Podcast · 276 episodes
Better Offline
by Cool Zone Media and iHeartPodcasts · English
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.
Latest episodes
Monologue: Anthropic Lost $8bn In 2025, Was A Worse Business Than OpenAIHost Ed Zitron delivers a monologue reacting to a leaked Anthropic S-1 (via Reuters), arguing Anthropic’s 2025 financials were dramatically worse than OpenAI’s and that public “profitability” claims…30 Sep 2026 · 8 min
Monologue: The AI Data Center OverbuildEd Zitron argues the AI industry is in an overbuild/“compute mirage” because most purchased AI chips are warehoused or in incomplete “construction in progress” data centers, not powering AI services.25 Sep 2026 · 11 min
The Hidden Recession Beneath The AI Bubble w/ Paul KedroskyPaul Kedrosky argues the “AI bubble” is hiding a broader recession risk, because AI-driven capex and GPU demand are distorting sovereign debt markets, inflation, and global trade—potentially leading…23 Sep 2026 · 55 min
All episodes
Monologue: Anthropic Lost $8bn In 2025, Was A Worse Business Than OpenAIHost Ed Zitron delivers a monologue reacting to a leaked Anthropic S-1 (via Reuters), arguing Anthropic’s 2025 financials were dramatically worse than OpenAI’s and that public “profitability” claims…30 Sep 2026 · 8 min · 6 chapters
Monologue: The AI Data Center OverbuildEd Zitron argues the AI industry is in an overbuild/“compute mirage” because most purchased AI chips are warehoused or in incomplete “construction in progress” data centers, not powering AI services.25 Sep 2026 · 11 min · 2 chapters
The Hidden Recession Beneath The AI Bubble w/ Paul KedroskyPaul Kedrosky argues the “AI bubble” is hiding a broader recession risk, because AI-driven capex and GPU demand are distorting sovereign debt markets, inflation, and global trade—potentially leading…23 Sep 2026 · 55 min · 28 chapters
Monologue: Shut The F*ck Up, Dario!Host Ed Zitron delivers a profanity-laced monologue attacking Dario Amodei (Anthropic CEO) over AI safety rhetoric and Anthropic’s business practices, arguing they don’t meaningfully mitigate LLM…18 Sep 2026 · 8 min · 2 chapters
Stopping The AI Safety Cult ft. Adam Becker & Cal NewportThe episode argues that “rationalist” and effective altruist communities—rooted in 1990s transhumanist message boards—help shaped how major AI labs talk about “alignment,” existential risk, and…16 Sep 2026 · 1 h 6 min · 28 chapters
Monologue: Jacob Coxon and the AI Safety GriftEd Zitron’s Better Offline monologue attacking Jacob Coxon (ex-Anthropic) and Evan Hubinger (Anthropic) for promoting AI-extinction claims (over 10% within a decade) while, Zitron argues, avoiding…11 Sep 2026 · 16 min · 6 chapters
Managing The Situation“Monologue week” episode where host Ed Zitron argues society “manages” crises instead of fixing underlying problems, citing the 2008 subprime mortgage crisis, COVID-era bailouts/lockdowns, and…9 Sep 2026 · 17 min · 5 chapters
Monologue: Concentration Risk“Concentration risk” in the AI bubble—overreliance on a tiny number of customers and take-or-pay compute contracts that could trigger losses when AI spending slows.4 Sep 2026 · 10 min · 6 chapters
LLMs Will Never Make Art With Caleb Wilson and Arif HasanA humanities debate on “AI slop” (low-effort, high-volume AI-generated content) and whether LLMs can make “art.” Guests argue that slop’s cultural/aesthetic value is real but often misread as…2 Sep 2026 · 43 min · 15 chapters
Monologue: Into The JensenverseA Better Offline monologue by Ed Zitron arguing that the AI boom is increasingly a “debt-and-hype” cycle centered on Nvidia, with revenue concentrated in a few customers and heavy circular financing…28 Aug 2026 · 9 min · 2 chapters
