On with Kara Swisher
Vox Media
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It’s On. Get to the heart of what makes powerful people tick — in interviews that have them sit back, relax and get grilled. Twice a week, Kara Swisher and her executive producer Nayeema Raza invite a guest to be “On with Kara Swisher.”
So why do newsmakers show up? “Smart people,” says Kara, “like difficult questions.” They may even find it fun.
Mondays and Thursdays from New York Magazine and the Vox Media Podcast Network.
Available episodes
Newest first
Oldest first
20 hours ago
The Yoel Roth-Linda Yaccarino Showdown
On Wednesday, two Twitter-related interviews rocked the stage at the 2023 Code Conference. Kara interviewed the former head of trust and safety at Twitter/X, Yoel Roth, and Julia Boorstin, CNBC's Senior Media & Tech Correspondent, interviewed X’s CEO, Linda Yaccarino.
The late booking of Roth rattled Yaccarino, and her interview led to a media storm. In this episode, we play you both interviews. We start off with Kara and Nayeema, as they set the stage early on Wednesday morning, play the interviews in chronological order, and then rejoin Karan and Nayeema, for a debrief, to address accusations that the schedule change amounted to “sandbagging” Yaccarino. (Kara’s response: it does not).
Questions or comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on social media. We’re on Instagram/Threads as @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza
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1 day ago
We're Running Late!
We taped a great conversation with Yoel Roth late on Wednesday at the Code Conference, and it'll be up shortly! Stay tuned.
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4 days ago
Sheila Johnson Talks BET, Entrepreneurship and Why She Doesn’t Love Being Called “America’s First Black Female Billionaire”
Sheila Johnson is best known for co-founding BET, a network she launched with her ex-husband, Bob Johnson, and which they eventually sold to Viacom for billions. She’s since built a hospitality brand, been an active philanthropist and is an owner or partner in three professional sports teams. But many of those achievements came at great cost, as Sheila writes in her new memoir, “Walk Through Fire: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and Triumph.” We discuss how she navigated her success and independence in a time where “women were defined by their husbands.” We also talk about the future of BET and the role of identity-driven programming in American media.
Questions or comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on social media. We’re on Instagram/Threads as @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza.
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Sep 21, 2023
Is Biden the Best Democrats Can Do?
Biden’s poll numbers are atrocious, and in recent columns from The Washington Post to The New York Times and The National Journal, the punditocracy has started to sour on the president’s 2024 ambitions. Columnists have weighed in on why Biden could lose to Trump — and whether it’d be better for him to step aside. Is this a phase, a pipe dream or an actual crisis?
We convene an all-star panel to discuss. Our guests: Franklin Foer, staff writer for The Atlantic and author of the recently released The Last Politician, a look a Biden’s first two years in office; Astead Herndon, national political reporter for The New York Times and host of The Run-Up; Jen Psaki, former White House press secretary for the Biden administration and host of Inside with Jen Psaki on MSNBC; and Alex Thompson, national political correspondent for Axios.
Questions or comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on social media. We’re on Instagram/Threads as @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza.
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Sep 18, 2023
The Walter Isaacson-Kara Swisher Showdown
Walter Isaacson and Kara are friends — but that doesn’t mean she’s going to go easy on him as they discuss Isaacson’s new hit biography: Elon Musk, which is causing much consternation among readers and reviewers. Kara pushes Walter on whether the book equivocates or excuses too much of Elon’s bad behavior. And Walter, well, he pushes back.
Questions or comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on social media. We’re on Instagram/Threads as @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza
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Sep 14, 2023
How Twitter Took Alex Edelman to IRL White Supremacists
A Jewish comedian walks into an apartment in Queens to meet a group of white supremacists … This isn’t the setup to a bad joke — it’s the inciting incident in Alex Edelman’s hit one-man show, “Just For Us,” which recently wrapped a nine-week run on Broadway.
We talk to Edelman about the value of entering rooms with people you vehemently disagree with, Elon Musk’s threat to sue the ADL, and whether there should be any uncrossable lines in comedy.
Questions or comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on social media. We’re on Instagram/Threads as @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza
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Sep 11, 2023
Conan O'Brien Talks to His Accountant
Late-night legend and podcasting impresario Conan O’Brien joins Kara to talk about the decline of late night, the writers’ strike, his $150 million deal with SiriusXM and his new HBO Max show, Conan O’Brien Must Go. They also trade notes on interviewing and … accounting.
Questions or comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on social media. We’re on Instagram/Threads as @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza
Photo credit: Gage Skidmore via Flickr
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Sep 7, 2023
What Naomi Klein Found Down the Steve Bannon Rabbit Hole
For years, Naomi Klein has had a problem: the author and Guardian columnist has been chronically confused with Naomi Wolf, a conspiracy theorist and favorite guest of Steve Bannon’s podcast. This is the premise of Klein’s new book, Doppelganger: A Trip Into the Mirror World, where she investigates how her dark twin fell down the conspiracy theory rabbit hole – and what that tells us about the lure of conspiratorial thinking and its dangerous use as a political strategy. Today, we talk to Klein about her journey deep into Steve Bannon’s podcast archive, anti-vaxx groups online, and more realms of what she calls “The Mirror World.”
You can find Kara and Nayeema on Instagram/Threads @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza and Naomi Klein @naomiaklein.
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Sep 4, 2023
Elon Musk: Somebody That I Used to Know
This Labor Day, we are re airing a fan-favorite episode about, who else, Elon Musk and Kara Swisher. Nayeema interviews Kara — who’s covered Musk since the late 90s. We’ll unpack how Elon became Elon, why Kara came to believe he was one of the greatest visionaries in Silicon Valley, when exactly she soured on him — and why she still holds out some hope. If you’re not sick of Elon by the end of this episode, you may also want to listen to our conversations with Elon biographer Walter Isaacson, former Twitter employee Yoel Roth and journalists Bill Cohan and Ronan Farrow.
You can find Kara and Nayeema on Instagram/Threads @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza.
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Aug 31, 2023
Barry Diller on Biden, AI and the Hollywood Shutdown
Billionaire mogul and power broker Barry Diller doesn’t hold back (at all) as he takes us inside Washington, Silicon Valley and Hollywood. The legendary executive breaks down why Biden isn’t his “fave,” how we can save the news business and “the republic” from AI, and how the “evil genius” of Netflix factors into the ongoing WGA and SAG strikes. That, and more, in what Kara and Nayeema dub “the Mediterranean ‘ratf*ck’ episode.”
Questions or comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on social media. We’re on Instagram/Threads as @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza
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Aug 28, 2023
WTF Can We Do About Deadly Wildfires?
From the tragedy in Hawaii — which has left at least 115 dead, and over a thousand more missing, making it the deadliest blaze in the last century of US history — to recent fires in Canada, California, Indonesia and Brazil, the world seems to be engulfed in a megafire crisis fueled by climate change. We bring on a panel of practitioners to discuss what’s behind these megafires, and how we can work to mitigate the crisis. Matt Weiner is the CEO of the nonprofit Megafire Action, with a background in policymaking; Lenya Quinn-Davidson is Director of University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources Fire Network; and Chad Hanson is the Director of the John Muir Project of Earth Island Institute, a research and advocacy organization focused on federal public forestlands.
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Aug 24, 2023
Why We Can’t Quit Elon with Ronan Farrow & William Cohan
We’re talking about Elon – again – but this time we're looking at the big picture: the tech titan’s “unprecedented power” over our the federal government and national security, as encapsulated in Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Ronan Farrow's latest New Yorker profile. William Cohan, a financial journalist and founding partner of Puck News, also joins to break down the varying fortunes of SpaceX, Tesla and Twitter, and the sustainability of those companies under a leader that is ambitious, but capricious. Stay til the end to hear Kara tell Nayeema why, despite his shenanigans, she still has empathy for Elon Musk.
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Aug 21, 2023
Ron DeSantis Won’t Stop Imani Rupert Gordon
Today after Kara and Nayeema take a quick walk down Rudy Giuliani memory lane, we turn to our guest: Imani Rupert-Gordon, Executive Director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, to discuss the intensifying threat against LGBTQ+ rights in states from North Carolina to Florida. On the agenda: why trans kids are a target for hate, which rights could be on the chopping block next, and why the legal battles are so enmeshed with disinformation and narrative wars.
Questions or comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on social media. We’re @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza on Instagram/Threads.
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Aug 17, 2023
Big Companies Are Scared of These Lawyers
Kara and Nayeema are back with a fresh episode, and this time they’re tackling the DOJ’s antitrust efforts. Our guests are Jonathan Kanter, Assistant Attorney General for the DOJ's Antitrust Division, and Principal Deputy AAG Doha Mekki. Alongside the FTC, this duo has helped craft new draft merger guidelines that put Amazon, Apple, Google, Meta and every other big company, from supermarket chains to airlines, on notice.
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Aug 14, 2023
Where Should We Begin? with Esther Perel: Friendship — My Reliable Gift
Today, we’re sharing an episode of Where Should We Begin?, a Vox Media podcast hosted by the iconic psychotherapist Esther Perel. Listen in as real people in search of insight bare the raw, intimate, and profound details of their stories.
In this episode, a Where Should We Begin first, Esther sits down with two friends. They’ve been close for so long they feel like brothers, with all of the baggage that comes with family but none of the certainty. There are things that go unspoken between them, issues they have skimmed over in their two decades of friendship. Esther creates the space for the conversation they didn't know quite where to begin. This session was recorded in collaboration with NPR's Invisibilia and a sibling episode with Esther can be heard on their podcast.
Kara & Nayeema will be back Thursday with a fresh episode of ON.
You can find Esther Perel on Instagram @estherperelofficial
Listen and follow Were Should We Begin? with Ester Perel
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Aug 10, 2023
Aging, Death and other Uplifting Topics with Mike Birbiglia
Today, we’re re-airing one of Blakeney Schick’s favorite episodes: an interview with her former yoga student, comedian and writer, Mike Birbiglia. Aging, parenting by mortality and dying alone or kinless: these are just some of the uplifting topics Kara and Nayeema tackle before the interview.
