Lessons from the Depths of the Internet

Cass Sunstein, Harvard professor and coauthor of the forthcoming book, Look Again, joins Offline to discuss the dangers of habituation. When things become so commonplace that they blend into the background of our everyday lives, we stop appreciating the good and identifying the bad. Jon and Cass examine how authoritarian regimes are normalized, whether you can pay people to quit their social media addictions, and why repeating lies makes them more believable. But first! Max and Jon dive into Meta’s decision to stop recommending political content on their platforms, President Biden’s foray onto TikTok, and what a recent Selena Gomez deepfake means for the future of scamming. 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.

18 Feb 20241h 3min

Kara Swisher, longtime tech reporter and author of the forthcoming memoir Burn Book, joins Offline to talk about the tech tycoons who think they’re qualified to run our country. She and Jon break down Silicon Valley’s ever growing self importance, whether its leaders are more or less fascist than we think, and how big tech ate the media industry alive. But first! Max and Jon explain why Apple’s Vision Pro headset is the company’s most impressive—and depressing—gadget to date, and how Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce are saving  American monoculture. 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.

11 Feb 202456min

Peter Hamby, host of Snapchat’s Good Luck America and a founding partner at Puck News, returns to Offline to discuss whether journalism is headed towards extinction. With the latest round of media layoffs hollowing out the industry more than ever before, how will people stay informed—and do they even want to? Has the news lost its primacy in the American mind? But first! Max and Jon break down Zuckerberg & co.‘s testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, why children’s online safety is the social media moguls’ achilles heel, and whether Universal Music pulling their catalogue from TikTok is actually a big deal. 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.

4 Feb 20241h 13min

Kyle Chayka, New Yorker staff writer and author of “Filterworld: How Algorithms Flattened Culture,” joins Offline to expose how online feeds push us into the mainstream and away from each other. He and Jon examine how machine-guided curation changes not only what we consume, but the quality of what gets made in the first place. But first! Max and Jon talk about how introverts have taken over the economy, the moment solo scrolling surpassed socializing, and how algorithm-driven streamers are recreating a worse version of cable. 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.

28 Jan 202452min

R. F. Kuang, bestselling author of Yellowface, joins Offline to discuss cultural appropriation, the flatness of social media friendships and feedback, and the tortured relationship between literature and technology. Kuang recounts how pandemic doomscrolling destroyed her attention span, the book she wrote as a result, and how she’s reclaimed her focus and social life since. But first! Jon is FINALLY back from his two weeks of paternity leave — he and Max break down how Ron DeSantis and Vivek Ramaswamy ran their campaigns like a 2016 meme war. Then, they compare the unsettling voice of AI Dean Phillips to the unsettling voice of human Dean Phillips, and unpack why no one is happy with Substack these days. 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.

21 Jan 20241h 3min

Katy Milkman, Wharton professor and author of How to Change: The Science of Getting from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be, joins Offline to discuss the limits of willpower. Katy and Max dig into the science behind habit formation, the psychology of temptation bundling, and all the strategies for sticking to New Year’s resolutions that are more effective—and more fun—than sheer will. But first! Crooked staffers Gabby, David and Ben join Max for a quick and snappy panel on their own resolutions for 2024, and what they’ve learned about changing their behavior in years past. 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.

14 Jan 202452min

Maybe, your friend announced they’re not drinking anymore, or your sister’s now “California Sober,” or maybe your entire office is participating in Dry January. It’s not just you, going sober is the hot new thing, with 41% of Americans aged 18 to 35 saying they don’t drink at all. Today, we explore the changes in drinking culture, in how we think about wellness and health, in how we socialize and spend our free time, and yes, changes in technology, that are converging to make America sober. Max interviews three Crooked Media producers about their relationship with alcohol and then talks to Dr. Edward Slingerland, an expert on humanity’s relationship with alcohol, about why humans drink and what changed about alcohol and our world to make more people choose sobriety. 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.

7 Jan 20241h 7min

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. 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 Dec 20231h 1min