JulyDiaz

Take a trip in your mind back to May 18th, 1999. Bill Clinton was the president, 'Livin La Vida Loca' and 'No Scrubs' were at the top of the music charts, and there was hope that 'The Phantom Menace' would be a great movie. Then the next day happened; the movie was released, and a bit of our collective innocence was forever lost. There are of fans losing their shit with anticipation lining up to see the movie, and their reactions leaving the theater two hours later. Most said they loved it, but you can hear the twinge of doubt in their voices and see a blankness in their eyes, as if the brain was fighting itself, literally incapable of believing that the movie sucked. And in the coming years we obviously came to a consensus about the prequels: they were the most vile of garbage and George Lucas was persona non grata in the film industry. It's sixteen years later and we now hope we're in a different place, but it's easy to feel the parallels between where we are now and where we were in May 1999. We have no idea what 'The Force Awakens' will bring us later this week. We hope for the best, but also hope we're not too cynical in expecting the worst. On this week's podcast, Jack O'Brien is joined by Cracked executive editor Jason Pargin (aka David Wong) for a deep dive into the history of Star Wars and how we got to this very moment. They discuss what the original trilogy got right, where the prequels went wrong, and the complicated genius of George Lucas.

Have you taken the time to write down where each and every cent you spend goes to? If not, you may be lacking in one of James and Stephen's "three skills of money".

Best friends and roommates, comedian Ariana Lenarsky and Academic Outreach Counselor Aileen Parungao join Andrew to talk about judging people vs. racism. Make sure to leave us a message about anything you think is racist at (323) 389-RACE.

Flying and smiling with Pat Francis.

Stand-up extraordinaire Eugene Mirman aka 1/3 of the Titans of Comedy returns to tell us all about his new 9-volume comedy album "I'm Sorry (You're Welcome)" on this week's Comedy Bang Bang! Eugene goes into what you can find in his new comedy album (including 45 minutes of himself crying), describes exactly what is a "Fuckscape," and ponders the possibility of a Talking Bob's Burgers after show. Then, George St. Geegland & Gil Faizon fly in from New York to talk about their holiday plans, the 60s, and their current Off-Broadway run of their new show "The Oh, Hello Show." Don't miss it or you might get Tuna'd!

Welcome back to Sister Oh, Brother! with your host Wayne Federman! It's the podcast for people to hash out their sibling rivalries. This week Wayne has an exclusive interview with Lauren Lapkus' twin sister Blauren Lapkus who is suing her sister for stealing her persona. Blauren and Wayne talk about what the real Lauren is like, call up Wayne's brother Andrew Federman to chat, and do some word association therapy. Later, Traci Reardon arrives to help her Twitter followers with advice on being embarrassed by your sister, sharing a Netflix account with your sibling, and other sibling issues in another edition of “Help Me, Rhonda.”

Kevin sits down with Al Jean as he chats about being the head writer and show runner on The Simpsons since the beginning of this tv phenomenon. A must listen for any Simpsons fanatic!

Best friends and roommates, comedian Ariana Lenarsky and Academic Outreach Counselor Aileen Parungao join Andrew to talk about the politics of rejection. Make sure to leave us a message about anything you think is racist at (323) 389-RACE.

Stephen's lunch meeting with an old boss takes us into a discussion about whether tough managers make better bosses than endearing ones. Also, what important lessons have our hosts’ favorite ex-employers imparted upon them?

Hello! Welcome back to The Wishing Well with your host Skee-Lo (Shaun Diston)! 90's rapper Skee-Lo has been making wishes for a real long time and has yet to have any of his wishes granted from his famed 1995 song "I Wish." This week Skee-Lo is joined by special guest Frank Dorito, the Guinness World Record holder for Most Wishes Granted. They'll review Skee-Lo's wishes including his prized wish for a rabbit in a hat with a bat, discuss several tactics on how to get a wish granted, and give us the real scoop on genies. Later, Traci Reardon arrives to help her Twitter followers with advice on making a decision between two wishes and more in another edition of “Help Me, Rhonda.”

