Better Offline

Cool Zone Media and iHeartPodcasts•www.iheart.com

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.

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Episodes

Monologue: You Should Get Into Vinyl

Ed Zitron discusses his personal journey getting into vinyl records as a way to relax and change his music listening habits in the digital age. He covers the basics of how record players function, the equipment he chose, and the process of buying and listening to records, highlighting the unique sound and ritual compared to digital audio.

Jul 04, 2025•11 min

Radio Better Offline: Gare Davis, Victoria Song, Allison Morrow

This episode features a panel discussion dissecting the current state of the AI industry. Guests critique the overhyped nature of AI, arguing that despite massive investment, it lacks genuinely useful or exciting applications for everyday users. They touch on the financial unsustainability of the industry, the "cult-like" belief system surrounding AGI, the questionable motivations behind ventures like WorldCoin, and the role of tech journalism and leadership in perpetuating the hype cycle. The discussion covers examples from fitness trackers to negotiation tactics, highlighting the perceived lack of intelligence and practical utility.

Jul 02, 2025•1 hr 15 min

Monologue: Did OpenAI Steal Another Startup's Idea?

In this week’s monologue, Ed Zitron walks you through the murky lawsuit between OpenAI’s soon-to-be-acquired hardware wing and Iyo, a company they met with multiple times that makes a similar-sounding product with a near-identical name. Sam Altman tweets: https://x.com/sama/status/1937606794362388674 Jason Rugolo tweets: https://x.com/jasonRugolo/status/1936933761964511721 YOU CAN NOW BUY BETTER OFFLINE MERCH! Go to https://cottonbureau.com/people/better-offline and use code FREE99 for free ship...

Jun 27, 2025•11 min

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