Last week, the Department of Justice announced major indictments alleging that, among other things, the Kremlin was paying right-wing influencers, like Dave Rubin, Tim Pool, and Benny Johnson, to spread Russian propaganda. The payments were funneled through a Tennessee-based company called Tenet Media, and while Rubin, Pool, and Johnson deny knowledge of the plot ... they don’t seem to have asked too many questions about the mysterious benefactor who was supposedly funding Tenet and paying them ...
Sep 12, 2024•1 hr 4 min
CNN Chief Political Correspondent Dana Bash has been having one hell of a summer. She co-moderated the June debate that led to President Biden’s historic decision to step out of the race; she landed the first sit-down interview with Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Governor Tim Walz; and now she’s out with a book (co-written with David Fisher) called America’s Deadliest Election: The Cautionary Tale of the Most Violent Election in American History. It’s a deep dive into the Lou...
Sep 09, 2024•56 min
How much screen time is OK for a two year old? What is the right age for kids to get on Instagram or TikTok? And is there such a thing as "good" social media? Figuring out how to grapple with technology is one of the biggest headaches parents have to deal with these days. Kara talks to Dr. Becky (the "millennial parent whisperer") to get answers to the most pressing questions about tech and parenting. And this time, our expert questions come from you — our listeners! Dr. Becky Kennedy is a clini...
Sep 05, 2024•1 hr 4 min
On with Kara Swisher is off for the Labor Day holiday, and we’re sharing an episode of friend-of-the-pod Preet Bharara's podcast Stay Tuned with Preet. In the episode you’re about to hear, Preet interviews leading U.S. political historian Joanne Freeman. Their conversation covers what may turn out to be the craziest 33 days in modern American history – from the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, to President Joe Biden’s decision to withdraw from the presidential race – and t...
Sep 02, 2024•1 hr 21 min
Tech’s tentacles are wrapped around almost every segment of the media industry. They haven't just choked off a large part of the ad revenue media companies relied on — Americans now consume media on devices built by tech companies and platforms owned by those same tech giants, and their algorithms often dictate what media we engage with. To explore, question, and analyze the myriad intersections between the tech and media, Kara is joined by three of the sharpest reporters covering these two worl...
Aug 29, 2024•1 hr 7 min
Almost 29 million television viewers tuned in to see Vice President Kamala Harris’s historic nomination acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention. But does size matter? And what’s next after the raucous, A-list celebrity packed, “joy-filled" DNC for the Harris/Walz campaign? With just 10 weeks left in the campaign, Kara reviews the biggest moments and messages from Chicago with today’s panel (Politico White House correspondent Eugene Daniels, co-author of Politico Playbook; Noel Ki...
Aug 26, 2024•1 hr 10 min
David Axelrod was one of the first prominent Democrats to suggest that President Biden should withdraw from the race. The former senior advisor to President Barack Obama earned Biden’s ire in the process (and a colorful nickname to go along with it), but time proved him right. And now, he’s calling on Democrat’s to temper their “irrational exuberance.” Kara talks to the Axe man about the Democratic National Convention (of course), his role in persudading President Joe Biden to drop out of the ra...
Aug 22, 2024•53 min
The Democratic National Convention gets underway this week with party stars, social media influencers and Republican Never Trumpers flocking to Chicago for the historic event. Although Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz have already been officially nominated online, the DNC will be a prime chance to lay out their agenda to the American people. But will they? Or will they be more focused on vibes and values? This week, Kara and a team of longtime Harris reporters and pol...
Aug 19, 2024•1 hr 6 min
Renée DiResta is one the world’s leading experts on online disinformation and propaganda and the author of the new book, Invisible Rulers, The People Who Turn Lies into Reality. About two months ago, DiResta found out her contract as the technical research manager at the Stanford Internet Observatory would not be renewed. What’s more, the SIO, one of the foremost academic programs studying abuse online, would be essentially hollowed out. The university blames funding challenges, and says it has ...
Aug 15, 2024•55 min
Desi Lydic has been a Senior Correspondent on Comedy Central’s The Daily Show for nearly a decade. Earlier this year, Jon Stewart returned to the anchor desk on Mondays, and Lydic has been part of a rotating cast hosting the show Tuesday through Thursday, often in teams. This week, she'll be flying solo. Kara and Desi discuss how the Harris/Walz campaign has changed the vibe for the Indecision 2024 team (her message for Dad-joke aficionado Walz: stay in your lane!); how social media has impacted...