Best friends and roommates, comedian Ariana Lenarsky and Academic Outreach Counselor Aileen Parungao join Andrew all this week to answer some racism questions. Today they discuss the Americanization of names. Be sure to call us at (323) 389-RACE to ask if anything is racist.

The entertainment industry has a great way of being subtly racist while proclaiming their open-mindedness. Case in point: the Sony email hack revealed the studio didn't pursue a sequel to the Denzel Washington film 'The Equalizer' because "the international motion picture audience is racist." No, not America, we solved that whole racism thing, it's the rest of the world that's racist. Look at the triumph of new network shows like 'Empire' and 'Black-ish.' The media decries their success as random or flukey when actually there's a much simpler and less demeaning explanation for their accomplishments: people want to watch shows about the African-American experience and it's a market that's vastly under-served. This week on the podcast, Cracked editor-in-chief Jack O'Brien sits down for 3 conversations about the racist stuff in pop-culture that white people just don't see. First, he is joined by Kevin Avery of 'Last Week Tonight' and 'Denzel Washington is the Greatest Actor of All Time Period,' then he hops on the phone with Kid Fury and Crissle West from 'The Read,' and wraps up with a conversation with 'Yo Is This Racist?' host Andrew Ti.

What happens when one of the greatest basketball players of the 90s becomes a superhero? Find out next week! This week Paul goes through Corrections and Omissions for Hackers, answers whether or not Nic Cage would have made Hackers better, and recommends some great TV shows during Scheer's Picks. Plus, Paul tells us whose his favorite friend from Friends, which Nic Cage character would win in a battle royale, and more as he answers your Qs! Don't forget to check out Blake Harris’ Oral History of Hackers over at www.slashfilm.com! People of the internet: Keep watching The League on FXX 10pm on Wednesdays! A while ago, Paul and Rob Huebel did a comedy special on a 60 foot glass bus that traveled around LA and now you’ll be able to see it. Go to https://itun.es/us/3M4J9 now to buy it! You can also see Jason in The Night Before in a theater near you! The Hotwives (Casey Wilson, Danielle Schneider, Andrea Savage, Dannah Phirman, Tymberlee Hill, Angela Kinsey, Erinn Hayes) are back and this time they are in Vegas baby! Watch The Hotwives of Las Vegas on Hulu today! Also, check out June in Grace and Frankie available on Netflix, Paul in Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp on Netflix, all the episodes of NTSF:SD:SUV:: on HULU for free, ScheeRL on YouTube here: , and Jason in The Dictator (he’s still in it!).

Paul F. Tompkins welcomes the beautiful people of Beverly Hills AND the internet to a LIVE episode of Spontaneanation recorded at the 2015 LA Podfest! This week, Paul’s special guest is Andy Daly of Comedy Central's Review! They chat about Andy's on-camera experience with lizards, how Andy learned to tell time, and his mistrust of the ocean. Paul is then joined by Matt Gourley, Craig Cackowski, and Janet Varney to improvise a story set at a Saltwater Tuffy Shoppe. And as always, Eban Schletter (only the best) scores it all on piano! LIVE episodes of SPONTANEANATION return to Largo on The Coronet on Saturday, February 6, 2016! Get your tickets now: bit.ly/SPONT0216 PFT's EPISODE NOTES: - The episode begins with me falling off the stage! - During the monologue, Andy Daly was checking his hair in his phone and I accuse him of “Jeff Garlin-ing” me, a reference to Andy’s appearance on this episode of !- I completely forgot that I had seen the newsman/lizard video Andy describes! - This is the that I described!- Thanks to the audience for the live photos!

Guestress of honore Mary Elizabeth Ellis of FOX's The Grinder shares what the hardest part of being an actor is on this week's Comedy Bang Bang! Mary also tells us about becoming a judge, what showbiz job she would take in an alternate universe, and a possible new storyline for her character on The Grinder. Then, Scott's travel agent Randy Travels arrives to check up on Scott's last vacation, help Mary schedule her very first vacation, and explain why he learned english from a cartoon public access Hot Dog in NYC. Later, Dr. Frankie Beans stops by to talk about what lead him to be named 2015's Most Improved Surgeon of the Year.

