Better Offline
Cool Zone Media and iHeartPodcasts
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.
- 9 minutes 34 secondsMonologue: 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 future.
Vote for Better Offline's "Man Who Killed Google Search" as the best business podcast episode in this year's Webby's! Open until April 17! Vote today!
https://vote.webbyawards.com/PublicVoting#/2025/podcasts/individual-episode/business
Vote for Weird Little Guys in this year’s Webby’s! https://vote.webbyawards.com/PublicVoting#/2025/podcasts/individual-episode/crime-justice
OpenAI’s new image generator is now available to all users - https://techcrunch.com/2025/03/31/openais-new-image-generator-is-now-available-to-all-users/
OpenAI Forecast Shows Shift From Microsoft to SoftBank (citation for $13 billion number) - https://www.theinformation.com/articles/openai-forecast-shows-shift-from-microsoft-to-softbank?rc=kz8jh3---
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://www.instagram.com/edzitron
https://bsky.app/profile/edzitron.com
https://www.threads.net/@edzitron
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
4 April 2025, 4:00 am - 1 hour 20 secondsRadio 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 “Shingy” Shing, who calls himself a “creative omnivore,” to talk about adtech, being a "digital prophet," and society's attraction to nostalgia.
https://www.shingy.com/Vote for Better Offline's "Man Who Killed Google Search" as the best business podcast episode in this year's Webby's! Open until April 17! Vote today!
https://vote.webbyawards.com/PublicVoting#/2025/podcasts/individual-episode/business
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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://www.instagram.com/edzitron
https://bsky.app/profile/edzitron.com
https://www.threads.net/@edzitron
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
2 April 2025, 4:00 am - 13 minutes 10 secondsMonologue: High Noon for CoreWeave & AI
In this week's monologue, Ed Zitron walks you through the wretched vibes surrounding CoreWeave's IPO and OpenAI's new funding, and the brittle state of the finances holding everything together.
Semafor: Microsoft chose not to exercise $12 billion Coreweave option
The Information: CoreWeave Faces Reality Check on Bullish Growth Forecasts https://www.theinformation.com/articles/coreweave-faces-reality-check-bullish-growth-forecasts?rc=kz8jh3
The Financial Times: CoreWeave tests investor risk appetite with $7.5bn in looming debt repayments
https://www.ft.com/content/163c6927-2032-4346-857e-8e3787e4babc
Bloomberg: OpenAI Close to Finalizing Its $40 Billion SoftBank-Led Funding https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-03-26/openai-close-to-finalizing-its-40-billion-softbank-led-funding
My Newsletter: CoreWeave Is A Time Bomb
https://www.wheresyoured.at/core-incompetency/
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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://www.instagram.com/edzitron
https://bsky.app/profile/edzitron.com
https://www.threads.net/@edzitron
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
28 March 2025, 4:00 am - 1 hour 6 minutesRadio Better Offline: Andy Richter
Welcome to Radio Better Offline, a tech talk radio show recorded out of iHeartRadio's studio in Los Angeles.
In this episode, Ed Zitron is joined by comedian Andy Richter to talk about how comedy and broadcast have evolved thanks to the internet.
Follow Andy: https://bsky.app/profile/andyrichter.co
The Three Questions: https://teamcoco.com/podcasts/the-three-questions-with-andy-richter
The Andy Richter Call-in Show: https://www.siriusxm.com/blog/andy-richter-call-in-show
Sixteenth Minute (of Fame): https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-sixteenth-minute-of-fame-172216473/---
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://www.instagram.com/edzitron
https://bsky.app/profile/edzitron.com
https://www.threads.net/@edzitron
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
26 March 2025, 4:00 am - 9 minutes 29 secondsMonologue: We Need To Talk About CoreWeave
In this week's monologue, Ed Zitron walks you through CoreWeave, the first IPO of the AI bubble, and how its terrible finances, burdensome loans and questionable partners are cause for concern.
