Cable TV peaked at 105 million households in 2010. Today it's in less than 34% of American homes — and yet, somehow, streaming has become the new cable. Complicated bundles, decision fatigue, and the constant pressure to watch the right thing at the right time have made TV genuinely stressful. This week, Simon, Jesse, and Romain are joined by Maria Van Buskirk — newly minted Head of Comms and Go-to-Market at Significant — for her very first episode. Jesse brings the problem: how do you bring cab...
May 19, 2026•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 56
House parties are dying. The data is real, the stats are wild, and somehow Romain is the one mad about it. In this episode, Romain tasks Simon and Jesse with figuring out why nobody throws parties anymore — and more importantly, how to bring them back. The gang gets into the liking gap (why we're all secretly waiting for someone else to make the move), why LA kills the vibe by 11pm, whether the dinner party even counts, and the deeply underrated case for the adult sleepover. There's a strong arg...
May 12, 2026•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 55
When did everything get so serious? In this episode Simon tasks Jesse and Romain with trying to get the world to laugh more. In a time when people are feeling more lonely, isolated and anxious than ever, laughter feels like it might be more than entertainment, it might be medicine. The gang gets into how comedy has been sapped from corporate life, what it would take to bring it back, who stands to gain the most from a funnier world and, naturally, some deeply ridiculous solutions along the way. ...
May 05, 2026•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 54
On this episode of Crack It, we try something new baby!!!!! Instead of spending the whole episode on one problem, Jesse, Simon and Romain each bring their own and give themselves 20 minutes to solve it. Jesse wants to know how the heck we stop public bathrooms from inevitably becoming disgusting and whether it’s possible to inspire a little more societal decency. Simon takes on airport security and the challenge of making it both quicker and less miserable while getting people to respect the pro...
Apr 28, 2026•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 53
“Everyone agrees learning a second language is valuable. Almost no one actually does it.” In this episode of Crack It In An Hour, Romain speaks with Jesse and Biz to unpack a question that feels obvious on the surface and surprisingly broken underneath: why aren’t more people learning another language? They get into the real barriers: the illusion that it’s too late, the dominance of English, the way education systems strip the joy out of language, and the lack of real-world necessity. But they ...
Apr 21, 2026•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 52
What makes great TV… great? Is it art? Is it comfort food? Is it something in between? In this episode, Jesse brings a deceptively simple question to Simon and Biz: how do we make great TV today? What follows is a wide-ranging, nuanced conversation about the current state of television, the pressures of the modern landscape, and whether “greatness” is even something we can all agree on anymore. From prestige dramas to easy rewatches, the gang digs into what audiences actually want, what creators...
Apr 14, 2026•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 51
Most of us are stuck. Stuck in the same playlist, the same three artists, the same songs we discovered in high school. And the algorithm isn't helping, 70% of music consumption comes from titles older than 18 months. So Romain brings the question to the table: how do you actually get people to leave their taste bubble? Joined by friend and digital creator Luke Yun, the crew digs into why taste is so hard to shake — comfort, identity, social pressure, and the three-second skip culture that's rewi...
Apr 07, 2026•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 50
Creating a new sports league sounds easy…until you actually try to do it. In this episode Simon brings a big swing to the table: can they invent the next great American sports league? Alongside Jesse and Romain, the group dives headfirst into what modern audiences actually want. From rethinking gender in sport, to dialing in the right level of physicality, to dissecting what past leagues got right (and very, very wrong), the conversation quickly turns into a chaotic, hilarious, and surprisingly ...
Mar 31, 2026•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 49
Only about 3% of eligible Americans donate blood. THREE PERCENT. For something that quite literally saves lives, that number feels…insane. In this episode Jesse brings the problem to the table and tasks Romain and Simon with figuring out how to change it. Is it awareness? Is it fear? Or is it something deeper about how we form habits and what actually motivates people to do things that don’t immediately benefit them? The gang digs into the psychology of behavior change, emotional incentives, and...
Mar 24, 2026•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 48
Somewhere along the way, “community” became one of the most overused words in marketing. Every brand wants one, every founder claims to build one, but what does it actually mean? In this episode, Jesse, Biz, and Romain are joined by brand strategist and creative director Nourhan Wahdan to unpack the buzzword and get closer to a real definition. Is community about scale or intimacy? Is it built around shared ideology, mutual support, or simply a sense of belonging? The conversation explores why c...