No, AI Is Not "Autonomously Hacking" with Cal NewportCal Newport argues that recent “AI hacking” headlines are misleading.26 Aug 2026 · 1 h 5 min · 27 chapters
Monologue: AI Hits A WallHost Ed Zedtron delivers a monologue claiming OpenAI and the broader AI industry are “hitting a wall,” citing leadership departures, revenue/run-rate disputes, slowed growth, and possible compute…21 Aug 2026 · 10 min · 2 chapters
The AI Clown Car W/ GamersnexusBetter Offline episode hosted by Ed Zitron with Steve Burke (Gamers Nexus) analyzing the AI/data-center boom—especially Nvidia/semiconductor economics, power/water impacts, and how executives’…19 Aug 2026 · 45 min · 26 chapters
AI Creativity Doesn't Exist With Chloe Radcliffe and Ed Ongweso Jr.AI’s impact on creativity and entertainment, especially Hollywood and writing; whether AI can replace human “discernment,” and why AI-driven content often becomes “content not art.” They also discuss…14 Aug 2026 · 45 min · 23 chapters
Monologue: NVIDIA's No IT Loads Refused Cash DumpEd Zitron’s monologue argues NVIDIA’s reported “$500B AI infrastructure financing” is mostly meaningless memorandums and circular financing that props up GPU sales and unprofitable AI labs, not real…12 Aug 2026 · 11 min · 3 chapters
Monologue: The Pale Horsemen ArriveEd Zitron’s monologue argues the “AI demand” narrative is overstated and that Microsoft/Google/Amazon AI revenue is heavily dependent on OpenAI and Anthropic, making the industry financially fragile.7 Aug 2026 · 17 min · 13 chapters
The AI Demand Bubble with Ed ElsonThe “AI demand bubble” behind Big Tech’s earnings and valuation, arguing that reported AI profits are distorted by accounting treatment of stakes in OpenAI/Anthropic, while real AI revenue is…5 Aug 2026 · 54 min · 20 chapters
Monologue: We Live Inside A Dream, But Who Is The Dreamer?A Better Offline monologue by Ed Zetron arguing the AI boom is a financial bubble.31 Jul 2026 · 13 min · 6 chapters
AI Mania Is Eviscerating Global Decision-Making w/ Nik SureshAI “mania” in enterprises—religious-style evangelism, inflated productivity claims, and widespread failure of AI investments that distort global decision-making.29 Jul 2026 · 59 min · 27 chapters
Monologue: What The Hell Are The Hyperscalers Doing?Host Ed Zitron’s monologue criticizing hyperscalers’ massive AI data-center capex and questioning when/if it will pay off, arguing it’s largely driven by OpenAI and Anthropic rather than sustainable…24 Jul 2026 · 10 min · 7 chapters
The Cult of the Ultra-Wealthy with Ed ElsonEd Elson (Prof G Markets) argues SpaceX’s IPO and subsequent hype reflect a “cult of the ultra-wealthy” and Wall Street incentives to inflate valuations despite heavy losses.22 Jul 2026 · 59 min · 21 chapters
Monologue: OpenAI Could Kill SoftBank and OracleEd Zitron’s monologue argues that OpenAI’s dependence on massive AI compute spending makes it a “bubble” risk that could trigger financial trouble for SoftBank and Oracle, and that markets are…17 Jul 2026 · 15 min · 6 chapters
AI Made Everything Expensive (ft. GamersNexus)Why RAM and related storage are surging in price, with emphasis on AI/data-center demand driving a shift toward high-bandwidth memory (HBM), plus allegations of memory-industry price fixing/cartel…15 Jul 2026 · 1 h 4 min · 24 chapters
Monologue: Blame AI For Making Everything More ExpensiveEd Zitron argues the “AI bubble” is driving up prices across the economy by fueling speculative data-center spending, especially through shortages and price hikes in high-bandwidth memory (HBM).10 Jul 2026 · 8 min · 2 chapters