Better Offline – “Hater Season: Caleb Wilson, Juniper and Arif Hasan”

Podcast: Better Offline (Cool Zone Media & iHeartPodcasts)
Air Date: February 18, 2026
Host: Ed Zitron
Guests: Caleb Wilson (Kill the Computer), Juniper (Kill the Computer), Arif Hasan (Wide Left)

Episode Overview

This lively, often irreverent episode of “Better Offline” convenes three sharp tech media minds—Caleb Wilson, Juniper, and Arif Hasan—for an extended group rant about the absurdity of modern tech culture, especially the scene’s current fascination with “radical centrism,” the quasi-religious posturing of tech billionaires, and the proliferation of overhyped AI ventures. The hosts skewer prominent industry figures (Gary Tan, Peter Thiel, Elon Musk), the commodification and gamification of everything (prediction markets, AI ads), and the weird cultural malaise gripping Silicon Valley.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Tech’s New Religion: The Rise of Evangelical Tech Piety

(04:37–07:00, 13:26–16:45)

• Ed introduces the concept of “Epic Church,” a real tech-positive evangelical church frequented by major Silicon Valley figures (Gary Tan, Peter Thiel, Trey Stevens), and how this is symbolic of a broader “religification” of the tech elite.
  • Ed Zitron [04:56]: “It’s this tech-positive church, basically an evangelical church for tech-minded people … Peter Thiel is like one of the thought leaders of the type of people there.”
• Arif riffs on the broader phenomenon of secular tech leaders making a public turn toward Christianity, often in strange, performative ways.
  • Arif Hasan [05:59]: “Now ... people who were typically associated with movements that might be humanist or atheist ... have turned into embracing some version of Christianity, right? Like, even Richard Dawkins … ‘well, I’m a cultural Christian.’”

Interpretation: The hosts critique this turn as shallow posturing, a way for the tech elite to lend their worldview a veneer of depth, myth, or moral gravity—while ultimately justifying their own power and insularity.

2. Gary Tan, “Radical Centrism,” and Gary’s List

(03:23–12:27)

• Caleb bemoans missing the chance to invest in “Gary’s List” (a blog/platform by Y Combinator’s Gary Tan) and roasts the idea of “radical centrism.”
  • Caleb Wilson [04:19]: “If you write the words ‘radical centrism,’ horrible.”
  • Ed Zitron [09:57]: “He’s very anti-union … every … influential Silicon Valley person these days is turning to evangelical religion. They complain about how there’s not enough centrism in the world while they benefit … from the Trump administration.”
• The crew tears into Gary’s List as an emblem of tech-bro malaise: a limitless fortune used to create ... a blog.
  • Caleb Wilson [09:29]: “This guy is a billionaire. … You could do so much with that. … And you’re like, no, I need to make a fucking blog for centrism.”

Interpretation: They see these “centrist” projects as self-indulgent ventures by disconnected elites, more about whining that public affection for tech billionaires is diminishing than advancing any new social good.

3. AI Hysteria and Industry Self-Deception

(17:39–33:32, 43:16–50:46)

• “Something Big is Happening” and the Matt Schumer Blog
  • Arif and Caleb discuss the viral (and likely AI-written) blog post by AI entrepreneur Matt Schumer, seen as emblematic of the current AI hype cycle: a breathless screed about AI’s imminent dominance, filled with misleading statistics and misunderstood benchmarks.
    • Arif Hasan [21:08]: “It’s like a gish gallop of AI benchmarks that are meant to create this sense that AI is like, smarter than PhDs or pass the bar exam.”
  • The group expose how much of this hype relies on “contextually poor examples,” and is meant more to impress funders than reflect technical reality.
  • Juniper and Ed lampoon AI analyses: “I write like 10–15,000 word analyses of things ... this guy’s like, ‘wow, you know, the computer’s just fucking so crazy now, bro.’”
• Notable quote:
  • Arif Hasan [22:35]: “The [research] article … is absolutely mischaracterized. … If we had journalism still and this was run in a newspaper that cared about stuff—which, what a bygone era…”

The Economics and Realities of AI Startups

• The hosts contrast public AI boosterism with the actual economics and technical limitations of current AI, particularly the irrational assumptions about infinite scalability and profitability.
  • Caleb Wilson [49:00]:
    On Dario Amodei (Anthropic CEO): “‘Profitability is this kind of weird thing in this field … happens when you underestimated the amount of demand you were going to get. And loss happens when you’ve overestimated ...’ No, Dario, profitability is when you make more money than you spend.”
  • Ed Zitron [50:55]:
    “They unlocked capitalism too, and they unlocked a new version of profitability.”

4. Prediction Markets & the Gamification of Disaster

(36:42–43:10)

• The conversation turns to the proliferation of prediction markets (e.g., Polymarket, Kalshi) where people can bet on real-world events, including disasters and tragedies—a development the hosts view as a symptom of extreme social alienation and greed.
  • Ed Zitron [38:30]: “Someone said that ... wagering on people dying should not be legal, which I think is the most moral and correct thing in the world. That’s fucking crazy that we have, like, gambling on this.”
  • The group discusses real examples where press conferences, disasters, and potential rocket explosions are used as betting fodder. The incentive for market manipulation—or worse—is clear: “it’s inevitable that someone uses this to manipulate someone’s murder.”

