Now that the Cracked podcast is officially no more I can say that, for a few years there, it was the GOAT (2013-May 29th, 2017). Informative, entertaining, educational, hilarious, etc. Pretty much any positive adjective you can think of fits. To this day no other podcast has topped it. The Jack O’Brian era was perfect. All the guests were funny and the show legitimately made you laugh out loud. The topics were entertaining and educational. Listening to this podcast made you and the world around you more interesting. In 2017 Schmidty The Clam took over as host and the show took a dramatic dip in quality. Schmidty is a nice guy, but not an entertaining host. The show also became less informative. I didn’t find myself walking away from episodes feeling like I learned something interesting. Wouldn’t recommend any of these episodes, aside from the ones with Soren and Dan. Go back to anything from 2013 to May 2017 and you won’t be disappointed. Perfect podcast.

It’s no Bag Fries but it’s still good!

I recently decided to check out the podcast today (Feb 2022) only to see that it was discontinued in June of 2020. As heart breaking as it was to see, it was inevitable. When I discovered this podcast in 2014, it quickly became one of my favorites. It was funny, it was random, it talked about various topics that were always interesting. It had everything: pop culture, history, science/sci-fi, and random facts. Jack, the host at the time, brought energy and had interesting guests. It was fantastic. And then Trump became president. Quickly, the show began to circle the drain. It became obsessed with politics (something that it normally only talked about as a historical topic) and everything Trump. This podcast was an outlet for all of the drama out there. But it turned itself into it. All of the sudden, some of the writers started leaving Cracked to move onto other things. They knew what the future was for the podcast and knew when to bail. I jumped off the bandwagon before it drove off the cliff. I’m saddened that it’s over. In its prime, it was geeky, charming and had a ton of heart. Maybe someone like Jack will try to pick up back up off of its feet? Bring it back to what people liked about it before it tried to take itself seriously.

Test

I used to love this podcast then suddenly Alex got fired and it’s gone and you can’t access the back catalog. Truly a sad time for good podcasts.

I guess cracked podcast finally cracked

Cracked is dead. Search for secretly incredibly fascinating.

Show was canceled without any warning, just disappeared

Excellent choice!! Finally. Boring, snarky, unfunny. I hope he gets a job managing a car rental store.

Also, I am sad that the back catalog is not available.

So I was wondering why it was Monday again and didn’t have the new episode of the Cracked podcast to listen to. Then I discovered that Alex Schmidt was fired without warning and the podcast is no more. Normally, I would have given five stars to one of my favorite podcasts but if you fire the host and cancel it, that kind of a one star thing to do. Hopefully Alex Schmidt can get a new project together to tell me why being alive is interesting.

If you’re going to cancel the show at least have the decency to make all the past episodes available to the public for free

Cancelling this podcast and firing Alex Schmidt was an awful decision.

Screw you guys.

This is the end of Cracked for me.

I am not intelligent enough to convey all these thoughts myself. Every time I listen to your podcast, I feel like it's scratching an itch I couldn't reach.

Another interview with Kai? Please improve your guest lineup. Kai, as he says “just sits in front of the microphone and talks”

I’ve been a fan of the podcast for many years now. Alex Schmidt is my hero!! His honesty, humbleness and compassion are a rarity in this world (esp. in podcasting). His curiosity and interest in the subjects are contagious. I always like episodes with ATB and Jason Wong. Thank you and keep up the great work!!!

Always love to listen to Alex and guests riff on the wild true events and facts of life.

footnotes

I’m glad they’ve started parenthetically warning when an episode has Jason Pargin/David Wong in it. Mostly because I like when an episode is about what the title claims it’s about and not just the meandering inner thoughts and vapid musings of a narcissist.

Otherwise these shows are hard to listen to. Some of the topics are good but the guest hosts are insufferable. Alex does his best to keep it on track but comedy shouldn’t be forced it should be natural. I thought it was maybe because I was losing interest in podcasts in general but listening to the latest episode about surprising uses for regular objects, I realized it was just THIS podcast.

This should be an interesting podcast. The topics and titles grab your attention but what you end up listening to a boring, unfunny waste of time.

I love David Wong. His episodes are the best.

If you’re either of those things, you’ll like this podcast.

Nervous laughter = awkward listening. Relax, Alex. You’re good enough you’re smart enough and doggone it your meds are killing it

Love the show, but the Jason Pargin/David Wong episodes are by far my favorite. More David Wong please. The London show about wacky scientists was also a particularly bright spot.

Wonderful in podcast, YouTube, and in person!

Super informative, interesting, and entertaining. The host, Alex, is like your sweet, kinda shy guy friend who sits behind you in English class and laughs with you over nonsense. Love it!

The titles seem interesting but the host and guests barely get anywhere. The host is also very cringe.

I want to hear the information being discussed, but they keep laughing at themselves after everything they say and it’s really cringey? I started on a random episode (about mike pence) so maybe it’s just an off day, but it’s so uncomfortable. It doesn’t flow at all, they aren’t clear with what they are saying, and the laughing at their own badly timed jokes is just weird. Maybe clean it up and get a better editor?

Even before I listened to the episode ‘Creepy Unsolved Mysteries’, this podcast is not as funny or entertaining as you’d expect. It’s just a group of snobby sounding millennial hipsters judging people and things in exactly the way you’d expect snobby millennial hipsters would do. But listening to them casually joke and mock the unsolved murder case of Elisa Lam, who was murdered in 2013, is just tasteless and void of any class regardless of this being in the comedy genre.

Love how many different types of subjects this hits. Alex is a superlikable host, and probably the best podcast host when it comes to not talking over his guests.

Great podcast interesting topics, leaving a comment to help with the algorithm, USA

Great podcast.

Tired of only hearing how bad Republicans are. I come here for comedy, and interesting facts. But, it seems like it’s all just turned into a pile on Republican hour.

back when Jack O'Brien hosted, this was one of my favorite podcasts. Since "Schmitty the Clam" took over, it's riddled with unamusing observations where people laugh at each other's comments, even when lacking humor. Highly recommend going back to the first couple of years and listening to those episodes, but unsubscribe when Jack leaves, it gets bad real quick.

I loved this podcast when it was about pop and the culture but since Jack O’Brien left, it’s just an hour of calling Republicans Unfeeling inhuman monsters who hate brown and poor people. Unless David Wong is there to put it into context of another human beings thought process that could lead them to have a different view than a 20 something costal liberal, it’s just mocking conservatives in a bubble. Now please mock my spelling and grammar.

Cracked followed MAD mag. Now Cracked leads all podcasts. GREAT STUFF HERE

Leaving a review for the algorithm. Keep up the good work, Schmitty!

Every title looks great. But content that actually relates to the title is remarkably slim. First, the participants are constantly speaking over each other and wisecracking and laughing - not in a Car Talk way where the panelists know how to riff off each other, but each going their own way at the same time. Second, so often the content is lightly informed, to put it charitably. I get that these aren't supposed to be experts, but there's an awful lot of "Yeah, I wonder why..." and "I'll bet it has something to do with..." when having an actual subject expert on instead of unscripted comics would clear the matter up in a second. I've tried and tried, but I just can't listen to this podcast anymore.

I used to listen to this every Monday. I loved it. Cracked has really changed in the past years Shmitty is a good host, but the show has really lost something. The content used to be full of knowledge and funny. Now it’s just snarky, and making fun of religions is ok now by them.

I listen to every episode with David Wong. He’s an important thought leader in these times, especially, in my opinion, for high school and college age guys.

The episodes with Jason Pargin are amazing every time. The rest are not worth listening too.

No joke, this is my absolute favorite podcast. I've listened to every episode from the beggening and it never dissapoints. Awesome hosts, amazing guests, fantastic topics, always hilarious and incredibly insightful! I especially love the special appearances from Cracked alum, David Wong. I can't recommend this show enough!

A bunch of unfunny highly indoctrinated liberal. No opposing views to give any balance. So if you like unoriginal derivative Trump jokes every 2 minutes this is the podcast for you.

One of the most consistently engaging and interesting Podcasts in existence. The intellectual curiosity on display is a defining trait, and exceedingly rare to find.

Awesome podcast week in and week out. Especially good when Jason Pargin (David Wong) is on the show

The Cracked podcast covers what is probably the widest range of topics of any podcast, and Alex seems like one of the nicest people in the world.

This is a must-hear podcast. The guests are consistently top-notch and Alex Schmidt is an excellent host.