Newsletter: https://www.wheresyoured.at/core-incompetency/
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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://www.instagram.com/edzitron
https://bsky.app/profile/edzitron.com
https://www.threads.net/@edzitron
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
21 March 2025, 4:00 am - 1 hour 26 minutesRadio Better Offline: Cherlynn Low, Alex Cranz & Victoria Song
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 tech reporters Alex Cranz, Cherlynn Low and Victoria song to talk about the broken promises of generative AI, and how useless things get funded far more than useful ones.
Alex Cranz:
https://bsky.app/profile/cranz.bsky.socialCherlynn Low:
https://www.engadget.com/about/editors/cherlynn-low/
https://x.com/cherlynnlow
https://bsky.app/profile/cherlynn.bsky.socialVictoria Song:
https://bsky.app/profile/vicmsong.bsky.social
https://www.theverge.com/authors/victoria-song---
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://www.instagram.com/edzitron
https://bsky.app/profile/edzitron.com
https://www.threads.net/@edzitron
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
19 March 2025, 4:00 am - 34 minutes 10 secondsSoftBank and OpenAI's Dangerous Game
In the second of this week's two-part series, Ed Zitron walks you through how SoftBank is mortgaging its future to keep OpenAI alive - and the dangerous consequences of over-funding an unprofitable, unsustainable company.
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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://www.instagram.com/edzitron
https://bsky.app/profile/edzitron.com
https://www.threads.net/@edzitron
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
14 March 2025, 4:00 am - 6 minutes 30 secondsMonologue: How Does This End?
In this week's monologue, Ed Zitron walks through how reckless members of the media continue to inflate the AI bubble - and the detailed notes he's been taking along the way.
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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://www.instagram.com/edzitron
https://bsky.app/profile/edzitron.com
https://www.threads.net/@edzitron
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
13 March 2025, 4:00 am - 25 minutes 9 secondsMicrosoft Cuts The Power To AI
In the first of this week's two-part series, Ed Zitron walks you through how Microsoft pulling back from over a gigawatt of compute capacity is a dark omen for the so-called AI Revolution.
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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://www.instagram.com/edzitron
https://bsky.app/profile/edzitron.com
https://www.threads.net/@edzitron
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
12 March 2025, 4:00 am - 8 minutes 43 secondsMonologue: OpenAI Is Getting Desperate
In this week's monologue, Ed Zitron goes through the underwhelming release of OpenAI's GPT-4.5 - and how OpenAI's rumored new pricing structure suggests this company is in trouble.
Here's the article cited from The Information: https://www.theinformation.com/articles/openai-plots-charging-20-000-a-month-for-phd-level-agents?rc=kz8jh3
---
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://www.instagram.com/edzitron
https://bsky.app/profile/edzitron.com
https://www.threads.net/@edzitron
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
7 March 2025, 5:00 am - 1 hour 13 minutesHow Growth Is Killing Video Games
In this episode, Ed Zitron is joined by Gita Jackson and Nathan Grayson of worker-owned games site Aftermath to talk about how the growth-at-all-costs mindset is destroying games, how fandom culture naturally feeds extremism, how Aftermath does games journalism differently, and how despite everything, great games are still being made.
Gita Jackson:
https://bsky.app/profile/xoxogossipgita.bsky.social
https://aftermath.site/author/gita-jacksonNathan Grayson:
https://aftermath.site/author/nathan-grayson
https://bsky.app/profile/nathangrayson.bsky.socialStream Big: The Triumphs and Turmoils of Twitch and the Stars Behind the Screen
https://www.amazon.com/Stream-Big-Triumphs-Turmoils-Twitch/dp/1982156767Article on Skin Deep from Aftermath: https://aftermath.site/skin-deep-steam-next-fest-demo-impressions-pc
The New York Times: Video Games Can’t Afford to Look This Good
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/26/arts/video-games-graphics-budgets.htmlAftermath - Fuck WB
https://aftermath.site/warner-bros-discovery-games-wonder-woman-monolith-shut-downPyre - https://www.supergiantgames.com/games/pyre/
Supergiant Games - https://www.supergiantgames.com
Avowed - https://store.steampowered.com/app/2457220/Avowed/---
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://www.instagram.com/edzitron
https://bsky.app/profile/edzitron.com
https://www.threads.net/@edzitron
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
5 March 2025, 5:00 am - More Episodes? Get the App