December 1, 2019

EP. 320 — 11 Bizarrely Elaborate Ways Real People Tried To Make Money

They call it “hard work” for a reason. Nobody wants to spend their energy and focus on non-fun stuff. Everybody wants an easier way to make a buck and fund their lifestyle. What if you could get a first-hand account of what it’s actually like to try those get-rich-quick schemes you daydream about? What if today’s Cracked Podcast explored weird, silly, and strange get-rich-quick schemes you’ve never even thought of trying? And what if some of today’s stories involve Captain Kirk riding a horse in another dimension?

On this episode of The Cracked Podcast, Alex Schmidt is joined by Nick Turner and Nick Vatterott (the hosts of ‘Get Rich Nick’) for a look at bizarrely elaborate ways real people tried to make money. They’ll discover the luckiest people from the early Internet’s gold rush, dig into ways actors and directors scammed their own movies, and take a hard look at “easy” ways to make a buck by skirting the law. Also stick around for the ultimate fate of websites from that funny Facebook greeting card repository to that gross shock site you thought you’d never look at again.

Footnotes: https://www.cracked.com/podcast/11-bizarrely-elaborate-ways-real-people-tried-to-make-money

Recent Episodes

January 26, 2020

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/

January 19, 2020

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

January 12, 2020

Movies, TV, gaming: three things that are theoretically a waste of time. Oh sure, they deliver value in the art sense, and comfort in the goofing-off sense. But what if they’re more valuable than that? What if consuming shows and playing video games (accidentally) turns people into real-life heroes? On this episode of The Cracked Podcast, Alex Schmidt is joined by comedians/writers Caitlin Gill and Alex Watt for a look at the surprising number of times that exact thing happened. They’ll explore stories of regular people who saved a life thanks to skills gained randomly from cartoons, sitcoms, ‘World Of Warcraft’, and more silly entertainment.

Footnotes: https://www.cracked.com/podcast/9-times-pop-culture-accidentally-taught-people-to-save-lives/