On with Kara Swisher

Roberta Kaplan Will See You In Court

26 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Renowned litigator Roberta (Robbie) Kaplan says she’s a born fighter. In January she won one of those fights when a jury ordered Donald Trump to pay...

Paul Giamatti Is Good With Words

22 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Actor Paul Giamatti seems to have perfected the hyper-articulate, slightly depressed curmudgeon – and this year, it might land him an Oscar. Kara an...

Brooke Shields on Surviving Hollywood

19 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Today, we’re replaying a conversation that Kara taped last spring with none other than Brooke Shields. Shields became a teenage superstar through he...

Cord Jefferson on Making American Fiction

15 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Writer and director Cord Jefferson’s first feature film, American Fiction, has been nominated for five Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Adapt...

Tracy Chapman's Timeless Earworms

12 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

More than 35 years after its release, Tracy Chapman’s eponymous debut album – and the single Fast Car – hit #1 on the charts last week, fueled b...

Ambassador Rahm Emanuel on the New Japan, Contending With China, and Biden’s Calm

08 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Rahm Emanuel is the ultimate political insider: He’s worked closely with three presidents, he’s been mayor of the nation’s third largest city (C...

Is the Apple Vision Pro All That?

05 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Kara got a sneak peek of the Apple Vision Pro, and sat down before the official launch with tech reporters Joanna Stern, Nilay Patel and Mark Gurman t...

How Ava DuVernay Made a Hit with ‘Origin,’ and Without Big Studio Backing

01 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Today, our guest is acclaimed director and screenwriter Ava DuVernay, known for the Oscar-nominated films “Selma” and “13th.” Her latest film ...

Judy Woodruff on Polarization, Politics, and the Media

29 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

How does someone with more than five decades of political reporting under her belt assess the current state of the union? For the past year, former PB...

PA Governor Josh Shapiro’s “Get Sh*t Done” Attitude

25 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

As Pennsylvania’s Attorney General, Josh Shapiro successfully defended the state election process in 2020 against suits brought by former President ...

Hope for American Democracy, According to Heather Cox Richardson

22 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Donald Trump is an American figure decades in the making. That’s the argument historian and professor Heather Cox Richardson makes in her latest boo...

Psychedelics with Joe Green

18 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

From therapeutic-assisted MDMA to decriminalized psilocybin and microdosing, movements to legalize psychedelics are everywhere. California-based Joe G...

Fei-Fei Li and a Humane Approach to AI

15 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Before the OpenAI Drama which pit AI enthusiasts (accelerationists) against doomers (decelerationists) we had a conversation with Stanford computer sc...

A Close Read of Trump’s 2024 Strategy

11 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Trump’s back. Today, we go to a panel of experts to discuss his 2024 legal woes, dangerously escalating rhetoric, and what he might do if he retakes...

COVID Lessons Learned with Donald G McNeil Jr.

08 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 ho...

OpenAI Drama to Trump to Elon Musk: What It Means for 2024

04 Jan 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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...

Stay Tuned with Preet: The Many Lies of George Santos

28 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

The Man Taunting Mike Johnson, Ron DeSantis and George Santos

21 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Randy Rainbow is a four-time Emmy and Grammy-nominated musical comedy sensation famous for his viral taunts of anti-LGBTQ+ politicians, hateful celebr...

Will Big Bets to Solve Climate Change Pay Off? With Rajiv Shah

18 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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...

God, Money and Trump with Tim Alberta

14 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Tim Alberta is a fantastic reporter whose profiles of 2024 hopeful Nikki Haley and former CNN boss Chris Licht proved illuminating and impactful (Lich...

Mark Esper on Gaza, Iran, China and (of course) Trump

11 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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 wit...

Is Liz Cheney the GOP Cassandra?

07 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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 “...

Washington’s Top China Hawk Talks TikTok, Taiwan & Trump

04 Dec 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

Martina Navratilova on Transgender Athletes, Pay Equity and Trump

30 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Tennis legend Martina Navratilova is no stranger to controversy. But the battle she’s picked these days, which has pit her against inclusion of tran...

Olympian Caster Semenya on Fighting to Run

27 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella on the OpenAI Debacle

21 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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 wit...

The Fox News ‘Lying Tax,’ Tucker and More with Brian Stelter

20 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Why did Fox News knowingly air unhinged conspiracy theories about Dominion Voting Systems and Smartmatic and then fire Tucker Carlson, its most popula...

Dan Doctoroff on Living with ALS and Building the Future

16 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Dan Doctoroff had a storied career as Deputy Mayor of New York City during the first two Bloomberg administrations. In six years, Doctoroff helped reb...

