Offline with Jon Favreau - Season 2 / Year 2023

Josie Totah and Yasmine Hamady, hosts of Crooked's Dare We Say podcast, join Offline for a special mailbag episode on the internet's generational divide. Then, Jon and Emily Favreau sit down for their annual holiday Q&A on twitter fights, raising a toddler, Taylor Swift and other listener-submitted questions.

Have you lost your ability to pay attention? Do you struggle to read a book? Can't focus on a single task? Johann Hari, author of the New York Times bestseller Stolen Focus, joins Offline to discuss his 4-year, multi-country journey to regain control of his attention. He and Jon talk about the science behind focusing, how tech companies have maliciously destroyed our brains, and what we can do, collectively and individually, to steal our attention back.

Evan Puschak, also known as The Nerdwriter, joins Offline to discuss ChatGPT, the revolutionary artificial intelligence chatbot from OpenAI. In his most recent video essay, "The Real Danger of ChatGPT," Puschak explores how AI could erode our fundamental ability to understand ourselves and the world around us. He sits down with Jon to discuss that essay, evaluate the strengths and limitations of ChatGPT, and talk about the ways the internet is trying to replace our minds.

Sangeeta Singh-Kurtz and Lakshmi Rengarajan, hosts of the newest season of The Cut's podcast, "Land of the Giants," join Offline to talk about how apps like Tinder, Hinge, and Bumble have redefined romance. They've named the season "Dating Games" and ask whether the goals of dating app companies are aligned with our romantic aspirations. Jon talks to them about the ways internet dating has gamified romance, what the current dating app generation has lost, and whether there are alternatives for finding love in a world of swiping.

Amazon, Google, Facebook and the entire tech sector just laid off tens of thousands of employees. How did America's fastest growing industry become its most troubled? Annie Lowrey, staff writer at The Atlantic, joins Offline to break it down. She makes the case that while this moment may be particularly bad for tech, for the rest, better days are probably right around the corner.

Tim Miller, former Republican operative, current Never Trumper, and contributor at the Bulwark, joins Jon to kickoff the GOP's very online, very weird 2024 presidential primary. The two discuss Donald Trump's return to Facebook, Ron DeSantis' culture wars, and the competition for MAGA media's stars, trolls, and grifters.

Dr. Robert Waldinger, Director of the Harvard Study of Adult Development, joins Offline to talk about his new book "The Good Life: Lessons From the Longest Study on Happiness." Bob and Jon discuss how close relationships are the secret to a fulfilling life, why technology can make us lonelier, and what 84 years of data teach us about coming together and growing apart.

Megan Garber, staff writer at the Atlantic, joins Offline to explain how we're already living in the Metaverse––not with headsets and legless avatars, but via a continuous stream of immersive entertainment. Jon and Megan discuss how our internet jargon, scandal-to-miniseries pipeline, and former reality TV president all reflect a blurring of fact and fiction. And they ask: when everything becomes entertainment, what remains of our reality?

Jason Parham, senior writer at WIRED, walks Jon through the evolution and legacy of Black Twitter. Parham's three-part series, "A People's History of Black Twitter," follows the online community from its early days of late night takes, through an era of platform dominance, and into an uncertain future. He joins Offline to discuss how Black Twitter has shaped the last ten years of discourse and activism, how the internet complicates cultural appropriation, and what will happen if Twitter fades away.

Margaret Atwood, famed author, poet and "dystopia prophet," joins Offline to talk about fighting tyranny and finding hope. Much like her latest book, Old Babes in the Wood, Atwood's conversation with Jon sandwiches her thoughts and fears on the present between poignant chapters of the past. They discuss censorship, religion, parenting and how to listen for what you can't hear.

Andy Kroll, author and ProPublica journalist, joins Offline to discuss the one thing Fox News fears: lawsuits. Kroll's new book, A Death on W Street: The Murder of Seth Rich and the Age of Conspiracy, recounts how conspiracists co-opted a young man's tragic death, the role of Fox News in perpetuating those lies, and how the Rich family fought back and won. He and Jon talk about what this means for the Dominion lawsuit, and whether Fox has finally met its match.

Jon welcomes Max Fisher, Crooked's newest team member, to the Offline family! Max, former New York Times reporter and author of The Chaos Machine, joins the show as a recurring contributor, bringing fresh commentary, segments, and even interviews to Offline. This week he and Jon put their heads together to decode AI hysteria, the TikTok ban, and whether big tech has passed its prime.

This week we're bringing you the TikTok debate we wish we had from Congress. Featuring perspectives from V Spehar, host of TikTok's Under the Desk News; Senator Mark Warner, lead sponsor of the RESTRICT Act; and Graham Webster, Chinese technology expert. Over three interviews, Jon and Max offer a smarter debate for and against banning TikTok.

