May 30, 2016

EP. 125 — Why Humanity Is Doomed To Fight Over Insignificant Problems

Sorry to get personal, but which way do you wipe? The only reason we ask is because a recent thread (http://goo.gl/49Viln) melted the Cracked.com forums when our dear readers realized that people had slightly different bathroom preferences than them.

As we looked upon the carnage, we realized there are so many insignificant topics that people feel almost violently confident about: hanging your toilet paper over or under, oxford commas, whether to say ‘the’ before the number of a freeway. No matter which side of the aisle you come down on, you know that anyone who disagrees with you is wrong and should probably be sent via a rocket into the sun.

These insignificant topics are what we’re talking about on this week’s podcast. Special guest-host Soren Bowie is joined by Cracked’s Cody Johnston and Michael Swaim and comedian Annie Lederman for a graphic conversation about what these topics are and why they’re so easy to fight over.

Also make sure to buy tickets to our next LIVE podcast taping on Saturday June 11th at 7pm at the UCB Sunset Theatre in Los Angeles!

Every summer we’re treated to the same buffet of three or four science fiction movies with the same basic conceits. There’s man vs. aliens, man vs. robots, man vs. army of clones and man vs. complicated time travel rules. With virtual reality and self-driving cars fast approaching, it’s time to consider what type of sci-fi movie we want to be living in for the rest of our lives. Co-hosts Jack O’Brien and Adam Tod Brown are joined by Cracked’s Tom Reimann and Josh Sargent and comedians David Huntsberger, Adam Newman and Caitlin Gill to figure out which sci-fi trope would be the best to make a reality.

Tickets are only $5 and on sale here: https://goo.gl/EjlM4L

This episode is sponsored by Squarespace.

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/