Person
Every book Ed Zitron recommended on podcasts
Key facts
- Ed Zitron has recommended or discussed 5 books on podcasts, as of July 23, 2025.
- Ed Zitron has talked about books on 2 podcasts, as of July 23, 2025.
- Those books came up in 3 episodes, as of July 23, 2025.
- The 3 books Ed Zitron has mentioned in the most episodes, as of July 23, 2025: Empire of AI, In the Plex and Infinite loop.
- The latest episode with a book mention from Ed Zitron aired on July 23, 2025.
Updated
Across 2 podcasts. Every show Ed Zitron appears on, in one place — not just one.
Ed Zitron is an English author, podcaster, journalist, and public relations specialist. He is a critic of the technology industry, particularly of artificial intelligence companies and the generative artificial intelligence boom of the 2020s. He hosts the Better Offline podcast, and writes the Where's Your Ed At newsletter. Zitron discussed several books across podcast appearances to critique corporate culture and draw historical parallels to modern tech companies. On the Big Technology Podcast, he brought up Karen Hao’s Empire of AI to criticize speculative discussions about artificial intelligence inside technology firms. Appearing on Behind the Bastards, Zitron cited Steven Levy’s In the Plex to explain the origin of Google’s internal terminology. In the same podcast series, he referenced Ralph Nader’s Unsafe at Any Speed as an example of writing that successfully brought about public-safety reforms, contrasting it with contemporary lack of accountability in the tech sector. Additionally, Zitron mentioned reading Michael S. Malone’s Infinite Loop as an early critical work of reporting examining Steve Jobs.
Books recommended by Ed Zitron
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Empire of AI
Empire of AI by Karen Hao is an investigative non-fiction book that explores the human and material costs behind the rapid rise of artificial intelligence and Sam Altman's OpenAI.
Discussed“Karen How's Empires of AI does an excellent job of discussing how many of these people's fart in a glass and sniff it because they have jobs there where they just sit around going, "What if this happens? What if this happens?"”
Where to get it
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In the Plex
In the Plex by Steven Levy is a comprehensive, behind-the-scenes account of Google's origins, corporate culture, and meteoric rise to technological dominance.
Discussed“The yellow, according to Steven Levy's tell all book about Google, refers to, and I promise this is not a joke, the color of a tank top that a former VP of engineering called Wayne Rosling used to wear”
Where to get it
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Infinite loop
Infinite Loop: How Apple, the World's Most Insanely Great Computer Company, Went Insane by Michael S.
Discussed“I had started to cuz I had read infinite Loop by that point which I think is like the first really critical piece of big reporting on jobs”
Where to get it
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Infinite Loop
Discussed“By that point, I had read 'Infinite Loop,' which was the first truly critical examination of Jobs.”
Where to get it
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Unsafe at any speed
Unsafe at any speed by Ralph Nader is a foundational investigative work that exposed the automobile industry's resistance to safety regulations and its focus on styling over passenger protection.
Discussed“Nevertheless, Meta exercises this reckless disregard for public safety, kind of like the auto industry in the '60s, and that was when Ralph Nater wrote Unsafe at Any Speed. His book, it actually brought about change.”
Where to get it
Appearances
| Episode | Podcast | Date | Books |
|---|---|---|---|
| Are AI's Economics Unsustainable? — With Ed Zitron | Big Technology Podcast | 2025-07-23 | 1 |
| Behind the Bastards Presents: Better Offline | Behind the Bastards | 2024-12-08 | 2 |
| Part Four: The Terrible Secret of Steve Jobs | Behind the Bastards | 2024-03-14 | 2 |
Other mentions (4: passing, ad reads, own books)
“I am a blogger with a podcast and and I'm the one who said, "Yeah, okay. Dracula is now the CEO of the Bloodbank."”
“So when Sam Alton was fired from OpenAI, there was this very strange reaction from Silicon Valley, including some in the media where it was almost like a Hunger Games, everyone doing the symbol thing where everyone was like, "Oh, we got to put Sam Orman back in."”
“I've not seen the movies, I've not read the book, because the idea of Walter Isaacson telling me anything is kind of annoying as a preface.”
“Putting that aside, people genuinely thought they were buying like Amazing Fantasy 15, First Appearance of Spider-Man, stuff like that. They thought that they were buying something that would give them access”