Aug 12, 2024•58 min
Roxane Gay is a writer, editor, podcaster, and culture critic. She has published a dozen books, including the seminal essay collection Bad Feminist, which just turned 10, and the memoir Hunger — both are best sellers. She writes a newsletter, The Audacity, and is a contributing opinion writer at The New York Times where, until recently, she wrote the workplace advice column, Work Friend. Gay recently published Stand Your Ground, an essay that explores what it means to be a Black, feminist gun ow...
Aug 08, 2024•1 hr 1 min
In almost four decades as an elected official, Rep. Nancy Pelosi is arguably the most powerful woman in American politics today. She’s been celebrated as the greatest Speaker the House of Representatives has ever seen and even now, almost two years after she gave up the gavel, Pelosi’s influence within the Democratic party is clear and unchanging. When President Biden announced his decision to call off his re-election campaign and endorse Vice President Kamala Harris in his stead, many speculate...
Aug 05, 2024•1 hr 3 min
At first blush, the successful, suburban moms in Southlake, Texas who helped kick off the anti-CRT/anti-DEI movement animating school board fights across the country have little in common with the young, self-described losers and incels who make up much of the alt-right. In fact, both are far-right extremist groups that are obsessed with race, trans people, and not surprisingly, Donald Trump — and they occasionally collaborate. Kara talks to Elle Reeve, author of “Black Pill: How I Witnessed the...
Aug 01, 2024•1 hr 12 min
From the Senate, to the VP Residence to the Oval: Former White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain has been inside President Biden’s inner circle for nearly 40 years. This spring, he even took time off from his brand new job as Airbnb’s Chief Legal Officer to help Biden prep for his (no good, very bad day) debate against Donald Trump. Kara talks to Klain (her former Hoya college buddy) about the many questions, accusations and now conspiracy theories swirling around President Biden’s decision to exit...
Jul 29, 2024•49 min
How did Vice President Kamala Harris raise a historic $126 million in just over 48 hours for her 2024 presidential run? The Harris campaign says 1.4 million voters and key constituencies chipped in after President Biden pulled out of the race, but maybe even more important: Harris has long-standing ties to tech titans in Silicon Valley and influential celebrities in Hollywood. On today’s show, Kara discusses the BIG money behind the blue flood with two top campaign finance reporters, Wall Street...
Jul 25, 2024•56 min
Audie Cornish, Franklin Foer, Ashley Parker, and Alex Thompson join Kara for a special bonus episode about the recent historic tumult in this year's presidential election. The panel breaks down how and why President Joe Biden decided to drop out of the race; what his legacy will be; and what a run by Vice President Kamala Harris could look like. Audie is a CNN anchor and correspondent and host of The Assignment podcast. Franklin is a staff writer for The Atlantic and author of The Last Politicia...
Jul 23, 2024•52 min
Musician, producer and EGOT-winner John Legend and model, TV personality and cookbook author Chrissy Teigan are not just a celebrity couple. They are also entrepreneurs, business partners and passionate surrogates for Democratic politics. Kara spoke with the couple for a live taping of On at Cannes Lions in June about how they’ve built/collaborated on their respective business ventures and what it takes to curate successful brands that work with, not against, their outspoken personalities and po...
Jul 22, 2024•40 min
Surgeon General Vivek Murthy isn’t afraid to go after powerful interests. In mid-June, he published an op-ed in The New York Times calling for a warning label on social media platforms that says they’re associated with mental health problems for teens. The following week, he declared that gun violence is a public health crisis. However, the surgeon general's powers are limited. It'll take an act of Congress to put a warning label on social media platforms, and thanks to the Roberts court, even l...
Jul 18, 2024•56 min
As unlikely as it may seem, until this episode was recorded, Kara Swisher and Rachel Maddow had never met. The two sat down for a riveting conversation that connects America’s unsavory and under-told authoritarian history with the unprecedented political peril we find ourselves in today. After addressing the increasingly desperate calls for President Biden to step down from members of the media and his own party, Kara and Maddow turn to her latest project: the podcast Rachel Maddow Presents: Ult...
Jul 15, 2024•1 hr 1 min
Gretchen Whitmer might be one of the most down-to-earth politicians in America — the governor from Michigan began her conversation with Kara with a bawdy joke about menstruation that she takes with her to the debate stage, and at no point during the interview did she hesitate from cursing. But with the calls for President Biden to resign growing louder, the Governor is an unenviable position. She’s considered a rising star within the party, and potential presidential candidate by some, but as a ...
