Who are the men who want women to be quiet? Author and Atlantic staff writer Helen Lewis argues it’s nearly everyone on the right. She joins Offline to make the case that “masculinism” and its mission to reestablish the primacy of men is what unites conservatives more than anything else…except maybe Donald Trump. In reporting her most recent cover story, Helen spoke with so-called intellectuals and leaders of the masculinism movement, many of whom have direct ties to senior MAGA officials, even as they speak openly about repealing women’s rights: to vote, to run for office, and to make basic decisions about work and life. Jon and Helen discuss how influencers profit by preying on young men, how right wing grievances are bleeding into electoral contests across the country, and who can model better masculinity for boys.

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Sonja Lyubomirsky, happiness researcher and author of How to Feel Loved, joins Offline to explain the secret to living a contented life—and why the internet makes it so damn hard. If everyone we love and seek to impress is reachable at all times…why are Americans getting less happy, year after year? Sonja and Jon chat about how social media curation may be seeping offline, the ways our digital lives have affected our ability to form strong relationships, and whether AI could actually help bring under-socialized, under-romanced teens out of their shells.

For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email [email protected] and include the name of the podcast, episode title, and episode date.

Does political violence ever help a social cause? Zayd Ayers Dohrn, playwright and host of Crooked's "Mother Country Radicals," joins Offline to discuss the complicated legacy of radical activism in America. In his new book, Dangerous, Dirty, Violent, and Young, Zayd dives even deeper into the morally ambiguous decisions made by his parents...two founding members of the notorious Weather Underground. He and Jon contemplate what activist actions lead to mass alienation vs. adoption of ideals, why a generation of Americans gravitated towards political violence in the 1970s...and why it's happening again today.

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Why is Palantir, the former employer of congressional candidate Alex Bores, currently running attack ads against him...for working at Palantir? New York Assemblymember Alex Bores joins Offline to explain why his stance on AI has made him a target for the biggest dark money super PAC in the country. Then, he and Jon discuss what AI regulation could actually look like if we had a competent government, how to guarantee the dignity of work in an age of full automation, and weather the wealth AI creates could be effectively redistributed back to the people it replaces.

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Cal Newport, computer scientist and author of Deep Work, joins Offline to explain why we need a revolution in cognitive fitness, and how AI is going to get in the way. Cal and Jon explore how smartphones and AI are destroying our ability to concentrate, how our attention spans are a third of what they were just twenty years ago, and how we can practice “deep work” in our constantly interrupted digital environment.

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With Pope Leo XIV stepping up his criticisms of the Trump administration this month, the president is out for blood...and not the transubstantiated kind. Christopher Hale, author of the Letters from Leo newsletter, joins Offline to explain the real threat this woke offline pope poses to MAGA. He and Jon discuss why the head of the Catholic Church is so obsessed with AI, how the Democratic Party should make space for more religious people, and the wisdom of Leo’s boomerisms like “an algorithm will never replace a hug.”

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New York Times journalist Noam Scheiber stops by the pod to talk to Jon about his new book Mutiny: The Rise and Revolt of the College-Educated Working Class, in which he argues that stagnant wages and rising student debt have changed the economic promise once offered by a college degree. The two discuss how college-educated workers are responding to this new reality, both individually and collectively; how AI may supercharge the pains already felt by new college grads; and how it's all reshaping — and may even break — our political system.

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New Yorker journalist Andrew Marantz joins Offline to break down his new investigation into Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT. Over the course of hundreds of interviews, including over a dozen with Altman himself, Andrew and his coauthor Ronan Farrow unveiled a leader who tells people exactly what they want to hear, whether or not it’s true. Just like the AI model he created! Jon and Andrew discuss the contradictory narratives coming out of OpenAI, whether they could build portals that summon aliens, and how Altman’s resolve to go “founder mode” means he may be headed down the same well-traveled path as many tech oligarchs before him.

For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email [email protected] and include the name of the podcast.