On with Kara Swisher

Four years after the start of the global pandemic, COVID-19 is no longer a global health emergency, but in the U.S., every week, the virus is still hospitalizing 15,000 people and killing a thousand. Today, we look back – and ahead – with former New York Times global health reporter Donald G. McNeil Jr., author of the new book The Wisdom of Plagues: Lessons from 25 years of Covering Pandemics. He and Kara discuss the conflicting findings surrounding the virus origin, including the lab leak theory currently being investigated by Congress, and grapple with whether we need a Pentagon for Disease in the future (addressing a question posed by former White House Chief of Staff and Obama Ebola Czar Ron Klain). Plus – McNeil speaks out about his own controversy: his 2021 departure from The New York Times. Questions? Comments? Email us at [email protected] or find us on social media. We’re on Instagram/Threads as @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Kara and Nayeema look forward to the characters and moments that may define 2024 by looking back at the coverage of the last year. We unpack the drama at OpenAI, to the contrast between Biden and Trump and Fox News, to Elon Musk and X with the most revealing interview moments from 2023. Questions? Comments? Email us at [email protected] or find us on social media. We’re on Instagram/Threads as @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On is off for the holidays, so today we have an episode of friend-of-the-pod Preet Bharara's podcast Stay Tuned with Preet. In this episode, Preet is joined by author Mark Chiusano for a deep dive on our favorite (or least favorite) Washington fabulist: George Santos. Mark Chiusano is the author of The Fabulist: The Lying, Hustling, Grifting, Stealing, and Very American Legend of George Santos. He joins Preet to discuss Santos’s lifetime of lies, and what his ascension to power says about our political system. On will be back with a fresh episode on January 4, 2024. Listen to Stay Tuned with Preet every Monday and Thursday: https://link.chtbl.com/staytuned Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Randy Rainbow is a four-time Emmy and Grammy-nominated musical comedy sensation famous for his viral taunts of anti-LGBTQ+ politicians, hateful celebrities and, of course, George Santos. Rainbow (and, yes: that is his real name) talks about his approach to his work, his inspirations, and why he claims his videos aren’t political. Kara also asks Rainbow what “Elon the Musical” would sound like. Questions? Comments? Email us at [email protected] or find us on social media. We’re on Instagram/Threads as @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Are world hunger, pandemics and climate change “fixable” – or is mitigating their impacts the best we can hope for? Is there any point in making them moonshots? In his new book, Big Bets: How Large-Scale Change Really Happens, Rockefeller Foundation President and former Administrator of USAID Rajiv Shah explains how going big impacts motivation – even if the result is a Big Fail. We speak with Shah about the outcome of the recent UN Climate Conference in Dubai (and the overwhelming presence of Big Oil), why he thinks global institutions like the World Bank and the IMF need to be revamped, and whether billionaire philanthropists are the answer to the world’s woes (spoiler: they aren’t). Questions? Comments? Email us at [email protected] or find us on social media. We’re on Instagram/Threads as @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Tim Alberta is a fantastic reporter whose profiles of 2024 hopeful Nikki Haley and former CNN boss Chris Licht proved illuminating and impactful (Licht lost his job days after). In his latest book, Alberta has profiled not a person but a movement: the evangelical church. It’s a community that rallied around Donald Trump in 2016, 2020 and will likely do so in 2024. And it’s one Alberta knows well: his father was an evangelical pastor. Alberta’s new book, “The Kingdom, The Power and the Glory: American Evangelicals in an Age of Extremism” takes him back to his hometown church to understand how the evangelical church has reshaped American politics. Questions? Comments? Email us at [email protected] or find us on social media. We’re on Instagram/Threads as @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Former Secretary of Defense Mark Esper details the threats and dangers we face. On the agenda: hot wars in the Middle East and Ukraine, a cold war with China, the threat posed by Iran, and the dangers that would come from the potential resurgence of Esper’s former boss: Donald Trump. Questions? Comments? Email us at [email protected] or find us on social media. We’re on Instagram/Threads as @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Former Wyoming Congresswoman Liz Cheney is on a mission to defeat Donald Trump - and says she’ll do “whatever it takes” to prevent him and his “enablers” from a second term in the White House, including supporting Democrats or going up against him on a third party ticket. She lays out why she thinks Trump is a danger to the country in her new book, Oath and Honor. A Memoir and a Warning. We speak with Cheney about being ostracized within her beloved Republican party, how she made friends with Democrats during the January 6th hearings, and her fears about Speaker of the House Mike Johnson. Plus, Kara grills her on her conservative policy positions ahead of an (unlikely) potential 2024 run. Questions? Comments? Email us at [email protected] or find us on social media. We’re on Instagram/Threads as @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Rep. Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin is on a mission to raise the alarm bell on the Chinese Communist Party and rethink America’s approach to China. As chair of the Select Committee on the CCP, he’s arguably the leading China hawk in DC and has put the squeeze on everyone from Elon Musk and Bob Iger to the NBA and Wall Street to get tougher on China. The person he wants to push the hardest, though, is President Joe Biden. Questions? Comments? Email us at [email protected] or find us on social media. We’re on Instagram/Threads as @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Tennis legend Martina Navratilova is no stranger to controversy. But the battle she’s picked these days, which has pit her against inclusion of trans women in professional sports – has put her at odds with many in the LGBTQ community that considers her an icon, and made her strange bedfellows with Republicans with whom she’s otherwise on (Twitter) war footing. We explore why she’s chosen to plant this flag, talk about the continued pay inequity in tennis, and brainstorm what she’ll do next (hint: it could involve Elon). Questions? Comments? Email us at [email protected] or find us on social media. We’re on Instagram/Threads as @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Who gets to compete as a woman? And who decides whether someone is “woman enough”? When it comes to South African runner Caster Semenya, it could be the European Court of Human Rights. The two-time Olympic gold medalist has been in a legal battle since 2019 with World Athletics, the global governing body for track and field, after it banned her from competing because of her naturally-occurring higher levels of testosterone. She discusses her experience, what labels get wrong and her new book A Race to Be Myself. Questions? Comments? Email us at [email protected] or find us on social media. We’re on Instagram/Threads as @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the swirl of drama around Sam Altman’s exit from OpenAI, one company seems to be the winner: Microsoft. It has both a significant partnership with, and an ownership stake in, the company, and now it's welcoming Altman and OpenAI researchers with open arms. For this emergency episode, Kara interviews Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. Questions? Comments? Email us at [email protected] or find us on social media. We’re on Instagram/Threads as @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Why did Fox News knowingly air unhinged conspiracy theories about Dominion Voting Systems and Smartmatic and then fire Tucker Carlson, its most popular host, just days after settling with Dominion for $787.5 million? Brian Stelter, the former host of CNN’s Reliable Sources, explores these questions and more in a new book, Network of Lies: The Epic Saga of Fox News, Donald Trump, and the Battle for American Democracy. The TLDL: Tucker and Rupert deserved each other, until they didn’t. But do listen to get the scoops on Fox … and on CNN from this media insider. This interview was recorded live at 92NY on Tuesday November 14th. Questions? Comments? Email us at [email protected] or find us on social media. We’re on Instagram/Threads as @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dan Doctoroff had a storied career as Deputy Mayor of New York City during the first two Bloomberg administrations. In six years, Doctoroff helped rebuild the city after 9/11. He later oversaw the terminal and media business at Bloomberg before joining forces with Google on (the now defunct) Sidewalk Labs mission to define the future of cities. These days, he’s taking on a new challenge: ALS, a.k.a Lou Gehrig’s disease. Doctoroff was hit with the neurodegenerative disease in 2021. He speaks candidly about how this challenge has helped him stay present and let go of the future — except, of course, in the search for a cure. Questions? Comments? Email us at [email protected] or find us on social media. We’re on Instagram/Threads as @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Are tech bros successful because of some innate talent, or could any of us be like them? Organizational psychologist and Wharton School professor Adam Grant takes on the myth of innate talent and the reality of growth in his latest book, Hidden Potential: The Science of Achieving Greater Things. We hear why forward-looking advice trumps feedback, how Gen Z can thrive in hybrid work scenarios and why Grant thinks there should be an age limit for politicians. Stay till the end to hear Grant turn the tables on Kara and psychoanalyze her frustration with Elon. If you like this episode, you can find Adam’s podcasts here and here. Questions? Comments? Email us at [email protected] or find us on social media. We’re on Instagram/Threads as @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After three incredibly chaotic weeks, the House Republican Conference elected a relatively unknown (and startlingly retrograde) Louisiana congressman, Mike Johnson, as Speaker of the House. Today we learn who he is and what impact he will have on the issues, from gay rights and abortion to the keeping the government