May 26, 2014
EP. 35 — Tipping Points: The End of Seafood and Tequila
It took 45 years before landline phones went from “rich person’s toy” to normal. Cell phones made that same journey in just seven years, and smartphones bridged the gap from frivolous to ubiquitous in five. You’re probably familiar with the concept of a ‘tipping point,’ but have you ever wondered why things tip faster nowadays? Babe Ruth’s home run record took 34 years to beat. Mark McGwire’s took just three. It’s because tipping has turned into big business. Jaegermeister and Grey Goose were turned into frat boy icons by the same marketing genius, and Starbucks didn’t succeed because they had the best coffee. They won because they figured out how to make paying lots of money for coffee cool.
On today’s podcast, Cracked editors Jack O’Brien and Jason Pargin talk about how things tip — and make some predictions about what we might see tip next. Throw on your headphones and click play above.
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
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Footnotes: https://www.cracked.com/podcast/5-parts-u.s.-economy-that-are-stranger-than-you-think
January 12, 2020
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Footnotes: https://www.cracked.com/podcast/9-times-pop-culture-accidentally-taught-people-to-save-lives/