Better Offline

Welcome to Radio Better Offline, a tech talk radio show recorded out of iHeartRadio's studio in New York City. Ed Zitron is joined by Paris Martineau of The Information and media critic Jeff Jarvis to talk about Paris' story around the horrible consequences of an anonymous dating app, Meta's slop-filled right-wing future, and what the media industry might look like in ten years' time.Jeff Jarvis: https://jeffjarvis.com/https://bsky.app/profile/jeffjarvis.bsky.socialParis Martineau: https://bsky.app/profile/paris.nycParis' story she talks about: https://www.theinformation.com/articles/how-a-casual-sex-website-left-the-door-open-to-teens --- LINKS: https://www.tinyurl.com/betterofflinelinks Newsletter: https://www.wheresyoured.at/ Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/BetterOffline/  Discord: chat.wheresyoured.at Ed's Socials: https://twitter.com/edzitron https://www.instagram.com/edzitron https://bsky.app/profile/edzitron.com https://www.threads.net/@edzitronSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome to Better Offline’s coverage of the 2025 Consumer Electronics Show - a standup radio station in the Venetian with an attached open bar where reporters, experts and various other characters bring you the stories from the floor. Phil Broughton and Ed Ongweso Jr. join Ed Zitron for an epilogue on the Consumer Electronics Show and the 12+ hours of audio we've recorded - and what we're planning to do next. Ed Ongweso Jr.: https://bsky.app/profile/bigblackjacobin.bsky.socialThe Tech Bubble Newsletter: https://thetechbubble.substack.com/ Phillip Broughton: https://bsky.app/profile/funranium.bsky.socialhttps://www.funraniumlabs.com/ --- LINKS: https://www.tinyurl.com/betterofflinelinks Newsletter: https://www.wheresyoured.at/ Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/BetterOffline/  Discord: chat.wheresyoured.at Ed's Socials: https://twitter.com/edzitron https://www.instagram.com/edzitron https://bsky.app/profile/edzitron.com https://www.threads.net/@edzitronSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome to Better Offline’s coverage of the 2025 Consumer Electronics Show - a standup radio station in the Venetian with an attached open bar where reporters, experts and various other characters bring you the stories from the floor. In Part 2 of our 5th day covering CES, Ed Zitron is joined by Robert Evans of Cool Zone Media, Gare Davis of Cool Zone Media, Kyle Chouinard of Las Vegas, Nevada, to talk labor, the true vibe of CES, and how growth-at-all-costs thinking crowds out real solutions to problems. And, of course, how much Ed loves everybody.Ed Ongweso Jr.: https://bsky.app/profile/ bigblackjacobin.bsky.social The Tech Bubble Newsletter: https://thetechbubble.substack.com/ David Roth, Defector: https://bsky.app/profile/davidjroth.bsky.social Defector: Defector.com It’s Christmastown Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/its-christmastown/id1407429849 Kyle Chouinard, Las Vegas Sun https://lasvegassun.com/staff/kyle-chouinard/ Gare Davis https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:jm6ufvsw3hg5zgdpnd3zb4tv Robert Evans https://bsky.app/profile/iwriteok.bsky.social Phil Broughton https://bsky.app/profile/funranium.bsky.social/post/3kmolcb3bmx2r Our wonderful producer: https://www.mattosowski.com/  --- LINKS: https://www.tinyurl.com/betterofflinelinks Newsletter: https://www.wheresyoured.at/ Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/BetterOffline/  Discord: chat.wheresyoured.at Ed's Socials: https://twitter.com/edzitron https://www.instagram.com/edzitron https://bsky.app/profile/edzitron.com https://www.threads.net/@edzitronSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome to Better Offline’s coverage of the 2025 Consumer Electronics Show - a standup radio station in the Venetian with an attached open bar where reporters, experts and various other characters bring you the stories from the floor. In Part 1 of our 5th day covering CES, Ed Zitron is joined by writer Ed Ongweso Jr, David Roth of Defector, Cherlynn Low of Engadget and Health Physicist Phil