Better Offline cover art
Podcast · 276 episodes

Better Offline, page 2

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.

All episodes, page 2

Trashfuture x Better Offline: Goosed In The ShellA comedic, critical breakdown of SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son’s “goose and golden eggs” investor deck metaphor, framed as “AI psychosis” and used to argue that SoftBank’s AI bets (especially OpenAI)…8 Jul 2026 · 59 min · 21 chapters
Monologue: Meta Admits It Bought Too Many GPUsEd Zitron’s monologue on Bloomberg’s report that Meta is planning a cloud business to sell access to its AI GPUs and models, framed as evidence Meta overbuilt compute and the generative-AI business…3 Jul 2026 · 6 min · 2 chapters
The WSJ On Polymarket's Questionable AdsThe Wall Street Journal’s investigation into Polymarket’s “questionable” influencer marketing, including videos that depict people winning bets on a fake Polymarket-like site and allegedly misleading…1 Jul 2026 · 35 min · 26 chapters
Monologue: Tokenpocalypse NowEd Zitron’s monologue argues the “AI bubble” is deflating as enterprises start paying real token costs, causing budget caps and cost-cutting; he predicts a shift toward cheaper/open models and…26 Jun 2026 · 24 min · 13 chapters
Monologue: Silicon Valley is A Cargo CultEd Zitron’s Better Offline monologue argues Silicon Valley’s AI boom is a “cargo cult,” using accounting and marketing narratives to sustain investment despite massive losses and lack of real…24 Jun 2026 · 9 min · 3 chapters
The AI Industry Must Stop Doom Trolling w/ Cal NewportCal Newport and Ed Zitron discuss “doom trolling” in AI—how companies (Anthropic, OpenAI, DeepMind) allegedly market AI by repeatedly publishing scary, speculative future scenarios (e.g., recursive…19 Jun 2026 · 1 h 2 min · 24 chapters
Exclusive: OpenAI Spent $34 Billion In 2025, With Losses Up 8XEd Zitron reports exclusive, audited financial-document findings about OpenAI’s 2024–2025 losses, claiming losses surged dramatically and that the company’s financial condition is “deeply…16 Jun 2026 · 4 min · 3 chapters
CZM Rewind: The Rot-Com BubbleEd Zitron argues the “rot-com bubble” (tech’s hyper-growth era) is ending, with AI and other “next big things” feeling iterative, invasive, or unprofitable.10 Jun 2026 · 31 min · 15 chapters
Monologue: AI Can't Afford To Slow DownEd Zitron’s monologue arguing AI companies can’t “slow down” despite poor ROI, claiming token costs and stalled growth expose a “subprime AI crisis.” He says OpenAI and Anthropic shifted enterprise…5 Jun 2026 · 6 min · 3 chapters
Why AI Has No ROI with Paul KedroskyPaul Kedrosky argues AI lacks a real ROI because AI costs are being hidden via subsidized, bundled pricing that later gets “unbundled” into token-based metering; this exposes high, often rising…3 Jun 2026 · 47 min · 20 chapters
Monologue: Everyone Suddenly Cares About AI ROIA monologue arguing that companies can’t justify AI spending because they lack measurable ROI and don’t track token costs once subscriptions were subsidized; token-based billing is forcing budget…29 May 2026 · 12 min · 6 chapters
The AI Industry Is LosingEd Zitron argues the AI industry is economically failing because token/subscription costs don’t translate into shipped, useful features or measurable ROI.27 May 2026 · 19 min · 8 chapters
Monologue: Anthropic Is Not Profitable Unless You Remove Its CostsEd Zitron argues Anthropic’s reported first profitable quarter (Q2 2026) is likely “cost-massaged” via non-GAAP accounting and supplier discounts, not a durable shift in AI unit economics.22 May 2026 · 13 min · 7 chapters
AI Versus The PC Industry With GamersNexusDiscussion of NVIDIA’s AI-GPU dominance, “AI vs the PC industry,” cloud gaming/compute, and alleged GPU diversion/smuggling tied to export controls, plus whether the AI bubble is unsustainably…20 May 2026 · 50 min · 23 chapters
Monologue: AI Is Making The Tech Industry WeakEd Zitron’s Better Offline monologue argues the AI boom is weakening the tech industry, driven by massive spending on data centers and “AI coding” that doesn’t deliver clear, verifiable value.15 May 2026 · 22 min · 7 chapters
The Insanity of the Markets with Ben & EmilBen and Emil (Ben and Emil Show) discuss how finance Twitter drives market sentiment and momentum, making stocks feel disconnected from fundamentals.13 May 2026 · 55 min · 30 chapters
CZM Rewind: Cory Doctorow and Ed Zitron on Enshittification and the Rot EconomyEnshittification and the “rot economy” in tech platforms, driven by growth-at-all-costs incentives and decades of weakened antitrust, plus what to do as individuals and workers amid an AI “bubble.”6 May 2026 · 58 min · 22 chapters
Monologue: AI's Compute Demand Story Is A LieEd Zitrom argues the “AI compute demand” narrative is false, claiming hyperscalers and AI labs are burning massive capital without real ROI or profits, and that capacity constraints reflect…1 May 2026 · 19 min · 8 chapters
Palantir's Manifesto with June and Caleb from KTCBetter Offline host Ed Zitron and Kill the Computer’s June and Caleb discuss Palantir CEO Alex Karp’s “manifesto” posted on Palantir’s site, focusing on its 22 points and what they imply about…29 Apr 2026 · 1 h 7 min · 32 chapters
Monologue: How OpenAI Kills OracleEd Zitron’s monologue argues Oracle’s “Stargate” data-center buildout for OpenAI is financially unsustainable, claiming Oracle could run out of money and shut down if OpenAI can’t pay compute bills.24 Apr 2026 · 11 min · 4 chapters
Cal Newport on Mythos and AnthropomorphizationCal Newport critiques mainstream AI coverage for “directionally true” but unverified claims, and for a nihilistic “head-shaking doomerism” style that stresses people without offering actionable…22 Apr 2026 · 59 min · 26 chapters
Monologue: On Dangerous RhetoricEd Zitron’s Better Offline monologue condemns the Molotov cocktail attack on Sam Altman as morally wrong and illegal, arguing it was driven by “dangerous rhetoric” and years of AI fear-mongering by…17 Apr 2026 · 12 min · 4 chapters
More, Everything, Forever With Adam BeckerAdam Becker (journalist and astrophysicist) discusses his book More Everything Forever and the themes behind his new podcast Dreaming Against the Machine: imagining a realistic, good future; pushing…15 Apr 2026 · 48 min · 20 chapters
Investigating Altman With Ronan Farrow and Andrew MarantzBetter Offline hosts Ed Zitron discuss Ronan Farrow and Andrew Marantz’s New Yorker investigation into Sam Altman and OpenAI—why Altman was fired, why he was quickly reinstated (“the blip”), and…9 Apr 2026 · 43 min · 10 chapters