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 whats 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 po...
Aug 28, 2023•54 min•Transcript available on Metacast Were talking about Elon again but this time we're looking at the big picture: the tech titans 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 tobreak down the varying fortunes of SpaceX, Tesla and Twitter, and the sustainability of those companies under a leader that is ambitious, but capricious...
Aug 24, 2023•55 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 ...
Aug 21, 2023•59 min•Transcript available on Metacast Kara and Nayeema are back with a fresh episode, and this time theyre tackling the DOJs 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
Aug 17, 2023•1 hr 5 min•Transcript available on Metacast Today, were 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. Theyve 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, is...
Aug 14, 2023•59 min•Transcript available on Metacast Today, were re-airing one of Blakeney Schicks 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...
Aug 10, 2023•55 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 on@voxmedia.com or find us on I...
Aug 07, 2023•54 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 hes flipped and flopped on Trump, can we trust him to not bend the knee again? Qu...
Aug 03, 2023•59 min•Transcript available on Metacast After Kara and Nayeema discuss Senators Warren and Grahams unlikely alliance on tech regulation, we turn to todays 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
Jul 31, 2023•59 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 andOppenheimer 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 exper...
Jul 27, 2023•48 min•Transcript available on Metacast This May, The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art invited Kara to deliver its commencement address. Today, wed like to share her speech with you. Kara discusses the arc of her career and the lessons shes picked up covering the most powerful in tech plus gardening. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Jul 24, 2023•27 min•Transcript available on Metacast Today, a conversation with one of the most impassioned leaders of Hollywoods historic double strike: Fran Drescher, star of The Nanny turned SAG-AFTRA president. We discuss what broke down in the unions 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 qu...
Jul 20, 2023•1 hr•Transcript available on Metacast 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, its 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 t...
Jul 17, 2023•1 hr 7 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 Foxs Rupert-Trump-Tucker love triangle. Were 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?! Cal...
Jul 13, 2023•1 hr 8 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 news? Chief Washington Correspondent and Anchor of The Lead Jake Tapper joins us to discuss these questions, and his new book, All the Demons Are Here, a Post-Watergate thriller with inspiration from Trump, Murdoch and more. 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 advi...
Jul 10, 2023•1 hr 11 min•Transcript available on Metacast After a quick rundown of the summers hottest films, Nayeema and Kara turn to our guest today: acclaimed (and controversial) filmmaker Oliver Stone. The man behind classics like Wall Street and JFK has turned his lens to climate change solutions in a new documentary, Nuclear Now. We discuss the good question of why there isnt more nuclear energy in the United States, the roots of Stones distrust in convention, and the challenge of a world where distrust can turn into conspiracy theory. Need advic...
Jul 06, 2023•1 hr•Transcript available on Metacast 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), Nayeema takes Kara for a walk down memory lane. We reair a conversation from January revisiting Karas early days covering Mark from seeing him sweat through interviews to getting Mark to say things he probably wishes he hadnt. And we discuss why Mark (who has a standing invite to be interviewed on our show) is probably not going to join despite all his ...
Jul 03, 2023•56 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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), we turn to Hollywood star and entrepreneur Sarah Jessica Parker. The actor speaks about reprising her iconic role of Carrie in Sex and the City in its latest iteration, And Just Like That. Plus, we dig into her businesses from wine to heels and talk about the business of Hollywood, including why SJP remains bullish on cinema. Need advice?! We have...
Jun 29, 2023•1 hr 5 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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, Wanda Sykes: Im an Entertainer. But today, she tells Kara that there are a few things she doesnt find funny anymore including Donald Trump. Also: Need advice?! We have an upcoming episode where Kara and Nayeema tackle your Qs about career, love, or life in general. Call 1-888-KARA-PLZ and leave us a voice note with a question that could feature o...
Jun 26, 2023•50 min•Transcript available on Metacast Kara and Nayeema take a field trip to Martha Stewarts 156-acre estate for an interview with the media mogul and O.G. influencer. On the menu for this conversation? The media mavens 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. Youre invited to send questions in for a spec...