Broughton to talk about men and their lack of vulnerability about sex, the sex toy industry, age tech, exoskeletons…and lasers! Ed Ongweso Jr.: https://bsky.app/profile/bigblackjacobin.bsky.socialThe Tech Bubble Newsletter: https://thetechbubble.substack.com/ David Roth, Defector: https://bsky.app/profile/davidjroth.bsky.social Defector: Defector.comIt’s Christmastown Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/its-christmastown/id1407429849Cherlynn Low, Engadget: https://bsky.app/profile/cherlynn.bsky.social https://www.engadget.com/about/editors/cherlynn-low/Engadget’s Best Of CES: https://www.engadget.com/ces/ Washington Post story about AVNs: https://www.washingtonpost.com/style/of-interest/2024/02/25/ai-porn-avn-industry/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome to Better Offline’s coverage of the 2025 Consumer Electronics Show - a standup radio station in the Venetian with an attached open bar where reporters, experts and various other characters bring you the stories from the floor. In Part 2 of our 4th day covering CES, Ed Zitron is joined by writer Ed Ongweso Jr, David Roth of Defector, Karissa Bell of Engadget, reporter Rob Pegoraro and Senior Transportation Reporter at TechCrunch Sean O’Kane to discuss mobility at CES, violent robots, furry robots, electric boats and, well, varying levels of potential fraud. Ed Ongweso Jr.: https://bsky.app/profile/bigblackjacobin.bsky.socialThe Tech Bubble Newsletter: https://thetechbubble.substack.com/ David Roth, Defector: https://bsky.app/profile/davidjroth.bsky.social It’s Christmastown Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/its-christmastown/id1407429849 Defector: Defector.com Karissa Bell, Engadget https://bsky.app/profile/karissabe.bsky.social https://www.engadget.com/about/editors/karissa-bell/ Rob Pegoraro: https://bsky.app/profile/robpegoraro.com Sean O’Kane: https://bsky.app/profile/seanokane.bsky.social https://techcrunch.com/author/sean-okane/  --- LINKS: https://www.tinyurl.com/betterofflinelinks Newsletter: https://www.wheresyoured.at/ Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/BetterOffline/  Discord: chat.wheresyoured.at Ed's Socials: https://twitter.com/edzitron https://www.instagram.com/edzitron https://bsky.app/profile/edzitron.com https://www.threads.net/@edzitronSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome to Better Offline’s coverage of the 2025 Consumer Electronics Show - a standup radio station in the Venetian with an attached open bar where reporters, experts and various other characters bring you the stories from the floor.  In Part 1 of our 4th day covering CES, Ed Zitron is joined by Senior Review of Wearable Tech Victoria Song of The Verge, Ed Ongweso Jr, David Roth of Defector and Devindra Hardawar of Engadget to talk about the male-centric coverage of CES, personal nuclear reactors, useful wearables and tech companies that fantasize about making all of our decisions for us.  Victoria Song: https://www.theverge.com/authors/victoria-song https://bsky.app/profile/vicmsong.bsky.social Ed Ongweso Jr.: https://bsky.app/profile/bigblackjacobin.bsky.socialThe Tech Bubble Newsletter: https://thetechbubble.substack.com/ David Roth, Defector: https://bsky.app/profile/davidjroth.bsky.social Defector: Defector.com It’s Christmastown Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/its-christmastown/id1407429849Devindra Hardawar, Engadget: https://bsky.app/profile/devindra.bsky.socialhttps://www.engadget.com/about/editors/devindra-hardawar/ Devindra’s coverage of the ASUS Zenbook A14 https://www.engadget.com/computing/laptops/asus-unveiled-the-zenbook-a14-at-ces-2025-and-its-the-macbook-air-competitor-ive-been-dreaming-of-173026277.html Phillip Broughton: https://bsky.app/profile/funranium.bsky.social https://www.funraniumlabs.com/ --- LINKS: https://www.tinyurl.com/betterofflinelinks Newsletter: https://www.wheresyoured.at/ Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/BetterOffline/  Discord: chat.wheresyoured.at Ed's Socials: https://twitter.com/edzitron https://www.instagram.com/edzitron https://bsky.app/profile/edzitron.com