Better Offline

In this episode, Ed Zitron walks you through how lax regulation and all-too-chummy media coverage has empowered Mark Zuckerberg and other tech companies to intentionally make every digital experience worse for profit. 

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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://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.

In this episode, Ed Zitron walks you through how the latest "right-wing turn" for Mark Zuckerberg and Meta is really just formalizing policies on Facebook and Instagram that actively protected and elevated right-wing voices - and how we're entering a new era of rot for two of the world's largest social networks.

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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://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.

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.social

Paris Martineau: https://bsky.app/profile/paris.nyc
Paris' story she talks about: https://www.theinformation.com/articles/how-a-casual-sex-website-left-the-door-open-to-teens

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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://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.

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.social
The Tech Bubble Newsletter: https://thetechbubble.substack.com/ 
Phillip Broughton: https://bsky.app/profile/funranium.bsky.social
https://www.funraniumlabs.com/

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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://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.

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/ 

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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://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.

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.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
Cherlynn 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.social
The 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/ 

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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://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.

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.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
Devindra Hardawar, Engadget: https://bsky.app/profile/devindra.bsky.social
https://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/

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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://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.

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/ 

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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://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.

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 
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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://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.