Lying has always been a part of politics, but in recent years, political lies have come to dominate our elections and their outcomes. Even the notion that facts and truths can be objective and shared across the political divide has been put into question. As we head into a fraught election, Kara speaks with Bill Adair, professor of journalism & public policy at Duke and author of Beyond the Big Lie, and Timothy Snyder, Yale history professor and author of On Freedom, about which party lies more;...
Oct 31, 2024•1 hr 5 min
Reid Hoffman isn’t just one of the most influential entrepreneurs and investors in Silicon Valley — he’s also one of the most important mega-donors supporting the Democratic party. A member of the so-called PayPal Mafia, Hoffman is a VC partner at Greylock Ventures and Microsoft board member who co-founded LinkedIn and InflectionAI and was a founding investor in OpenAI. He is one of the leading voices in tech fighting against former President Donald Trump, and he puts his money where his mouth i...
Oct 28, 2024•38 min
Has late-night TV passed its peak? Ticket sales for live comedy shows are booming and there’s no shortage of streaming stand-up specials, but the same is hardly true for late-night television. Is it the business model or the divisive nature of political comedy that’s driving viewership down? Either way, hosting a late-night show remains one of the most coveted jobs in comedy, and in this interview, Kara talks to one of the best. Seth Meyers, SNL veteran, host of Late Night with Seth Meyers on NB...
Oct 24, 2024•58 min
“Digital machines are not just remaking stories, they're remaking us.” So says Oscar-winning actor Robert Downey Jr. as the titular character in his Broadway debut, MCNEAL. Kara talks with Downey Jr., Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Ayad Akhtar and Tony-winning director Bartlett Sher about the play and the thorny questions it raises around truth, lies and power in the AI age. They also discuss who is responsible for creating a new “social contract” around AI. Plus: Kara and Robert get into the...
Oct 21, 2024•59 min
What do cybersecurity experts, journalists in foreign conflicts, indicted New York City Mayor Eric Adams and Drake have in common? They all use the Signal messaging app. Signal’s protocol has been the gold standard in end-to-end encryption, used by Whatsapp, Google and more, for more than a decade. But it’s been under fire from both authoritarian governments and well-meaning democracies who see the privacy locks as a threat. Since 2022, former Google rabble-rouser and AI Now Institute co-founder...
Oct 17, 2024•1 hr 7 min
Why, despite being the most advanced species on the planet, does it feel like humanity is teetering on the brink of self-destruction? Is it just our human nature? Israeli philosopher and historian Yuval Noah Harari doesn’t think so — he says the problem is our information trade. This is the focus of his latest book, Nexus: A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to AI. Harari explores the evolution of our information networks, from the printing press to the dumpster fire of in...
Oct 14, 2024•1 hr 3 min
After more than five decades in broadcasting, Chris Wallace has won almost every award in journalism, including three Emmy Awards, the duPont-Columbia Silver Baton, and the Peabody Award. The host of CNN’s Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace and The Chris Wallace Show (tune in on Saturday mornings to see Kara spar with Chris and the other panelists) is also an author. His latest book, Countdown 1960, narrates the twists and turns of the 1960 presidential contest between John F. Kennedy and Richard Ni...
Oct 10, 2024•1 hr 3 min
How did a Ukrainian-born hustler help former President Donald Trump and his lawyer Rudy Giuliani dig up dirt on then-candidate Joe Biden and his son Hunter to influence the 2020 presidential election – a scheme that ultimately led to Trump's first impeachment? That's the question behind ‘From Russia with Lev’, a new doc from MSNBC's Rachel Maddow that follows Lev Parnas, a Ukrainian-American from a less-than-savory background, who paid his way into the former president’s inner circle in 2016 and...
Oct 07, 2024•1 hr 6 min
Will AI “agents” soon be personalized teachers, doctors, companions and even check items off your to-do list on their own? “Agentic” is the latest buzzword in AI and Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman says moving beyond the text chatbot to a "smart friend” is the goal. The former co-founder of DeepMind, Suleyman helped grow Google’s AI division before launching another start-up, InflectionAI. Earlier this year, Microsoft paid $650 million for the licensing rights to Inflection, and brought Suleym...
Oct 03, 2024•57 min
Bill Gates needs no introduction. The co-founder and former CEO of Microsoft and the co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has been one of the richest people in the world for decades. He’s also spent decades giving away his fortune and working on some of humanity’’s most vexing challenges. That’s the focus of his Netflix docuseries What’s Next? The Future with Bill Gates, where Bill dives into AI, misinformation, global warming, inequality, and disease. Kara interviews Bill in front ...
Sep 30, 2024•59 min
Pete Buttigieg burst onto the political scene in 2019, and his rapid ascent into a legitimate presidential contender was one of the most surprising storylines of the 2020 Democratic primary. Today, he’s one of the most effective communicators in the party. He was also one of many Democratic voters’ favorite candidates for the Harris VP pick. Kara and Pete get straight to all of that in this episode: is the Harris campaign strategy working? ; Was Tim Walz the right pick for VP? How is Pete preppi...
Sep 26, 2024•48 min
For years, former President Donald Trump has railed against law enforcement officials who have sought to hold him accountable. In his latest book, Where Tyranny Begins: the Justice Department, the FBI and the War on Democracy, Pulitzer Prize-winning author and senior executive editor for national security at NBC News David Rohde investigates how Trump’s attacks have impacted law enforcement agencies and the civil servants who work there. In this episode, Kara and David discuss how Trump’s threat...
Sep 23, 2024•59 min
Kara interviews renowned economist, author, former Labor Secretary, and social media star, Robert Reich. The 78-year old professor of economics at University of California, Berkeley is as prolific as ever, pointing out the inequities in our “rigged system” and calling out the rich and powerful who want to keep it that way. Kara and Robert discuss the presidential candidates' competing visions for the America, our rigged economic system (and how it got this way), his prescription for reigning in ...
Sep 19, 2024•1 hr 2 min
Former First Lady/Senator/Madam Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton is in a political league of her own. But the “housewife from Chappaqua” (as Kara likes to call her) isn’t ready to hang up her party hat just yet. As she details in her latest memoir, Something Lost, Something Gained, HRC continues to champion the rights of women and girls across the globe. And as a former opponent to Donald Trump and only other woman to lead a major presidential ticket, she’s an inimitable advisor and surrogate fo...
Sep 16, 2024•1 hr 7 min
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