https://www.threads.net/@edzitronSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome to Better Offline’s coverage of the 2025 Consumer Electronics Show - a standup radio station in the Venetian with an attached open bar where reporters, experts and various other characters bring you the stories from the floor. In the second episode, In this episode Ed Zitron is joined by David Roth of Defector, reporter Edward Ongweso Jr., Ed Niedermeyer of the Autonocast, and tech freelancer Jared Newman to talk about the consequences of spending days at the Consumer Electronics Show, how a show gets away with having so many booths that don’t actually seem to sell things to consumers, and an idea for generative AI that I deeply apologize for. David Roth: https://bsky.app/profile/davidjroth.bsky.social Jared Newman: https://bsky.app/profile/advisorator.com Ed Ongweso Jr: https://bsky.app/profile/bigblackjacobin.bsky.social Ed Niedermeyer: https://bsky.app/profile/niedermeyer.io The Autonocast: https://www.autonocast.com/  --- LINKS: https://www.tinyurl.com/betterofflinelinks Newsletter: https://www.wheresyoured.at/ Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/BetterOffline/  Discord: chat.wheresyoured.at Ed's Socials: https://twitter.com/edzitron https://www.instagram.com/edzitron https://bsky.app/profile/edzitron.com https://www.threads.net/@edzitronSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome to Better Offline’s coverage of the 2025 Consumer Electronics Show - a standup radio station in the Venetian with an attached open bar where reporters, experts and various other characters bring you the stories from the floor. In the second episode, Ed Zitron is joined by Jesse Farrar and Michael Hale of Your Kickstarter Sucks, Henry Casey of CNN Underscored, Max Cherney of Reuters, Matt Binder of Mashable, Tom McKay of ITBrew and journalist Ed Ongweso Jr. to talk about trying to find something useful that AI does in a show where everybody uses AI so liberally that it's effectively stopped meaning anything. Your Kickstarter Sucks: https://www.patreon.com/yourkickstartersucks Jesse Farrar: https://bsky.app/profile/jessefarrar.com Michael Hale: https://x.com/dogboner Ed Ongweso Jr: https://bsky.app/profile/bigblackjacobin.bsky.social Max Cherney: https://www.reuters.com/authors/max-a-cherney/ Matt Binder: https://bsky.app/profile/mattbinder.bsky.social Henry Casey: https://bsky.app/profile/henrytcasey.net Tom McKay: https://bsky.app/profile/catturd2.bsky.social --- LINKS: https://www.tinyurl.com/betterofflinelinks Newsletter: https://www.wheresyoured.at/ Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/BetterOffline/  Discord: chat.wheresyoured.at Ed's Socials: https://twitter.com/edzitron https://www.instagram.com/edzitron https://bsky.app/profile/edzitron.com https://www.threads.net/@edzitronSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome to Better Offline’s coverage of the 2025 Consumer Electronics Show - a standup radio station in the Venetian with an attached open bar where reporters, experts and various other characters bring you the stories from the floor. In the second episode, Ed Zitron is joined by Health Physicist Phil Broughton, actual priest Gabriel Mosher, journalist Ed Ongweso Jr., and eventually Robert Evans and Gare Davis of It Could Happen Here, to talk about turning our health into an analytics nightmare, the amount of made-up stuff on the floor, how we beat the generative AI slop, and something called a "suicide helicopter."  