Offline with Jon Favreau

How the Right Won the Internet and How the Left is Fighting Back

09 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Why are Republicans apologists for misinformation? How should campaigns respond to online trolls? Are Democrats still using an Obama-era digital strat...

How "Wall-E" Reveals Our Changing Feelings Toward Tech

06 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Critic Emily St. James and Crooked’s Halle Kiefer join Max to talk about “WALL-E.” The 2008 Pixar film depicts a future in which humans are so a...

Trump’s TikTok Edge and Why Birds May or May Not Be Real

02 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Birds Aren’t Real founder, Peter McIndoe, joins to talk about the impact of the satirical conspiracy that captured the imagination of Gen Z and what...

How "The Matrix" Created Modern Silicon Valley

30 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Are we all living in The Matrix? Eh, probably not. But our tech obsessed, social media driven world is a lot closer to the reality The Matrix posed in...

ScarJo v. AI, the Digital Guillotine, and Why We Play Make Believe with Misinformation

26 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Do we treat political affiliation like a religion? Which parts of our identity are based off factual belief vs. imaginary belief? This week, Max talks...

Why "Her" Reveals How We Really Feel About AI (with Ezra Klein)

23 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Ezra Klein joins Offline Movie Club to discuss “Her,” the movie that more or less incited this week’s Scarlett Johansson v. OpenAI drama. Back i...

AI’s Flirty Upgrade, Facebook’s Zombie Internet, and Why We May Be Doing Mental Health Wrong

19 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

ChatGPT has officially entered its “Her” era! Jon and Max talk about the flirty AI that debuted this week, whose husky voice and warm enthusiasm e...

How “You’ve Got Mail” Explains '90s Internet Culture

16 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Leave it to Tom Hanks to make internet catfishing seem so darn charming! This week, Offline’s Movie Club is watching “You’ve Got Mail,” the co...

TikTok vs Biden, Kendrick vs Drake, AI vs Loneliness

12 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Is it time for you to make an AI friend? Jon and Max weigh the pros and cons of robot affirmation, sink their teeth into a new study on smart phone ba...

How Bo Burnham’s “Inside” Inspired Offline

09 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Bo Burnham’s comedy has long captivated and caricatured the internet, but the era his songs skewer the best is the hyperactive, blood-thirsty, onlin...

How Cognitive Bias Explains Taylor Swift, Donald Trump, and Internet Malaise

05 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We all have a caveman brain—at least when it comes to navigating the internet. Amanda Montell, author of the new book The Age of Magical Overthinkin...

How “The Social Network” Explains Silicon Valley

02 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

When did we collectively agree that a hoodie-clad coder could wreak havoc on our society? Probably not long after “The Social Network” came out. T...

The Biden Campaign’s Plan to Beat Trump Online

28 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Can Biden outpost Trump in the run up to 2024? Why is the president on TikTok if he wants to ban it? Rob Flaherty, former White House Director of Digi...

Right Wing Media Collapse, Trump Trial’s Repost King, and How To Live Like You’re Not Dying

21 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We did it folks! Jurors for Trump’s hush money trial are getting to read their resistance tweets to his face as Meta’s crackdown on news is slowly...

Trump’s Stock Crash, AI Gets Junkier, and Paying to Delete Social Media

14 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Is FOMO the only thing keeping you on social media? Have we already reached peak artificial intelligence? And are Max and Jon too old to enjoy Glorb, ...

Are You Treating Politics Like a Hobby?

07 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Are college educated Democrats going to cost Joe Biden the election? Eitan Hersh, a Political Science professor at Tufts, joins Offline to take a clos...

How to Be Happy with Dr. Laurie Santos

31 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Dr. Laurie Santos, Yale University's “Happiness Professor,” joins Offline to lay out a scientific guide to finding happiness. On her podcast The H...

Is Trump Benefiting from Our 2020 Amnesia?

24 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Eric Klinenberg, sociologist at New York University, joins Offline to discuss why our failure to process 2020 may lead to another disastrous Trump ter...

Kate Middleton MIA, UFOs, and How Conspiracies Got Fun

17 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Kate Middleton sightings have dipped below UFO sightings, and the internet is having a heyday! It’s conspiracy theory week at Offline, with Max and ...

