How Jezebel Changed Media and Why TikTokers Are Rizzing Up Osama bin Laden

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. For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

1 Okt 20231h 18min

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. For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

24 Sep 20231h 10min

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. For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

17 Sep 20231h 4min

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. For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

10 Sep 20231h

We're off for Labor Day! Please enjoy this exclusive episode of Terminally Online, our new Subscription show and loosest pod here at Crooked Media. Every week Pod Save America hosts are joined by your favorite Crooked producers and staffers to commiserate about being way too online as they make their shows. Get episodes of Terminally Online, ads free Pod Save America and so much more by signing up for Friends of the Pod at crooked.com/friends. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

3 Sep 202332min

Maia Wyman, or Broey Deschanel as she’s known on Youtube, joins Offline to talk about her generation of movie critics and influencers—spoiler alert, they’re not the same! Her nuanced video essays break down films, analyzing everything from the political themes of Parasite to why Barbie had to spoon-feed feminism to its audience. But for every voice like Maia’s, there are many others who don’t leverage the social web so much as indulge it. Guest host Max Fisher talks with Maia about how the internet is changing movies for better or worse, what it means for our culture, and how we see it playing out in this summer’s big releases. For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

27 Aug 202357min

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. For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

20 Aug 20231h 16min

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.  For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

13 Aug 20231h 22min