Ed Ongweso Jr.: https://bsky.app/profile/bigblackjacobin.bsky.socialRobert Evans: https://bsky.app/profile/iwriteok.bsky.socialGare Davis: https://bsky.app/profile/hungrybowtie.bsky.socialGabriel Mosher: https://bsky.app/profile/eighthway.comPhil Broughton: https://bsky.app/profile/funranium.bsky.social Linda Yaccarino’s CES Speech: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1R9LtHiZ74wMeta ends fact-checking program: https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/social-media/meta-ends-fact-checking-program-community-notes-x-rcna186468 --- LINKS: https://www.tinyurl.com/betterofflinelinks Newsletter: https://www.wheresyoured.at/ Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/BetterOffline/  Discord: chat.wheresyoured.at Ed's Socials: https://twitter.com/edzitron https://www.instagram.com/edzitron https://bsky.app/profile/edzitron.com https://www.threads.net/@edzitronSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome to Better Offline’s coverage of the 2025 Consumer Electronics Show - a standup radio station in the Venetian with an attached open bar where reporters, experts and various other characters bring you the stories from the floor. In the first episode, Ed introduces you to Better Offline’s coverage, bringing in writer Edward Ongweso Jr., as well as It Could Happen Here’s Robert Evans and Gare Davis. We’ll be here all week - two episodes a day, with a finale on Saturday. A talk show in the center of the Rot Economy.  Ed Ongweso Jr.: https://bsky.app/profile/bigblackjacobin.bsky.socialRobert Evans: https://bsky.app/profile/iwriteok.bsky.socialGare Davis: https://bsky.app/profile/hungrybowtie.bsky.social --- LINKS: https://www.tinyurl.com/betterofflinelinks Newsletter: https://www.wheresyoured.at/ Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/BetterOffline/  Discord: chat.wheresyoured.at Ed's Socials: https://twitter.com/edzitron https://www.instagram.com/edzitron https://bsky.app/profile/edzitron.com https://www.threads.net/@edzitronSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In part 2 of the 2024 Better Offline finale, Ed Zitron tells you how to fight back against the growth-at-all-costs Rot Economy and its destruction of the tech ecosystem - by pushing the media to improve their coverage, telling everybody you know who's responsible, and remembering what it is you truly love about technology. --- LINKS: https://www.tinyurl.com/betterofflinelinks Newsletter: https://www.wheresyoured.at/ Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/BetterOffline/  Discord: chat.wheresyoured.at Ed's Socials: https://twitter.com/edzitron https://www.instagram.com/edzitron https://bsky.app/profile/edzitron.com https://www.threads.net/@edzitronSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this year's two-part finale, Ed Zitron enumerates the damage being done to billions of people by the growth-at-all-costs Rot Economy - and why you need to have solidarity with your fellow user. --- LINKS: https://www.tinyurl.com/betterofflinelinks Newsletter: https://www.wheresyoured.at/ Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/BetterOffline/  Discord: chat.wheresyoured.at Ed's Socials: https://twitter.com/edzitron https://www.instagram.com/edzitron https://bsky.app/profile/edzitron.com https://www.threads.net/@edzitronSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

FTC Chair Lina Khan joins Ed Zitron to talk about competitiveness in the tech industry, controlling the cloud giants, and what should give you hope as we head into 2025. --- LINKS: https://www.tinyurl.com/betterofflinelinks Newsletter: https://www.wheresyoured.at/ Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/BetterOffline/  Discord: chat.wheresyoured.at Ed's Socials: https://twitter.com/edzitron https://www.instagram.com/edzitron https://bsky.app/profile/edzitron.com https://www.threads.net/@edzitronSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In a special live-to-tape episode of Better Offline, Ed is joined by The Verge's Alex Cranz and YouTube influencer Michael Fisher to talk about what they're actually enjoying in the tech industry - and why things don't feel quite as magical and exciting as they used to. https://www.youtube.com/@TheMrMobile https://www.theverge.com/authors/alex-cranz  Original Air Date: 6.26.24 --- LINKS: https://www.tinyurl.com/betterofflinelinks Newsletter: https://www.wheresyoured.at/ Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/BetterOffline/  Discord: chat.wheresyoured.at Ed's Socials: https://twitter.com/edzitron https://www.instagram.com/edzitron https://bsky.app/profile/edzitron.com https://www.threads.net/@edzitronSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode, Ed