Better Offline

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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.

Last refreshed: June 13th, 2026 at 7:23 PM

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Episodes

CZM Rewind: The Rot-Com Bubble

Tech's hyper-growth era is ending, with online 100 million new people getting online between 2022 and 2023, and almost every major web platform seeing a decline in growth since 2021. In this episode, Ed Zitron walks you through how tech's decline is driving the tech industry to try and sell you useless products like the metaverse, cryptocurrency and generative AI. Original Air Date: 6.5.24 Save $10 off a year of my premium newsletter: https://edzitronswheresyouredatghostio.outpost.pub/public/pro...

Jun 10, 2026•31 min

Monologue: AI Can't Afford To Slow Down

In this week's Better Offline monologue, Ed Zitron runs you through how the “does AI have ROI?” debate is coming at the worst possible time for two companies that can’t afford to slow down thanks to their $1.1 trillion in compute commitments. Newsletter: AI Doesn’t Have ROI https://www.wheresyoured.at/ai-doesnt-have-roi/ Ed on Bloomberg: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbKDmkJPVvI The AI industry's profit problem is getting bigger, says Goldman Sachs' equity research chief https://www.businessin...

Jun 05, 2026•6 min

Why AI Has No ROI with Paul Kedrosky

In this week’s Better Offline, Ed Zitron is joined by economist Paul Kedrosky to talk about why nobody can find the ROI of AI, why there won’t be a Dot Com Bubble-style recovery for AI data centers, and how Google’s $80bn equity sale shows we’re at the top. https://paulkedrosky.com/ The Nick, Dick and Paul Show: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFbDiETo29GTIjg6Lk4imig Save $10 off a year of my premium newsletter: https://edzitronswheresyouredatghostio.outpost.pub/public/promo-subscription/gzqwkv...

Jun 03, 2026•47 min

Monologue: Everyone Suddenly Cares About AI ROI

In this week's Better Offline monologue, Ed Zitron runs you through how AI’s move to token-based billing has revealed that absolutely nobody has a way of measuring AI’s ROI - and how these massive costs might finally burst the bubble. Companion newsletter: https://www.wheresyoured.at/the-revenge-of-the-business-idiot/ Axios: AI sticker shock hits corporate America https://www.axios.com/2026/05/28/ai-spending-roi-enterprise-costs Uber COO story: https://www.businessinsider.com/uber-coo-andrew-mac...

May 29, 2026•12 min

The AI Industry Is Losing

In this week's Better Offline, Ed Zitron runs you through how Uber’s COO said the quiet part out loud - that AI’s outputs and efficacy do not match up with its ruinous costs - and how despite its bluster, the AI industry’s grift is failing. Free newsletter tie-in: https://www.wheresyoured.at/the-revenge-of-the-business-idiot/ Please subscribe to my premium newsletter - save $10 off a year of my premium newsletter: https://edzitronswheresyouredatghostio.outpost.pub/public/promo-subscription/gzqwk...

May 27, 2026•19 min

Monologue: Anthropic Is Not Profitable Unless You Remove Its Costs

In this week's Better Offline monologue, Ed Zitron runs you through Anthropic’s claims it will be non-GAAP EBITDA profitable for Q2 2026 by having SpaceX discount its compute costs, and how said revenues don’t match up with its CFO’s sworn affidavit or previous reporting on its finances. Companion newsletter: https://www.wheresyoured.at/anthropics-profitability-swindle/ https://www.flyingpenguin.com/wheres-ed-anthropic-told-court-5-billion-but-public-19-billion/ Please subscribe to my premium ne...

May 22, 2026•13 min

AI Versus The PC Industry With GamersNexus

In this episode, Ed Zitron is joined by Steve Burke of GamersNexus to talk about NVIDIA’s alleged GPU shipments to China, how AI is choking the PC gaming industry, and how mad Jensen Huang keeps getting on podcasts. Save $10 off a year of my premium newsletter: https://edzitronswheresyouredatghostio.outpost.pub/public/promo-subscription/gzqwkv54e1 - I’d be so grateful! GamersNexus: Yes, This All Seems Very Legitimate - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUbJDrL6ZfM Support GamersNexus’ AI Surveilla...

May 20, 2026•50 min

Monologue: AI Is Making The Tech Industry Weak

In this week's Better Offline monologue, Ed Zitron runs you through how LLMs and the obsession with AI is actively destroying the fabric of the tech industry. Please subscribe to my premium newsletter - save $10 off a year of my premium newsletter: https://edzitronswheresyouredatghostio.outpost.pub/public/promo-subscription/gzqwkv54e1 YOU CAN NOW BUY BETTER OFFLINE MERCH! Go to https://cottonbureau.com/people/better-offline and use code FREE99 for free shipping on orders of $99 or more. --- LINK...

May 15, 2026•22 min

The Insanity of the Markets with Ben & Emil

On this week’s Better Offline, Ed Zitron is joined by the hosts of the Ben & Emil show to talk about how the markets have been driven insane by semiconductor buzz and social media hysteria. https://benandemilshow.com/ https://www.youtube.com/@benandemilshow Please support me by subscribing to my premium newsletter - here’s $10 off your first year of annual https://edzitronswheresyouredatghostio.outpost.pub/public/promo-subscription/84rt762qen YOU CAN NOW BUY BETTER OFFLINE MERCH! Go to https...

May 13, 2026•55 min

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