Better Offline
Better Offline is a weekly show exploring the tech industry’s influence and manipulation of society - and interrogating the growth-at-all-costs future that tech’s elite wants to build.
Combining narrative-form storytelling, one-on-one interviews and panel-based discussions, Better Offline cuts through the buzzwords and obfuscation of the tech industry, investigating and evaluating the schemes and scams of everyone from cryptocurrency scumbags to the greediest of the venture capital elite. Tech industry veteran Ed Zitron and a dynamic coterie of guests will help listeners understand the who, how and why of how tech’s most powerful players are changing the world - for better or for worse.
Combining narrative-form storytelling, one-on-one interviews and panel-based discussions, Better Offline cuts through the buzzwords and obfuscation of the tech industry, investigating and evaluating the schemes and scams of everyone from cryptocurrency scumbags to the greediest of the venture capital elite. Tech industry veteran Ed Zitron and a dynamic coterie of guests will help listeners understand the who, how and why of how tech’s most powerful players are changing the world - for better or for worse.
Episodes (52)
Monologue: Tech Skepticism Is Going Mainstream
In this week’s Better Offline monologue, Ed walks you through how tech and business skepticism has begun to go mainstream, and how it can be the force to push back against the Rot Economy.Ed On...
The Black Market for AI GPUs with Steve Burke
In this episode, Ed Zitron is joined by Steve Burke of GamersNexus to talk about the black market for AI GPUs in China - and how Bloomberg suspiciously forced YouTube to take his video down. Premium...
Monologue: What If I'm Right?
In this week’s Better Offline monologue, Ed considers what would happen if he’s right about the AI bubble bursting - and the consequences of three years of myth-peddling...
Radio Better Offline: Kyle Barr, Alex Cranz & Michael Fisher
Welcome to Radio Better Offline, a tech talk radio show recorded out of one of iHeartRadio's satellite studios in New York city. Ed is joined by Kyle Barr of Gizmodo, freelance writer Alex Cranz...
Exclusive: How GPT-5 Actually Works
In a bonus third episode, Ed Zitron reports exclusively on how OpenAI’s new "router-based" ChatGPT-5 makes it impossible for the company to cache the static prompt for any model or tool it uses...
The AI Money Trap, Part Two
In part two of this week's two-part Better Offline, Ed Zitron walks you through how America’s economic growth has become dependent on Amazon, Google, Microsoft and Meta’s AI capital...
The AI Money Trap, Part One
In part one of this week's two-part Better Offline, Ed Zitron walks you through how AI startups’ overstuffed valuations make them impossible targets for acquisition or IPO - and how this may...
Monologue: The Agony Of GPT-5
In this week’s monologue, Ed Zitron walks through the rough launch of GPT-5, and how ChatGPT’s fandom-like following has become a huge problem for OpenAI. The Enshittification of...
CZM Rewind: The Academics That Think ChatGPT Is BS
In a paper released earlier this year, three academics from the University of Glasgow classified ChatGPT's outputs not as "lies," but as "BS" - as defined by philosopher Harry G. Frankfurt in "on BS"...
Monologue: The Anker Nebula X1 Is The Best Projector I've Ever Used
In this week’s Better Offline monologue, Ed talks about Anker’s Nebula X1, an expensive, excellent-looking and adaptable projector that can work just about anywhere. Better Offline...
Building A Newspaper Out of the Internet with Molly White
In this episode, Ed is joined by writer and critic Molly White to talk about how RSS can purify your news experience, the challenge of the newsletter economy, and what gives her optimism for the...
Monologue: Annualized Revenues Are BS
In this week’s monologue, Ed Zitron walks you through how and why OpenAI and Anthropic use “annualized revenues” to hide that they’re nowhere near their yearly revenue...
Radio Better Offline: Mia Sato & Dave Lee
Welcome to Radio Better Offline, a tech talk radio show recorded out of iHeartRadio's studio in New York City.Ed Zitron is joined in studio by Mia Sato of The Verge and Dave Lee of Bloomberg to talk...
The Hater's Guide To The AI Bubble, Pt. 3
In part three of this week's three-part Better Offline, Ed Zitron walks you through how AI agents don’t really exist, how deceitful AI marketing has become, and why everything is brittle as a...
The Hater's Guide To The AI Bubble, Pt, 2
In part two of this week's three-part Better Offline, Ed Zitron walks you through how little money there is in generative AI, how Anthropic and OpenAI are killing their own customers, and why there...
