Everyone says dating has never been easier...apps, algorithms, endless choice. But if that’s true, why does it feel so hard, so awkward, so… miserable? In this episode, Jesse and Romain dig into the modern dating paradox with guest Sarah Jenkins, Head of Creative Brand Initiatives at Grindr. From swipe fatigue to the illusion of abundance, to what love even means when everything is optimized, we ask: is dating broken, or are we?
Oct 14, 2025•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 26
I scream, you scream we all scream for ice cream...well we used to scream a lot more. It turns out ice cream has actually been on the decline for a while, peaking in the 2000s before beginning its steady drop for the last two decades. How can that be? Is it societal? Is it competition from other sweet treats? Changing tastes? In this episode the gang gets into how to start the great ice cream resurgence. This is a fun one. Don't get brain freeze while listening. Check it out!
Oct 07, 2025•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 25
Small talk might seem like, well, a small thing but did you know that small talk has been proven to boost mood, make people more receptive to outside opinions and change people's perception of the world? It's all true! So what if small talk was actually the tiny, little secret to helping us get back to a more cohesive, happy society? In this episode the crew breaks down how to bring small talk back, how it could be made more easy, more fun and more enjoyable. It's a big chat about small talk...W...
Sep 30, 2025•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 24
Humans are a paradox. A collection of wants and needs that run directly into each other and make no sense. In this episode we dive directly into one of those paradoxes. While most of us want for nice things, we also often want to be seen as unpretentious and unbothered. Why is that? is it because we're worried as being a person who likes nice things and what it says about us? Is it something deeper? Something more shallow? It's a big one as the gang tries to dive deep on figuring out the weird s...
Sep 22, 2025•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 23
Tennis is in an interesting situation. For all intents and purposes the sport itself is doing well. People continue to play it and engage with its biggest tournaments. But when you look a level deeper there's the whiff of an existential threat thanks to the growth velocity of pickleball. While tennis is growing, pickleball is exploding. Now tennis players are seeing their courts get swallowed up and replaced with pickleball courts, entire generations usually more enticed to play tennis are being...
Sep 15, 2025•1 hr 9 min•Ep. 22
The Algorithmic Aesthetic. It's a thing that has gone beyond your social feed to inform just about everything. The long and short of it is that in a world where content is optimized for an algorithm, eventually everything starts to look like what would work best for the algorithm. It sounds like science fiction but we're in the middle of living it. In this episode Simon and Jesse are joined by Chris McPherson to discuss the issue and potential ways to help bring a little more variety to the worl...
Sep 08, 2025•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 21
Only 30% of families eat dinner together, 46% of all U.S. meals are eaten alone. Besides just being a little sad, there are bigger reasons why this is a problem. Communal eating has massive positive effects from dietary to emotional. In fact it is just as predictive of life satisfaction as things like job status or income. So what's stopping us from breaking bread together and how do we fix it? Give it a listen and find out.
Sep 02, 2025•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 20
When you think of Miami do you think of South Beach, cruises and cocaine or do you think about a growing and dynamic business capital with an enticing lifestyle for just about anyone and any interest? Well if you thought more of the former you're not alone. In this episode Romain pounds the table for one of his favorite American cities and helping to reflect the truth of the city and fight back the stereotypes. Did we pull it off? It really comes together in the last few minutes, but you tell us...
Aug 25, 2025•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 19
Most people don't see the doctor enough. Both when they DEFINITELY SHOULD and when they have their scheduled annual check ups and such. Sooooo why is that? Is it fear of bad news? Is it the experience itself? Is it how much of a chore it has become? Those are all fair reasons. In this episode Romain, Jesse and Simon get into trying to make the act of going to see the doctor more enticing. Did they crack it? Give it a listen and let us know!
Aug 19, 2025•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 18
Once upon a time, phone calls were spontaneous, joyful, and the heartbeat of our social lives. Now? They’re either scheduled like a dentist appointment or dodged entirely. In this episode, Jesse, Romain, and special guest Dany Lennon dig into the disappearance of meaningful, impromptu conversations. From the slow death of the dinner table chat to why “Can I call you?” has become a mandatory pre-call ritual, they explore the generational shifts, tech habits, and work exhaustion that are killing c...
Aug 12, 2025•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 17
Only 1 in 10 adults eat the amount of veggies they're supposed to. And over the last decade vegetable consumption keeps dropping. So what's the deal? In this episode the group comes together to try and get the world to start eating more vegetables. It's a good one filled with rational arguments as well as irrational ones to convince people to start eating more veggies. Check it out!
Aug 05, 2025•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 16
In this episode the team sits down to discuss the future of college education and the value of a degree. There's no denying what college is capable of doing for people, but the disillusionment around it is real and valid. What is its role? What is the goal? And how the heck do you offer something worth the eye watering cost? Check it out and join in on the convo!
Jul 29, 2025•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 15
Simon loves a great market opportunity, and in this episode he thinks he found one. There's an activity that half of the U.S. participates in, continues to rise in popularity, and yet as a spectator event is still a niche pay-per-view play with no household names or mainstream attention. What is it? Give it a listen and tell us if you think Simon is crazy for believing in its future.