5. The State of AI Content: From Failed Ads to Netflix Crud

(52:17–58:44)

• The hosts roast the proliferation of AI-generated ads during (and since) the Super Bowl, with Ed noting that brands are advertising the use of AI as if it’s a feature, not a bug—“It’s crazy how everywhere AI is, everyone loves AI.”
• Juniper highlights Darren Aronofsky’s “On This Day, 1776,” an AI-generated Netflix project whose visuals and continuity errors are so laughably bad that even its marketing collapsed under the weight of negative feedback.
  • Caleb Wilson [55:20]: “There’s a great bit in it where they hand out ‘Common Sense’ and ... it goes from saying America to, like, just Cthulhu language.” 
• Arif notes that the only cases where AI’s “grotesque, uncanny, shifting” aesthetic might actually fit are for surreal, horror, or alienating subjects—but here they’re just “a bad aesthetic.”

6. Why Does AI Feel So Bad?

(58:44–61:44)

• Ed attempts to articulate the “AI malaise”: AI is being pushed onto society not as a genuinely useful innovation, but as a preordained future that must be embraced, accompanied by a bizarre sense of victimhood among its elite promoters.
  • Ed Zitron [59:51]: “The tech world is like, you will like AI and you will not complain ... and if you do, we are the victim.”
• The group predicts that if (when) AI ambitions flame out due to cost or technical limitation, the boosters will scapegoat the public for “killing” a miraculously inefficient or mediocre industry.

7. The Voicelessness of AI and the Loss of Culture

(61:44–63:28)

• The panel addresses the soul-deadening quality of AI-generated writing and art: it is voiceless, generic, and lacks the subtle cues of humanity—something instantly recognizable to anyone not fooled by the hype.
  • Arif Hasan [61:44]: “AI writing is grotesquely bad ... it all sounds the exact fucking same ... it has this, like, banal, voiceless kind of [quality].”

8. AI as a Replacement for Human Connection

(62:50–65:04)

• Commentary on people turning to AI for advice, companionship, or dating—seen as emblematic of hollowed-out social structures and the odd places technology is filling gaps it should not.
  • Juniper [63:11]: “If my GPT ever talked to me like that, I would shoot myself tonight.”
• In-jokes on Reddit communities devoted to bemoaning changes in ChatGPT models (“keep4o”), underlining how even “AI-lovers” are demoralized by the output.

Memorable Quotes

• Ed Zitron [04:56]: “Epic Church … basically an evangelical church for tech-minded people … Peter Thiel is … their Jesus Christ.”
• Caleb Wilson [09:29]: “You could have your favorite band playing wherever you wanted … and you’re like, no, I need to make a fucking blog for centrism.”
• Arif Hasan [14:55]: “Here the word ‘believe’ just serves as … telling us the things that they think we should believe. I don’t really care if they actually believe this. I care that they’re telling people this.”
• Ed Zitron [27:59]: “It has not shown any level of original intelligence ... it’s just a fast database search that pukes back out at you.”
• Caleb Wilson [49:00]: “Profitability is when you make more money than you spend.”
• Ed Zitron [59:51]: “The tech world is like, you will like AI and you will not complain … and if you do, we are the victim.”
• Arif Hasan [61:44]: “AI writing is grotesquely bad ... it all sounds the exact fucking same ... it has this, like, banal, voiceless kind of [quality].”

Notable and Humorous Moments

• [08:01] Juniper jokes about starting “the One Ring company” and partnering with Palantir—a scathing parody of tech’s love of dystopian sci-fi references.
• [14:47] Caleb describes the joyless life of tech elites: “If I’m sitting alone ... I could name five movies and six video games … These people: ‘I need to take on a new religion. I need to create a pro-centrism blog.’”
• [38:05] Ed: “This is like a NASA one too. Not even like a SpaceX ... disgusting.” (on betting markets for rocket explosions)
• [55:38] Caleb on the Aronofsky AI film: “As they hand out [the pamphlet], as they pick it up, it goes from saying America to, like, just like Cthulhu language.”
• [62:33] Juniper: “It’s not just the food. It’s yummy.” (lampooning AI article closings)
• [66:23] Ed: “This is maybe one of the greatest posts I’ve ever seen. One of the greatest AI posts ever. It’s got every quality of an incredible post that you need here.” (on AI-generated meme images)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Intro & Epic Church/Tech Religion: 03:23–07:00
• AI Hysteria, Blogs, and Schumer Dissection: 17:39–33:32
• Prediction Markets & Gambling on Tragedy: 36:42–43:10
• Dario Amodei, AI Economics & Definitions: 48:21–50:46
• The Bad Aesthetics of AI Ads & Content: 52:17–58:44
• Why AI Feels Terrible: 58:44–61:44
• Voiceless, Cultureless AI Text: 61:44–63:28
• Human Relationships with AI, Keep4o: 63:28–65:32

Conclusion/Takeaway

This episode is a cathartic, darkly funny indictment of current tech trends—calling out Silicon Valley’s obsession with self-mythologizing, the emptiness of viral AI hype, and the ruthless commodification of everything, from news reporting to personal relationships to disaster. The hosts’ ultimate message: beneath all the buzzwords and evangelism, tech’s biggest boosters are advertising little more than their own lack of ideas, taste, or culture—remaking society in their own alienated, joyless image.

Hosts and Guests’ Plugs:

• Caleb Wilson & Juniper: Kill the Computer (podcast on how the internet spills into real life; subculture analysis)
• Arif Hasan: Wide Left (football podcast and newsletter)

For more: Visit betteroffline.com or search for “Better Offline” on your podcast app.