Kara and Scott talk about Facebook's decision not to change their political ad policies. They also discuss Facebook banning "deep fakes" and Teen Vogue's confusion over a Facebook sponsored content article. Kara has a rant for Facebook VP, Andrew Bosworth, about his Lord of the Rings reference and op-ed. In Listener Mail we hear from an Australian asking about big tech's response to natural disasters such as the on-going fires in his country. Overall CES is a fail, but inviting Ivanka Trump to s...
Jan 10, 2020•45 min•Ep. 71
Kara and Scott talk about how Trump has been escalating US conflict with Iran on Twitter. They also discuss how politics were downplayed at the Golden Globes, but big tech took a lot of snark -- especially from our favorite rebel Sascha Baron Cohen. Kara's win is Richard Plepler, the former CEO/Chairman of HBO moving his production company to Apple. In fails, it turns out that New York City offered Amazon even more incentives for HQ2 than previously reported. Plus Kara and Scott give us some "ma...
Jan 07, 2020•31 min•Ep. 70
Kara and Scott are back to talk about a suite of new regulations in California that will give consumers agency over their data and gig workers more protection. They also talk about Tesla's big stock spike. In fails, Sharon Stone was kicked off the Bumble dating app. And Kara brings some optimistic predictions to the show -- she thinks handheld phone devices will be a thing of the past by 2030. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Jan 03, 2020•51 min•Ep. 69
Kara and Scott look back at the 2010s and the biggest stories of the decade with the help of some friends. With cameos from Colorado Senator Michael Bennett, Girls Who Code Founder/CEO Reshma Saujani, and Former HBO CEO/Chairman Richard Plepler, they break down the moments in tech, leadership, politics and media that defined the time. Plus Kara and Scott reflect on some of their own personal growth over the past ten years -- with their parents. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoi...
Dec 27, 2019•52 min•Ep. 68
Kara and Scott talk about what impeachment might mean for business. Also they talk about Peter Thiel's influence behind the scenes at Facebook and their political ad policies. Meanwhile, SoftBank is on an on-going disaster. A personal win for Kara is Amazon banning third-party sellers from using FedEx (after her recent tweet-storm). Which brings Scott to predict that FedEx will get acquired in the next couple of years. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Dec 20, 2019•46 min•Ep. 67
Kara and Scott talk about the "Phase One" trade agreement between the US and China and what it means for big tech. It's the anniversary of the tragic Sandy Hook shooting and Kara and Scott talk about how tech could mitigate gun violence and how people are buying "ghost guns" online. In listener mail, we get a question about whether Amazon will buy rights to stream NFL games when their contracts with major networks end in 2022. In predictions, Scott says we'll hear more about Apple's relationship...
Dec 17, 2019•44 min•Ep. 66
Kara and Scott talk about Congress' hearing on regulating end-to-end encryption on messaging apps. They discussJack Dorsey's tweet storm about building a small internal open source team. We get updates on leadership at Away. In Friend of Pivot, we hear from legendary fashion and media icon Joanna Coles on what Amazon wants out of the fashion industry. Scott's win is the Silicon Valley finale. Kara's fail are people like AG Bill Barr who continue to protect Trump. In predictions, Scott thinks we'...
Dec 13, 2019•51 min•Ep. 65
Kara and Scott talk about a letter Scott wrote to the board about concerns at Twitter. They discuss Uber's data report on sexual assault that occurred in their rides. In fails, Kara and Scott get into a new story about the brutal culture at Away. Aviation gin's "sequel" to the Peloton ad is everybody's win! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Dec 10, 2019•47 min•Ep. 64
Kara and Scott talk about leaderships shifts at Google -- Larry and Sergey are out and Sundar Pichai is in. In Friend of Pivot we hear from French lawyer, Dan Shefet about France's newly approved "digital service tax". Also, Pelosi announced that Section 230 won't carry over into trade deals with Mexico and Canada. Kamala Harris is the winner this week -- she may not be president in 2020, but Scott's predicting she'll be someone's VEEP. In fails Scott rants about Elon Musk and his defense of a d...
Dec 06, 2019•42 min•Ep. 63
Welcome to Pivot 2x! Our first twice weekly episode. Kara and Scott talk about the future of Twitter as Jack Dorsey announces he's off to live in Africa. They discuss the streaming wars and how movies fared on on platform versus in movie theaters. In listener mail they talk about the failures of logistics companies (specifically FedEx). Prediction: Twitter loses value next year and an activist investor steps in. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Dec 03, 2019•37 min•Ep. 63
Kara and Scott talk about Uber getting kicked out of its biggest EU market, London. They parse out the ad, media and digital strategy of Michael Bloomberg in his quest for the White House. In Friend of Pivot, Kara and Scott have different takes on Google's recent firings of 4 employee labor organizers. In wins, Pivot welcomes Sacha Baron Cohen to the resistance for his speech about regulating social media platforms. Kara thinks Mark Zuckerberg failed this year in his "personal challenge" to have...