When we originally published this episode, Mike was deep in his latest Broadway show, “The Old Man and the Pool.” (The show completed its Broadway run in January, and will open for a limited run in London next month.) In it, Birbiglia doesn’t shy away from such heavy topics either. Birbiglia and Kara discuss mortality, parenthood, their last words and finding comedy in all of life — even the sad bits.
Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on Instagram. We’re @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza.
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Aug 7, 2023
Esther Perel on Grief — In Memory of Blakeney Schick
Kara & Nayeema are joined by Esther Perel in a tribute to our colleague and friend, senior producer Blakeney Schick, and a conversation about how to live through grief.
NOTE: If you are hearing the wrong episode play, please close and reopen your podcast app to fix the issue. If that doesn't work, please click "remove download" and then re-download the episode.
You can hear more of Esther Perel on her podcast Where Should We Begin?
Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on Instagram. We’re @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza.
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Aug 3, 2023
Is Chris Christie Really the Anti-Trump?
Today, we turn to Chris Christie. The former governor of New Jersey and Trump sidekick is running to be president (again). His most avid supporters? Folks who hate Trump — amused Democrats and the oh-so-small band of (still) Never Trump Republican primary voters. Nonetheless, Christie seems determined to do his best to kamikaze the former president.
But who is Chris Christie? What does he stand for, really? And after he’s flipped and flopped on Trump, can we trust him to not bend the knee again?
Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on Instagram. We’re @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza.
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Jul 31, 2023
Vinod Khosla’s View of the Future, From AI to China
After Kara and Nayeema discuss Senators Warren and Graham’s unlikely alliance on tech regulation, we turn to today’s guest: longtime venture capitalist Vinod Khosla. We discuss his take that AI will “free humanity from the need to work,” his early investments in climate tech, and what happens in the techno-economic war between the United States and China.
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Jul 27, 2023
Barbie & Oppenheimer & Strikes, Oh My
Hollywood is still shut down by its historic dual strike, but this weekend the industry saw its most explosive box office numbers of the year. So far, Barbie has made over 200 million domestically and Oppenheimer has surpassed 100 million. So are the movies back in business? Or is BarbenHeimer a cultural phenomenon that will be impossible to replicate?
Kara discusses this question with a panel that includes entertainment reporter Matthew Belloni, producer Franklin Leonard and communications expert Brooke Hammerling.
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Jul 24, 2023
The Rewards of Stepping Out of Line: A Commencement Address from Kara
This May, The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art invited Kara to deliver its commencement address. Today, we’d like to share her speech with you. Kara discusses the arc of her career and the lessons she’s picked up covering the most powerful in tech — plus gardening.
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Jul 20, 2023
Fran Drescher on the SAG Strike and Hollywood’s "Fat Cats”
Today, a conversation with one of the most impassioned leaders of Hollywood’s historic double strike: Fran Drescher, star of The Nanny turned SAG-AFTRA president. We discuss what broke down in the union’s talks with AMPTP, her last words at the negotiating table, her leading concerns for a new deal – and whether this could all ramp up to a run for office.
Need advice?! Call 1-888-KARA-PLZ and leave us a voice note with a question for Kara and Nayeema to answer in an upcoming advice episode.
Other questions or comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on social media. We’re @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza on Instagram/Threads. Fran Drescher is @officialfrandrescher.
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Jul 17, 2023
The Crypto Founder Who Won a “Landmark Victory” Against the SEC
Hollywood may be shut down, but one industry seems to be enjoying a surprising upswing: crypto. Kara interviewed Ripple co-founder and Executive Chairman Chris Larsen hours before what is being called a “landmark victory” – but, as Nayeema and Kara note, it’s not a clean victory. We discuss the Ripple case, whether the crypto winter is over, and why Larsen is investing heavily in everything from campaign donations to public interventions on crime in SF – but would rather “vomit blood from his eyeballs” than actually run for office.
Need advice?! Call 1-888-KARA-PLZ and leave us a voice note with a question for Kara and Nayeema to answer in an upcoming advice episode.
Other questions or comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on social media. We’re @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza on Instagram/Threads. Chris Larsen is @chrislarsensf on Twitter.
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Jul 13, 2023
The Fox News Love Triangle: Tucker, Murdoch and Trump
Fox News and social media are two arenas that will define the next presidential race. Today, after Kara and Nayeema discuss the implications of the recent injunction by a federal judge banning Biden administration officials from communicating with social media platforms, we dive into Fox’s Rupert-Trump-Tucker love triangle. We’re joined by a panel including New York Times reporter Jeremy W. Peters, Guardian columnist Margaret Sullivan, and Dispatch Editor in Chief Jonah Goldberg.
Need advice?! Call 1-888-KARA-PLZ and leave us a voice note with a question for Kara and Nayeema to answer in an upcoming advice episode.
Other questions or comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on social media. We’re @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza on Instagram/Threads. Margaret Sullivan is @Sulliview. Jonah Goldberg is @JonahDispatch on Twitter.
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Jul 10, 2023
Jake Tapper on Trust, Trump and CNN
When political spectacles abound, how can the media focus on the substance and avoid the clickbait? And is there a market left for nonpartisan cable news? Chief Washington Correspondent and Anchor of The Lead Jake Tapper joins us to discuss these questions, and his new book, All the Demons Are Here, a Post-Watergate thriller with inspiration from Trump, Murdoch and more.
Need advice?! Call 1-888-KARA-PLZ and leave us a voice note with a question for Kara and Nayeema to answer in an upcoming advice episode.
Other questions or comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on social media. We’re @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza on Instagram/Threads — and Jake Tapper is @jaketapper.
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Jul 6, 2023
Oliver Stone on Nuclear Energy, Putin and the Path to Conspiracies
After a quick rundown of the summer’s hottest films, Nayeema and Kara turn to our guest today: acclaimed (and controversial) filmmaker Oliver Stone. The man behind classics like “Wall Street” and “JFK” has turned his lens to climate change solutions in a new documentary, “Nuclear Now.” We discuss the good question of why there isn’t more nuclear energy in the United States, the roots of Stone’s distrust in convention, and the challenge of a world where distrust can turn into conspiracy theory.
Need advice?! Call 1-888-KARA-PLZ and share any questions Kara or Nayeema can help you answer.
Other questions or Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on social media. We’re @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza on Instagram. Oliver Stone is @officialoliverstone.
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Jul 3, 2023
Mark Zuckerberg: Oops! I Did It Again (Again)
After a review of the last 6 months of “Meta” a.k.a. Facebook (including a looming Elon-Zuck cage fight and the VR hit from the Apple Vision Pro), Nayeema takes Kara for a walk down memory lane. We reair a conversation from January revisiting Kara’s early days covering Mark – from seeing him sweat through interviews to getting Mark to say things he probably wishes he hadn’t. And we discuss why Mark (who has a standing invite to be interviewed on our show) is probably not going to join — despite all his recent jiu-jitsu training.
Need advice?! Call 1-888-KARA-PLZ and share any questions Kara or Nayeema can help you answer.
Other questions or Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on social media. We’re @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza on Instagram.
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Jun 29, 2023
Sarah Jessica Parker Talks Show Business, Shoe Business and More Business
After Kara and Nayeema debate the future of Hollywood (including the ongoing WGA strike and the soon expiring deal between SAG-AFTRA and the studios), we turn to Hollywood star and entrepreneur Sarah Jessica Parker. The actor speaks about reprising her iconic role of Carrie in Sex and the City in its latest iteration, And Just Like That. Plus, we dig into her businesses from wine to heels — and talk about the business of Hollywood, including why SJP remains bullish on cinema.
Need advice?! We have an upcoming episode where Kara and Nayeema tackle your Qs about career, love, or life in general. Call 1-888-KARA-PLZ and leave us a voice note with a question that could feature on the show.
Other questions or Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on social media. We’re @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza on Instagram and SJP is (what else could it be?) @SJP.
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Jun 26, 2023
Wanda Sykes on Why Trump Isn’t Funny Anymore
Wanda Sykes can find the funny in almost anything: lockdown during Covid, vaccine hesitancy, book bans. They all come up in her latest Netflix special, “Wanda Sykes: I’m an Entertainer.” But today, she tells Kara that there are a few things she doesn’t find funny anymore – including Donald Trump.
Also: Need advice?! We have an upcoming episode where Kara and Nayeema tackle your Qs about career, love, or life in general. Call 1-888-KARA-PLZ and leave us a voice note with a question that could feature on the show.
Other questions or Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on social media. We’re @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza on Instagram. And Wanda is @iamwandasykes.
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Jun 22, 2023
Martha Stewart Makes No Apologies for Being Perfect
Kara and Nayeema take a field trip to Martha Stewart’s 156-acre estate for an interview with the media mogul and O.G. influencer. On the menu for this conversation? The media maven’s early interest in tech, parties with Bill Gates (and the artist formerly known as Puff Daddy), doing Sports Illustrated at age 81, big ideas like “KMartha” or “MarthaAI,” and why nothing — not prison time nor the idea of aging — can stop the constant reinvention of Martha Stewart.
You’re invited to send questions in for a special advice episode where Kara and Nayeema tackle your Qs about career, love, or life in general. Call 1-888-KARA-PLZ and leave us a voice note with a question that could be featured on the show.
Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on Instagram. We’re @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza —and Martha is @marthastewart48.
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Jun 19, 2023
The Weeds: We Need to Rethink Discipline in Schools
This Juneteenth, we’re sharing an episode of The Weeds, a Vox Media podcast where host Jonquilyn Hill breaks down the policies that shape our lives.
This episode digs into school discipline and the achievement gap with Francis Pearman of Stanford University’s Graduate School of Education. For many Black children, their first encounter with the discrimination that will trail them their whole lives comes from the school system — a system where they are five times more likely to attend a segregated school than their white counterparts.