John Green, bestselling author and YouTube Vlogbrother, joins Offline to share lessons from his most recent book, The Anthropocene Reviewed. His collection of essays rates historical events, philosophical musings and personal anecdotes on a 5-star scale that, these days, feels both inescapable and indispensable. The Jo(h)ns talk through the faults in these stars, and the importance of finding ways to live meaningfully and hopefully in a world of mixed reviews.

Laura Bates, founder of the Everyday Sexism Project and author of Men Who Hate Women and Fix the System, Not Women, joins Offline to shed light on one of the darkest corners of the internet: the manosphere. Made up of tens of thousands of incels, pick up artists, and white supremacists, the manosphere is an online hotbed of misogyny with violent real-world implications. Laura describes how she went undercover to infiltrate these platforms, and what she learned about protecting men and boys from radicalization.

Hasan Piker, viral political streamer, joins Offline to talk about Tucker Carlson's demise, the 2024 election, and what it is about wokeism that makes him twitch. Hasan has been one of Gen Z's most influential commentators for years, and his 8-hour daily streams blend current events, leftist ideals and pop culture savvy. Hasan talks to Jon about his approach to political persuasion, how to appeal to the next generation, and what it's like streaming your consciousness.

Introducing Offline's Unplug Challenge! Jon and Max reflect on how their screen addictions have worsened their focus, hijacked their social lives, and even broken some bones. Faced with damning screen time reports, the guys take a big first step towards overcoming their compulsive smartphone habits. Offline Unplugged is a multi-week series that will invite hosts and listeners alike to rediscover the world that's beyond our fingertips.

Ben Smith, Semafor founder and former Editor-in-Chief of Buzzfeed News, joins Offline to discuss what the shuttering of newsrooms at Buzzfeed and Vice means for the future of journalism. Ben's new book, Traffic, traces the rise and fall of the digital media era. He and Jon talk about the personalities and publications that caused this phenomenon, the value of clickbait, and how the race to go viral was doomed from the start. Then, Jon and Max Fisher reunite to recap their week without iPhones and introduce next week's Unplug Challenge.

Kat Abu and Andrew Lawrence watch Fox News every night so you don't have to. As researchers at Media Matters, a right-wing media watchdog, it's their job to monitor the conspiracies and propaganda spreading on the network. Andrew is one of the nation's leading Fox experts, having watched primetime Fox since the 2016 campaign and Kat has recently brought their work to new audiences, breaking down Fox News in weekly viral TikTok explainers. They join Jon to talk about this unusual moment at Fox News, whether the network is finally facing its comeuppance, and what watching these shows for a living does to a person.

Social media is ubiquitous among young people. But is it safe? Dr. Vivek Murthy, Surgeon General of the United States, joins Offline to break down a new Surgeon General's Advisory that warns social media may be harmful to children and offers Jon a doctor's perspective on how to overcome his phone addiction.

Catherine Price, science journalist and author of The Power of Fun and How to Break Up with Your Phone, joins the show to close out The Offline Challenge. After a dramatic sendoff from our Offline Chancellor, Catherine talks with Max and Jon about the effectiveness of the past month's unplug challenges, from cold turkey to clown cases. Then she outlines how to stay broken up with your phone and explains why the guys' screen addictions are a symptom of a larger problem. The three conclude that a phone breakup isn't about what you lose, but about what spending less time on your phone can help you gain.

Simone Giertz, YouTube's favorite inventor and robotics enthusiast, joins Offline this week to discuss the joy of building useless things and why adults should be able to play like kids do. She and the guys talk about overcoming perfectionism, the joys of "forward facing" activities, and how branding pastimes as productive vs. meaningless undermines the creative process. Jon and Max train their sights on Simone's most recent invention, and then they talk about ways to cut down on their screen time, from positive reinforcement strategies to phone cases with teeth and electric shocks.

Jon and Max answer your questions about AI, unions, writing and fallen titans — submersible and tech leader alike. Plus, America Dissected's Dr. Abdul El-Sayed joins Offline to talk about how the internet age endangers public health, how to persuade people to get vaccinated, and why debates are the wrong setting to talk about science, especially when RFK Jr. is involved.

Will Sommer, author of Trust the Plan, joins Offline to talk about what QAnon actually is, how people are drawn into the world of Q, and how the Republican party has become intertwined with these conspiracies. He and Jon peel back the layers of the movement to understand how it's being monetized, why Michael Flynn is a QAnon hero, and where you can find adrenochrome in real life (hint: it's not in the blood of children!). Plus: Max and Jon join Threads, Mark Zuckerberg's new Twitter.