The Hater's Guide To The AI Bubble, Pt. 1
In part one of this week's three-part Better Offline, Ed Zitron walks you through how the US stock market rests on the back of GPU sales, and how a lack of any real business returns spells doom for...
Monologue: The Updated Pale Horses of the AIpocalypse
In this week’s monologue, Ed Zitron walks you through the pale horses of the AIpocalypse - and how the AI bubble’s deepest weakness is that it’s almost entirely based on vibes....
Radio Better Offline: Brian Koppelman, Cherlynn Low & Mike Drucker
Welcome to Radio Better Offline, a tech talk radio show recorded out of iHeartRadio's studio in New York City. Ed Zitron is joined in studio by actor, writer and producer Brian Koppelman, Engadget...
Make Fun Of Them, Pt. 2
In part two of this week's two-part Better Offline, Ed Zitron makes a plea to the tech media - to stop automatically accepting what the tech executives have to say, and to admit that these people...
Monologue: Is Anthropic Killing Cursor?
In this week’s monologue, Ed Zitron walks you through how Anthropic jacked up prices on its largest customer Cursor - and how it’s a sign that the Subprime AI Crisis has begun. Premium...
Make Fun Of Them, Pt. 1
In part one of this week's two-part Better Offline, Ed Zitron walks you through a radical new idea: make fun of CEOs, tear down their legacies and push back on their empty promises. YOU CAN NOW BUY...
Monologue: You Should Get Into Vinyl
In this week’s monologue, Ed Zitron talks about why you should get into vinyl, and why analog music is so much fun in the digital age. U-Turn Audio:...
Radio Better Offline: Gare Davis, Victoria Song, Allison Morrow
Welcome to Radio Better Offline, a tech talk radio show recorded out of iHeartRadio's studio in New York city.Ed Zitron is joined in studio by Allison Morrow of CNN, Victoria Song of The Verge and...
Monologue: Did OpenAI Steal Another Startup's Idea?
In this week’s monologue, Ed Zitron walks you through the murky lawsuit between OpenAI’s soon-to-be-acquired hardware wing and Iyo, a company they met with multiple times that makes a...
NVIDIA Vs. The Media ft. GamersNexus
In this episode, Ed Zitron is joined by Steve Burke of GamersNexus to talk about NVIDIA’s approach to the media, AI pushing out real tech at Computex, and the weird world of consumer graphics....
Monologue: OpenAI Vs. Microsoft
In this week’s monologue, Ed Zitron walks you through OpenAI’s desperate attempts to lean on Microsoft to change the terms of their agreement, and how the entire AI bubble may rest on this...
Radio Better Offline: Pablo Torre and David Roth
Welcome to Radio Better Offline, a tech talk radio show recorded out of iHeartRadio's studio in New York city.Ed Zitron is joined in studio by Pablo Torre of Pablo Torre Finds Out and David Roth of...
The Era of the Business Idiot, Part 3
In part three of this week's three-part Better Offline, Ed Zitron walks you through how the era of the Business Idiot has led to a dramatic deceleration in innovation - and how the tech media must...
The Era of the Business Idiot, Part 2
In part two of this week's three-part Better Offline, Ed Zitron walks you through how Business Idiots demanded we all return to the office to hide their own lack of utility - and how this directly led...
The Era of the Business Idiot, Part 1
In part one of this week's three-part Better Offline, Ed Zitron walks you through how Business Idiots have captured our society, with middle management losers breeding out true meritocracy and...
Monologue: The AI Job Loss Con
In this week’s monologue, Ed Zitron walks you through how the media is misleading you about AI job loss as a form of propaganda for OpenAI and Anthropic - and the Business Idiots behind it. CNN...
The Truth About Software Development with Carl Brown
In this episode, Ed Zitron is joined by Carl Brown, a veteran software developer and host of The Internet of Bugs, to talk about the realities of software development, what coding LLMs can actually...
Monologue: Don't Buy A Switch 2, Get A Handheld Gaming PC
In this week’s monologue, Ed Zitron walks you through the awesome world of handheld gaming PCs - and why you should pick one up over a Nintendo Switch 2.Rog Ally X:...
The Better Offline Mailbag
In this episode, Ed Zitron is joined by producer Sophie Lichterman to answer questions about life, technology, and Better Offline itself. YOU CAN NOW BUY BETTER OFFLINE MERCH! Go...