Mar 17, 2026•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 47
Award shows used to feel like cultural events. Now? Ratings are down, attention is split, and they just don’t seem to matter the way they once did. So Romain brings the question: how do we make award shows important again? The crew digs into what made them great at their best — shared moments, unpredictability, star power — and what it means to recreate that in a world without monoculture. We get tactical on format tweaks, audience engagement, and how to make them feel bigger than just trophies....
Mar 10, 2026•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 46
Rejection. We all hate it. We all face it. So this week Simon brings a tough one to the table: how do we actually get better at dealing with it? We’re joined by the fantastic actor Kathleen Munroe, to break down how to deal with “no” better. From auditions to everyday life, we unpack what rejection really is, the ingredients that make someone resilient, and practical techniques to reframe it from personal failure to simple mismatch. We even brainstorm product ideas to help destigmatize rejection...
Mar 03, 2026•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 45
In a world where we scroll more than we sit, skim more than we study, and get our information in 30-second bursts, reading books feels…harder than it used to. So in this episode Jesse asks how we get people to read more books and whats stopping us? Sure, the obvious culprits are there. Endless notifications. Streaming everything. Social feeds engineered to hijack our attention. But the conversation doesn’t stop at “phones bad, books good.” The gang goes deeper on what reading actually does for u...
Feb 24, 2026•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 44
There was a study where people would rather shock themselves than sit alone with their own thoughts. Not a metaphor. Actually shock themselves. And yet doing absolutely nothing has massive benefits for our brains, from creativity to emotional regulation to long-term mental health. So what gives? In this episode Simon brings Jesse and Romain a deceptively simple challenge: how do we help people do more nothing? In a culture built on distraction, productivity hacks and infinite scroll, “doing noth...
Feb 17, 2026•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 43
Somewhere along the way, keeping kids safe slowly turned into keeping them supervised at all times. In this episode, Romain kicks things off by asking a simple but uncomfortable question: when did letting kids roam start to feel irresponsible? Why has independent play, wandering the neighborhood, or figuring things out alone become so rare? Jesse, Biz, and Romain dig into the cultural, emotional, and practical reasons parents hold on so tightly—from fear and social pressure to convenience and gu...
Feb 10, 2026•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 42
Somewhere along the way, “I’ll just pay someone to do it” became the default. In this episode, Jesse kicks things off by asking why DIY and basic handiness have quietly disappeared from everyday life. Why don’t more people try to fix things themselves? Is it the time commitment? The mental load? Or the fear of making it worse and having nothing to show for it? Jesse, Simon, and Romain get into the psychology of modern convenience, the satisfaction (and frustration) of doing things yourself, and ...
Feb 03, 2026•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 41
Most of us know we should drink more water… and yet here we are. On this episode, Simon brings a deceptively simple problem to the table: why don’t people drink enough water? With nearly half of Americans falling short and around 30% walking around dehydrated, the gang (Biz, Jesse, Romain, and Simon) dig into why awareness hasn’t translated into action. From the rise of Stanley cups to the limits of wellness culture, they explore what actually drives behavior change — and what it would take to g...
Jan 27, 2026•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 40
Landlines are dead…but what would it take to bring them back? In this episode, Biz joins Jesse, Simon, and Romain as they discuss how we could bring one of the more recent forgotten pieces of technology back into our lives. What starts as a conversation about reducing screen time quickly turns into a bigger debate about purpose, nostalgia, and whether has just moved past communal technology. Could landlines be reimagined for modern life? How do other “old” things manage to feel cool again? And i...
Jan 20, 2026•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 39
Every January, we promise ourselves change. Eat better. Move more. Finally become the person we swore we’d be last year. And then… most resolutions quietly die by February. In this episode, Simon brings a question he’s been circling with Romain and Jesse: how do we actually help people stick to their New Year’s resolutions? The group digs into the role resolutions are supposed to play, why they so consistently fail, and whether the entire concept needs a rethink. Are we asking too much? Framing ...
Jan 13, 2026•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 38
“Value” has always been one of QSR’s biggest weapons. Cheap, fast, dependable. But what happens when rising food costs start chipping away at the very thing that made QSR… well, QSR? In this episode, Jesse, Romain, and Simon dig into the future of quick service restaurants and ask a deceptively simple question: are value customers actually your most valuable customers anymore? From redefining what “value” really means today, to exploring the emotional, experiential, and brand factors that matter...