Jason Goldman, former Chief Digital Officer in the Obama White House, joins Offline to break down "the AI election." He and Jon talk through their fears for AI in politics, the ways they wish they could have used AI during their stints in the White House, and Jon asks Jason, a former VP at Twitter, his thoughts on Elon Musk's leadership at the the app he helped build. Plus: Max and Jon talk about Sarah Silverman's lawsuit against ChatGPT and watch some very, very weird TikTok lives.

Madeline Ashby, futurist and author of a recent piece for Wired entitled "Hollywood's Future Belongs to People — Not Machines," joins Offline to talk about how AI will impact the creation and experience of entertainment. She and Jon discuss how the industry is "unbundling," the role of art in creating social cohesion, and the hubris of TV execs who think AI will deliver content that is fast, good AND cheap. Then, Jon and Max discuss the decline of streaming and subscription models, how AI could be used by reporters, and the problem with community leaders being replaced by sh*tposters.

Comedian and Writer's Guild negotiator, Adam Conover joins Offline to talk about how the ethos of Silicon Valley has affected the livelihoods of writers, actors and everyone in the entertainment industry. He gives Jon a behind the scenes look at why Hollywood's workers and bosses have been so far apart in these negotiations. And they talk about the way streaming era jobs differ from cable era jobs, why, after a decade of streaming, studios look like they're starting to rebuild a version of the old cable model, and why he's not afraid of being replaced by artificial intelligence anytime soon.

Nora Princiotti and Nathan Hubbard, hosts of The Ringer's "Every Single Album" podcast join Offline to talk about queen of pop—and queen of the internet—Taylor Swift. They break down how the one-time anti-hero has navigated the Internet Age to build one of the most successful music careers of all time and a fanbase that follows her on- and off-line. The three weigh streaming vs. touring as business models for musicians, question whether Taylor's obsessive internet lurking is an asset, and share predictions for the last leg of the Eras tour. Then, Max returns to Offline's tech roundup to unpack Elon's ill-advised Twitter rebrand and Ron DeSantis' cruel summer.

According to a series of new studies published in Nature and Science, the way Facebook influences its users isn't as straight forward as it seems. Does that mean Facebook is off the hook for polarizing America? Joshua Tucker, NYU professor and lead researcher on the 2020 Facebook Election Research Project, joins Offline to talk about what his team found, what lessons we learned about Facebook's role in our world, and what its like to collaborate on a project with Mark Zuckerberg's company. Plus: Max and Jon talk New York City's Twitch-fueled riot, AI learning to write (good) jokes, and the Zuck v. Musk cage match.

Kate Lindsay, author of internet culture newsletter Embedded, joins Offline to talk about whether the hottest take is to have no take at all. Kate's most recent Atlantic piece is titled "Is It Time to Embrace "Opinion Fatigue?" which argues that the internet is getting sick of discourse. She and Jon discuss how we arrived at this take apocalypse, how Gen Z cares less about their digital footprints, and how older generations are thinking harder about the virtual caches they pass on to loved ones after they die.

Jon and Max are back and ready to answer your mailbag questions! But first, a post mortem on the Offline Challenge: best practices that remain, where their screen time stands now, and why on earth Jon logged 17 hours in one day. The two discuss parenting the Internet Generation, their tech predictions for 2033, and how to stay sane in the run up to the 2024 election. Then they dive into their favorite media scandals, the best career advice they received, and whether Kim Jong Un listens to Joe Rogan.

Kaitlyn Tiffany, Atlantic reporter and author of Everything I Need I Get from You, joins Offline to break down internet trolls. She and Jon unpack who these people are, and examine why the online trend of celebrating the misfortunes of strangers – including their deaths – is still very much alive. They talk about how trolls from across the political spectrum see their victims not as nuanced individuals with feelings, but as representatives of an enemy ideology, and thus fair game for online bullying and evening doxing. Then, it's time for a tech roundup with Max on Walter Isaacson's new Elon Musk biography, Congress's AI hearings, and why President Biden's DOJ is suing the internet's largest search engine.

Simon Rich, writer and creator of TBS's Miracle Workers, joins Offline to explain how he got his hands on an AI that makes Chat GPT look like a kindergartner. Simon and two friends used the indefatigable (and often unhinged) code-davinci-002 to generate poems on birth, art, love and death. The resulting collection, I Am Code, is the first book "written" by an AI. Simon and Jon talk through the alarming questions the book raises: what is the future of creativity, does it matter why robots may want to kill us, and is the world of AI secretly far more advanced than we know? But first! Max and Jon break down Senator John Fetterman's internet-savvy strategy to combat conspiracy theorists, and Joe Biden's slightly less savvy fight against misinformation.

Brian Stelter, longtime media journalist and author of the forthcoming Fox News exposé Network of Lies, joins Offline to unpack what Rupert Murdoch's retirement means for broadcast media, American democracy, and his four kids. Will Fox News look any different with Lachlan at the helm? Could his liberal siblings force a sale to an antagonistic, Swedish CEO? But first, Jon and Max put their heads together to break down how a new agreement on AI helped end the writer's strike, why the FTC has its knives out for Amazon, and what on earth X CEO Linda Yaccarino was talking about at the Code Conference.