Zitron is joined by 404 Media's Jason Koebler to talk about the state of both the tech industry and the tech media, and how 404 Media has built a worker-owned outlet that genuinely works. Follow Jason: https://www.404media.co/ https://x.com/jason_koebler https://bsky.app/profile/jasonkoebler.bsky.social --- LINKS: https://www.tinyurl.com/betterofflinelinks Newsletter: https://www.wheresyoured.at/ Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/BetterOffline/  Discord: chat.wheresyoured.at Ed's Socials: https://twitter.com/edzitron https://www.instagram.com/edzitron https://bsky.app/profile/edzitron.com https://www.threads.net/@edzitronSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ed Zitron is joined in-studio by Ryan Barwick of Marketing Brew to talk about how the entire tech ecosystem is controlled by ads - and whether companies like OpenAI and Perplexity can hope to plug the gaps in their leaky revenue models. Follow Ryan:  https://x.com/Ryanbarwick https://www.marketingbrew.com/contributor/ryan-barwick --- LINKS: https://www.tinyurl.com/betterofflinelinks Newsletter: https://www.wheresyoured.at/ Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/BetterOffline/  Discord: chat.wheresyoured.at Ed's Socials: https://twitter.com/edzitron https://www.instagram.com/edzitron https://bsky.app/profile/edzitron.com https://www.threads.net/@edzitronSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We're approaching the end of the line for generative AI as big tech realizes that spending $200bn on chips and data centers isn't going to create any good products. In this episode, Ed Zitron walks you through what might happen - and why we should still have hope. --- LINKS: https://www.tinyurl.com/betterofflinelinks Newsletter: https://www.wheresyoured.at/ Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/BetterOffline/  Discord: chat.wheresyoured.at Ed's Socials: https://twitter.com/edzitron https://www.instagram.com/edzitron https://bsky.app/profile/edzitron.com https://www.threads.net/@edzitronSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode, Ed Zitron discusses big tech's discovery of the diminishing returns in training generative AI models - and how we may have finally have reached peak AI. --- LINKS: https://www.tinyurl.com/betterofflinelinks Newsletter: https://www.wheresyoured.at/ Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/BetterOffline/  Discord: chat.wheresyoured.at Ed's Socials: https://twitter.com/edzitron https://www.instagram.com/edzitron https://bsky.app/profile/edzitron.com https://www.threads.net/@edzitronSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode, Ed Zitron tells you the disgraceful story of how Prabhakar Raghavan, Google's former head of ads - led a coup so that he could run Google Search, and how an email chain from 2019 began a cascade of events that would lead to the outright decay of the most important website on the internet.  Original Air Date: 4.25.24 --- LINKS: https://www.tinyurl.com/betterofflinelinks Newsletter: https://www.wheresyoured.at/ Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/BetterOffline/  Discord: chat.wheresyoured.at Ed's Socials: https://twitter.com/edzitron https://www.instagram.com/edzitron https://bsky.app/profile/edzitron.com https://www.threads.net/@edzitronSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Blame the tech industry for the rise of authoritarianism. Blame a news media handicapped by a deference to power and a fear of bias. Blame the fact that our digital lives are unchecked ecological disasters. In this episode, Ed Zitron draws a direct line from the rot of the digital ecosystem for what happened on November 5. --- LINKS: https://www.tinyurl.com/betterofflinelinks Newsletter: https://www.wheresyoured.at/ Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/BetterOffline/  Discord: chat.wheresyoured.at Ed's Socials: https://twitter.com/edzitron https://www.instagram.com/edzitron https://bsky.app/profile/edzitron.com https://www.threads.net/@edzitronSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.