TikTok Ban Returns, AOC Hounded by Protesters, and Jon Ronson on the End of Public Shaming

10 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Jon Ronson, author of So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed and host of the BBC podcast “Things Fell Apart,” joins Offline to discuss culture wars—wh...

Woke AI, Libs of TikTok DESTROYED, and the Offline Reality of Long COVID

03 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Zeynep Tufekci, sociologist and New York Times opinion columnist, joins Offline to discuss why long covid has unleashed so much online vitriol, united...

An Ex-Tucker Carlson Employee Tells All

25 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Tina Nguyen, national correspondent at Puck News, joins Offline to talk about her new memoir, “The MAGA Diaries.” The book sheds light on the cons...

The Neuroscience of Why We’re Susceptible to Lies, Outrage, and Fascism

18 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Cass Sunstein, Harvard professor and coauthor of the forthcoming book, Look Again, joins Offline to discuss the dangers of habituation. When things be...

Authoritarians or A-holes? Kara Swisher on Tech's Biggest Egos

11 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

What's Really Behind the Media Apocalypse?

04 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 to...

Are Algorithms Making You Boring?

28 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Kyle Chayka, New Yorker staff writer and author of “Filterworld: How Algorithms Flattened Culture,” joins Offline to expose how online feeds push ...

Were Trump’s Opponents Too Online? Plus, R. F. Kuang on Her Twitter Era Novel

21 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

R. F. Kuang, bestselling author of Yellowface, joins Offline to discuss cultural appropriation, the flatness of social media friendships and feedback,...

The Science of Achieving (and Enjoying) Your New Year’s Resolution

14 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 discu...

Dry January, Cali Sober, Soft Sober: Why Gen Z is Breaking Up With Booze

07 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Maybe, your friend announced they’re not drinking anymore, or your sister’s now “California Sober,” or maybe your entire office is participati...

Millennials v. Gen Z, Twitter v. Threads, Social Media Trends for 2024: Jon & Max Answer Your Questions

17 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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’ sc...

Best Of: How To Change Alt Right Minds, with ContraPoints

10 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

YouTuber Natalie Wynn, better known as ContraPoints, may be the internet’s most persuasive political commentator. Known for her carefully produced, ...

Is a $16 McDonald’s Order Going to Elect Trump?

03 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Jeff Stein, White House economics reporter at the Washington Post, joins Offline to talk about the $16 McDonald’s meal that captivated the internet—...

Inside 2024 - Preview | Favreau + Tommy Talk Election Night

26 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Happy holidays from the Offline team! Here’s a special sneak peek of our new subscriber exclusive series Inside 2024. In this preview Jon Favreau an...

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

19 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

The Truth About TikTok’s Spin on Israel-Gaza

12 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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 the...

Naomi Klein on What Happens When You’re Mistaken for a Conspiracy Theorist

05 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Naomi Klein, activist and bestselling author, joins Offline to talk about her new book, Doppelganger, and the woman who inspired it, anti-vax crusader...

Why Do People Love Joe Rogan?

29 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Johnny Harris, filmmaker and journalist, joins Offline to talk about Joe Rogan—how he became the world’s most famous podcaster, where he stands (o...

Jon Stewart, Donald Trump, and How Comedy Changed Politics

22 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Jesse David Fox, senior editor at Vulture and author of the forthcoming “Comedy Book,” joins Offline to break down how the internet changed comedy...

Why Has Social Media Made It Impossible to Follow the Israel-Hamas War?

15 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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,...

Heather Cox Richardson on Donald Trump, Democracy, and Taylor Swift

08 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Heather Cox Richardson, historian and author of the Substack’s most-read newsletter “Letters from an American,” joins Offline to explain why she...

Fox News’s Succession Battle, Breaking Up Amazon, and Twitter CEO’s Disastrous Q&A

01 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Brian Stelter, longtime media journalist and author of the forthcoming Fox News exposé Network of Lies, joins Offline to unpack what Rupert Murdoch’...

Fetterman’s Body Double, Biden’s Misinformation Strategy, and OpenAI’s Secret & Scarier AI

24 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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 kind...

