Offline with Jon Favreau

Offline’s favorite foe of Big Tech, FTC Chair Lina Khan, joins the show to talk to Jon about standing up to Meta and Amazon, how the internet has changed the way monopolies operate, and why her work has made her an unlikely folk hero. Plus: Max and Jon sit down to talk about the misinformation spreading about the Los Angeles fires, Meta’s decision to abandon fact checking, and the last ditch effor...

Surgeon General Vivek Murthy joins Offline to share his final prescription for the nation He and Jon talk about why his parting message is all about community, the online reaction to the United Healthcare assassination, and how young people are struggling to find depth and meaning in a culture that glorifies fame and wealth. Then, Max and Jon answer listener-submitted questions, Jon recommits hims...

The more we learn about the alleged killer of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, the more his digital footprint falls into the Offline wheelhouse. Luigi Mangione has posted about Jonathan Haidt and Catherine Price; on Twitter he follows everyone from AOC to Ezra Klein to Joe Rogan. And don’t get us started on his Goodreads profile! Jon and Max talk through the internet's embrace of a suspected m...

How often do you talk to someone you disagree with—not in a Twitter pile on, but face to face?  With Donald Trump’s inauguration fast approaching (plus holidays full of opinionated relatives), Jon sits down with Dave Isay, the founder of StoryCorps, to talk about the healing power of conversation. StoryCorps is a segment on NPR’s Morning Edition, a podcast and the largest single archive of persona...

While Offline is on a break this week, enjoy some of the best moments from the Crooked subscription exclusive show Terminally Online. Listen to learn more than you ever needed to know about the nuanced art of Balkan breakfast, RFK’s horny TikTok history, the ghosts in Tucker Carlson’s bedroom, and the complex backstory of the Costco Guys. If you want more, head to Crooked.com/Friends and subscribe...

Jon got piled on last week for tweeting that activist groups have pushed the Democratic Party out of supermajority territory. Waleed Shahid, a progressive strategist who’s worked for Bernie Sanders, AOC, and Justice Democrats, joins the show for an offline version of his and Jon’s online debate. Waleed explains why he thinks the blame is misplaced, and Jon weighs in on who—or what—is behind Democr...

Somehow the interminable “who is the liberal Joe Rogan” debate is still raging a week after the election. Jeremiah Johnson, co-director of the Center for New Liberalism and author of the substack “Infinite Scroll” joins Offline to explain what the Rogan question gets wrong, how Democrats should expand their tent, and why we all need to stop scrolling and start making things. But first! BlueAnon is...

Yeah, rough week. Jon and Max reckon with Tuesday’s result and break down how Donald Trump — once again — was able to grow his coalition. They dissect how Trump won despite his very online campaign, not because of it — and why that may be cause for hope. Then they share their own experience knocking doors in swing states, talk about the role misinformation and foreign interference played in the el...

The 2024 election is almost upon us, and if you’re not anxious…please give us some of whatever you’re taking. Barton Gellman, Senior Advisor at the Brennan Center for Justice, joins Offline to talk about how election officials are safeguarding your vote. This spring, Gellman co-lead a series of table top exercises involving current and former politicians, military officers, and analysts. Together,...

The Good Liars, a MAGA trolling comedy duo, join Offline to share what it’s like on the ground at Trump rallies this close to the election. Davram Stiefler and Jason Selvig have been churning out political satire since they occupied Occupy Wall Street, and they talk to Jon about finding the humor and holes in the Trump camp’s rhetoric. But first! This week the app formerly known as Twitter announc...

Why are FEMA workers being threatened for trying to help clean up after Hurricane Helene? Jon and Max break down the misinformation spreading on social media, including the now infamous girl-with-puppy AI image. Then, they discuss the leaked documents that show TikTok knows exactly how harmful their app is, and check in on Elon Musk. The Tesla CEO is going all out to help Trump’s campaign, but for...

Hasan Piker, Gen Z’s favorite left wing political commentator and Twitch streamer, joins Offline to talk about the Trump campaign’s bro-first election strategy, the right wing’s dominance of the digital media landscape, and why, 25 days until the election, he’s feeling mostly…tired. Jon and Hasan debate the Biden-Harris policy agenda, particularly with regard to immigration and Israel-Palestine, a...

Alex Jones’ conspiracy media network, InfoWars, is up for sale, as is the at-home genetic testing service 23andMe…and potentially the DNA of 15 million people who used it. Meanwhile, TikTok grifters are using AI to fake defecting to North Korea, and it’s for a dumber reason than you could possibly imagine. But first! Silicon Valley thinks it’s finally figured out how to make smart glasses that som...

