June 13, 2016
EP. 127 — Insane Simpsons Easter Eggs (Explained By Simpsons Writers)
Fan theories are kind of our thing. We talk about them on this podcast (https://goo.gl/dZXW05) and in our articles (http://goo.gl/dSyV31). We even created After Hours (https://goo.gl/uQqjmK), a whole series dedicated to fleshing out even the most unrealistic interpretations of our favorite TV shows and movies. But rarely do the creators of the pop culture we love reach out to us about our theories.
A few months ago we released an After Hours episode (https://goo.gl/aFfIAr) where we presented some pretty out-there speculations about the Simpsons universe. We thought Bart, Lisa and Marge represented Freud’s id, ego and superego, and we thought the universe as a whole was populated by thousands of clones. Little did we know how wrong we were.
We thought they were fun what-ifs, but long-time Simpsons writer Mike Reiss emailed us to tell us our theories were pure fantasy. So we thought we’d have him on the podcast! Mike along with Simpsons writer Jeff Martin sit down with Jack O’Brien, Dan O’Brien and Michael Swaim for a long discussion about Simpsons fan theories and the origins of some of our favorite episodes and jokes.
Footnotes:
Every Episode of The Simpsons: http://goo.gl/cbSi8E
List of Simpsons Scholarly Articles : http://goo.gl/QLqNBc
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/