The U.S. v. Google, Elon’s Secrets Revealed, and Why Trolls Got Nastier

17 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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...

How to Survive the 2024 Election, Tech Predictions for the Decade, and the Best Life Advice

10 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

A Very Online Summer (Friends of the Pod Preview)

03 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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. Ev...

How Social Media is Changing Movies — and Their Place in Society

27 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Maia Wyman, or Broey Deschanel as she’s known on Youtube, joins Offline to talk about her generation of movie critics and influencers—spoiler aler...

Welcome to the Take Recession

20 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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...

How Facebook Changes Us, Influencer Riots, and AI Gets Funny

13 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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. D...

How Taylor Swift Conquered the Internet, Plus: Xtra Xtra the Bird is Dead

06 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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 Strike to Keep Hollywood Human, with Adam Conover

30 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Comedian and Writer’s Guild negotiator, Adam Conover joins Offline to talk about how the ethos of Silicon Valley has affected the livelihoods of wri...

Big Tech vs. Hollywood; AI vs. Journalism; Socialists vs. Bananas

23 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Madeline Ashby, futurist and WIRED contributor joins Offline to talk about her recent piece “Hollywood’s Future Belongs to People — Not Machines...

Is 2024 the AI Election? Plus, an OG Twitter Exec on Elon, Threads, and Tech Bros

16 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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...

QAnon is Thriving, Twitter is Dying, Zuck to the Rescue?

09 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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 Repub...

Joe Rogan Debates Vaccines, Elon Challenges Zuck, and the Submarine Discourse

25 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Jon and Max answer your questions about AI, unions, writing and fallen titans — submersible and tech leader alike. Plus, America Dissected’s Dr. A...

Why You Should Make Silly Things

18 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Simone Giertz, YouTube’s favorite inventor and robotics enthusiast, joins Offline this week to discuss the joy of building useless things and why ad...

How to Break Your Phone Addiction

11 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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 Challe...

The Kids Are Not Alright. Is Social Media to Blame?

28 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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 n...

Is Fox News Doomed?

21 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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 th...

Did Clickbait Kill Buzzfeed and the Digital Media Era?

14 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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...

Jon and Max Surrender Their iPhones

07 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Introducing Offline’s Unplug Challenge! Jon and Max reflect on how their screen addictions have worsened their focus, hijacked their social lives, a...

How is Collective Grief Rewiring our Brains | Hysteria Excerpt

03 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

This week we're giving you a feed drop from Crooked’s very own Hysteria! In this excerpt, Erin Ryan and Alyssa Mastromonaco cover some lighter news ...

Hasan Piker Wants the Left to Persuade, Not Scold

30 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Hasan Piker, viral political streamer, joins Offline to talk about Tucker Carlson’s demise, the 2024 election, and what it is about wokeism that mak...

How the Internet is Radicalizing Young Men

23 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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...

John Green Doesn’t Think the World is Ending (Yet)

16 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

John Green, bestselling author and YouTube Vlogbrother, joins Offline to share lessons from his most recent book, The Anthropocene Reviewed. His colle...

Should America Ban TikTok?

09 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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...

The End of Big Tech as We Know It

26 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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, j...

How to Beat Fox News

19 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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...

Margaret Atwood on Good, Evil and Stupidity

12 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Margaret Atwood, famed author, poet and “dystopia prophet,” joins Offline to talk about fighting tyranny and finding hope. Much like her latest bo...

What Do We Lose if We Lose Black Twitter?

05 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Jason Parham, senior writer at WIRED, walks Jon through the evolution and legacy of Black Twitter. Parham’s three-part series, “A People’s Histo...

What Happened To Your Ambition? | Work Appropriate

26 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Offline's crew is *offline* this week but we're excited to share one of our favorite recent episodes of Crooked's podcast Work Appropriate hosted by A...

Are We Amusing Ourselves to Death?

19 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Megan Garber, staff writer at the Atlantic, joins Offline to explain how we’re already living in the Metaverse––not with headsets and legless av...