Jun 22, 2023•1 hr 1 min•Transcript available on Metacast This Juneteenth, were sharing an episode of The Weeds, a Vox Media podcast where host Jonquilyn Hill breaks down the policies that shape our lives. This episode digs into school discipline and the achievement gap with Francis Pearman of Stanford Universitys Graduate School of Education. For many Black children, their first encounter with the discrimination that will trail them their whole lives comes from the school system a system where they are five times more likely to attend a segregated sch...
Jun 19, 2023•52 min•Transcript available on Metacast After Kara and Nayeema debate the pros and cons of AI personal assistants vs. human personal assistants vs. fake personal assistants, we turn to Mustafa Suleyman, the man who co-founded DeepMind. Now, he and his co-founders Reid Hoffman and Karn Simonyan have started Inflection AI, a startup that creates personal AIs, and they're launching with a chatbot called Pi. Kara talks to Mustafa about whether or not Pi is "woke," the conversion of Suleymans former colleague, Geoffrey Hinton, and oh yes A...
Jun 15, 2023•1 hr•Transcript available on Metacast Donald Trump signed the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency into existence in 2018 with the mandate to protect Americas infrastructure from threats digital and physical. Trump also made CISA a household name when he fired the departments head in 2020 for noting that, no, the election was not stolen. Today, we hear from Jen Easterly, the woman who now runs CISA and has the job of preventing another SolarWinds or Colonial Pipeline attack as well as preventing foreign and domestic attack...
Jun 12, 2023•1 hr 4 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 interview with Tekedra Mawakana. The Co-CEO of Waymo (formerly the Google self-driving car project) discusses trying to change how society moves while dealing withobstacles to the autonomous vehicle transition, like angsty Teamsters and tetchy regulators. And Kara explains why shes so bullish on driverless cars. BTW, do you have any burning questions on career, ...
Jun 08, 2023•57 min•Transcript available on Metacast Teslas self-driving ambitions (and the companys recent recall) may dominate the conversation when it comes to autonomous driving, but theyre not the only players in the space. This week, Karas talking to CEOs whose driverless vehicles are being roadtested. First up: Chris Urmson, co-founder and CEO of Aurora, which will launch its driverless truck service next year in Texas. They discuss safety, job displacement and the time that Kara tried to hit Urmson with his own driverless car. (Spoiler ale...
Jun 05, 2023•58 min•Transcript available on Metacast After Kara and Nayeema discuss the Succession finale and their theories on a spin-off, we turn to Karas interviews with Alexander Skarsgrd and Jeremy Strong, aka Lukas Matsson and Kendall Logan Roy. SPOILER ALERT: If you havent watched the finale yet, do not listen to this episode. Also, ADVICE ALERT Do you haveburning questions on career, love or life youd like Kara or Nayeemas advice on? If so, call 1-888-KARA-PLZ and leave us a voicemail. Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or fi...
Jun 01, 2023•1 hr 15 min•Transcript available on Metacast Today, Kara talks to USAID Administrator Samantha Power and Ukrainian Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Information Mykhailo Fedorov about the role of tech in the war, and the power of an app called Diia. Among its capabilities: accessing medical information, filing claims for war damage to property and helping track Russian troop movements. Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on Instagram. Were @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza. BTW, do you have any burning questions on ca...
May 29, 2023•42 min•Transcript available on Metacast After Kara and Nayeema review the weeks A.I. news, including Sam Altmans Senate testimony and the viral AI-generated image of the Pentagon in flames, we turn to Tristan Harris co-founder of the Center for Humane Technology and a key voice among the calls for slowing down the A.I. arms race. BTW, do you have any burning questions on career, love or life youd like Kara or Nayeemas advice on? If so, call 1-888-KARA-PLZ and leave us a voice mail. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoice...
May 25, 2023•1 hr 14 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 of YouTube stars and has since made the jump to linear TV. On the agenda: why creators are itching to go from the booming medium of social to a struggling landscape of linear TV, diversity in Hollywood and Karas texts with famous people. Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on Instagram. Were @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza Le...
May 22, 2023•57 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 with governments more,and a murky algorithm and blue check jungle makes it feel less relevant and less reliable than ever before. Nayeema and Kara break down how the fruit has fallen and where it may eventually land (Yahoo Mail, anyone?) with Zo Schiffer, managing editor of Platformer, and Ryan Mac, The New York Timess tech and accountability repo...
May 18, 2023•52 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