Kara & Nayeema will be back Thursday with a fresh episode of ON.
You can find Jonquilyn Hill on Twitter @jonquilynhill
Listen and follow The Weeds: https://link.chtbl.com/TheWeedsVMPN
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Jun 15, 2023
Inflection AI: Personalized and More "Woke" Than The “TruthGPT” Elon Might Make
After Kara and Nayeema debate the pros and cons of AI personal assistants vs. human personal assistants vs. fake personal assistants, we turn to Mustafa Suleyman, the man who co-founded DeepMind. Now, he and his co-founders Reid Hoffman and Karén Simonyan have started Inflection AI, a startup that creates “personal AIs,” and they're launching with a chatbot called Pi.
Kara talks to Mustafa about whether or not Pi is "woke," the conversion of Suleyman’s former colleague, Geoffrey Hinton, and — oh yes — AI’s potential to destroy humanity.
BTW, in lieu of personal AI, you can reach out to Kara and Nayeema for advice on your burning questions regarding your career, love, life or anything else. Call 1-888-KARA-PLZ and leave us a voicemail.
Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on Instagram. We’re @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza.
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Jun 12, 2023
Sorry, Donald. Jen Easterly Plans To Make Elections Boring Again.
Donald Trump signed the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency into existence in 2018 with the mandate to protect America’s infrastructure from threats digital and physical. Trump also made CISA a household name when he fired the department’s head in 2020 for noting that, no, the election was not stolen. Today, we hear from Jen Easterly, the woman who now runs CISA and has the job of preventing another SolarWinds or Colonial Pipeline attack as well as preventing foreign and domestic attacks in an election environment that has become highly politicized. Her goal? Make elections boring again.
BTW, do you have any burning questions on career, love or life where you’d like Kara or Nayeema’s advice? Call 1-888-KARA-PLZ and leave us a voicemail.
Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on Instagram. We’re @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza.
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Jun 8, 2023
Look Ma, No Hands! With Waymo Co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana
After Kara and Nayeema discuss recent moves at CNN and the ducking cool innovation at Apple, we launch into part two of “Car Week” and an interview with Tekedra Mawakana. The Co-CEO of Waymo (formerly the Google self-driving car project) discusses trying to change how society moves while dealing with obstacles to the autonomous vehicle transition, like angsty Teamsters and tetchy regulators. And Kara explains why she’s so bullish on driverless cars.
BTW, do you have any burning questions on career, love or life where you’d like Kara or Nayeema’s advice? Call 1-888-KARA-PLZ and leave us a voicemail.
Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on Instagram. We’re @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza.
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Jun 5, 2023
The Man Making Self-Driving Trucks
Tesla’s self-driving ambitions (and the company’s recent recall) may dominate the conversation when it comes to autonomous driving, but they’re not the only players in the space. This week, Kara’s talking to CEOs whose driverless vehicles are being roadtested. First up: Chris Urmson, co-founder and CEO of Aurora, which will launch its driverless truck service next year in Texas. They discuss safety, job displacement and the time that Kara tried to hit Urmson with his own driverless car. (Spoiler alert: It didn’t work.)
BTW, do you have any burning questions on career, love or life you’d like Kara or Nayeema’s advice on? If so, call 1-888-KARA-PLZ and leave us a voice mail.
Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on Instagram. We’re @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza.
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Jun 1, 2023
Jeremy Strong, Alexander Skasgard and Succession Spin-Off Theories (Spoiler Alert)
After Kara and Nayeema discuss the Succession finale and their theories on a spin-off, we turn to Kara’s interviews with Alexander Skarsgård and Jeremy Strong, aka Lukas Matsson and Kendall Logan Roy.
SPOILER ALERT: If you haven’t watched the finale yet, do not listen to this episode.
Also, ADVICE ALERT — Do you have burning questions on career, love or life you’d like Kara or Nayeema’s advice on? If so, call 1-888-KARA-PLZ and leave us a voicemail.
Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on Instagram. We’re @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza.
You can listen to other episodes of the Succession companion podcast here.
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May 29, 2023
Ukraine’s Tech Advantage
Today, Kara talks to USAID Administrator Samantha Power and Ukrainian Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Information Mykhailo Fedorov about the role of tech in the war, and the power of an app called Diia. Among its capabilities: accessing medical information, filing claims for war damage to property and helping track Russian troop movements.
Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on Instagram. We’re @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza. BTW, do you have any burning questions on career, love or life you’d like Kara or Nayeema’s advice on? If so, call 1-888-KARA-PLZ and leave us a voice mail.
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May 25, 2023
A.I. Doomsday with Tristan Harris
After Kara and Nayeema review the week’s A.I. news, including Sam Altman’s Senate testimony and the viral AI-generated image of the Pentagon in flames, we turn to Tristan Harris — co-founder of the Center for Humane Technology and a key voice among the calls for slowing down the A.I. arms race.
BTW, do you have any burning questions on career, love or life you’d like Kara or Nayeema’s advice on? If so, call 1-888-KARA-PLZ and leave us a voice mail.
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May 22, 2023
Lilly Singh on Making It on Social Media — and Hollywood
After an update on efforts to rein in TikTok from Montana to Washington DC, we turn to Lilly Singh, a creator who rose to fame in the early generation of YouTube stars and has since made the jump to linear TV. On the agenda: why creators are itching to go from the booming medium of social to a struggling landscape of linear TV, diversity in Hollywood and Kara’s texts with famous people.
Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on Instagram. We’re @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza
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May 18, 2023
Will Elon Musk Turn Twitter Into Yahoo Mail?
Twitter rose to prominence as a global public square that helped enable the Arab Spring, but Elon Musk has changed all that. The platform is complying with governments more, and a murky algorithm and blue check jungle makes it feel less relevant and less reliable than ever before.
Nayeema and Kara break down how the fruit has fallen and where it may eventually land (Yahoo Mail, anyone?) with Zoë Schiffer, managing editor of Platformer, and Ryan Mac, The New York Times’s tech and accountability reporter, who was among those banned by Musk back in December.
Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on Instagram — yes, Instagram, it’s better than Yahoo Mail — we’re @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza
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May 15, 2023
How Will Lina Khan and the FTC Tackle AI?
After a discussion about Elon and the new “Chief Twit,” Linda Yaccarino, we turn to a woman who has refused to meet with Musk: Lina Khan. The Chair of the Federal Trade Commission has tech giants from Meta to Amazon on the defensive. Now she’s got the agency’s eyes set on the next big gorilla: artificial intelligence.
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May 11, 2023
Watergate to Trump and Today’s GOP: A Throughline
From the verdict in Trump’s sexual assault case to the Santos indictment and the Supreme Court saga, scandal is rife in Washington. Today we turn to the OG: Watergate, as examined in the new HBO series, “White House Plumbers.” Writers and creators Peter Huyck and Alex Gregory and director David Mandel discuss how the show compares to their last collab (“Veep”), trace a line between the blind allegiance to Nixon in the 1970s and the “Big Lie” of 2020 and contemplate what a Trump scandals series may look like 50 years from now would be like (think: Timothée Chalamet as Rudy Giuliani).
You can follow Kara and Nayeema on Instagram - search for @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza
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May 8, 2023
Making Relationships Work (or Not) with Maggie Smith
Relationships are hard. When do you know it’s time to marry? When do you know it’s time to break up? We get inside those questions with Kara, Nayeema and our guest today: Maggie Smith. The poet’s viral 2016 poem “Good Bones” was accompanied by professional success, and cracks in her personal life. Smith talks about that fallout, documented in her new memoir “This Place Could be Beautiful” – and whether life is more beautiful on the other side.
You can follow Kara and Nayeema on Instagram — search for @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza
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May 4, 2023
Roy Wood Jr. on President Biden, Tucker Carlson, Trevor Noah and (of course) the WGA Strike
After a look inside a writers' strike that could upend Hollywood, Kara and Nayeema turn to today’s guest: writer and comedian Roy Wood Jr. Fresh off his performance at the White House Correspondents Dinner, Wood breaks down how he chose his jokes for the president, what (if anything) was considered off limits and why we need to start engaging with viewpoints we don’t like.
You can follow Kara and Nayeema on Instagram — search for @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza
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May 1, 2023
Snap’s Evan Spiegel on AI, AR, and – yes – TikTok
The Snap CEO talks about the challenges facing the company’s AI chatbot, how augmented reality glasses could change how we compute the real world and why a TikTok ban would “help” Snap.
You can follow Kara and Nayeema on Instagram. Search for @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza.
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Apr 27, 2023
Ron Klain on the Likely Biden-Trump 2024 Showdown
It’s looking like 2024 will be another round of Biden vs. Trump. But will the sequel end in the same result? Here to discuss the prospective race — and the many issues at stake from abortion to gun control to Ukraine and China — is President Biden’s former Chief of Staff, Ron Klain.
You can follow Kara and Nayeema on Instagram - search for @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza
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Apr 24, 2023
Ben Smith on the Turmoil at Buzzfeed, Fox News and Everything In Between
To make sense of a turbulent and important week in media, we turn to Ben Smith who was the founding Editor in Chief of Buzzfeed News (2012 to 2020) and the former New York Times media critic (from 2020 to 2022). On the agenda: the shuttering of Buzzfeed News, the meaning of Murdoch's settlement with Dominion and what Ben is working on these days, including his news organization Semafor and his forthcoming book, Traffic.
Since we taped Kara got her blue check (against her wishes!) when Twitter re-verified some accounts over the weekend.
Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com. And you can follow Kara and Nayeema on Instagram -- yes, Instagram: @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza
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Apr 20, 2023
Larry Summers on the Politics & Economics of Envy
We turn to economist and former Treasury Secretary, Lawrence Summers, to help us make sense of inflation, Silicon Valley Bank and what Biden should do next. Also on the agenda: why Summers believes in a politics and economics of opportunity — “not of envy.” Plus, why he thinks America needs more people like Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates.
Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on Twitter @karaswisher and @nayeema
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Apr 17, 2023
Jen Psaki on Her New Show and Her Old Boss
After a quick rundown of how the 2024 presidential race may shape up, we turn to today’s guest: Jen Psaki, the former White House Press Secretary and host of the new MSNBC show, “Inside with Jen Psaki.” On the agenda: Biden’s Achilles’ heel, the Trump bump and how Psaki will parlay her insider status to journalism.
Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on Twitter @karaswisher and @nayeema
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Apr 13, 2023
Inside the Elon-Substack Drama with Chris Best & Hamish McKenzie
Last week, Elon kicked off a feud with both Substack and his very own former Twitter Files ingénue (and Substack star), Matt Taibbi. Kara and Nayeema break down the battle of the bros before turning to an interview with those at the center of the storm: Substack co-founders Chris Best and Hamish McKenzie.
The two address questions about Substack Notes (which Elon dubbed, and they deny, is a “Twitter clone”), the challenging business model of newsletters and their stance on free expression. Somehow, they manage to avoid uttering the name “Elon.” Kara doesn’t shy away though.
Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on Twitter @karaswisher and @nayeema
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Apr 10, 2023
What Rupert Murdoch and Succession’s Logan Roy Have in Common (and Don’t)
Today, after Kara and Nayeema discuss what the Dominion defamation lawsuit might mean for Rupert Murdoch and News Corp, we turn to a fictional media story of Logan Roy and HBO’s Succession. Our guests are Brian Cox, series creator Jesse Armstrong and director Mark Mylod. SPOILER ALERT: there are lots of spoilers in this episode, starting at about 10 mins in so go watch the show first.
Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on Twitter @karaswisher and @nayeema.
You can listen to other episodes of the Succession companion podcast here.
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Apr 6, 2023
WeightWatchers CEO Sima Sistani talks TikTok, Telehealth Deal on GLP-1/Ozempic and Why She Took the Job
WeightWatchers recently announced a $132 million deal to acquire telehealth company Sequence and enter the prescription drug space (think: GLP-1 drugs like Wegovy and Ozempic). It begs the question: why is a company built on personal accountability facilitating medical interventions? We ask our guest, WeightWatchers CEO Sima Sistani. Before and after the interview, Nayeema and Kara discuss their own experiences with diet fads and whether drugs like Wegovy and Ozempic will help America deal with the obesity epidemic or simply avoid tackling underlying issues like food supply, corporate greed and light regulation.
Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on Twitter @karaswisher and @nayeema
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Apr 3, 2023
Brooke Shields: Stardom, Teen Girls & Social Media
After a brief discussion about the impact of social media on the mental health of teenage girls, Kara and Nayeema turn to today’s guest: Brooke Shields. She became a teenage superstar through her roles in “Pretty Baby” and “Blue Lagoon” as well as the famous Calvin Klein ads (“Do you want to know what comes in between me and my Calvins? Nothing.”). In her new Hulu documentary, “Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields,” she talks about how she sees those hypersexualized roles today and how she survived life in an industry that she says did nothing to help her. Shields also revisits her complex relationship with her mother, who introduced her to modeling and acting, and how Shields now counsels her own two teenage daughters about feeding the social media “monster.”
Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on Twitter @karaswisher and @nayeema
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Mar 30, 2023
How to Make It in Media with Audie Cornish
As she pens her memoir, Kara’s been thinking about legacy, but on this episode we reflect on the legacy of another powerhouse reporter: Audie Cornish. After hosting NPR’s flagship “All Things Considered” for a decade, Audie Cornish took a risk and left for the greener pastures of CNN+ — only to see that venture get unceremoniously squashed by CNN’s new CEO less than a month after it launched. Yet Cornish has made it work: launching a new podcast, “The Assignment” and providing on-air analysis (slash occasionally taking the anchor chair) at CNN. In a conversation taped live at the On Air Fest, where Cornish was honored with the the 2023 Audio Vanguard Award, she talks about how she learned to ask for help as a young reporter covering Hurricane Katrina, what the media industry has to pay attention to in order to outgrow its early naivete and why the “chaos” at CNN is healthy.
Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on Twitter @karaswisher a…
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Mar 27, 2023
Katie Porter: Taking Big Business to Task While Running for Dianne Feinstein’s Seat
After a quick discussion of last week’s TikTok testimony, Kara and Nayeema turn to today’s guest: Congresswoman Katie Porter. The California Democrat has gone viral for her whiteboard-wielding grilling of CEOs like Jamie Dimon and Mark Zuckerberg and her subtle art of not giving a f*ck during the recent marathon that was Kevin McCarthy’s speaker vote. But today, Kara’s the one doing the grilling (sans whiteboard). Taped live at Manny’s in San Francisco, the two talk about the aftershocks of Silicon Valley Bank as well as what was behind her very early announcement that she was running for Dianne Feinstein’s Senate seat. Stay tuned until the end to hear what Kara’s mom thinks about Katie Porter.
Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on Twitter @karaswisher and @nayeema
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Mar 24, 2023
When Silicon Valley Invaded Texas
Lawrence Wright has produced some of the most seminal pieces of journalism on scientology, terrorism and – now – the Silicon Valley invasion of his hometown: Austin, Texas. Kara and Larry taped this interview in front of a live (outdoor) audience in Austin. They talk about recent transplants – from Elon Musk to Joe Rogan and Emma Stone – and the city’s transition from a quirky capital to a growing hub for tech companies and home to Hollywood stars and a breeding ground for libertarian ideas. And, most fundamentally, they talk about the idea of finding a place that feels like home.
Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on Twitter @karaswisher and @nayeema
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Mar 23, 2023
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman on GPT-4 & the A.I. Arms Race
We’re on the cusp of an artificial intelligence arms race that has venture capitalists drooling, regulators petrified and competitors from Google to Microsoft to Elon Musk racing to get their products out the door. Kara talks to Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI and the man who’s led the launches of ChatGPT and GPT-4. They discuss the hallucinations of ChatGPT+, why Open AI moved from an open-source nonprofit to a closed-source “capped profit” company and why Altman doesn’t believe artificial intelligence developers should enjoy Section 230 immunity. Afterwards, Kara and Nayeema break down the interview and the promises and perils of an unknowable A.I.-powered future.
Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on Twitter @karaswisher and @nayeema
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Mar 20, 2023
Reid Hoffman Talks Trump, Thiel & AI
From AI and the recent launch of GPT-4 to behind-the-scenes pressure on Washington to resolve the Silicon Valley Bank crisis, today’s guest is in the thick of it all. Kara tells Nayeema that Reid Hoffman is “one of the good ones.” Kara has known the billionaire Greylock VC Partner since the 90s, when he was fresh off the sale of PayPal and before he co-founded LinkedIn. Today they discuss Hoffman’s donations to Biden and other Democrats, how his political views have impacted his friendships with Peter Thiel and Elon Musk, and why he is so bullish on AI.
Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on Twitter @karaswisher and @nayeema
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Mar 16, 2023
SVB, IG & AI with Instagram Co-founder Kevin Systrom
After a quick rundown of Kara’s Twitter feud with SVB-enthusiast David Sacks, we turn to an interview with a former Silicon Valley Bank customer: Kevin Systrom. When you found one of the most successful social media apps at 27, it’s tough to figure out where to go with Act Two. But after leaving Facebook (now Meta) in 2018, Systrom is back with an AI-powered news-reader called Artifact which has been dubbed a “Tiktok for Text.” Onstage at SXSW this weekend, as the SVB crisis was playing out, Kara and Kevin discuss his regrets about Instagram, his plans to crack the news business and what’s wrong with tech bros.
Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on Twitter @karaswisher and @nayeema
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Mar 13, 2023
Walter Isaacson Is Writing the Book (Literally) on Elon Musk
Does Kara ever get sick of talking about Elon Musk? That’s a question Nayeema asks today, and they both agree: as exhausting as he can be, Elon is a defining force in business, media and innovation. So today we turn to the titan’s biographer: Walter Isaacson. He’s written the book on everyone from Leonardo da Vinci to Steve Jobs, and is now deep in the Elon Files.
Taped in front of a live audience at the New Orleans Book Festival, Kara and Isaacson discuss whether Elon is driven primarily by narcissism or mission (aka the “prick to productivity ratio”), how Elon does and doesn’t compare to Steve Jobs, and how Isaacson approaches his job as a biographer of some of the world's biggest personalities, both alive and dead.
Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on Twitter @karaswisher and @nayeema.
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Mar 9, 2023
Jamie Lee Curtis and Donna Langley Take Us Inside Hollywood
Today, Kara sits down with Jamie Lee Curtis, who’s nominated for her first Oscar for “Everything Everywhere All at Once”, and Donna Langley, the Universal Film Studio head who greenlit “Cocaine Bear.” Taped in front of a live audience at the Upfront Summit, the trio talks about why the revival of the “Halloween” series became such a box office hit – and how it’s led to a whole new chapter in Curtis’s career. Before the interview, Kara and Nayeema share their Oscar predictions and stay tuned for the end to find out what not-so-funny joke that Chris Wallace played on Kara (no, not that Chris Wallace).
Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on Twitter @karaswisher and @nayeema.
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Mar 6, 2023
Marc Benioff’s Toughest Conversation with Kara Swisher
Kara has interviewed Salesforce CEO and co-founder Marc Benioff many times but he says she'd never been as prepared to grill him as she was this time. It’s a showdown between a savvy CEO who is deft at turning the tables…and an interviewer who is unafraid to pin him down. Taped in front of a live audience at the Upfront Summit, the two tackle whether Marc will be able to keep up the victory lap of a surprisingly strong earnings report, his succession plan, their divergent takes on a divisive Elon Musk – and why having activist investors breathing down his neck is “fun” for Benioff.
Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on Twitter @karaswisher and @nayeema
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Mar 2, 2023
Is Bing Back? with Microsoft’s Yusuf Mehdi
Is AI going to fall in love with you? Write your term papers? Or help you plan a trip to Belize? The answer to all three is: maybe. How well it does any of those things remains to be seen, but Kara tells Nayeema the fast-developing AI will be more significant than almost anything else she's covered in tech.
To understand the it, we’re joined by Yusuf Mehdi, corporate vice president and consumer chief marketing officer at Microsoft, who is in charge of rolling out the new, AI-powered Bing. On the agenda: how the tech works, why the launch demo was buggy, the ethical considerations of a new technology and what Bill Gates has to say about AI.
Thoughts? Questions? Email us on@voxmedia.com or find us on Twitter @karaswisher and @nayeema.
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Feb 27, 2023
How Much Damage Did Trump Do to America’s Standing In the World?
A year after Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and weeks after the presence of a Chinese spy balloon led U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to put off his Beijing visit, Kara and Nayeema talk about where the U.S. stands in the world and whether President Biden has the global coalition and momentum he claims. These are great questions for our guest today, Richard Haass. The foreign policy expert helms the Council on Foreign Relations and has had a long career in the Carter, Reagan and both Bush administrations as well as beyond working on intractable challenges from Northern Ireland to Iraq. Kara asks him why America’s global standing is on the decline, how Biden should deal with Xi and why his most recent book looks not to the rest of the world, but to our domestic problems.
Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on Twitter @karaswisher and @nayeema.
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Feb 23, 2023
Will Killing Section 230 Kill the Internet?
As Justice Kagan has asked, “Every other industry has to internalize the costs of its conduct. Why is it that the tech industry gets a pass?” Yet she and the other 8 Supreme Court Justices seemed wary this week as they heard oral arguments in two cases that could upend the Section 230 immunity that social media companies enjoy, Gonzalez v. Google and Twitter v. Taamneh. Today, we hear from three experts: Stanford Law professor Evelyn Douek, National Constitution Center President and CEO Jeffrey Rosen and UC Berkeley computer science professor Hany Farid. Up for discussion — what’s at stake in these two cases, which way the wind seems to be blowing and, of course, will killing Section 230 kill the internet?
Questions? Comments? Email us on@voxmedia.com or find us on Twitter @karaswisher and @nayeema
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Feb 20, 2023
Welcome to AI Warfare
AI isn’t just changing search. It’s changing national security, too. Today, Kara talks to Trae’ Stephens, the co-founder and Executive Chairman of Anduril, about how the growing defense tech industry is using the power of AI and the speed of Silicon Valley to challenge “beltway bandits” like Lockheed Martin and Raytheon. They discuss drones in Ukraine, the ethics of “smart walls” along the US-Mexico border and, yes, those balloons.
Thoughts? Questions? Email us on@voxmedia.com or find us Kara and Nayeema on Twitter @karaswisher and @nayeema.
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Feb 16, 2023
Ken Buck Takes On the Big Tech Boogeyman
Congressman Ken Buck is a Republican from Colorado who’s decided to take on “Big Tech.” He talks about his proposed TikTok ban, the uphill battle for antitrust legislation and why he’s defending Elon’s “free speech” push.
Thoughts? Questions? Email us on@voxmedia.com or find us on Twitter (if you can in this new, Elon-centric algorithm) @karaswisher and @nayeema
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Feb 13, 2023
Ruben Gallego Is Ready to Take On “Queen MAGA” Kari Lake for Kyrsten Sinema’s Seat
After Kara and Nayeema debrief the latest Elon drama (the Congressional hearings in which conservatives failed to prove they’d been “censored” on Twitter), we dive into our interview with Representative Ruben Gallego. The Arizona congressman is the only contender so far in the 2024 race for Kyrsten Sinema’s coveted U.S. Senate seat … though he tells Kara he’d welcome the opportunity to face “Queen MAGA” Kari Lake in the race. And he explains why he’s not worried even if Senator Sinema, who left the Democratic Party in December, runs in a three-way race.
Also, Gallego discusses some of the issues of identity politics and wedge issues that we also heard with last week’s guest Brooke Jenkins. You can listen to that episode here, if you missed it.
Thoughts? Email us on@voxmedia.com or find us Kara and Nayeema on Twitter @karaswisher and @nayeema.
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Feb 9, 2023
"Donald Trump Has Made Democrats Great" (Again)
We discuss Biden's State of the Union speech — and the state of the Democratic party — with three of the party's savviest strategists: Bernie Sanders’s 2020 campaign manager Faiz Shakir, former White House Communications Director (and host of The Circus) Jennifer Palmieri, and Tom Bonier, the CEO of TargetSmart.
On the agenda: how Marjorie Taylor Greene's State of the Union heckling made President Biden shine, how Democrats have rallied in response to Trump, whether the party can win the narrative and wedge-issue wars...and, of course, if Biden is running in 2024.
Tell us what you think. Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find Kara and Nayeema on Twitter @karaswisher and @nayeema.
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Feb 6, 2023
Conservative or Liberal? This Prosecutor Refuses to Be Put in a Box
From Donald Trump to George Floyd and Tyre Nichols, the last five years have changed our national conversation about public safety and policing. That’s particularly true in San Francisco, where progressive prosecutor Chesa Boudin lost his seat in a heated recall election last year, and today’s guest — SF District Attorney Brooke Jenkins — stepped into the powerful role. In the months since she assumed office, the Black and Latina DA has spoken of the city’s “lawlessness,” revoked plea deals, allowed more teenagers to be prosecuted as adults and pushed for more policing of drug dealing. Her critics say she’s too conservative for the notoriously liberal city. She says she’s creating consequences for those who break the law.
As Kara tells Jenkins, “Only in a city like San Francisco could they call you a conservative.”
You can find Kara and Nayeema on Twitter @karaswisher and @nayeema.
Or email us! on@voxmedia.com
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Feb 2, 2023
The Big Business of Online Dating (Land of the Giants)
Today, Nayeema sits down with dating industry veteran Lakshmi Rengarajan and journalist Sangeeta Singh-Kurtz before we play you an episode of the podcast they host — Land of the Giants: Dating Games. In conversation, the three explore the business of online dating, the incentive apps have to keep users swiping and the power the people who run and build these dating services have in shaping our love lives.
Kara and Nayeema will be back on Monday with a fresh episode of On with Kara Swisher. Until then, find them on Twitter @karaswisher and @nayeema.
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Tinder, Hinge, OkCupid, The League. If you’ve ever wondered why using these different dating apps feels similar, it may be because they’re all owned by Match Group, the company that helped start online dating in the 90s, and now owns two-thirds of the dating app market. Today, Match is a dating app conglomerate with millions of users and over 45 brands around the world. That’s billions of dollars worth of swipes and subscriptions…
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Jan 30, 2023
Mark Zuckerberg: Oops!...I Did It Again
When Meta announced Donald Trump would be allowed back on Facebook and Instagram, it wasn’t the company’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg who made the decision. He punted. So why is an executive who holds such control hiding from the power he has amassed? Kara has some ideas — she’s covered Mark from the jump, seen him sweat through interviews and gotten Mark to say things he probably wishes he hadn’t. So today, we then turn the tables and Kara Swisher is On with Nayeema Raza.
Together, Nayeema and Kara unpack an oral history of a company that, for far too long, hid behind the idea of being a small start-up and used that excuse to shamelessly make — and shamelessly repeat — costly mistakes. They journey through the first days of Facebook, examine how the company has navigated controversies from Cambridge Analytica to the Trump decision… and get a sense of why Kara will probably never get to interview Mark again.
You can find Kara and Nayeema on Twitter @karaswisher and @nayee…
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Jan 26, 2023
Has the Silicon Valley Bubble Burst? A Conversation w Jessica Lessin & William Cohan
Rapid-fire layoffs, activist investors at the gate and tumbling stock prices — tech has had a bad year. But Kara tells Nayeema she’s seen it all before and that the industry, if not all its captains, will survive this shake-up, too. In the panel interview, Kara is joined by two other journalists: Jessica Lessin, founder and CEO of The Information, a scoop-laden tech news platform covering Silicon Valley, and William Cohan, a former M&A banker and a founding partner at Puck, another excellent source for scoops.
They tackle what’s behind the long decline, and recent rally, of tech stocks, and when and how the Valley will bounce back. Then they zoom in on what Meta, Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Apple and Netflix will need to zoom in on to survive the storm. And Jessica offers a theory: the time is ripe for a changing of the old tech guard. Sorry, Elon — it may be time to step aside.
You can find Kara and Nayeema on Twitter @karaswisher and @nayeema.
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Jan 23, 2023
Biden’s Antitrust Advisor Left the White House. Here’s His Exit Interview
In his first extensive interview since he stepped down as the Special Assistant to the President for Technology and Competition Policy on the National Economic Council, Tim Wu shares what he learned in the West Wing. We find out who holds most sway with the President, how Lina Khan undid any perception that there is any antitrust exception for “nice guys,” and get Wu’s predictions on lawsuits against Google, Facebook, Amazon and Microsoft. Also: Kara presses him on why Biden — who campaigned on getting rid of Section 230 and hinted at breaking up Big Tech — hasn’t been able to make much headway when it comes to regulating Silicon Valley.
Before the interview, Kara and Nayeema look at exits, from Jacinda Ardern, the former prime minister of New Zealand, to Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings. And among all the exits, they also discuss one possible return: Meta’s looming decision regarding Donald Trump’s Facebook account.
You can find Kara and Nayeema on Twitter at @karaswis…
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Jan 20, 2023
Intelligence Squared: Swisher and Scaramucci Debate If Elon Is Killing Twitter
Today, we're sharing an episode of the podcast Intelligence Squared, which provides a forum for balanced debate where people disagree — but talk about it.
It’s Kara Swisher vs. Anthony Scaramucci. And the question is: Is Elon Musk Killing Twitter?
Shockingly, Kara argues, "yes."
You can find Kara and Nayeema on Twitter at @karaswisher and @nayeema.
