Rubik's Cubes. Ronald Reagan. Jerry Falwell. Just Say No. One of these things was awesome. Take a guess and hop on board the 80s train.
AI Summary
This episode dives deep into the fascinating history and mechanics of the Rubik's Cube, from its invention by Hungarian architect Erno Rubik in 1974 to becoming one of the most successful toys ever created. Josh and Chuck explore how this deceptively simple puzzle sold hundreds of millions of copies, sparked a global craze with bestselling solution books, and eventually led to the emergence of competitive speed cubing, where specialized cubes and memorized algorithms allow modern solvers to crack the puzzle in under four seconds. Along the way, they uncover surprising details about the cube's mathematical properties, including the concept of "God's number" and the mind-bending fact that there are over 43 quintillion possible configurations.
"And there's also a movie called Cube, which is like, saw with math. — Chuck mentions the movie Cube as a mathematical thriller similar to Saw."
— Chuck
Gleaming the Cube
1989
PG-13
1h 46m
★ 6.0
"And Christian Slater made a movie called Gleaming the Cube. One of my all time favorites. — Chuck mentions Christian Slater's film Gleaming the Cube, which is about skateboarding despite its cube-related title."
— Chuck
Maximum Overdrive
1986
1h 38m
★ 5.8
"Do you remember the goblin face on Maximum Overdrive on the front of that semi? — Josh compares the creepy face on the Rubik's cube cartoon character to the goblin face from Stephen King's Maximum Overdrive."
— Josh
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
1990
★ 7.9
"The one where he went, he was from West Philadelphia and he went to live with his rich relatives? — Josh and Chuck discuss Will Smith's TV show, referencing the famous premise from the opening credits."
— Josh
The Pursuit of Happyness
2006
1h 57m
★ 7.9
"There's the pursuit of happiness where Will Smith gets a job as a stockbroker because somebody sees him solve a Rubik's cube. — Chuck references the Will Smith film where a Rubik's cube-solving scene plays a role in the plot."
— Chuck
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