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Cool Zone Media and iHeartPodcasts

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.

Better Offline

In this episode, Ed Zitron is joined by Nathan Grayson of worker-owned games site Aftermath to talk about building an independent media outlet and the state of the game industry writ large.
 
Nathan Grayson: 
https://aftermath.site/author/nathan-grayson
https://bsky.app/profile/nathangrayson.bsky.social
 
Celebrate Aftermath’s anniversary by subscribing - just $1 for your first month! https://aftermath.site/11-06-2025-01-12-00-2ndbirthdayoffer 
 
Buy Aftermath’s “Destroy AI” Hoodie: https://aftermath.site/destroy-ai-aftermath-kim-hu-hoodie-shirt/
 
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.
 
---
 
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
 
Email Me: ez@betteroffline.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The State of the Games Industry with Nathan Grayson

In this week's Better Offline monologue, Ed Zitron breaks down how economically irrelevant AI is, and how no bailout is coming to save the Large Language Model era.
 
Want to support me? Get $10 off a year’s subscription to my premium newsletter: https://edzitronswheresyouredatghostio.outpost.pub/public/promo-subscription/w08jbm4jwg It would mean a lot!
 
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.
 
---
 
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
 
Email Me: ez@betteroffline.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Monologue: AI Isn't Getting A Bailout

In this episode, Ed Zitron is joined by Steve Burke of GamersNexus to talk about Valve’s new console-like Steam Machine and Vision Pro-like Steam Frame, and what this means for the future of gaming.
 
GamersNexus: 
Valve Steam Machine, Desktop SteamOS, Steam Frame VR, & Controller | ft. Engineering Discussion: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWUxObt1efQ 
Valve Steam Frame Engineering Deep-Dive: Water Cooling, Thermals, Power, Acoustics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NSjvJDe6Ic
Support GamersNexus’ AI Surveillance Dystopia Series: https://store.gamersnexus.net/ai-dystopia 
https://www.youtube.com/gamersnexus
https://gamersnexus.net/
https://bsky.app/profile/gamersnexus.bsky.social
https://x.com/GamersNexus
Steam Machine: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/steammachine
Steam Frame: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/steamframe
 
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.
 
---
 
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
 
Email Me: ez@betteroffline.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Is Valve Taking On Microsoft? with Steve Burke

In this week's monologue, Ed Zitron thanks you for being such wonderful listeners. If you ever have a tip, reach out on ezitron.76.
 
Want to support me? Get $10 off a year’s subscription to my premium newsletter: https://edzitronswheresyouredatghostio.outpost.pub/public/promo-subscription/w08jbm4jwg
 
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.
 
---
 
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
 
Email Me: ez@betteroffline.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A Thanksgiving Monologue

In this episode, Ed Zitron is joined by Carl Brown, a veteran software developer and host of The Internet of Bugs, to talk about the realities of software development, what coding LLMs can actually do, and how the media gets it wrong about software engineering at large.
 
Original Air Date: 6.4.25

https://www.youtube.com/@InternetOfBugs

New GitHub Copilot Research Finds 'Downward Pressure on Code Quality' - https://visualstudiomagazine.com/articles/2024/01/25/copilot-research.aspx
Report: AI coding assistants aren’t a panacea - https://techcrunch.com/2025/02/21/report-ai-coding-assistants-arent-a-panacea/

Internet of Bugs Videos to watch:
Debunking Devin: "First AI Software Engineer" Upwork lie exposed! 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNmgmwEtoWE&t=3s
AI Has Us Between a Rock and a Hard Place
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJGNqnq-aCA
Software Engineers REAL problem with "AI" and Jobs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQmN6xSorus&list=PLv0sYKRNTN6QhoxJdyTZTV6NauoZlDp99
AGILE & Scrum Failures stuck us with "AI" hype like Devin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9C1Rxa9DMfI&t=1s
 
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.
 
---
 
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
 
Email Me: ez@betteroffline.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

CZM Rewind: The Truth About Software Development with Carl Brown

In this episode, Ed Zitron is joined by Gerrit De Vynck of The Washington Post to discuss what an analysis of 47,000 ChatGPT conversations can tell us about how people use the service - and how willing it is to fuel basically any conversation.

We analyzed 47,000 ChatGPT conversations. Here’s what people really use it for - https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2025/11/12/how-people-use-chatgpt-data/ 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/people/gerrit-de-vynck/ 
https://x.com/GerritD 
https://bsky.app/profile/gerritd.bsky.social
 
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.
 
