Is the internet slowly breaking our brains, and if so, what can we do about it?
Offline with Jon Favreau is a place where you can take a break from doom-scrol...
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34:50
Do Libs Need a Social Media Safe Space? Did Misinfo Hurt Kamala? How Much Should the Left Influence Democrats?
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 Democratic leaders losing touch with their base. But first! Trump’s new head of the Federal Communications Commission, Brendan Carr, is a Project 2025 author. What does this mean for social media, free speech, and Elon Musk’s ventures? Plus, new exit polling shows late-deciding, swing voters had wildly inaccurate beliefs about Kamala Harris’s policy positions. Is hyper-targeted misinformation a permanent part of our electoral process now? For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email [email protected] and include the name of the podcast.
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1:18:28
Why Democrats’ Media Problem is Deeper than “Liberal Joe Rogan”
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 at it again. Jon and Max break down election conspiracy theories—this time from liberals—and walk through how Trump will approach AI, crypto, and TikTok as president. Then, Offline producers Austin Fisher and Emma Illick-Frank sit down with the guys to compare draft picks for the left’s Joe Rogan, and to youthsplain the internet’s best and brightest. For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email [email protected] and include the name of the podcast.
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1:32:53
Where We Go From Here
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 election, and return to Offline’s most important question: How can we make democracy work in our current information environment? Plus, Max offers up what may be the only fun question about the next four years. How long will it be before Donald Trump publicly and nationally humiliates Elon Musk? For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email [email protected] and include the name of the podcast.
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1:06:39
Offline’s Anti-Anxiety Election Special
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, they played out worst-case scenarios under a second Trump presidency to better understand the true threat he poses to democracy—and brainstorm how conscientious objectors, state governments, and even protesting priests could slow him down. But first! Max and Jon talk about whether newspapers should endorse presidents, Jeff Bezos’s cringey letter, and the many ways they’re quelling their own election anxiety. For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email [email protected] and include the name of the podcast.
Is the internet slowly breaking our brains, and if so, what can we do about it?
Offline with Jon Favreau is a place where you can take a break from doom-scrolling and tune in to smarter, lighter conversations about the impact of technology & the internet on our collective culture.
Intimate interviews between Pod Save America host Jon Favreau and notable guests like Stephen Colbert, Hasan Piker, Chimamanda Adichie, ContraPoints, Margaret Atwood, and Rachel Maddow spark curiosity and introspection around the various ways our extremely online existence shapes everything from the ways we live, work, and interact with one another. Together we’ll figure out how to live happier, healthier lives, both on and offline.
New episodes drop every Sunday morning, wherever you get your podcasts and on the Offline YouTube channel.