Jul 22, 2025•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 14
In-person retail has taken a beating recently. When you have the convenience of online shopping then the haymaker of the Covid shutdown, it's no surprise it ain't doing as well as it used to. But maybe there's a massive opportunity being missed here. On this episode Yann Caloghiris, Executive Director of Left Field Labs joins us to talk about the present and future of retail and how we could make it not just what it was, but imagine completely new possibilities for what it could become. Check it...
Jul 15, 2025•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 13
This probably won't shock anyone but it turns out the natural world is incredibly good for us. Even just a walk around your block, breathing some fresh air and getting some sun has proven positive effects on our well-being. So in a world where it's getting easier and easier to do less and less, sit still and stay entertained, how do we get people back outside again? Check it out!
Jul 08, 2025•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 12
Only 48% of Americans can answer basic financial literacy questions. 43% of Americans don't know what a 401k is. It probably comes as no surprise this leads to serious financial problems down the road. Financial illiteracy costs Americans over $1,000 a year, and a staggering total of 243 billion. So why is money so hard to understand? Is it a system built to intentionally confuse? Is it a topic that falls on deaf ears? Are we talking about finance totally wrong? In this episode the gang goes wid...
Jul 01, 2025•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 11
Chances are you don't use all your vacation time. It could be fear of looking like a slacker, being "too busy" or just wanting to feel valued. But did you know that taking a vacation actually HELPS you get ahead in your career? The positive effects of some vacation go well beyond that but in the U.S. the rise and grind mentality often hinders us from doing the very thing that can actually help our professional prospects. In this episode the gang discusses why it's so hard to get people to take t...
Jun 24, 2025•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 10
On this episode Jen Costello, the Global Chief Strategy Officer at TBWA Worldwide joins the gang to talk about Play. While most people assume it's the thing of children, the effects of play on people aged 1 to 100 are incredible. Not only is it incredibly healthy, but it also helps with imagination, problem solving and a host of other benefits. But as we get older, we do it less and less. In fact by the time we hit adulthood most of us barely do it at all. The group goes deep on to how to get pe...
Jun 17, 2025•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 9
As a society we have huge love and affection for our dogs...but less so for cleaning up after them. On this episode Jesse, Romain and Simon try to figure out how the heck to get the world to clean up after their dogs. From shame tactics to public policy to tech, the gang discusses motivations, the finicky nature of behavior change and a whole lot of other crap. Check it out
Jun 10, 2025•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 8
Everyone loves movies...but movie theaters? Well, people have never really gone back the way they did before the pandemic. In this episode of Crack it, the gang goes deep on trying to figure out how to get people back to movie theaters. Has the role of movie theaters changed? Do we need to rethink the actual facilities themselves? Is this just a point in culture where people have no interest in this sort of social interaction and would rather watch things alone, or is it a massive opportunity fo...
Jun 03, 2025•54 min•Ep. 7
From the golden age with Houdini front and center, to the post 9/11 world of David Blaine and Criss Angel, the magic industry has seen some huge moments of cultural prominence. On today's episode Jesse, Simon and Romain discuss what it would take to make it a bigger part of the cultural conversation, if now is the right time for its return to center stage and what's holding it back. Jesse and Simon get into it, Romain remains skeptical of it basically the entire time. Give it a listen!
May 27, 2025•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 6
The open road has always held a romantic place in the hearts and minds of Americans, but with the exotification of vacations and the want for people to do the holiday for the 'gram, the road trip isn't seen as the top tier option it once was. In this episode of Crack It, we're joined by Joe Staples, a brilliant creative thinker, as we discuss ways to help the road trip capture the attention and the wheels of modern Americans.
May 20, 2025•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 5
Between the fires to start the year, the hard times of the movie industry, an exodus of people leaving Los Angeles for other places and a general not-so-great narrative lately around California, the story around Los Angeles hasn’t been positive. In this episode Jesse, Romain and Simon discuss how they would set up LA to make a massive comeback.
May 13, 2025•57 min•Ep. 4
35% of US Adults sleep less than 7 hours. 73% of US high school students don’t get enough sleep on school nights. The sleep deficit America is dealing with has massive financial and health repercussions not to mention the impact it has on personal happiness. Someone should ask some experts on how to fix this! Instead, Romain asks Jesse and Simon to figure out this super tough problem…in an hour.
May 07, 2025•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 3
Let's be honest, we live in a society obsessed with youth. This has had the unfortunate side effect of giving aging a surprisingly bad rep, making everyone focus on the negatives of aging without discussing any of the perks. In this episode, Jesse tasks Romain and Simon with trying to rebrand aging – trying to find a way to make it something people look forward to, not avoid. It’s a big, complicated one. Did they crack it? Listen to find out.
May 07, 2025•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 2
Leotards, leg warmers, coordinated dancercise! In the first episode of Crack It, Simon wants to bring the glory days of aerobics back to the world and tasks Jesse and Romain with helping him figure out how. From a deep dive into what was so fantastic about aerobics in the first place, to a plan to go-to-market for a new generation of potential aerobic nuts, the team goes DEEP on all things aerobics and how they could work today.
May 07, 2025•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 1