---
 
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
 
Email Me: ez@betteroffline.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What People Actually Use ChatGPT For With Gerrit De Vynck

In a Better Offline exclusive, Ed Zitron reveals how much OpenAI spent on inference in 2024 and 2025, as well as how much it paid Microsoft as part of its 20% revenue share. Inference costs are much higher - and implied revenues much lower - than previously reported.

(Free) Newsletter: https://www.wheresyoured.at/oai_docs/
 
The Information - OpenAI’s First Half Results: $4.3 Billion in Sales, $2.5 Billion Cash Burn - https://www.theinformation.com/articles/openais-first-half-results-4-3-billion-sales-2-5-billion-cash-burn?rc=kz8jh3 

The Information (reference to $6bn inference spend) - http://theinformation.com/articles/openai-forecasts-revenue-topping-125-billion-2029-agents-new-products-gain?rc=kz8jh3
 
Want to support me? Get $10 off a year’s subscription to my premium newsletter: https://edzitronswheresyouredatghostio.outpost.pub/public/promo-subscription/w08jbm4jwg it would mean a lot!
 
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.
 
---
 
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
 
Email Me: ez@betteroffline.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Exclusive: Here's How Much OpenAI Spends On Inference And Its MSFT Revenue Share

This week’s Better Offline is a recording of a panel held by Clarion West in Seattle earlier this year with Cory Doctorow and Ed Zitron, discussing enshittification, The Rot Economy, and the destruction of modern tech platforms, moderated by Whitney Beltrán.

Cory Doctorow: https://craphound.com/
Whitney Beltrán: https://brightwhitney.com/
 
Get involved with Clarion West: https://www.clarionwest.org/get-involved/give/

Clarion West is a nonprofit literary organization that runs an acclaimed six-week residential workshop every summer, online classes and workshops, one-day and weekend workshops, a reading series every summer, and other events throughout the year. At Clarion West, you’ll be among award-winning and best-selling writers in science fiction, fantasy, games, horror, and more. Our workshops and classes are taught by world-class instructors from across the field of speculative fiction. Wherever you may be in your career, whether novice or sage, we offer a diverse listing of classes that is packed with valuable information to take your writing to the next level.
 
Want to support me? Get $10 off a year’s subscription to my premium newsletter: https://edzitronswheresyouredatghostio.outpost.pub/public/promo-subscription/w08jbm4jwg it would mean a lot!
 
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.
 
---
 
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
 
Email Me: ez@betteroffline.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Cory Doctorow and Ed Zitron on Enshittification and the Rot Economy

In this week's Better Offline monologue, Ed Zitron talks about OpenAI hinting they’d want a federal backstop for data center loans, NVIDIA’s weird, desperate post about China, and his deep suspicion about OpenAI’s leaked numbers.

Want to support me? Get $10 off a year’s subscription to my premium newsletter: https://edzitronswheresyouredatghostio.outpost.pub/public/promo-subscription/w08jbm4jwg It would mean a lot!

WSJ: OpenAI Made a $12 Billion Loss Last Quarter, Microsoft Results Indicate
https://www.wsj.com/livecoverage/stock-market-today-dow-sp-500-nasdaq-10-31-2025/card/openai-made-a-12-billion-loss-last-quarter-microsoft-results-indicate-e71BLjJA0e2XBthQZA5X

The Register: Microsoft seemingly just revealed that OpenAI lost $11.5B last quarter
https://www.theregister.com/2025/10/29/microsoft_earnings_q1_26_openai_loss/
 
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.
 
---
 
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
 
Email Me: ez@betteroffline.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Monologue: AI's Desperation Era

Welcome to Radio Better Offline, a tech talk radio show recorded out of iHeartRadio's studio in New York City. Ed is joined in-studio by founder and writer Charlie Meyer to talk about the BS of vibe coding, why the valley went so crazy about scaling laws, and the realities of AI coding.

https://blog.charliemeyer.co/ 
https://csmeyer.substack.com/
 
Code Doesn’t Happen To You - https://csmeyer.substack.com/p/code-doesnt-happen-to-you 
The Trillion Dollar Chart (scaling laws piece) - https://blog.charliemeyer.co/the-trillion-dollar-chart/ 
Replit’s Existential Problem - https://blog.charliemeyer.co/replits-existential-problem/
 
Want to support me? Get $10 off a year’s subscription to my premium newsletter: https://edzitronswheresyouredatghostio.outpost.pub/public/promo-subscription/w08jbm4jwg it would mean a lot!
 
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.
 
---
 
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
 
Email Me: ez@betteroffline.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The State of the Games Industry with Nathan Grayson

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