Offline with Jon Favreau

Pete Hegseth isn’t the only one who loves a group chat—turns out Silicon Valley's descent into Trumpism was powered by a constellation of Signal and WhatsApp chats between America’s tech overlords. Max and Jon walk through the Marc Andreessen-powered phenomenon, then discuss how Jeff Bezos was forced to kiss Trump’s ring this week by walking back Amazon's response to his tariffs. Next up: how will Gen Z's lifestyle subsidy (cheap A...

This Terminally Online preview breaks down the liberal media’s response to the back-and-forth between Larry David and Bill Maher, right-wing transvestigations, and TikTok’s “broken bone theory.” For the full episode and more Terminally Online, subscribe by April 30th to enjoy 30 days of Friends of the Pod for free! Support Crooked’s mission while unlocking ad-free episodes for Offline with Jon Favreau, exclusive content, a great Di...

Google’s antitrust trial is all gas no breaks this week, with the Justice Department asking a federal judge to break up the $1.81 trillion dollar company. Jon and Max discuss all the possible outcomes, and why Google’s products have stagnated the more they’ve come to dominate the internet. Then, new research finds that people who deactivated Facebook or Instagram before the 2020 presidential election became significantly happier an...

Free speech warrior Mark Zuckerberg took the witness stand this week to defend Meta in a big antitrust case that, if successful, could break up the social media giant. Max and Jon run through the trial thus far, and discuss how Silicon Valley tycoons skewered themselves by supporting Trump. Then, the guys delve into the ever-improving state of AI, with help from Offline AI correspondent Jon Lovett. To round it all out, Dr. Leor Zmi...

Ryan Broderick, host of Offline’s most-cited newsletter “Garbage Day,” joins Jon to talk tariff turmoil—how it will affect the TikTok deal, whether Trump has lost the faith of bro voters, and why the online right thinks a collapse of the global economy could solve America’s masculinity crisis. Then, is Elon Musk getting Ramaswamied? Was his nerd king persona ever more than a PR stunt? And what did we learn from Facebook whistleblow...

How does J.D. Vance have so much time to fight with Jon on X? Why are the courts letting Elon Musk buy votes in Wisconsin? And are we, as a society, ready forxAI to be trained on tweets from Catturd and Libs of TikTok? With Max out on vacation, Jon is joined by The Atlantic’s Charlie Warzel to process this week's online maelstrom—from horrendous deportations to Studio Ghibliesque edge lords—and to share what it was like for his bos...

They weren’t war plans, they were BATTLE plans—that’s the White House's new, extremely believable spin on why J.D. Vance, Pete Hegseth and countless other Trump officials were using a Signal chat to coordinate a military strike. Jon and Max relish the idiocy of what’s now become the most famous group chat in the world, and then dive into Snapchat’s latest feature that’s making teens even more glued to their screens. Then, the guys ...

Meta has called an emergency arbitration hearing over a tell-all memoir by Facebook's former Director of Global Public Policy. The author, Sarah Wynn Williams, has had to cancel all her book promotion…including coming on Offline this week. Jon and Max protest Sarah’s gag order by delving into her book, Careless People, and platforming her allegations of sexual harassment, the company’s role in Myanmar's genocide, and its supplicant...

A new Facebook whistleblower has come forward with shocking allegations—seems like company execs have been trying to cozy up to everyone from the Chinese Communist Party to their own employees. Max and Jon break down the drama, check in on Trump's TikTok sale, and discuss how this week’s viral J.D. Vance memes reflect the war for dominance between Democrats and Republicans. Then, audio journalist Zack Mack joins Offline to talk abo...

Not too long ago, Donald Trump, Joe Rogan, and Dana White—Offline’s favorite power brokers—identified UFC as a pathway for reshaping culture and politics around their idea of masculinity. Rolling Stone Magazine’s Jack Crosbie joins the pod to explain the parallel rise of MAGA and the Ultimate Fighting Championship, and break down why the sport is so appealing to young men. But first! Jon and Max run through some very Offline moment...

Twenty-one DOGE staffers resigned this week, citing the agency’s meddling in the federal government. Meanwhile, top DOGE Elon Musk was brandishing a chainsaw onstage at CPAC. And closer to home, a new armed-driver app purports to be “Uber with guns.” Jon and Max sift through it all, translate Musk’s claim that, “I am become meme,” and debate whether he intends to train Grok on the private data he’s stolen. But it’s not all bad news...

Special Government Employee Elon Musk has attempted to access our most personal data. Meanwhile, Billionaire Tech Mogul Elon Musk attempted to take over one of the biggest artificial intelligence companies in the world. Coincidence? In other news, Edgelord Elon Musk and his band of misfit fanboys are trying to uncover massive fraud and corruption, reading the data wrong, and making up stories that feels right to them. Jon and Max w...

U.S. democracy is likely to break down during this second Trump presidency, but what lies ahead isn’t a traditional dictatorship. Dr. Steven Levitsky joins Offline to explain competitive authoritarianism—what it looks like, how Trump and his cronies are enacting it already, and why it’s more popular than the fascism of yore. But first! Max and Jon discuss how the MAGA regime is silencing critics, including with two frivolous media ...

MSNBC’s Chris Hayes joins Offline to discuss how our society’s commodification of attention has made us miserable while empowering authoritarians like Donald Trump. Chris’s new book, The Sirens’ Call, explains how humans mistake online engagement for social connection, why the media is beholden to flashy headlines, and why no one can bear being alone with their thoughts. He and Jon discuss how Democrats need to operate in this fren...

Senator Chris Murphy joins Offline with a warning for his fellow Democrats: the longer we take to counter Trump’s horrifying shock and awe strategy, the harder it will be to get up off the mat.  The Connecticut Senator shares how the pardoning of January 6th protestors has impacted his personal security, what the Republican party is getting right about helping people find purpose, and why the handover of power to tech overlords is ...

TikTok is back from the dead... at least for now. After a self-imposed shutdown and a shameless appeal to President Trump, the countdown to the TikTok ban has restarted. Meanwhile, the rest of Silicon Valley is taking turns kissing the ring. Jon and Max discuss the list of tech oligarchs vying for Trump's favor, explain what they have to gain from the President's new Stargate AI announcement, and debate if it's time to pump their l...

The Supreme Court is the latest branch of government to kicktok TikTok to the curb—at least under its present Chinese ownership. Max and Jon break down what may happen to the app over the next few days and explain how a newly inaugurated President Trump could change its fate. Until then, Americans are fleeing the presumed CCP-controlled platform for an explicitly CCP-controlled platform: RedNote. The guys wade through the online ta...

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 efforts to save TikTok before the US ban...

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 himself to posting on social media, and...