Nov 29, 2019•45 min•Ep. 62
Kara and Scott talk about how Apple CEO Tim Cook, let Trump get away with lying about being responsible for building a 2013 factory. They also talk about how a Facebook executive says the company wants the government to regulate political ads. Also, Scott thinks HBO Max is making a big mistake by diluting its brand and bundling non-prestige television. Friend of Pivot, Arielle Duhaime-Ross, the host of Reset comes on the show to ask Kara and Scott about "sharenting" and how they decide to share ...
Nov 22, 2019•50 min•Ep. 61
Kara and Scott talk about all the Silicon Valley companies rolling out credit cards and checking accounts. Google is also partnering with a Catholic non-profit that has clinics and hospitals around the country. In that new project called 'Nightingale', Google will collect patient data in its cloud computing and use AI to give treatment recommendations. We're skeptical. In Listener Mail, Kara and Scott ask a question about the rivalry between Ali Baba and Amazon, as Ali Baba makes a secondary off...
Nov 15, 2019•45 min•Ep. 60
Kara and Scott talk about former Twitter employees who were spying on user data for Saudi Arabia. They also talk about a big leak of internal Facebook emails that further shows Facebook's conniving use of data. A year out from the 2020 election, a new progressive PAC is trying to beat Donald Trump in the digital ad space. Kara and Scott agree it's a drop in the bucket. Scott bids a farewell to his presidential hopeful and "dreamy man crush" Beto. Kara's win is Airbnb's transparent handling of a ...
Nov 08, 2019•46 min•Ep. 59
Kara and Scott celebrate Jack Dorsey announcing that Twitter will not be running political ads anymore. That puts Facebook on the spot. They talk about Kara's interview with Edward Snowden on her other podcast Recode Decode. In streaming wars news, HBOMax is joining and sweeping up all the content. How will net neutrality affect the streaming wars? In listener mail, we dig into a new bill introduced in Congress that would force big social media platforms to loosen their hold on user data. Learn ...
Nov 01, 2019•43 min•Ep. 58
Kara and Scott take a victory lap as SoftBank buys out Adam Neumann, the founder of weWork for a cool $1.7 billion. They talk about what the future might hold, now that Google has unveiled its quantum computer. Tesla proved Scott wrong and came out with some really big earnings this week. We also hear from Senior Recode reporter, Peter Kafka about what to expect from the streaming wars as Apple debuts its own platform. Winners are the women of Congress, who absolutely skewered Mark Zuckerberg in...
Oct 25, 2019•44 min•Ep. 63
Kara and Scott met up at Stanford University (where they were both rejected from) for a live Pivot! They talk about the decline of applicants to elite M.B.A. programs, free speech in China and how Zuckerberg says he thinks free speech functions at Facebook. They get into Amazon's foray into the healthcare sector. They take questions from the audience on the Canadian elections, weWork and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Oct 23, 2019•1 hr•Ep. 57
Kara and Scott meet up at the Podcast Upfronts in NYC. And we make a special announcement...wait for it... WE'RE GOING TO 2 DAYS A WEEK! BOOM! They also talk about the likelihood that weWork has layoffs and declares bankruptcy. They talk about Bill Gates' ties to Jeffrey Epstein, Win: Elizabeth Warren intentionally submitted a Facebook political ad with false information on it to show the platform's failures. Fail: the crumbling of Facebook's cryptocurrency, Libra. Learn more about your ad choic...
Oct 18, 2019•38 min•Ep. 56
Kara and Scott talk about feuds with VC's, billionaires paying fewer taxes than the working class and tech companies folding to Chinese state media pressure. They take a listener mail question about Sidewalk Labs and the right way to make smart cities. They're concerned with the Turkish president's use of Twitter to announce an invasion of Syria. A win is Andrew Yang's $10-million boost in Q3. And Kara comes with her own prediction this week, that Michael Bloomberg is going to jump into the pres...
Oct 11, 2019•43 min•Ep. 55
Someone inside Facebook secretly recorded Mark Zuckerberg for two hours and sent the audio to The Verge’s Casey Newton; Kara interviews Casey about his scoop and gets Scott’s take on Zuckerberg’s apparent fear of President Elizabeth Warren. They also talk about why WeWork CEO Adam Neumann may have to go into the Unicorn Protection Program and why the company’s canceled IPO is a victory for the public markets. Plus: Kara dares Twitter to take responsibility for President Trump’s Tweets, and The B...