Jul 11, 2024•51 min
The Northern Atlantic Treaty Organization was formed 75 years ago to protect Europe and North America against Russian aggression – a mission that is once again top priority, as NATO supports Ukraine’s battle against President Vladimir Putin. Ahead of the NATO summit and anniversary celebration in D.C. this week, Kara sits down with US Ambassador to NATO Julianne Smith to talk about the war and Ukraine’s prospective membership in NATO, why the alliance is increasingly looking for partners in Asia...
Jul 08, 2024•46 min
Trump’s historic felony conviction, a SCOTUS ruling in favor of presidential immunity, and a dumpster fire Biden vs. Trump debate: Those are just a few of the things that have happened on the American democracy front since Kara spoke to historian Heather Cox Richardson in January. In a special Independence Day episode, Kara and Heather replay that conversation, including history lessons from her book Democracy Awakening: Notes on the State of America, and then rejoin at the end. They discuss wha...
Jul 04, 2024•1 hr 20 min
Hands with six fingers, mouths with dozens of teeth, hairlines and limbs out of whack: We’ve all seen eye-roll worthy generative AI images. But despite the prevalence of these easy to spot fakes, photography and video media companies like Getty Images are already feeling the impact of AI and trying to integrate the technology without compromising their core business. Kara speaks with Getty CEO Craig Peters about why he can promise users of the Getty AI Generator “uncapped indemnity”, whether he ...
Jul 01, 2024•52 min
The 2024 race is ON and the gloves are coming off: President Biden and former President Donald Trump will go head-to-head tonight, in the first debate of this campaign season [Thursday, 9 pm ET on CNN]. The two are basically tied in the polls, so both candidates are vying for independent voters in a handful of swing states to secure the Oval. Kara hosts a panel of political junkies (Stephanie Ruhle, host of MSNBC's The 11th Hour with Stephanie Ruhle; Eliana Johnson, editor-in-chief at the neocon...
Jun 27, 2024•57 min
Actor and Director Griffin Dunne grew up surrounded by Hollywood fame and celebrity — his father was a TV producer, his aunt the renowned writer Joan Didion, his sister a blossoming actress and the late Carrie Fisher his best friend and onetime roommate. But the Dunne family became famous for tragedy when Griffin’s 22-year-old sister Dominique was murdered by her boyfriend. Dunne’s father, Dominick, chronicled the tumult of the murder trial for Vanity Fair, while privately struggling as a closet...
Jun 24, 2024•52 min
Late spring/early summer is always a busy time for the Supreme Court, but this year, it’s not just the controversial decisions that are making news. The justices themselves have been in headlines — for all the wrong reasons. Kara and an expert panel discuss the ethical lapses, refusals the recuse, and of course, the cases themselves — including the big one, over Trump’s claim to “complete and total” immunity. The panelists are: Judge Nancy Gertner (retired), a lecturer at Harvard Law School and ...
Jun 20, 2024•57 min
Actor Julia Louis-Dreyfus is most famous for her comedic TV characters Elaine Benes in Seinfeld and Veep’s Selina Meyer. But in recent years, Louis-Dreyfus has been showing her dramatic chops, including in her latest film Tuesday, in which she takes on grief, denial and death. She's also been winning awards as the host of her podcast Wiser Than Me. Kara and Julia discuss how in-depth conversations with iconic older women have radicalized her, her concerns about the commercialization of art films...
Jun 17, 2024•45 min
Kara takes the stage with Laurene Powell Jobs at Sixth & I in Washington D.C. to talk about Kara’s recent memoir, Burn Book: A Tech Love Story. In this bonus episode of On, Powell Jobs interviews Swisher about her life as a tech reporter, the incredible influence of tech CEOs, the need for regulation, AI and the best devices of all time. This episode was originally taped on February 29, 2024 and has been edited for clarity and length. You can find the full version of their conversation here: htt...
Jun 14, 2024•53 min
Kara interviews Mira Murati, Chief Technology Officer at OpenAI, and one of the most powerful people in tech. Murati has helped the company skyrocket to the forefront of the generative AI boom, and Apple’s recent announcement that it will soon put ChatGPT in its iPhones, iPads and laptops will only help increase their reach. But OpenAI's rapid ascent has included its fair share of growing pains. There was “the blip,” as company insiders refer to the brief ousting of Sam Altman as CEO. (Murati be...
Jun 13, 2024•50 min
Abortion will be a key issue in the election this fall and it's also the focus of two Supreme Court rulings expected later this month. This week, Kara speaks with Cecile Richards, activist and former President of Planned Parenthood, about the fight for reproductive rights in the post-Roe era, where abortion fits into the electoral landscape, the potential outcomes of the two SCOTUS rulings, and how technology is enhancing access to abortion. On a more personal note, Cecile also talks about her r...
Jun 10, 2024•40 min
