January 4, 2016
EP. 103 — Movies That’d Be Better From a Different POV
Most disaster movies make cannon fodder out of almost every single living person on the planet who isn’t a president, a fighter pilot, or the one scientist who has the key to solving the alien/meteor/whatever problem. What about the rest of us? Isn’t there a great story in the Armageddon expanded universe about a bunch of people partying like the world is going to end and then having to go to work the next day?
What about the thankless IT workers of S.H.I.E.L.D. or any secret organization of that matter? Where are the stories of the people whose job it is to handle the IT tickets when Darth Vader’s hologram doesn’t work or Captain America forgets his password?
In this live episode recorded at the Comikaze Expo in Los Angeles, Jack O’Brien is joined on a panel by Dan O’Brien, Soren Bowie, Michael Swaim, Tom Reimann, Katie Willert, Alex Schmidt, Adam Tod Brown, Cody Johnson and Josh Sargent to discuss movies that would be completely changed if you viewed them from the point of view of the little people.
Also, be sure to buy tickets to our next LIVE podcast on Wednesday, January 6th at 7pm at the UCB Sunset theatre in Los Angeles. Jack will be joined by Dan O’Brien, Alex Schmidt and Carmen Angelica to talk about the frustrating intricacies and strange evolution of the English language. Tickets are only $5 and on sale here: bit.ly/1OCNQTK
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/