Skip to main content

The Impact Of Cracked.com On The Media I Consume

 Over the weekend, I met a guy for beers.  The guy was the host of the Grand Rapidians Play Videogames podcast (which, upon further review, I have not actually reviewed yet).  We got talking about podcasts and media, and how we'd initially encountered each other on teh intarnetz:  through a Discord server for The Daily Zeitgeist podcast.  I made the comment about how I followed TDZ host, Jack O'Brien, from his former job at Cracked.com.  Without Jack starting Cracked.com, then leaving to form TDZ, and me getting into the TDZ Discord server, I wouldn't have met that guy for beers.

Cracked also begat Robert Evans, who has done battlefield reporting from places like Iraq and Syria, and has done front-line reporting in the upheavals in Portland, Oregon in summer 2020.  His insights into current events had influence on my attitudes toward future history.  It's important to reflect on current events as a historical blog, because that way, 20 years down the road, people will be able to look back and understand the personal context of what is happening right now.

Adam Tod Brown's Unpops Network was started as an offshoot of Cracked.  ATB was one of the first to leave Cracked after seeing the writing on the wall, and with ATB himself recognizing that Cracked wasn't his own path forward - he wanted to pursue standup comedy and branch out into more podcasting than writing, but Jack didn't see it that way, so they amicably parted ways.  Part of the Unpops Network includes the show Pretty Scary (Boo!), which planted the seed in my lil' ol' brain into pursuing true crime stories here in Holland, which eventually blossomed into this whole blog thing.

Speaking of this whole blog thing, it really was a series of 1,000 tiny cuts before I finally settled on writing.  I was inspired by a tweet from former Cracked writer, Daniel O'Brien, who currently hosts yet another podcast, Quick Question With Soren And Daniel.  The tweet was on my personal account, and was about just writing something in order to find my voice and establish a presence online.  That being said, I've considered podcasting and videos as well, but those have a substantially higher startup cost.  Straight up, this blog was *free* to start:  I already had a laptop, the library card where I did my first research was also free, and all the accounts were fo' free as well:  Google, including Blogger and Gmail; Twitter; Instagram.  Anyway, I like to think that my writing style would fit in well on Cracked.com in its glory days.

But, let's look back at The Daily Zeitgeist:  The format is the two hosts, Jack and Miles, and a guest or two discussing and making fun of current events.  It was one of the guests (who happened to be a moderator on the Discord server) who gave me an incredibly toxic experience on the Discord, by saying that I'm not racist, just everyone who acts and thinks like I do is (after discussing the 80's TV show The Dukes Of Hazzard and how viewing it through a 2020 "woke" lens is the wrong way to look at it), and that because of the color of my skin, my gender identity, and my sexual orientation, my thoughts and opinions weren't valid.  That ain't "woke."  That ain't progressive.  That's entirely as toxic as the folks that she/they (I disremember this person's preferred pronouns, but I'm trying to make an effort here because I'm not a trash human) were crusading against.  Anyway, it was here where I was introduced to Jamie Loftus and her content such as My Year In Mensa, where she explores the Mensa society.

Like all good stories, this one starts with a girl.  I was introduced to the old Stumbleupon app (circa 2006) by some smokin' hot babe in college...and that's where I first discovered Cracked.com.  But perhaps, that means that this is all about a girl, and not Cracked.com.

My entire premise has now been dumped all over the floor.

Thanks, internet, you've ruined my essay.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Merry Christmas from Tulip City!

I don't have a full article this week, but here's a little bit of trivia for you: While Holland is a predominantly Christian Reformed city, it was the early Methodists that sprung the Christmas spirit. While an 1867 Sunday School Christmas Program drew nearly 150 youngsters to Hope Church, it was several generations before the Reformed church allowed even Christmas trees into their sanctuaries, as Christmas trees were seen as Pagan symbols. Early Methodists adopted the 19th Century American spirit, and welcomed things like Christmas trees and even Santa Claus into their sanctuaries. I tried to determine exactly how long "several generations" were using Dr. Swierenga's book (and the sources he cites), but could not ascertain the exact time. It's almost certainly somewhere in the vicinity of 50 years (before the Christian Reformed Churches allowed 'pagan' Christmas symbols), which would put their allowing of such things into the early 20th century, but ...

The Cedar Swamp Village

Holland has only been a settled city for a little over 170 years. But, it's got a dense, unique history. I took an interest in local history during my college years at Northern Michigan University, and was able to take that interest back home after graduation. Recently, I began researching for this blog, and hanging out at the library, poring through the Local History section. I found an old, forboding looking book, entitled Memorials Of The Grand River Valley, flipped open to a seemingly random page, and read the passage "The Indian village, near the southeastern limits of the city,w as also a prominent landing-place. The log-houses, built by the Indians, were of great service to the newly arrived immigrants; and, as it appears, there never has been any trouble between the Red man and the Dutchman." This piqued my interest, as I live near the southeastern limits of Holland. Was there an Indian village in my own neighborhood that history forgot? Memorials ad...

The Ghost Town in Hudsonville

When the term "ghost town" is brought up, one doesn't usually think of modern subdivisions and upper-middle class suburbs. The classic "ghost town" is usually applied to a town that was abandoned when a major industry dries up, leaving crumbling shells of buildings, maybe some artifacts, and nothing but memories.  You know the drill, overgrown storefronts, smashed windows, tumbleweeds, maybe a hobo or two. Briefly, there was an interurban rail system all around Western Michigan in the late 19 th and early 20 th century. I won't go into details, as the whole system is well-documented elsewhere, but the electric train systems allowed for the transportation of people all around the major metropolitan areas in West Michigan...Grand Rapids was a major hub, and they had lines going to Grandville, Jenison, and Hudsonville along Chicago Drive; south to Kalamazoo; and as it pertains to this story, to Holland and Saugatuck. The branch between Grand Rapids an...