Alex Schmidt is joined by Sarah Pappalardo (Reductress) and Dave Weigel (The Washington Post) for a look ahead at an election that’s practically happening tomorrow. Could one party take both houses of Congress? How is the Presidential race shaping up? And will American voters have to jack up their pandemic risk just to plunk down a ballot?  Footnotes: https://www.cracked.com/podcast/how-bizarre-or-great-will-2020-election-be

Alex Schmidt is joined by Adam Tod Brown and Chet Wild, the hosts of Unpopular Opinion’s “The 90s Sucked” podcast. They’re exploring huge, meaningful, world-altering ways the 1990s never stopped happening to us. They’ll also reveal which element of the ‘90s stuffs the nation’s landfills to this day, which ‘90s band happily played a show in a living room, and which ‘90s after-effects are most worth looking out for in 2020, 2024, and beyond. Footnotes:...

Alex Schmidt is joined by Jody Avirgan (FiveThirtyEight, 30 For 30) and Nicole Hemmer (historian, author 'Messengers Of The Right'). Jody & Nicole host a fantastic new podcast called 'This Day In Esoteric Political History'. On this show, the three of them share amazing stories from T.D.I.E.P.H., and from elsewhere, about America facing shutdown-level crises. It turns out the United States often faces pandemics, crashes, and weather cataclysms that disrupt national life for months or even...

On this week’s episode of The Cracked Podcast, Alex Schmidt is joined by the incredible Andy Daly, star of ’Review’ and all of the rest of TV. This podcast is inspired by Dalton Wilcox’s long-simmering project ‘Bonanas For Bonanza’, a rewatch podcast (theoretically) tackling all 431 episodes of the 1959-1973 Western adventure TV show ‘Bonanza’. It turns out even the earliest 'Bonanza' episodes are quite odd -- which begs the question, how weird can a long-running show get? Alex and Andy...

On this week’s episode of The Cracked Podcast, Alex Schmidt is joined by comedy writer & “Creature Feature” podcast host Katie Goldin for a run through animal-specific myths springing up around coronavirus. They’ll break down whether nature *really* is “returning”, what the heck is going on with bats and tigers, and why your housecat is being smart about this situation. Also they’ll reveal some actually-fascinating true animal elements of the world shutting down that haven’t crossed your...

On this episode of The Cracked Podcast, Alex Schmidt is joined by New York Times-bestselling author Jason Pargin (pen name David Wong) for a close look at mistakes society needs to stop making now, and stop making always. Alongside that, they’ll explore ways you can help people survive this coronavirus thing, just by being thoughtful. Footnotes: https://www.cracked.com/podcast/common-beliefs-that-make-disasters-worse-with-jason-pargin/

1901 is generally considered the start of modern baseball. And ever since that year, Major League Baseball has played its annual season of professional games. They’ve shortened the season a few times, and they’ve skipped the World Series twice (1904 and 1994). But for almost 120 years, baseball has refused to take a break. America’s baseball players kept socking dingers through two world wars, one flu pandemic, several economic depressions, and all kinds of other situations that make enjoying...

There is nothing good about the novel coronavirus. And please take its danger seriously! Stay home if you can! Also, speaking of staying home: as we all make changes to grapple with this global pandemic, have you noticed there are a few things you don’t miss? A few events and social practices and gas-guzzling drives you’re better off without? On this episode of The Cracked Podcast, Alex Schmidt is joined by Adam Tod Brown (Unpopular Opinion, MTV, Playboy) and Dan Hopper (Ranker, The New...

Basically everyone gets called “weird” at some point. For some, it’s a quick fun jab received between Prom King duties. For others, it’s part of an entire life stuck being an outsider. On this episode of The Cracked Podcast, Alex Schmidt is joined by journalist Olga Khazan, author of ‘Weird: The Power of Being an Outsider in an Insider World’. They’ll take a deep dive into personal stories and scientific studies about life as a weirdo. Discover the cultural, social, mental, and physical...

Military history: it’s supposedly just battles between armies. But what about the countries who launched elaborate assaults on other nations’ minds? Or beseiged their own citizens’ sanity? On this episode of The Cracked Podcast, Alex Schmidt is joined by comedians/podcasters Adam Tod Brown (Unpopular Opinion) and Jeff May (Sideshow’s Side Show) for the strangest, silliest, oddest psychological warfare ever plotted by national governments. Discover tales of elected officials and professional...

History is a lot more than BIG SPEECHES and GRAND ACHIEVEMENTS and THINGS WE ARE ALL PROUD OF. So on this episode of The Cracked Podcast, Alex Schmidt is joined by Billy Wayne Davis (Conan, Adult Swim) and Kandice Martellaro (Stan Against Evil, Femmebot PhD) for the minutiae that slips through the cracks. Listen for surprisingly wacky elements of World War 2, human spaceflight #1, the Battle of Agincourt, and more events nobody remembers as embarrassing and awkward (even though they...

How did we remember anything before the Internet? If it wasn’t in a library book, a file cabinet, or a computer database the size of a living room, it wasn’t easy to hang onto a piece of information. So here’s one way being alive is more interesting than people think it is: pre-Internet television writers took their show universes into insane directions, whenever they felt like it, with the hope nobody would remember the insanity by next week. So on this episode of The Cracked Podcast, Alex...

There’s something magical about a pilgrimage. It combines a journey, a quest, and a vacation into one experience. So keep trekking to your favorite things, you wonderful people you. Just make sure you’re avoiding the mistakes in this podcast's stories. Because on this week’s episode of The Cracked Podcast, Alex Schmidt is joined by Dan Hopper (Ranker, CollegeHumor, The Washington Post) for a look at movie & TV locations that fans are pilgrimaging into oblivion. Discover the most...

Wealth inequality is more than an injustice. Because here’s one way being alive is more interesting than people think it is: wealth inequality created a world of rich kids with infinite capital and finite skills. So on this week’s episode of The Cracked Podcast, Alex Schmidt is joined by comedians/podcasters Kate Willett (The Late Show, ‘Reply Guys’) and Eli Yudin (‘What A Time To Be Alive’) for a look at the weirdest ways our world’s failsons bought themselves professional careers. Listen...

We may find evidence of alien life someday. That would be amazing right? It'd be great and exciting and maybe terrifying. But here’s the thing about that: you won’t properly appreciate that evidence if your head is full of Area 51 junk and Roswell nonsense and a ludicrous belief that octopuses come from outer space. So on this week’s episode of The Cracked Podcast, Alex Schmidt is joined by comedians & alien comedy experts David Christopher Bell (Gamefully Unemployed, "Fox Mulder Is A...

How nervous are you to meet someone? Do you get more anxious, more sweaty, more heart rate-y? Now here’s a thought experiment for you: how much would those feelings increase if you were meeting a famous person? And how weird would BOTH of you get if both of you were a famous person, thrown into each others' fame-auras? On this episode of The Cracked Podcast, Alex Schmidt is exploring real-life tales of that situation. He's aided by special guest Jesse Thorn (Bullseye, Jordan Jesse Go, Judge...

Filmmaking is complicated. There are a thousand steps between “I have an idea” and “I have a completed film for your theater to screen.” And sure, most people know all that. But here’s one way being alive is more interesting than people think it is: every one of those moviemaking steps can get extremely weird, without the audience having any idea...unless they listen to podcasts like ours. On this episode of The Cracked Podcast, Alex Schmidt is joined by comedy writers Gonzalo Cordova and...

In the court of public opinion, Richard Nixon got off easy. Seriously! If you lived Richard Nixon’s life, and did Richard Nixon’s crimes, you would be THRILLED if your Famous Crime was a minor hotel burglary. On this episode of The Cracked Podcast, Alex Schmidt is joined by the incredible Dana Gould for a trip through world-famous scandals that somehow never get a closer look. With each story, they’ll dig into the forgotten and astonishing details of those scandals that were apparently too...

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...

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...

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...

Regular stuff is saving the world. That’s good news, right? Wouldn’t it be NICE to find out a humble roll of tape and a simple ball of yarn have amazing uses you’d never expect? Answer: yes that is nice. So on this episode of The Cracked Podcast, Alex Schmidt is joined by comedians/podcasters Jamie Loftus and Atsuko Okatsuka for a look at everyday objects with incredible secret powers. Find out how old bras, loose salt, random mayonnaise and more common items became useful tools for making...

If you’re celebrating New Year’s Eve on “December 31st”, you’re doing that because of one emperor, one much-younger queen, and a pope who revised those lovers’ work. That’s right: three dead people are why billions of us hoist champagne at a specific annual minute. Isn’t it strange how much of the world runs on that schedule? Isn’t it odd how we accept a life of obtuse month lengths and confusing leap days? And did you know the WEIRD CALENDARS RABBIT HOLE goes so much deeper than that? On...

This is an evergreen episode of The Cracked Podcast -- and not just because it involves Christmas trees. “Evergreen”, in case you don’t know, is a media term for stuff that’s worth listening to any time after its publication. And on this episode of The Cracked Podcast, Alex Schmidt and his special guest Jason Pargin (who writes for Cracked as David Wong) are taking a Christmas-sparked look at the overall, global, all-encompassing meaningfulness of holidays. Why does your culture, no matter...