funded, as well as what his ascension portends for the 2024 elections. Our guests are: Marianna Sotomayor, a congressional reporter at The Washington Post; Nia-Malika Henderson, a senior political analyst at CNN and soon-to-be politics and policy columnist at Bloomberg Opinion; and Tina Nguyen, a national correspondent at Puck and author of The MAGA Diaries, a forthcoming book that chronicles her journey to becoming a (reformed) accidental conservative activist. Questions? Comments? Email us at [email protected] or find us on social media. We’re on Instagram/Threads as @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today we’re playing you an episode of Land of the Giants that takes a walk down memory lane to the early days of Twitter and how the platform became the best and worst place on the internet. If you like it; check out the Land of The Giants: The Twitter Fantasy and revisit our interviews with Ben Mezrich, Walter Isaacson, Ronan Farrow and William Cohan, or Kara and Nayeema’s own walk down memory lane on Twitter. Enjoy! And we’ll be back on Thursday with a new episode of On. This episode hosted by Peter Kafka (@pkafka) and Lauren Goode (@laurengoode) EDITOR'S NOTE: This episode contains descriptions of sexual harassment and of graphic threats of violence. This section begins after the second midroll break and lasts for about 7 minutes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What does a dramatic narrative nonfiction account of a dramatic tech CEO look like? To find out, we turn to Ben Mezrich, the author whose books have been adapted to films like 21, The Social Network, and Dumb Money. His latest, Breaking Twitter, has already been optioned by MGM. In this conversation: Ben’s process for blending hard facts with informed speculation, Kara’s advice for dealing with the tech titan, and predictions about Linda Yaccarino’s fate. Oh, also a brainstorm about who should play Elon on the big screen: Kara envisions a classic Vince Vaughn type, Nayeema picks Brendan Fraser, and Ben throws in a Succession character — but *not* the one you’d expect! Questions? Comments? Email us at [email protected] or find us on social media. We’re on Instagram/Threads as @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Uber: hard to live with it, or without it. In this episode Kara grills CEO Dara Khosrowshahi on the company’s sky-high prices, high take rate, treatment of drivers/couriers, policies around safety and why oh why he is kind to his predecessor, Travis Kalanick. Before and after the interview, Kara and Nayeema make sense of the power and problems of Uber, and discuss Lesbians Who Tech (a conference — not in general). Note: Khosrowshahi discusses a 15% “take rate” in the United States, exclusive of commercial insurance expenses. Globally, the company reported a 29.3% “take rate” in Q2 of 2023 inclusive of these costs. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Democracy is challenged, at home and abroad, and at least some of this blame falls on “Big Tech.” Kara talks to Alexis Ohanian, Reddit co-founder and venture capitalist, and Deb Roy, the director of the MIT Center for Constructive Communication, about how we got here and what some potential solutions are. Stick around after the interview to hear Kara and Nayeema discuss the ethics of stapling bread to trees. This episode was recorded live at the University of Virginia’s Karsh Institute for Democracy’s Democracy 360 event on October 17th. Questions? Comments? Email us at [email protected] or find us on social media. We’re on Instagram/Threads as @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Social media has been inundated with disinformation about the Israel-Hamas war — from a flood of graphic visual content, to unsubstantiated claims and opportunistic content generation (and monetization) by third parties to this conflict. To make sense of this fog of war, we turn to a panel that brings together a reporter, a researcher and a former Facebook/Meta insider: Shayan Sardarizadeh is a senior disinformation journalist with the BBC, Renée DiResta is a research manager at the Stanford Internet Observatory, and Katie Harbath spent 10 years as the public policy director at Facebook. Together, they unpack how we got here – and how we might seek clarity in a moment fogged by intense emotion, unfolding information and immense complexity. Questions? Comments? Email us at [email protected] or find us on social media. We’re on Instagram/Threads as @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the fog of war, we’re joined by CNN Chief International Anchor Christiane Amanpour. She’s covered the Middle East for decades and brings her signature “truthful, not neutral” journalism to the tense battle that has unfolded in Israel and Gaza. Questions? Comments? Email us at [email protected] or find us on social media. We’re on Instagram/Threads as @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What are the most immediate, and potentially catastrophic, risks posed by AI? According to pioneering AI researcher, Dr. Fei-Fei Li, they include disinformation, polarization, biases, a loss of privacy and job losses that could lead to unrest. The Stanford computer scientist is a fierce advocate for the humane development of artificial intelligence and for increased diversity in the field. She and Kara discuss AI’s problems and possibilities, the need for increased public sector investment