Monologue: Jony Ive and OpenAI's New BS Machine
In this episode, Ed Zitron walks you through the ridiculousness of OpenAI acquiring Jony Ive’s pre-product hardware startup for $6.5bn in stock - and why it only proves how washed the company...
Saving Games Journalism With Giant Bomb
In this episode, Ed Zitron is joined by Dan Ryckert, Jeff Bakalar and Jeff Grubb, the new owners of gaming website Giant Bomb, to talk about the hopeful, independent future for games journalism - and...
Monologue: How Better Offline Saved Me
In this week's monologue, Ed Zitron walks you through the story of how writing The Man That Destroyed Google Search saved his life. The Man That Destroyed Google Search:...
Empires of AI With Karen Hao
Ed Zitron is joined by Karen Hao, author of the book Empire of AI, to talk about the confusing world of OpenAI and the associated mind-poison of artificial general intelligence.Book...
Monologue: Sam Altman's BS Eye Scanning Startup
In this week’s monologue, Ed Zitron walks you through World, Sam Altman’s meaningless new “World” startup that trades you cryptocurrency for a scan of your eyeballs, and how it...
Tariffs and The End Of Affordable Computing w/ Steve Burke
In this episode, Ed Zitron is joined by Steve Burke of GamersNexus to talk about how tariffs are throwing the PC gaming industry into disarray, and how the era of affordable computing is coming to an...
I'm Mad As Hell, And I'm Not Gonna Take It Anymore
In this episode, Ed Zitron walks you through all the signs that the bubble is bursting, and how hysterical boosters continue to desperately keep it from doing so. YOU CAN NOW BUY BETTER OFFLINE MERCH!...
Monologue: Why We Need Tech Criticism More Than Ever
In this week’s monologue, Ed Zitron walks you through why better tech criticism will lead to a better tech industry - and a better society at large. YOU CAN NOW BUY BETTER OFFLINE MERCH! Go to...
The BS Bubble
In this episode, Ed Zitron walks you through why it’s so harmful that the media keeps taking OpenAI at its word - and responds to the most common critiques from AI boosters.YOU CAN NOW BUY...
Monologue: The Tech I Actually Like
In this week’s monologue, Ed Zitron walks you through the tech he actually likes, and how digital connections give him hope in the darkest times. YOU CAN NOW BUY BETTER OFFLINE MERCH! Go to...
How Big Tech Is Losing Their Antitrust Trials feat. Jason Kint
Ed Zitron is joined by Jason Kint, CEO of DCN, to talk about Google's recent antitrust trial losses, Meta's FTC case, and why it should give you hope for the future. YOU CAN NOW BUY BETTER OFFLINE...
OpenAI Is A Systemic Risk To The Tech Industry
In the second part of this week’s two-part episode, Ed Zitron walks you through how OpenAI has become a systemic risk, one that may destroy CoreWeave, cost NVIDIA and Oracle billions, and break...
Monologue: How The Media Keeps Inflating Bubbles
In this week's monologue, Ed Zitron walks you through how the media's lackluster approach to critiquing the powerful led to the needless, unsustainable AI bubble - and how things could change for the...
OpenAI Cannot Survive
In the first part of this week's two-part episode, Ed Zitron walks you through how impossible it will be for OpenAI to stay alive - and how SoftBank’s attempts to help are materially harming the...
Monologue: OpenAI's Non-Profit Problem
In this week's monologue, Ed Zitron walks you through the precarious nature of OpenAI's non-profit status - and how a petition to the California Attorney general is an existential threat to the...
Radio Better Offline: Allison Morrow, Paris Martineau & Ed Ongweso Jr.
Welcome to Radio Better Offline, a tech talk radio show recorded out of iHeartRadio's studio in New York city.Ed Zitron is joined in studio by Allison Morrow of CNN, Ed Ongweso Jr. of the Tech Bubble...
Monologue: OpenAI's Albatross
In this week's monologue, Ed Zitron walks you through how OpenAI's new image generator has become a massive burden on the company, and how OpenAI’s melting GPUs are a bad omen for the...
Radio Better Offline: David "Shingy" Shing
Welcome to Radio Better Offline, a tech talk radio show recorded out of iHeartRadio's studio in New York City.In this episode, Ed Zitron is joined by famed “digital prophet” David...
About this Podcast
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Technology