Jan 06, 2026•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 37
It’s the Holiday Special, which means normal rules do not apply. In this episode Jesse, Simon, and Romain crack open five past topics — Aging, Sleep, Dating, Tennis, and College — to see what they got right, what they got wrong, and what new takes have emerged after letting these ideas sit for a while. Some opinions have evolved, some have hardened, and a few get completely re-litigated. It’s reflective, messy, funny, and exactly what happens when you put three strong opinions in a room at the e...
Dec 23, 2025•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 36
The American mall didn’t die overnight—it slowly lost its reason to exist. In this episode, Jesse, Simon, and Romain unpack how overbuilding, e-commerce, cultural shifts, and the loss of hangout spaces like record stores hollowed malls out. Then they flip the question forward: what should a mall be in a world where online shopping is permanent? From experiential brands to fandom-driven spaces and destination food, the crew takes a crack at whether malls still have a future worth saving. Did they...
Dec 16, 2025•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 35
Why do some people leap while others freeze? In this episode, Romain, Jesse and Simon team up with French entrepreneur Alix Petit , founder of Heimstone, Creative Director of The Refreshment Club and the mind behind the Substack WHAT COMES AFTER . Together they unpack the psychology of making big choices, what failure really means, how physical well-being fuels mental courage, and the reasons people avoid change even when they desperately want it. Did they crack what it takes to choose boldly? L...
Dec 09, 2025•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 34
Drinking isn’t down because indulgence is down — it’s down because the entire culture around it is cracking. In this episode, Jesse, Simon and Romain tackle the decline of drinking as a social experience and ask what it would take to revive it. Are bars worse now? Is the rise of remote work, wellness trends, and “protecting your peace” killing the collective joy of being a little buzzed together? And what happens to human connection when everyone is terrified of being filmed after three margarit...
Dec 02, 2025•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 33
Social used to be… social. Remember that? Before everything became an ad, a performance, or a perfectly-filtered version of life? In this episode, Biz sits down with Jesse, Romain and Simon to figure out what it would actually take to make social media feel personal again. From whether Instagram introduced “the aesthetic era,” to the rise of finstas and close friends, the gang digs into how we went from genuine connection to algorithm-optimized broadcasting, and how we might reverse it. Can we g...
Nov 25, 2025•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 32
The written word is pretty powerful. Some people may complain about the time it takes or the process of, but maybe that's entirely the point. In this episode the gang discusses the idea of writing letters and the secret power of them, trying to figure out how we get people to see the value and participate in writing more of them. Did we crack it? Check it out.
Nov 18, 2025•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 31
Driving used to be a right of passage, a symbolic moment of attaining a new level of freedom on your journey towards adulthood. But things are changing, fewer young people are getting their licenses and fewer people are driving in general. With the rise of rideshare and other services it's never been easier to get by without having to drive, so how do you sell people on the idea of driving when freedom is no longer the main pull? This one goes deep with lots of thoughts and feelings. Did we crac...
Nov 11, 2025•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 30
Travel used to be about discovery, or relaxation or adventure. But lately the process of travel has started to feel like a hassle that gets in the way of the enjoyment of the process. We've been given more freedom to go more places and stay in anything from hotels to homes which is great... but forces us to be alot more active in the decision making of it all. Throw in social media, and other modern pressures and it's a perfect cocktail for making something meant to be fun alot more stressful th...
Nov 04, 2025•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 29
Candy corn. The words alone typically spark a big reaction either positive or negative, but the story goes deeper than that. While the candy industry is flourishing, candy corn is lagging. So what would it take to help candy corn make a comeback? In this one the gang goes deep on candy corn and the candy industry as a whole. It's a subject near and dear to a whole bunch of us. Check it out!
Oct 28, 2025•58 min•Ep. 28
Tupperware. Some people remember it as THE reusable storage brand...others simply know it as a name for reusable storage but didn't know it was an actual company. But recently, the company has been given new life with outside investment. In this episode, Romain, Biz, and Simon dig into how they could make Tupperware bigger than ever again. It's a fun one where our ages really kinda sorta show.
Oct 21, 2025•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 27