Adam Grant on Your Potential, Gen Z and — oops — Elon

13 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Are tech bros successful because of some innate talent, or could any of us be like them? Organizational psychologist and Wharton School professor Adam...

Can Mike Johnson Survive As House Speaker?

09 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

After three incredibly chaotic weeks, the House Republican Conference elected a relatively unknown (and startlingly retrograde) Louisiana congressman,...

The Twitter Fantasy from Land of the Giants

06 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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...

How Elon Broke Twitter — and Twitter Broke Elon — with Ben Mezrich

02 Nov 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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 b...

Uber’s Profit, Power and Problems with CEO Dara K

30 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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, treat...

Alexis Ohanian and Deb Roy on Big Tech’s Effects on Democracy

26 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

The Fog of War: Navigating Disinformation Now

23 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Social media has been inundated with disinformation about the Israel-Hamas war — from a flood of graphic visual content, to unsubstantiated claims a...

Christiane Amanpour on Covering This War

19 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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 si...

Why Fei-Fei Li is Still Hopeful About AI (… and Elon)

16 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

What are the most immediate, and potentially catastrophic, risks posed by AI? According to pioneering AI researcher, Dr. Fei-Fei Li, they include disi...

The Politics of Disagreement with Steve Inskeep

12 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

In a time of a divided House (and divided GOP) — not to mention polarized social media — how can you engage through disagreement? Abraham Lincoln ...

Martha, Martha, Martha (ICYMI)

09 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

Jon Lovett Talks Trump, Biden & the Podcasting Biz

05 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

After Kara and Nayeema discuss the defenestration of Kevin McCarthy, we turn to podcaster and political savant Jon Lovett of Crooked Media fame. Kara ...

Do Never Trumpers Matter? We Asked Adam Kinzinger

02 Oct 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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 Repu...

The Yoel Roth-Linda Yaccarino Showdown

28 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

On Wednesday, two Twitter-related interviews rocked the stage at the 2023 Code Conference. Kara interviewed the former head of trust and safety at Twi...

Sheila Johnson Talks BET, Entrepreneurship and Why She Doesn’t Love Being Called “America’s First Black Female Billionaire”

25 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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 fo...

Is Biden the Best Democrats Can Do?

21 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

The Walter Isaacson-Kara Swisher Showdown

18 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

How Twitter Took Alex Edelman to IRL White Supremacists

14 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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 inc...

Conan O'Brien Talks to His Accountant

11 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Late-night legend and podcasting impresario Conan O’Brien joins Kara to talk about the decline of late night, the writers’ strike, his $150 millio...

What Naomi Klein Found Down the Steve Bannon Rabbit Hole

07 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

For years, Naomi Klein has had a problem: the author and Guardian columnist has been chronically confused with Naomi Wolf, a conspiracy theorist and f...

Elon Musk: Somebody That I Used to Know

04 Sep 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

Barry Diller on Biden, AI and the Hollywood Shutdown

31 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Billionaire mogul and power broker Barry Diller doesn’t hold back (at all) as he takes us inside Washington, Silicon Valley and Hollywood. The legen...

WTF Can We Do About Deadly Wildfires?

28 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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 o...

Why We Can’t Quit Elon with Ronan Farrow & William Cohan

24 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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 fed...

Ron DeSantis Won’t Stop Imani Rupert Gordon

21 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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 Na...

Big Companies Are Scared of These Lawyers

17 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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, Assist...

Where Should We Begin? with Esther Perel: Friendship — My Reliable Gift

14 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

Aging, Death and other Uplifting Topics with Mike Birbiglia

10 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Today, we’re re-airing one of Blakeney Schick’s favorite episodes: an interview with her former yoga student, comedian and writer, Mike Birbiglia....

Esther Perel on Grief — In Memory of Blakeney Schick

07 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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 l...

Is Chris Christie Really the Anti-Trump?

03 Aug 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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? F...

Vinod Khosla’s View of the Future, From AI to China

31 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

After Kara and Nayeema discuss Senators Warren and Graham’s unlikely alliance on tech regulation, we turn to today’s guest: longtime venture capit...

Barbie & Oppenheimer & Strikes, Oh My

27 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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,...

The Rewards of Stepping Out of Line: A Commencement Address from Kara

24 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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 sp...

Fran Drescher on the SAG Strike and Hollywood’s "Fat Cats”

20 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Today, a conversation with one of the most impassioned leaders of Hollywood’s historic double strike: Fran Drescher, star of The Nanny turned SAG-AF...

