June 27, 2016
EP. 129 — 20 Things Sci-Fi Promised Us That We Want Now
In a way, science-fiction has not only predicted the future but created it as well. The works of Jules Verne inspired the first submarines and Star Trek’s communicators and tablets clearly inspired the smart phones and computers and voice-activated assistants we use today. But there’s still so much we don’t have yet.
Space colonies, faster-than-light travel, teleportation, genetic manipulation — there’s so much cool stuff we see in movies and TV that still seem decades if not centuries away. Sex bots! There are sex bots in everything, but look around– there are no sex bots to be found. A real tragedy.
So this week we’re going to play pretend and talk about the tropes and imagery from sci-fi that we wish were a reality. Jack O’Brien and co-host Adam Tod Brown are joined by Cracked’s Tom Reimann and Josh Sargent as well as comedians David Huntsberger, Caitlin Gill and Lizzy Cooperman to talk robots, generation ships, babies with grasshopper legs and more in this exploration of the sci-fi stuff we really want but probably can’t have.
This episode is sponsored by Wiener-Dog from IFC Films, Spotify, Harry’s, and The Bouqs.
Footnotes:
– ‘This Perfect Day’ by Ira Levin: https://goo.gl/r6UaVB
– i09: How the L5 Society Tried to Use a Quirk of Physics to Colonize Space: http://goo.gl/0jgQSW
– Cracked: 6 Disasters With Details So Awful, History Left Them Out: http://goo.gl/Kdw3WS
– Tor: 5 Books About Generation Ships: http://goo.gl/sTLLnX
– Mystery Science Theater 3000 – Space Mutiny: https://goo.gl/hC5BVB
– Mystery Science Theater 3000 – Blood Waters of Dr. Z: https://goo.gl/CluthX
– National Geographic: ‘Evacuate Earth’: https://goo.gl/EA3IJz
– Star Wars Holiday Special: https://goo.gl/2Lk51E
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/