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Jan 19, 2023
Inside the Prince Harry Book Blitz and What It Means for the Monarchy
He was King Charles’s Communications Chief for almost a decade. She wrote the book on Charles (literally). Our guests today – Patrick Harverson and Catherine Mayer – are two insiders who take us beyond the media spectacle and into the inner workings of both the Crown and the British media. They consider whether the revelations inside Prince Harry’s best-selling book “Spare” will shake-up a stodgy palace. They discuss the unquenching hunger of the tabloid machine, debate the resilience of the monarchy – and examine whether the response to this royal controversy hints at a deeper culture war brewing in Britain. Finally, they unpack an emotion that permeates Harry’s pages: grief.
Kara and Nayeema taped this episode in London where they were joined by Brooke Hammerling, a strategic communications expert and Kara’s go-to source for all things royal. Before and after the interview, the trio looks at how people on both sides of the pond are responding to the book’s many…
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Jan 16, 2023
Ian Bremmer on Putin, Xi…and Elon Musk
Kara and Nayeema are taping from Europe this week, so today we decided to tackle all things international with Ian Bremmer, the president of Eurasia Group and the man Fortune 500 CEOs seek out to make sense of political risk and exposure. In the interview, Ian projects the Top Risks for 2023 -- from a rogue Russia to a global energy crunch.
He breaks down recent developments in Brazil, Ukraine, Iran and China. We double click on the risk of disinformation, divisive social media and other “weapons of mass disruption” rampant in a digital age. And Bremmer makes a bold comparison between CEOs in Silicon Valley and autocrats abroad saying: “Xi Jinping increasingly rules China the way that Putin rules Russia, the way that the Supreme Leader rules Iran, the way that Mark and Elon rule their companies.”
You can find Kara and Nayeema on Twitter at @karaswisher and @nayeema.
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Jan 12, 2023
What’s Next for GOP & Trump – w/Charlie Sykes & Manu Raju
The dust from last week’s once-in-a-century, marathon voting session in the House has settled, and Kevin McCarthy is finally Speaker of the House — for now. But what’s next? We talk to Manu Raju, CNN’s Chief Congressional Correspondent, and Charlie Sykes, a former conservative talk radio host and a founder of The Bulwark, to make sense of it all.
They run through some of the colorful personalities in the House Republican Conference, unpack how the Republican Party unraveled and discuss the opportunity for the Democrats to emerge as unified party. And, of course, they make predictions about Trump, Biden and more in 2024.
You can find Kara and Nayeema on Twitter @karaswisher and @nayeema.
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Jan 9, 2023
Are You “Dying of Politeness”? Geena Davis Explains.
Geena Davis became a breakout star in Hollywood, with an Oscar under her belt and starring roles in hit films like “A League of Their Own” and “Thelma & Louise.” Yet even all that success didn’t always protect her from feeling small in Hollywood. In this episode, we visit her memoir, “Dying of Politeness,” and Davis opens up about moments in her life and career when she felt too polite to speak up. Decades later, many of these moments remain raw.
Before and after the episode, Kara and Nayeema reflect on their own personal experiences, talk about the tax that women pay and discuss how Hollywood, Silicon Valley and other powerful industries have changed — and how they haven’t.
You can find Kara Swisher and Nayeema Raza on Twitter @karaswisher and @nayeema.
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Jan 5, 2023
Peering into the Future with Tony Fadell
Less screen time: it’s on everyone’s list of new year’s resolutions — or, at least, it’s on ours! Today, Kara and Nayeema discuss the addictiveness of tech and social media, before Kara dives into a conversation about the present and future of tech with a person who’s been around Silicon Valley for decades: engineer and designer Tony Fadell. The “father of the iPod,” as he’s known, helped bring the famous 5,000 songs to your pocket before helping design the iPhone, co-founding Nest ( selling it to Google for $3.2 billion) and writing the bestselling book, “Build: An Unorthodox Guide to Making Things Worth Making.” These days, he is bullish on climate tech and excited about the newest product he's designed: Stax, a crypto hard wallet.
Kara and Tony trade notes on Silicon Valley, including why Apple should think beyond four-wheel cars, why Google struggles to innovate (coddling employees is part of it) and how the next Fortune 500 companies will be the ones who he…
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Dec 29, 2022
Love, Life & Other Advice from Kara and Nayeema
For our final episode of 2022, Kara and Nayeema unabashedly dish out advice and answer questions you sent in (and some you didn’t). They tackle dating woes, difficult family dynamics, salary negotiations, choosing between career and travel and even give … fashion tips? In addition to listener questions, we hear from past guests and friends, including Kathy Griffin, John King, Rick Wilson, Mike Birbiglia and Walt Mossberg.
Stay tuned till the end to hear Kara’s ultimate escape plan — which involves an island and a donut shop.
You can find Kara and Nayeema on Twitter @karaswisher and @nayeema.
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Dec 26, 2022
The Legacy of Steve Jobs
We're sharing Kara’s September 2022 conversation with Tim Cook, Sir Jony Ive and Laurene Powell Jobs on the life and legacy of Steve Jobs. It’s one of Kara’s favorite conversations of the year, and one in which she cried (though she denies it).
Kara handpicked this trio to join her for her final Code interview. Cook, the CEO of Apple, worked with Jobs for decades and succeeded him as CEO. Ive, now co-founder of the creative collective LoveFrom, collaborated with Jobs on the design many of Apple’s game-changing products, like the iPod and the iPhone. And Powell Jobs, the founder and president of Emerson Collective, was married to Jobs for 20 years. In this wide-ranging conversation, they cover design, ethics and, of course, Kara’s favorite topic: death.
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Dec 22, 2022
Casey Newton, Kara & Nayeema Talk Tech
From the high speed train wreck that is Twitter 2.0, to the extradition of a fallen crypto kingpin and AI that can rewrite your dating profile, there’s a lot happening in tech right now. Nayeema Raza moderates a conversation with Kara Swisher and Casey Newton, the founder and editor of Platformer. They break down the biggest stories of 2022 and look at what lies ahead in 2023. Will there be less billionaire grift? Is this the year that AI takes your job? And, "OK Google," could this be the year that Bing gets its revenge?
This conversation was taped in front of a live audience at Manny’s in San Francisco.
You can find Kara and Nayeema on Twitter @karaswisher and @nayeema.
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Dec 19, 2022
Piers Morgan On Murdoch, Musk and – yes – Meghan Markle
What’s more toxic: Tabloids or Twitter? Piers Morgan may know – the outsized personality has been an outsized influence in both spheres for decades, since his start as show business editor at Rupert Murdoch’s The Sun.
In this interview, Morgan discusses his rise – and stumbles – and the return to Murdochland, where he now hosts the Fox Nation show, “Piers Morgan Uncensored.” We tackle characters with whom Morgan has beefed — from Donald Trump to Meghan Markle. And Kara asks Morgan, who is famous for stirring up debate, what part of him is authentic and what’s performance. “I think that when expressing my strongly held opinions, there's always a bit of theater to it.”
You can find Kara Swisher and Nayeema Raza on Twitter @karaswisher and @nayeema.
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Dec 15, 2022
Fox News, Dominion — oh, and Donald Trump
What’s one way to stop misinformation? It might just be a giant defamation lawsuit. This week, media titan Rupert Murdoch was deposed in a $1.6 billion suit brought by Dominion Voting Systems against Fox News and Fox Corporation. They allege Fox knowingly and maliciously aired baseless claims accusing Dominion of an election fraud conspiracy. Somewhat surprisingly, instead of settling out of court, Fox News is denying the allegations, and the case is scheduled to go to trial in April. To unpack the lawsuit and the revelations it has brought (and will continue to bring) to light, we turned to New York Times reporter Jeremy Peters, who says this could be “one of the most consequential First Amendment cases in a generation.”
He breaks down the case, the souring Murdoch-Trump alliance and Fox News’s future. Plus, we review Ron DeSantis’s chances in 2024 (outlook: not good) and Ben Shapiro and Elon Musk’s chances of one day besting Murdoch (outlook: somewhat better).
You can fi…
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Dec 12, 2022
Aging, Death and Other Uplifting Topics with Mike Birbiglia
Aging, parenting by mortality and dying alone or kinless: these are just some of the uplifting topics Kara and Nayeema tackle today before our interview with Mike Birbiglia. The comedian and writer is deep in his latest Broadway show, “The Old Man and the Pool,” which doesn’t shy away from such heavy topics either. Birbiglia and Kara discuss mortality, parenthood, their last words and finding comedy in all of life — even the sad bits.
You can find Kara and Nayeema on Twitter @karaswisher and @nayeema.
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Dec 8, 2022
A Bad Week for Donald Trump? … And Potentially for Gay Marriage?
It’s been a bad week for Donald Trump. Herschel Walker lost the Georgia Senate runoff and a New York jury found the Trump Organization guilty of criminal tax fraud. But the former President (and current presidential candidate) still has something to look forward to: a busy conservative Supreme Court which has three Trump-appointed justices. Today, Kara and Nayeema discuss two of the cases the court heard this week. One focuses on a North Carolina election law case that could upend democratic protections in states like Florida, Arizona and Michigan. The other is about free speech and gay marriage and is close to Kara’s heart.
In the interview, Kara speaks to a panel of experts about this very case: 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis, a free speech case brought by a web designer who doesn’t want to be penalized for not providing wedding websites for same-sex couples. She explores the impact this case could have with Louise Melling, Deputy Legal Director at the ACLU and Director of its Ru…
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Dec 5, 2022
The Man Behind "Sex and the City" and "Emily in Paris"
Love them or hate them, chances are that you’ve watched at least one Darren Star series. Kara once called them the “hottest trash on TV” but for over 30 years she has devoured shows that Star has created and executive produced, including “Sex and the City,” “Beverly Hills 90210” “Melrose Place,” “Uncoupled” and — most recently — the Netflix hit “Emily in Paris.” In this conversation, Kara and Darren discuss how HBO paved the way for risqué television, how streaming has eclipsed network televisions and how Star got inside the mind of the straight girl.
