Episodes

  • CZM Rewind: Where Did Tech's Magic Go? feat. Alex Cranz & Michael Fisher
    Dec 25 2024

    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

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    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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    1 hr and 35 mins
  • Watching the Watchmen with Jason Koebler
    Dec 18 2024

    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

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    Newsletter: https://www.wheresyoured.at/

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    Discord: chat.wheresyoured.at

    Ed's Socials:

    https://twitter.com/edzitron

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    https://bsky.app/profile/edzitron.com

    https://www.threads.net/@edzitron

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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    59 mins
  • Everything Is Advertising with Ryan Barwick
    Dec 11 2024

    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/

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    Discord: chat.wheresyoured.at

    Ed's Socials:

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    https://bsky.app/profile/edzitron.com

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    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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    41 mins
  • The Coming Generative AIPocalypse
    Dec 6 2024

    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.

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    LINKS: https://www.tinyurl.com/betterofflinelinks

    Newsletter: https://www.wheresyoured.at/

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    Ed's Socials:

    https://twitter.com/edzitron

    https://www.instagram.com/edzitron

    https://bsky.app/profile/edzitron.com

    https://www.threads.net/@edzitron

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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    32 mins
  • Yep, We're At Peak AI
    Dec 4 2024

    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.

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    Newsletter: https://www.wheresyoured.at/

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    Ed's Socials:

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    https://www.instagram.com/edzitron

    https://bsky.app/profile/edzitron.com

    https://www.threads.net/@edzitron

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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    20 mins
  • CZM Rewind: The Man That Destroyed Google Search
    Nov 27 2024

    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

    ---

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    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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    32 mins
  • The Rot Society
    Nov 20 2024

    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.

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    Newsletter: https://www.wheresyoured.at/

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    https://bsky.app/profile/edzitron.com

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    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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    38 mins
  • William Lazonick on How The Stock Market Killed Tech
    Nov 13 2024

    Recorded live at Web Summit Lisbon, Ed Zitron is joined by William Lazonick, professor emeritus of economics at the University of Massachusetts, who is also the co-founder and president of the Academic-Industry Research Network, to talk about how the incentives of shareholder capitalism and stock buybacks are destroying innovation.

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    LINKS: https://www.tinyurl.com/betterofflinelinks

    Newsletter: https://www.wheresyoured.at/

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    Discord: chat.wheresyoured.at

    Ed's Socials:

    https://twitter.com/edzitron

    https://www.instagram.com/edzitron

    https://bsky.app/profile/zitron.bsky.social

    https://www.threads.net/@edzitron

    See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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    54 mins