New York Times tech reporter Kate Conger joins Offline to discuss Character Limit: How Elon Musk Destroyed Twitter, a new book she coauthored with Ryan Mac. It’s the best coverage out there of Elon’s takeover and the subsequent deterioration of the platform, with behind-the-scenes reporting on how and why he bought the company, and the decisions he’s made since. But first! Jon and Max discuss whet...

Critic Emily St. James and Crooked’s Halle Kiefer join Max to discuss “Blade Runner,” the 1982 classic that asks the question: could an AI chatbot become so hot that it would be unethical to delete it? Perhaps no other movie has had as big an impact on sci-fi or the aesthetic of futurism as Ridley Scott’s film. Is this Harrison Ford’s peak hotness? Which Silicon Valley Overlord is our Tyrell? If l...

Tristan Harris, co-founder of the Center for Humane Technology and ex-design ethicist at Google, joins Offline to chat about the attention economy, why tech execs don’t let their own kids on the apps, and how our AI arms race is one giant game of Jenga. But first! Jon and Max break down Instagram’s new sweeping changes for teen users—do they address child safety concerns? Why now? Will kids be abl...

Since “Fight Club” hit theaters in 1999, the movie has become both a cinematic cult classic and a building block of how people (mostly men) express themselves online. Film critic Emily St. James and Crooked’s Erin Ryan join Offline Movie Club to talk about whether David Fincher’s opus deserves its top tier rankings, how the movie has been misappropriated by disillusioned Gen Xers and online chauvi...

Robert Putnam, renowned political scientist and author of Bowling Alone and The Upswing, joins Offline to explain why bowling alone and scrolling alone are two sides of the same coin. Putnam has spent his life deciphering why social capital—our connection to each other and our communities—has been withering away for the last 50 years. The consequences of this trend are the focus of a new documenta...

This week Offline Móvie Clúb takes on “Tár,” the 2022 film about a music conductor whose narcissism and abuses of power bring about her very public downfall. Max is joined by New York Times critic at large, Amanda Hess, and Offline critic at large, Jon Favreau, to examine the movie’s takes on cancel culture, identity construction and the limits of control—especially online. Should we feel pity for...

It’s not just supplements and energy drinks fueling the manosphere. Your favorite right-wing podcaster may be sponsored by…Vladimir Putin! Jon and Max discuss the new federal indictment alleging that the Kremlin has been funding right-wing internet personalities, including Tim Pool. Then they break down why the Brazilian Supreme Court has blocked access to X and why the “Hawk Tuah” girl’s new podc...

Has there ever been a more dramatic Twitter thread than A’Ziah King’s 2015 saga about a roadtrip turned kidnapping? Erin Ryan and Josie Duffy Rice join Max to discuss “Zola,” the movie adaptation of those tweets. The film tells the (mostly true) story of a young stripper getting whisked away to Florida by a new acquaintance and her pimp. Its searing commentary on sex trafficking is studded with no...

Max and Jon sit down to break down a very online DNC, diving into Obama’s anti-social media convention speech, the MyPillow guy’s embarrassing troll attempts, and a Taylor Swift & Beyonce rumor that spun out of control. Plus: Mark Zuckerberg’s fear driven turn towards Trump and the new political divide: cranks vs. everyone else.   For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click  here . F...

Jon Lovett and Erin Ryan join Max to discuss how “The Truman Show,” predicted our current era of continuous surveillance and content mining. The movie may be from 1998, but its insights are just as applicable 25 years later—from cults of celebrity, to Fox News, to Instagram. Is Ed Harris’ dome over Burbank a cautionary tale about fascist governance? Do we all hide parts of personalities, depending...

Peter Thiel isn’t as rich as Elon Musk or as notorious as Steve Bannon. But over the last 10 years he has grown from Silicon Valley’s oddball conservative to an ideological anchor of the Trump era. And, unfortunately for us, he thinks the country would be better off without voting. Bloomberg Businessweek reporter, Max Chafkin, has written a book about Thiel and his mind boggling worldview:  The Co...

Jon Lovett and Ben Rhodes join Max to explore how 1983’s “WarGames” predicted the internet era. The film is a fascinating time capsule of Reagan era tech optimism, nuclear war doomerism, and Matthew Broderick’s puckish charm. Ben dives into the foreign policy behind the movie, drawing on his own experience traveling the country with Obama and a briefcase of nuclear codes. Lovett reminisces about 8...