What Makes a Good Life? Lessons from an 84 Year Study on Happiness

12 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

Who Can Own the Most Libs? Tim Miller on the ’24 GOP Primary

05 Feb 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Tim Miller, former Republican operative, current Never Trumper, and contributor at the Bulwark, joins Jon to kickoff the GOP’s very online, very wei...

What’s With All the Tech Layoffs?

29 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Amazon, Google, Facebook and the entire tech sector just laid off tens of thousands of employees. How did America’s fastest growing industry become ...

Do Dating Apps Make it Harder to Find Love?

22 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Sangeeta Singh-Kurtz and Lakshmi Rengarajan, hosts of the newest season of The Cut’s Land of the Giants, join Offline to talk about how apps like Ti...

Two Writers Wonder If They’ll Be Replaced By AI

15 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Evan Puschak, also known as The Nerdwriter, joins Offline to discuss ChatGPT, the revolutionary artificial intelligence chatbot from OpenAI. In his mo...

How to Avoid Distraction with Johann Hari

08 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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...

Offline Mailbag with Emily Favreau and Dare We Say

01 Jan 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Description: Josie Totah and Yasmine Hamady, hosts of Crooked’s Dare We Say podcast, join Offline for a special mailbag episode on the internet’s ...

The Worst Tweets of 2022 with Rebecca Jennings

18 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Rebecca Jennings, senior correspondent at Vox, talks with Jon about the year’s most chronically online conversations––those seemingly innocuous ...

Is This the End of Social Media? With Ian Bogost

11 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Ian Bogost, author and professor at Washington University in St. Louis, talks with Jon about the demise of online social networks. In a recent Atlanti...

What Democrats Could Learn from Republicans with Brian Beutler

04 Dec 2022

Contributed by Lukas

This week, a Crooked Media crossover event as Brian Beutler, host of Positively Dreadful, sits down with Jon to talk all the things Democrats could le...

How to Talk Your Uncle Out of QAnon this Thanksgiving

20 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Beth Goldberg joins Offline to discuss her work at Jigsaw, the misinformation-tackling team at Google that’s been called “the Internet’s justice...

Bad Vibes v. Good Results. Lynn Vavreck on the ’22 Midterms

13 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Dr. Lynn Vavreck, professor of political scientist at UCLA and contributing columnist to The Upshot at The New York Times, sits down with Jon to talk ...

Elon’s Twitter is in the Sh*tter with Nilay Patel

06 Nov 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Nilay Patel, Editor-in-Chief of The Verge and host of the Decoder podcast, talks with Jon about Elon Musk’s newest and thorniest business venture: p...

Kanye West’s Dark, Twisted Internet

30 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

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

Persuasion Isn’t Dead with Anand Giridharadas

23 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

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

Rachel Maddow on America’s Forgotten Insurrection

16 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

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

Is Remote Work Here to Stay? With Derek Thompson

09 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

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

Offline presents The Axe Files hosted by David Axelrod, featuring Maria Ressa

02 Oct 2022

Contributed by Lukas

Nobel Prize-winning journalist Maria Ressa faces 100 years in prison stemming from what she says are illegitimate charges, but that hasn’t stopped h...

Introducing The Wilderness Chapter 1: The Divide

18 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

What will it take to save democracy in 2022 and beyond? The MAGA movement is one of the greatest threats to American democracy. But one of the greates...

Lessons from the Depths of the Internet

11 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

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

The Inside Story of How Silicon Valley Rewired Our Brains

04 Sep 2022

Contributed by Lukas

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

How To Change Alt Right Minds, with ContraPoints

28 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

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

Katie Couric on Sarah Palin, Disinformation, and the Future of Journalism.

21 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

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

How Can Democrats Win the Digital Wars?

14 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

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

Is TikTok a Secret Threat to America? With Scott Galloway

07 Aug 2022

Contributed by Lukas

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

Has the Internet Trapped Us in the Past?

31 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

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

Jane Coaston on Why Internet Debates Suck

24 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

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

What the F*** is the Metaverse?

17 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

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

How to Restore Roe (From Positively Dreadful)

10 Jul 2022

Contributed by Lukas

The Supreme Court has overturned Roe v Wade, access to abortion has collapsed across the country, and Democrats in Washington don’t have the votes t...