Before the interview, Nayeema and Kara discuss why TV — trash or not — is being recycled into nostalgia programming. And they dive into the dark days media is facing right now after layoffs at CNN, hiring freezes around the news industry and shutterings of small media outlets pave the way for a “bad winter.”
You can find Kara and Nayeema on Twitter @karaswisher and @nayeema.
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Dec 1, 2022
Why Twitter’s Former Safety Chief Left Elon Musk
Elon Musk's Twitter is a spectacle, and the drama and meaning of the last six months is perhaps best unpacked by Yoel Roth. The company’s former head of trust and safety survived the early flood of firings and resignations — in fact, he was ascendant, in the early days of this new Twitter, and he became the face Musk presented to advertisers. Kara asks Roth whether he felt “used” by Musk and why — having been embraced by Elon’s inner circle — he ultimately decided to abandon Elon.
Before the interview, Kara and Nayeema weigh in on Elon Musk’s seeming needling of Tim Cook, and they discuss whether Apple has too much power. Stay tuned until the end for Kara’s rant on this very topic.
You can find Kara and Nayeema on Twitter @karaswisher and @nayeema.
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Nov 28, 2022
A Nobel Prize Winner on the “Dark Matter of Biology”
Kara interviews Dr. Carolyn Bertozzi, a Stanford University scientist who, along with Morten Meldal and K. Barry Sharpless, won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry earlier this year for developing bioorthogonal chemistry and click chemistry. Bertozzi explains what bioorthogonal chemistry actually is before breaking down how identifying different sugars in the body — which she calls “the dark matter of biology’’ — could lead to breakthroughs in treating diseases ranging from the flu to cancer. She also weighs in on the state of funding in biology, Twitter, being lesbian in STEM, and the never-ending feud between chemists and biologists.
Before the interview, Kara and Nayeema briefly discuss former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan's protest march (which was called off after this episode was recorded) and Trump's dinner with white supremacist Nick Fuentes.
You can find Kara and Nayeema on Twitter @karaswisher and @nayeema.
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Nov 24, 2022
Into It: A Portrait of Artist as Taylor Swift
Today, we’re sharing a special episode of Into It: A Vulture Podcast with Sam Sanders about one of Kara’s favorites: Taylor Swift.
What is the meaning of Taylor Swift? She's performed damsel in distress, but represents women’s empowerment. She’s a confessional artist, but is careful about how much she reveals. She's an adult, but is often still viewed as the teenager she used to be. On the eve of Midnights, Sam dives into the mythos and craft of Taylor Swift with NPR music critic Ann Powers about her place in history among the likes of Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, Adele, and Beyoncé.
We also hear about the culture that's haunting us: Explain to us again why Bobby Cannavale's character in The Watcher wants to replace a Carrara marble countertop with butcher block? To make red sauce?
To listen to more of Into It: A Vulture Podcast with Sam Sanders, follow the show: https://podcasts.voxmedia.com/show/into-it-a-vulture-podcast-with-sam-sanders
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Nov 21, 2022
Where’s the Line in Comedy? Monty Python’s Eric Idle Has an Idea
Should anything be off-limits in comedy? Kara and Nayeema discuss this question, and the recent Dave Chappelle SNL monologue, before Kara’s interview with our guest today: writer-comedian Eric Idle who is an OG in the craft. When he and his fellow sketch artists launched Monty Python on the BBC in 1969, it was unclear whether anyone would even watch. Now there are generations of Python fans. Today, Idle talks about what made Monty Python unique and how they pushed the line and the social conversation with their unique brand of humor.
Both avid Twitterers, Kara and Idle also discuss their frustrations with Elon Musk (he’s a noted fan of Monty Python, though Idle is not a fan of Musk). And Idle describes how his recent bout with pancreatic cancer has made him a more accepting person.
You can find Kara and Nayeema on Twitter @karaswisher and @nayeema.
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Nov 17, 2022
Can Chris Licht Turn CNN Around?
Chris Licht faces an uphill battle at CNN. He got the CEO gig in the midst of a prickly merger between Warner Bros. and Discovery and right after the shocking exit of beloved long-time boss, Jeff Zucker. In his first six months, he’s shut down CNN+, ousted Brian Stelter, and shuffled anchors around, including Don Lemon and Jake Tapper. This week, the network chief held an internal town hall meeting where he faced a staff of thousands and discussed upcoming layoffs. Shortly afterwards, he sat down with Kara — who grilled him, of course.
She asks Licht whether he has any real actual power or if he’s simply executing orders from Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav — who is in search of cuts, as the company stares down the barrel at $50 billion in debt — and billionaire board member, John Malone, who has said he’d like to see more “centrist” programming from CNN. They discuss Licht’s vision for the newsroom, his plan to build trust with journalists who fear losing j…
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Nov 14, 2022
Elon Musk: Somebody That I Used to Know
Elon Musk is a puzzle, but if there’s anyone who can make sense of him it’s Kara Swisher. She’s covered him since the late 90s – back in her early days as a beat reporter at the Wall Street Journal and she’s had many in-depth interviews and exchanges with the tech titan since, perhaps more than any other reporter. She’s also covered Elon’s latest fiefdom, Twitter, before it even was Twitter. So today we turn the tables, and Kara Swisher is “On” with Nayeema Raza.
We’ll unpack how Elon became Elon, why Kara came to believe he was one of the greatest visionaries in Silicon Valley, when exactly she soured on him — and why she still holds out some hope.
You can find Kara and Nayeema on Twitter @karaswisher and @nayeema.
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Nov 10, 2022
How Donald Trump Helped the Democrats
After Kara and Nayeema have a chat about — what else? — Elon Musk’s latest moves, we dive into democracy and the midterms. The results are (mostly) in, and the “red wave” that Republicans predicted never came. To understand why, Kara gets deep into political reporting in three key swing states: Arizona, Georgia and Pennsylvania.
Our guests are three veteran journalists who know their respective states' politics inside out: Yvonne Wingett Sanchez, democracy reporter covering Arizona for The Washington Post; Tia Mitchell, Washington correspondent for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution; and Chris Potter, government and accountability editor for WESA FM, Pittsburgh’s NPR news station. Together, the panel unpacks the midterm results and the decision by Democrats to focus on democracy, Dobbs and, yes, Donald Trump.
Plus, stay tuned for Kara’s RANT about why she’s savoring John Fetterman’s win — and why President Biden deserves more credit than he’s gotten.
Do you want…
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Nov 7, 2022
How John King Gets Ready for Election Night
Kara is nervous about the elections — and she should be, control of the House and of the Senate is up for grabs, as are 36 governorships. She and Nayeema discuss the big day ahead, and specifically how social media and misinformation may sway results.
They then turn to our guest today — the man who will be sharing those results with us, at least on CNN. John King and Kara talk about how he prepares to helm the “Magic Wall” and talk millions of viewers through the red and blue board. They go beyond the horse race and inside the pressure and process for making calls at CNN.
Stay tuned for the end of the episode when Kara answers a listener question about her spirituality and Nayeema surmises the sunglassed-one’s Holy Trinity (it’s not what you think).
If you want Kara’s advice, call 1-888-KARA-PLZ and leave a message.
You can find Kara and Nayeema on Twitter @karaswisher and @nayeema. Oh yes, and if you’re eligible: GO VOTE!
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Nov 3, 2022
Kara on Elon and John Legend on Kanye (and More!)
Kara and Nayeema kick off this Thursday’s episode with a feisty discussion about Elon Musk’s Twitter and how he’s “kicking the most active users in the teeth.” They give us the run-down inside Elon’s band of merry advisors and Nayeema gets to the heart of why exactly Kara is so angry with Elon … and so sad.
Today’s interview is with John Legend, the Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony-winning artist (aka EGOT) who famously moonlights as a social justice activist. But before he was John Legend, he was John Roger Stephens: born to a socially conservative family, sent to an Ivy League university at age 16, and dabbling as a nerdy strategy consultant before his big break. In fact, the first person to credit him as “John Legend” was Kanye West. In this conversation, Kara and John speak about Kanye’s descent into antisemitism and how he makes sense of a friend he’s long last touch with. They also discuss how TikTok has changed the music business, and why John is so hyper-fo…
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Oct 31, 2022
Matt Levine on Elon Musk: Chief Twit & “Meme Lord”
The Twitter deal is done, and Elon Musk is now, officially, “Chief Twit.” Bloomberg Opinion columnist and “MoneyStuff” writer, Matt Levine, has been analyzing the deal (and the drama) over the past seven months. Now, Matt and Kara consider what the future of the social media platform might look like under Musk. They discuss whether Elon’s seemingly genuine belief in the utility of Twitter, paired with his business and engineering acumen, will be a game changer for the company. And they discuss how his principles will drive big decisions ahead, including potentially reversing the platform's ban of Donald Trump.
Before the interview, Kara and Nayeema talk about the violent attack on Paul Pelosi, husband of Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and the rising tide of violence against politicians. Plus, Kara gives Elon some unsolicited advice on the business, including how to avoid a version of Twitter that would make even Kara quit her favorite social media platform.
Do you want Kara’s (…
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Oct 27, 2022
Frank Luntz, Rick Wilson and Sarah Longwell on Donald Trump and the Midterms
Election Day is less than two weeks away, and Republicans are poised for some major midterm gains. So today, Kara talks to three Republican strategists about midterm predictions and the effect that Donald Trump is having on these elections. Our guests are veteran pollster Frank Luntz, Lincoln Project co-founder Rick Wilson, and Bulwark publisher Sarah Longwell. All three are long-time Republican operatives who believe that Donald Trump is a threat to democracy and to the party but they disagree on whether and how the party can move beyond MAGA and the Big Lie.
