizarre-or-great-will-2020-election-be

How Bizarre (Or Great) Will The 2020 Election Be?

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