The Crypto Founder Who Won a “Landmark Victory” Against the SEC

17 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Hollywood may be shut down, but one industry seems to be enjoying a surprising upswing: crypto. Kara interviewed Ripple co-founder and Executive Chair...

The Fox News Love Triangle: Tucker, Murdoch and Trump

13 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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 re...

Jake Tapper on Trust, Trump and CNN

10 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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 n...

Oliver Stone on Nuclear Energy, Putin and the Path to Conspiracies

06 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

After a quick rundown of the summer’s hottest films, Nayeema and Kara turn to our guest today: acclaimed (and controversial) filmmaker Oliver Stone....

Mark Zuckerberg: Oops! I Did It Again (Again)

03 Jul 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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),...

Sarah Jessica Parker Talks Show Business, Shoe Business and More Business

29 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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),...

Wanda Sykes on Why Trump Isn’t Funny Anymore

26 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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...

Martha Stewart Makes No Apologies for Being Perfect

22 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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 th...

The Weeds: We Need to Rethink Discipline in Schools

19 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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....

Inflection AI: Personalized and More "Woke" Than The “TruthGPT” Elon Might Make

15 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

After Kara and Nayeema debate the pros and cons of AI personal assistants vs. human personal assistants vs. fake personal assistants, we turn to Musta...

Sorry, Donald. Jen Easterly Plans To Make Elections Boring Again.

12 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Donald Trump signed the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency into existence in 2018 with the mandate to protect America’s infrastructure f...

Look Ma, No Hands! With Waymo Co-CEO Tekedra Mawakana

08 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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 intervie...

The Man Making Self-Driving Trucks

05 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Tesla’s self-driving ambitions (and the company’s recent recall) may dominate the conversation when it comes to autonomous driving, but they’re ...

Jeremy Strong, Alexander Skasgard and Succession Spin-Off Theories (Spoiler Alert)

01 Jun 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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 Je...

Ukraine’s Tech Advantage

29 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Today, Kara talks to USAID Administrator Samantha Power and Ukrainian Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Information Mykhailo Fedorov about the role ...

A.I. Doomsday with Tristan Harris

25 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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 fl...

Lilly Singh on Making It on Social Media — and Hollywood

22 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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...

Will Elon Musk Turn Twitter Into Yahoo Mail?

18 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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...

How Will Lina Khan and the FTC Tackle AI?

15 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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 Chai...

Watergate to Trump and Today’s GOP: A Throughline

11 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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...

Making Relationships Work (or Not) with Maggie Smith

08 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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, Naye...

Roy Wood Jr. on President Biden, Tucker Carlson, Trevor Noah and (of course) the WGA Strike

04 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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...

Snap’s Evan Spiegel on AI, AR, and – yes – TikTok

01 May 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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 an...

Ron Klain on the Likely Biden-Trump 2024 Showdown

27 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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 —...

Ben Smith on the Turmoil at Buzzfeed, Fox News and Everything In Between

24 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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) an...

Larry Summers on the Politics & Economics of Envy

20 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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...

Jen Psaki on Her New Show and Her Old Boss

17 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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 an...

Inside the Elon-Substack Drama with Chris Best & Hamish McKenzie

13 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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...

What Rupert Murdoch and Succession’s Logan Roy Have in Common (and Don’t)

10 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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 s...

WeightWatchers CEO Sima Sistani talks TikTok, Telehealth Deal on GLP-1/Ozempic and Why She Took the Job

06 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

WeightWatchers recently announced a $132 million deal to acquire telehealth company Sequence and enter the prescription drug space (think: GLP-1 drugs...

Brooke Shields: Stardom, Teen Girls & Social Media

03 Apr 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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 Shie...

How to Make It in Media with Audie Cornish

30 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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 Cornis...

Katie Porter: Taking Big Business to Task While Running for Dianne Feinstein’s Seat

27 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

After a quick discussion of last week’s TikTok testimony, Kara and Nayeema turn to today’s guest: Congresswoman Katie Porter. The California Democ...

When Silicon Valley Invaded Texas

24 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

Lawrence Wright has produced some of the most seminal pieces of journalism on scientology, terrorism and – now – the Silicon Valley invasion of hi...

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman on GPT-4 & the A.I. Arms Race

23 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

We’re on the cusp of an artificial intelligence arms race that has venture capitalists drooling, regulators petrified and competitors from Google to...

Reid Hoffman Talks Trump, Thiel & AI

20 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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 th...

SVB, IG & AI with Instagram Co-founder Kevin Systrom

16 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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: Ke...

Walter Isaacson Is Writing the Book (Literally) on Elon Musk

13 Mar 2023

Contributed by Lukas

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...