Making a list with Dave Holmes.

Emily Gordon of The Indoor Kids joins Paul, June, and Jason to discuss Bruce Willis’ cappuccino obsession, Nintendo references, and burglary duets in Hudson Hawk. They cover everything from the candy bar named bad guys to Andie MacDowell being Nundercover. Don’t forget to get tickets for Paul’s Christmas Spectacular and a LIVE Holiday edition of How Did This Get Made? (2nd LATE show added) at Largo in Los Angeles on December 12th & 13th!

On the inaugural episode of Bitch Sesh, Casey Wilson and Danielle Schneider welcome actor/writer Matt McConkey (Bajillion Dollar Propertie$, Marry Me) to break down the Season 6 premiere of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills! They'll cover everything from the breaking news of David Foster & Yolanda Foster's separation to the ghost of Kim Richards. Plus, everyone discusses which fired Housewive they would bring back as they answer your Twitter Qs!

Andrew Ti and special guest Molly Lambert finish the week off by discussing someone getting upset over people assuming their ethnicity. As always, leave us a message about anything you think is racist at (323) 389-RACE.

In the last two weeks, the internet was blessed with new trailers for both 'Ant-Man' and 'Avengers: Age of Ultron'. Frames were analyzed, Hulks were busted, and lids were flipped. For millions of people, no international tragedies or disasters could compare with the latest news from Marvel's explosion-dense Verse. And we're not even getting into the shrieking excitement that already surrounds the latest Star Wars movie. As crazy as it seems, reports indicate that there are perhaps hundreds of movies coming out this year that don't feature Stan Lee cameos or Jedi. Perhaps this year's 'Edge of Tomorrow' is hiding somewhere and we can't see it through the fog of discussion surrounding hilted lightsabers. The big blockbusters of the year have a way of drowning out everything else, but that doesn't mean there aren't filmmakers doing some seriously cool things in 2015. This week, Cracked editor-in-chief Jack O'Brien is joined by Alisha Grauso from Moviepilot.com, Drew McWeeny from HitFix.com, and Scott Mendelson from Forbes.com to discuss some of the box office and filmmaking trends that we're moving towards in 2015. They'll cover the year's most anticipated movies that AREN'T sequels or comic book movies, and that don't involve so much as a single dinosaur. Crazy, we know.

Are New Year’s resolutions worth making even if they’re not sustainable throughout the year? Stephen thinks a carefully chosen fresh start may be worthwhile, but can he convince James?

Molly Lambert and Andrew talk about Pranks in the Hood YouTube videos. Don't forget to keep leaving us messages by calling (323) 389-RACE.

County favorite and fantastic writer Matt Goldich is back to talk about writing on Late Night with Seth Meyers, the benevolent vandalism he's experienced with his recent move to Harlem in NY, and misappropriated Shakespeare quotes. Then, Daniel Van Kirk brings us stories that include Darth Vader being arrested after a Jacksonville Beach attempted robbery, a New Jersey woman accused of making a fake 911 call so she could drive drunk, and a Brazilian group that is putting racist comments on billboards near offenders' homes. Plus, we hear a special message from Doug Buffone on why the Bears are doing so well recently.

As the end of the year approaches, so does the number of cards promising to make a charitable donation “in your name”. But how well do these charities spend the money with your name attached to it? Also, what does it take to make “the list” for an annual holiday party?

Last year, Christopher Nolan's 'Interstellar' took advantage of some of the most up-to-date quantum theory we've got, and wove in a story about space travel, time, and relativity. While that movie went out of its way to include actual science, others just happen upon quantum theory accidentally. Take 'The Empire Strikes Back'-- Luke trains with Yoda for what seems like months in the entire time it takes Han to get through one warp-speed chase. Some might call it a plot hole, but actually could the better explanation be that Luke and Yoda were on a planet that experienced time differently? This week on the podcast, Cracked editors Jack O'Brien, Michael Swaim, and Soren Bowie explain in layman's terms some of the basic paradoxes and thought experiments that have come to define quantum theory, and then apply quantum physics to popular movie plot holes.