Heather Cox Richardson, historian and author of the Substack's most-read newsletter "Letters from an American," joins Offline to explain why she's still hopeful about the future of American democracy. Heather's new book, Democracy Awakening, pushes past the clamoring 24-hour news cycles and delves deep into US history: how does Trump's rise compare to those of other authoritarian leaders? Can Americans use fascists' theory of change against them? Is widespread disinformation anything new? But first, Max and Jon discuss why referral traffic from social media sites has plummeted and what that means for journalism. Then, they marvel at Congressman Matt Gaetz's Trumpian political strategy, and why it's stymied the Old Guard of the GOP.

As fighting intensifies between Israel and Hamas, Jon and Max break down the ways social media is terribly equipped for delivering news about the war, helping us process it, and recognizing people's humanity. What's more, the platforms have basically given up on content moderation and fact checking. The guys explore how the combination of these factors made last week the single worst breaking news experience on social media ever, and why everyone feels compelled to issue a PR statement. Are the algorithms forcing this outrage upon us or is this just the result of the unique circumstances of this conflict?

Jesse David Fox, senior editor at Vulture and author of the forthcoming "Comedy Book," joins Offline to break down how the internet changed comedy and how comedy changed politics. Jesse and Jon trace how the erosion of broadcast journalism under Reagan created a trust vacuum in America that comedians inadvertently filled. Jesse explains why this trust is misplaced, and the implications for entertainment, political correctness, and authoritarian leaders like Donald Trump. Then the two discuss how the internet has made us pickier about humor, why Elon needed to buy Twitter to feel funny, and why a comic's success is no longer measured in laughs.

Johnny Harris, filmmaker and journalist, joins Offline to talk about Joe Rogan—how he became the world's most famous podcaster, where he stands (or doesn't) on censorship, and how he created a brand of anti-woke contrarianism. Johnny argues that people who are tired of polarization and tribalism see Rogan's openness, curiosity, and resistance to mainstream labels as a breath of fresh air. But Rogan's guests also regularly spread misinformation, and Johnny considers the machismo atmosphere of The Joe Rogan Experience to be a gateway podcast, one that leads listeners away from openness and curiosity and towards men's rights activists like Jordan Peterson and Andrew Tate.

Naomi Klein, activist and bestselling author, joins Offline to talk about her new book, Doppelganger, and the woman who inspired it, anti-vax crusader Naomi Wolf. The two are often mistaken for each other, and in Doppelganger Klein wades into the confusion to tell a broader story about the morass of the internet today. She and Jon talk about what it means to build a personal brand in the attention economy, how the pandemic fractured our collective sense of reality, and whether the internet is a good place to build a populist movement. Plus, Max is back from the dead! He and Jon break down Biden's new executive order on AI and exchange tips on how to have more productive conversations about the destruction in Gaza.

Jon and Max get into the numbers behind TikTok's supposed pro-Palestinian tilt— is the bias real, what do "views" signify, and how many of these videos are spreading misinformation? With content creators surpassing legacy media as Americans' primary source of news, the guys discuss the future of getting credible information on social media. And to round it out, Jon updates Max on House Speaker Mike Johnson's higher power: a porn policing software called Covenant Eyes.

Anna Holmes, the founder of jezebel.com, and Crooked's own Erin Ryan—the site's former managing editor—join Offline to discuss the origin and legacy of a publication that redefined feminism for millions of women. With Jezebel shuttering last week, Anna, Erin and Jon question whether the site was a victim of its own success, to what extent it shaped identity politics, and if it's fair to blame Jezebel's readers for the anger and infighting we see on the internet today. But first! Max and Jon take a closer look at Osama bin Laden apologists on TikTok, the new device that claims to reduce phone dependence, and Ron DeSantis' fight to post anonymously online.

Jeff Stein, White House economics reporter at the Washington Post, joins Offline to talk about the $16 McDonald's meal that captivated the internet—and whether Bidenomics is to blame. Conservative media outlets sunk their teeth into the story a few weeks ago, so Jeff and Jon dig into the burger narrative to examine today's economy: why, amid stagnating inflation and a hot job market, do voters still disapprove of President Biden's handling of the economy? Is social media painting a bleaker picture than the statistics report? And is this economic disconnect the biggest challenge facing Biden's re-election?

With 2024 fast approaching, Jon and Max sit down to answer listener-submitted questions. Does the show have a millennial bias? What's the guys' screen time 6 months after the Offline Challenge? Will Max stage a coup when Jon goes on paternity leave? Plus favorite social media trends, favorite films and favorite co-hosts of 2023.