Oct 04, 2019•46 min•Ep. 54
Kara and Scott are live at the Elevate in Toronto -- Pivot's first international appearance! They talk about the continued implosion at weWork and CEO Adam Neumann stepping down. They ask -- have we reached peak "founder"? Wins are whistleblowers and Phoebe Waller-Bridge who is helping Amazon outpace Netflix in streaming content. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Sep 27, 2019•59 min•Ep. 53
Happy 1st anniversary to Pivot! Kara and Scott talk about weWork's halted IPO (we'll take partial credit). They talk about Amazon manipulating its algorithm to present more of its own products in search. Facebook is making its own "Supreme Court", is it just a band-aid? Should Kara Swisher be one of the Justices? (Yes). Fail: Trudeau -- and the (STILL) Governor of Virginia -- wearing black face. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Sep 20, 2019•47 min•Ep. 55
Scott joins Land of the Giants host, Jason Del Rey, live on stage at the Code Commerce conference in New York City. Scott tells Jason that Amazon needs to be broken up - and which parts of the company should be spun off first. They discuss Amazon’s ultimate impact on us as consumers, who are the companies left that can really compete with Amazon, and question the idea that we live in an era of innovation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Sep 18, 2019•29 min•Ep. 51
Kara and Scott talk at the annual Lesbians Who Tech Summit in New York City. Scott is dubbed a #LezBro. They discuss 48 state AG's putting forth an antitrust probe into Google. They love it. Kara comes with her new augmented reality glasses -- she thinks they're the future, Scott disagrees. WeWork's biggest investor encouraged them not to go forward with their IPO -- it's either because Pivot has gone so hard after them or because their S-1 is utter nonsense. Kara's win is Chrissy Teigen taking ...
Sep 13, 2019•58 min•Ep. 51
Kara and Scott bring on NYTimes reporter, Mike Isaac, to talk about his new book "Super Pumped: the Battle for Uber". They pick his brain about all the Silicon Valley drama around the ride-share company. Scott's win is Walmart for taking action in the gun-control debate. Mike comes prepared with his own fail and calls out Twitter for the hacking of Jack Dorsey's account. Scott is predicting that weWork doesn't ever actually go public. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/ad...
Sep 06, 2019•43 min•Ep. 52
Kara and Scott talk Peloton's S-1 ... is it the WeWork of exercise or an innovation in happiness? They also talk about Facebook's newest attempt to undercut Snapchat. Kara's fail is journalists who can't take a joke. And for the first time ... Pivot is taking listener mail! This week, Scott gets pushback from a listener in Minnesota on his Tesla views. PLUS: we get the inside scoop on how Scott comes up with his predictions (spoiler: it's more than shaking a Magic-8 ball). Learn more about your ...
Aug 30, 2019•46 min•Ep. 49
Kara and Scott are back in the studio to talk about Trump bringing foreign policy to Twitter, state AG's taking on big tech and Tesla possibly being bought by Volkswagen (what a world!) Meanwhile, Scott's planning to buy Uzbekistan. Kara and Scott both think DoorDash taking tip money from its delivery people is a fail -- DoorDash, Pivot is watching you. And you heard it here first, Scott's big prediction this week is that Spotify will roll out hardware in the future. Warning: there are expletive...
Aug 23, 2019•43 min•Ep. 48
Kara and Scott meet up in New York City for an extra, unfiltered Pivot in front of a live audience. They recap some of the news already happening this week like "The Business Roundtable" redefining their mission statement to include stakeholders. Kara and Scott revisit some of the wins and fails of the the first half of 2019. And they take on burning questions from the audience. WARNING: this episode contains more expletives than usual. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/...
Aug 21, 2019•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 47
Kara and Scott take on sharks, summer in New England, WeWork's IPO and Tumblr's fall. They also talk about how trade-wars with China are slowing down tech. Scott had a win this week when Nike added a "rundle" subscription service. Scott also gives a win shoutout to Harvard professor Raj Chetty for his research on how class and race function in US society. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Aug 16, 2019•50 min•Ep. 47
Kara and Scott talk about Cloudfare dropping 8chan after its latest link to domestic terrorism and hate speech. They also talk about SoulCycle and Equinox's links to the Trump campaign. Kara's ready to dump SoulCycle, but Scott's holding out on Equinox. They also talk about Facebook rebranding WhatsApp and Instagram. Scott's getting Apple's new titanium card (apparently it could kill a person). And in predictions Scott thinks the TheRealReal's stock is about to get real. Learn more about your ad...
Aug 09, 2019•39 min•Ep. 46