Before the interview, Kara and Nayeema talk about what Rishi Sunak’s rise to prime minister means for the UK and Nick Clegg: the Meta executive who will decide if Donald Trump’s stays banned from Facebook beyond January 2023. Plus, Kara shares her unsolicited advice for more civil, less cruel, political discourse.
Do you want Kara’s (solicited) advice? Send us your questions! Call 1-888-KARA-PLZ and leave a message.…
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Oct 25, 2022
Twitter Spaces On: WTF is Happening in the UK and the World
Today, we’re sharing a bonus episode of Kara’s Twitter Spaces conversation recorded on Monday night. In the first part of the conversation, Kara talks to Jonathan Freedland, a British journalist and columnist for The Guardian, about the fall of Liz Truss, the rise of Rishi Sunak and the role of Rupert Murdoch’s media empire in U.K. politics.
In the second part of the episode, Kara and Freedland are joined by yet another Jonathan: Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League. The trio discusses the rise of populism and hate speech today. They cover Kanye West’s antisemitic remarks on social media and discuss Freedland’s — aka British Jonathan’s — new book, “The Escape Artist: The Man Who Broke Out of Auschwitz to Warn the World.”
Follow us on Twitter @karaswisher and @nayeema to tune in for future Spaces.
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Oct 24, 2022
The Economy Stinks, and Dr. Doom is Not Hopeful
Nouriel Roubini, a.ka. "Dr. Doom," became famous for predicting the 2008 global financial crisis. Now, he is back with another grim forecast, in his new book, "MegaThreats: Ten Dangerous Trends That Imperil Our Future, And How to Survive Them." He and Kara discuss the book, his prediction that we’re headed towards a stagflationary debt crisis, and US-China relations. Dr. Roubini also explains why cryptocurrency is fundamentally flawed (in fact, he thinks it’s less sophisticated than what the Flinstone’s had).
Before the interview, Kara and Nayeema discuss Sheryl Sandberg’s new report, “Women in the Workplace,” a joint venture by her organization, Lean In, and McKinsey & Company. And they talk about China’s president Xi Jinping — who is leaning into a third term as General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party.
Follow us on Twitter @karaswisher and @nayeema to get the banter in real time!
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Oct 20, 2022
Airbnb’s CEO on Nomadic Life, Loneliness… and Cleaning Fees
Airbnb CEO and co-founder Brian Chesky took the company public, laid off 25% of its staff and navigated worker demands for flexibility – all during the pandemic. Oh, and his mom moved in (and made him quiche every day). In this conversation with Kara, Brian discusses the challenge of being professionally successful and, sometimes, personally lonely. They talk about how the pandemic may have permanently changed how we work, travel and live. And Kara gets answers about the company’s lack of transparency on those dreaded cleaning fees.
Before the interview, Kara and Nayeema talk about billionaires owning social media networks. They discuss Georgia congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, who seems to be riding the MAGA train to amass power in the Republican party. And they reflect on the story of Iranian rock climber Elnaz Rekabi, who caused a stir on social media this week in the midst of the nation’s anti-government protests.
… oh yes, and they dispense some dating advice. If…
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Oct 19, 2022
Twitter Spaces On: Elon, Elon, Elon … and Trump
Today, we’re sharing a bonus episode of Kara’s Twitter Spaces conversation that was taped on Monday night. She’s joined by William Cohan, journalist and founding partner of Puck, and Scott Galloway, business professor and co-host of the Pivot podcast. Nayeema pops in with a question at the end — and you can too, if you join our next Twitter Spaces.
Follow us on Twitter @karaswisher and @nayeema to tune in for future conversations.
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Oct 17, 2022
The Billionaire Who Took America Online
Kara and Steve Case go back — way back, to the 1990s. She was a young Washington Post reporter covering a new thing called “the Internet” … and he was a co-founder of the company that became AOL. In this conversation, they take a walk back through time to look at how far the world has come and where tech companies have stumbled or fallen flat. They discuss Case’s new book, “Rise of the Rest,” which offers an optimistic future for the expansion of entrepreneurship and innovation beyond a handful of places like Silicon Valley, Boston and New York City. They also discuss whether a more equitable distribution of economic growth is possible, given some of the nation’s political divides — and potential solutions for bridging those divides.
Before the interview, Kara and Nayeema talk about the newsmakers of the day, including Theranos founder, Elizabeth Holmes, who is seeking a new trial, and the deep pockets of “anti-woke” investors in Silicon Valley including, of cou…
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Oct 13, 2022
Will Stacey Abrams (Finally) Win?
It feels like deja vu. Stacey Abrams is running for governor of Georgia, again … against Brian Kemp, again. The two last faced off in a heated contest in 2018, with Kemp’s win hanging on 54,723 votes. This time, he’s an incumbent and even further ahead in the polls. So, Kara asks Abrams: what is different now?
Before the interview, Kara and Nayeema talk about newsmakers – from the LA City Council members to the artist formerly known as Kanye West. And afterward, Kara answers a listener question about how she got so damn confident.
Do you want Kara’s advice? Send us your questions! Call 1-888-KARA-PLZ and leave a message.
You can find Kara Swisher and Nayeema Raza on Twitter @karaswisher and @nayeema.
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Oct 10, 2022
John Fetterman and Kara Talk Strokes, Recovery & Senate Race
Pennsylvania Lt. Governor and Senate candidate John Fetterman and Kara share a few things in common. As she puts it: they were both born in Pennsylvania, both wear sloppy clothes and both have survived a stroke. Kara’s hit 11 years ago, while Fetterman’s came last May. But for Fetterman, who is recovering steadily, that health incident has been weaponized against him in the race against Dr. Oz. In this conversation, Fetterman explains why it won't stop him in a contest that is critical for Democrats — one of the party’s best shots at flipping a seat and maintaining control of the Senate.
Before the interview, Kara and Nayeema talk about Elon Musk’s latest antics, including efforts to make the Twitter deal contingent on financing and dabbling in Russia-Ukraine peace plans. They also look at the jam that President Biden finds himself in 4 weeks before the midterms, and Kara offers unsolicited advice to ... everybody.
Do you want some (solicited) advice from Kara? Call 1-88…
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Oct 6, 2022
Maggie Haberman Makes Sense of Donald Trump
Donald Trump has said journalist Maggie Haberman is like his “psychiatrist” — a remark she dismisses as a meaningless and failed attempt at flattery. Yet Haberman does have a deep understanding of what makes the former president tick, cultivated through years of covering City Hall in New York City and then Donald J. Trump for The New York Times. Her recent book, “Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America,” tells Trump’s origin story and chronicles his unexpected takeover of the Republican party and his consolidation of power in Washington. “He’s not a political genius,” Haberman tells Kara, “he is a genius about human emotions and a certain darkness in what animates people.” So will Trump run again in 2024? Haberman says that “he’s backed himself into a corner where he has to,” but she’s not sure whether she'll be covering him.
Before the interview, Kara and Nayeema talk about the newsmakers: Elon Musk’s about-face on the Twi…
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Oct 3, 2022
So ... Should We Ban TikTok?
Kara loves air fryer TikToks. But she only dares to scroll through them on a burner phone, as she tells TikTok’s Chief Operating Officer, Vanessa Pappas.
As the social media platform has gone gangbusters – accumulating over a billion monthly users globally – concerns have emerged about TikTok’s ownership structure and roots in China. The U.S. government has questions about what data the app is amassing, whether that data can be accessed by the Chinese Communist Party and if the platform is a tool for espionage or foreign interference and propaganda. Kara has those questions too. And she asks Pappas all of them.
Before the interview, Kara and Nayeema talk about the newsmakers of the day. They scan through the Elon Musk text messages released in the Twitter-Musk proceedings and explore what the texts reveal about Silicon Valley’s powerful elite – including Twitter founder Jack Dorsey. They also discuss recent layoffs at Meta – and how Mark Zuckerberg will navigate the com…
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Sep 29, 2022
Hillary Clinton Lets Loose with Predictions
This is Kara’s 5th interview with Hillary Clinton. So what’s changed since their first conversation in 2015? According to Kara, it’s that the former Secretary of State and 2016 Democratic nominee for President has “run out of f***s." In this conversation, taped live at The Texas Tribune Festival, Kara notes that many of Clinton’s past predictions about Donald Trump have come through and asks what may unfold if Trump runs again in 2024. They discuss Hillary’s role in the Democratic Party, and the upcoming midterms. And they talk about the emails (again), with Kara laying out one conservative narrative that seeks to equate Clinton’s emails with the documents Trump stashed away at Mar-a-Lago. As Hillary puts it: “I have testified for 11 hours. I would love to see Donald Trump testify for 30 minutes in public about any of this.”
Before the interview, Kara and Nayeema talk about newsmakers – from Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell’s decision to back a bill that would ov…
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Sep 26, 2022
Chris Cuomo’s Comeback
Kara Swisher is back — and so, it seems, is Chris Cuomo. In an interview that is frank and feisty, Kara presses the former CNN anchor on his unceremonious exit from the network last year, and they discuss whether he can cut through the noise with his new podcast, “The Chris Cuomo Project,” and a forthcoming show on NewsNation.
But first, Kara and her sidekick, exec producer Nayeema Raza, the “Goose to her Maverick” (and yes, Goose eventually died in Top Gun) chat about the newsmakers and news Kara is watching — from Google CEO Sundar Pichai to journalist Christiane Amanpour. Kara also weighs in on the drama around the cartoon strip, Dilbert. And, finally, she offers some unsolicited advice about covering celebrity sext scandals.
Do you want Kara’s (solicited) advice? Send us your questions! Call 1-888-KARA-PLZ and leave a message.
You can find Kara on Twitter @karaswisher. Nayeema is there too — for now — @nayeema.
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Sep 3, 2022
Coming Soon: On with Kara Swisher
It’s on. Kara Swisher is back, getting to the heart of what makes powerful people tick… by asking the questions that make them squirm. New episodes drop every Monday and Thursday starting September 26.
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