and her brief stint on Twitter’s board. Questions or comments? Email us at [email protected] or find us on social media. We’re on Instagram/Threads as @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In a time of a divided House (and divided GOP) — not to mention polarized social media — how can you engage through disagreement? Abraham Lincoln may have some clues, as Steve Inskeep deduces. The journalist and host of NPR’s Morning Edition has a new book, “Differ We Must: How Lincoln Succeeded in a Divided America,” which details the political life and legacy of Lincoln through the lens of disagreement and understands how the 16th president practiced politics skillfully in order to assemble a majority and navigate the country through The Civil War. Kara and Steve also imagine what Lincoln’s social media feed would look like, compare him to Donald Trump and Joe Biden and grapple with whether “objectivity” is the best north star for journalism today. Questions or comments? Email us at [email protected] or find us on social media. We’re on Instagram/Threads as @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today we’re replaying you a summer episode where Kara and Nayeema took 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. Questions? Comments? Email us at [email protected] or find us on Instagram/Threads. We’re @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After Kara and Nayeema discuss the defenestration of Kevin McCarthy, we turn to podcaster and political savant Jon Lovett of Crooked Media fame. Kara and Jon share laughs as they talk about the podcast biz, unions, Trump and Biden’s chances in ‘24. This conversation was taped live at the Code Conference on September 28, 2023. Questions or comments? Email us at [email protected] or find us on social media. We’re on Instagram/Threads as @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After Kara and Nayeema discuss Dianne Feinstein’s death and her legacy as a leader, we turn to Kara's interview with Adam Kinzinger. The former Republican congressman has said he would only vote for Trump in one scenario: if his opponent were Satan. Once a rising star in the Tea Party, Kinzinger is now a leading voice inside the GOP’s anti-Trump cohort. He was one of only ten House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump after January 6, 2021 — and, like many of his peers, he paid a high price: his seat in Congress. We discuss whether his political sacrifice was worth it, what happens in the “Trump Resistance” text chain and why so many Republicans won’t come out against Trump — even when they see him as a threat to democracy. This conversation was taped live at the Texas Tribune Festival on September 22, 2023. Questions or comments? Email us at [email protected] or find us on social media. We’re on Instagram/Threads as @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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. Today, we bring 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 Kara 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 [email protected] or find us on social media. We’re on Instagram/Threads as @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza To join the waitlist for the 2024 Code Conference, visit https://voxmediaevents.com/code2024. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 [email protected] or find us on social media. We’re on Instagram/Threads as @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 [email protected] or find us on social media. We’re on Instagram/Threads as @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 [email protected] or find us on social media. We’re on Instagram/Threads as @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 [email protected] or find us on social media. We’re on Instagram/Threads as @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 [email protected] or find us on social media. We’re on Instagram/Threads as @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza Photo credit: Gage Skidmore via Flickr Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 [email protected] or find us on social media. We’re on Instagram/Threads as @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 [email protected] or find us on social media. We’re @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza on Instagram/Threads. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 [email protected] or find us on Instagram. We’re @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 [email protected] or find us on Instagram. We’re @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 [email protected] or find us on Instagram. We’re @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 [email protected] or find us on social media. We’re @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza on Instagram/Threads. Fran Drescher is @officialfrandrescher. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 [email protected] or find us on social media. We’re @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza on Instagram/Threads. Chris Larsen is @chrislarsensf on Twitter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 [email protected] or find us on social media. We’re @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza on Instagram/Threads. Margaret Sullivan is @Sulliview. Jonah Goldberg is @JonahDispatch on Twitter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices