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

The Cracked Podcast

How Bizarre (Or Great) Will The 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: https://www.cracked.com/podcast/5-weird-ways-1990s-never-ended/

5 Weird Ways The 1990s Never Ended

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 years. Those events don't loom large in our collective historical memories, despite being important reminders of our country's resilience in the face of bizarre national danger...and reminders that thoughtful collective action is as American as apple pie, baseball, and revolting against the British.Footnotes: https://www.cracked.com/podcast/6-little-known-crises-lockdowns-u.s.-history

6 Little-Known Crises And Lockdowns Of U.S. History

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 answer that with examples (and audio!) from ‘Gunsmoke’, ‘One Tree Hill’, ‘Lassie’, and more surprising pillars of American television history.Footnotes: https://www.cracked.com/podcast/7-bizarre-moments-from-bizarrely-long-running-tv-shows/

7 Bizarre Moments From Bizarrely Long-Running TV Shows

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 Twitter feed.Footnotes: https://www.cracked.com/podcast/bizarre-myths-amazing-facts-about-animals-coronavirus

Bizarre Myths & Amazing Facts About Animals & Coronavirus

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/

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 a ballgame awfully tricky. The 2020 season may or may not start play later this year. But either way, a few clever Chicago sportscasters have made history with a virtual approach to keeping things going. So on this episode of The Cracked Podcast, Alex Schmidt calls up Chicago White Sox play-by-play announcer Jason Benetti, to explore what it’s like simulating a sports season that may never happen outside of his PlayStation 4. They’ll also examine the weird way virtual sports can turn meaningful, discover how Taiwan resumed real baseball a week ago, and dig into sports’ role as a canary in the coal mine of modern American society.Footnotes: https://www.cracked.com/podcast/sports-in-time-coronavirus-with-jason-benetti

Sports In The Time Of Coronavirus (with Jason Benetti)

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 Yorker, CollegeHumor) for a look at some things COVID-19 put on hold -- specifically the most foolish, inefficient, straight-up bad things in the entire world. So throw on some headphones and have a fun & critical think about everything from the Olympics to April Fools Day to an insanely wasteful daily practice we should’ve questioned a lot sooner.Footnotes: https://www.cracked.com/podcast/6-things-shut-down-by-coronavirus-that-shouldnE28099t-return/

6 Things Shut Down By Coronavirus (That Shouldn’t Return)

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 ramifications of living outside society’s norms. Also stick around for the surprising upsides of that kind of life. Because here’s one way being alive is more interesting than people think it is: being “weird” can be a person’s greatest strength.Footnotes: https://www.cracked.com/podcast/the-surprising-scientific-truth-about-living-as-outsider/

The Surprising Scientific Truth About Living As An Outsider

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 militaries dreaming up pranks, toys, holograms, and more bizarre tools for crushing their enemies...even if the execution of those plots would boggle the mind.Footnotes: https://www.cracked.com/podcast/13-insane-psy-ops-real-governments-tried-to-pull-off/

11 Insane Psy-Ops Real Governments Tried To Pull Off

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 should).Footnotes: https://www.cracked.com/podcast/11-little-known-dumb-details-big-historical-events/

11 Little-Known Dumb Details Of Big Historical Events

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 Schmidt is joined by Siobhan Thompson (Rick and Morty, Dimension 20) and Andrew Ti (Mixed-ish, Yo Is This Racist?) for a trip through the strangest canon ever grafted onto a TV show. They’ll turn up late-season canon decisions that broke entire television universes. Also be sure to listen for strange network promos and a stranger talk show appearance that make your favorite science fiction worlds too bizarre to comprehend.Footnotes: https://www.cracked.com/podcast/11-tv-shows-that-secretly-gave-themselves-insane-canon/

11 TV Shows That Secretly Gave Themselves Insane Canon

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 neighborhood-snarling, pizza-chucking, monastery-crumbling behaviors in the whole world of fandom. Find out how one monkey's paw-style studio deal turned part of Spain blue forever. And find out how Viewers Like You can be more thoughtful toward Hollywood locations than the average 'Joker' Instagrammer.Footnotes: https://www.cracked.com/podcast/8-famous-movie-tv-locations-ruined-by-fans/

8 Famous Movie & TV Locations (Ruined By The Fans)

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 for pop stardom, sports glory, and more careers you can try on like a hat if your dad is a dictator/mafioso/Bond villain inspiration.Footnotes: https://www.cracked.com/podcast/7-weird-jobs-children-rich-maniacs-bought-themselves

7 Weird Jobs The Children Of Rich Maniacs Bought Themselves

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 Maniac") and Moujan Zolfaghari (Mission To Zyxx, 'At Home With Amy Sedaris'). They’re digging into the most common lazy media tropes, frustrating hoaxes, and generally confusing myths about aliens. So throw on some headphones, increase your media literacy, and be ready to spot the REAL signs of extraterrestrials, if and when we ever get them.Footnotes: https://www.cracked.com/podcast/10-regular-things-we-should-all-stop-mistaking-aliens/

10 Regular Things We Should All Stop Mistaking For Aliens

The Cracked Podcast is facts, jokes, and more from the Internet’s leading comedy website. Every week, host Alex Schmidt brings together comedians, authors, scientists, and Cracked staffers, to celebrate the awesome truth that being alive is more interesting than people think it is. Fill your week and your brain with hilarious, mind-blowing revelations that’ll make you the most interesting person in every room you’re in.Looking for the archives? All episodes older than 6 months can be found exclusively on Stitcher Premium, ad-free. Go to stitcher.com/premium and use promo code EARWOLF for 1 month free (and $5 off the annual plan!)

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The Cracked Podcast

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