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 with China, the threat posed by Iran, and the dangers that would come from the potential resurgence of Espers former boss: Donald Trump. Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on social media. Were on Instagram/Threads as @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Dec 11, 2023•57 min•Transcript available on Metacast Former Wyoming Congresswoman Liz Cheney is on a mission to defeat Donald Trump - and says shell do whatever it takes to prevent him and his enablers from a second term in the White House, including supporting Democrats or going up against him on a third party ticket. She lays out why she thinks Trump is a danger to the country in her new book, Oath and Honor. A Memoir and a Warning. We speak with Cheney about being ostracized within her beloved Republican party, how she made friends with Democra...
Dec 07, 2023•57 min•Transcript available on Metacast Rep. Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin is on a mission to raise the alarm bell on the Chinese Communist Party and rethink Americas approach to China. As chair of the Select Committee on the CCP, hes arguably the leading China hawk in DC and has put the squeeze on everyone from Elon Musk and Bob Iger to the NBA and Wall Street to get tougher on China. The person he wants to push the hardest, though, is President Joe Biden. Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on social media. Wer...
Dec 04, 2023•1 hr 1 min•Transcript available on Metacast Tennis legend Martina Navratilova is no stranger to controversy. But the battle shes picked these days, which has pit her against inclusion of trans women in professional sports has put her at odds with many in the LGBTQ community that considers her an icon, and made her strange bedfellows with Republicans with whom shes otherwise on (Twitter) war footing. We explore why shes chosen to plant this flag, talk about the continued pay inequity in tennis, and brainstorm what shell do next (hint: it c...
Nov 30, 2023•58 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 be the European Court of Human Rights. The two-time Olympic gold medalist has been in a legal battle since 2019 with World Athletics, the global governing body for track and field, after it banned her from competing because of her naturally-occurring higher levels of testosterone. She discusses her experience, what labels get wrong and her new book A Rac...
Nov 27, 2023•49 min•Transcript available on Metacast In the swirl of drama around Sam Altmans exit from OpenAI, one company seems to be the winner: Microsoft. It has both a significant partnership with, and an ownership stake in, the company, and now it's welcoming Altman and OpenAI researchers with open arms. For this emergency episode, Kara interviews Microsoft CEOSatya Nadella. Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on social media. Were on Instagram/Threads as @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza Learn more about your ad choices....
Nov 21, 2023•28 min•Transcript available on Metacast Why did Fox News knowingly air unhinged conspiracy theories about Dominion Voting Systems and Smartmatic and then fire Tucker Carlson, its most popular host, just days after settling with Dominion for $787.5 million? Brian Stelter, the former host of CNNs Reliable Sources, explores these questions and more in a new book, Network of Lies: The Epic Saga of Fox News, Donald Trump, and the Battle for American Democracy. The TLDL: Tucker and Rupert deserved each other, until they didnt. But do listen...
Nov 20, 2023•1 hr 3 min•Transcript available on Metacast Dan Doctoroff had a storied career as Deputy Mayor of New York City during the first two Bloomberg administrations. In six years, Doctoroff helped rebuild the city after 9/11. He later oversaw the terminal and media business at Bloomberg before joining forces with Google on (the now defunct) Sidewalk Labs mission to define the future of cities. These days, hes taking on a new challenge: ALS, a.k.a Lou Gehrigs disease. Doctoroff was hit with the neurodegenerative disease in 2021. He speaks candid...
Nov 16, 2023•55 min•Transcript available on Metacast Are tech bros successful because of some innate talent, or could any of us be like them? Organizational psychologist and Wharton School professor Adam Grant takes on the myth of innate talent and the reality of growth in his latest book, Hidden Potential: The Science of Achieving Greater Things. We hear why forward-looking advice trumps feedback, how Gen Z can thrive in hybrid work scenarios and why Grant thinks there should be an age limit for politicians. Stay till the end to hear Grant turn t...
Nov 13, 2023•59 min•Transcript available on Metacast After three incredibly chaotic weeks, the House Republican Conference elected a relatively unknown (and startlingly retrograde) Louisiana congressman, Mike Johnson, as Speaker of the House. Today we learn who he is and what impact he will have on the issues, from gay rights and abortion to the keeping the government funded, as well as what his ascension portends for the 2024 elections. Our guests are: Marianna Sotomayor, a congressional reporter at The Washington Post; Nia-Malika Henderson, a se...
Nov 09, 2023•53 min•Transcript available on Metacast Today were 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 the best and worst place on the internet. If you like it; check out the Land of The Giants: The Twitter Fantasy and revisit our interviews with Ben Mezrich, Walter Isaacson, Ronan Farrow and William Cohan, or Kara and Nayeemas own walk down memory lane on Twitter. Enjoy! And well be back on Thursday with a new episode of On. This episode hosted by Pe...
Nov 06, 2023•52 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 been adapted to films like21, The Social Network, and Dumb Money. His latest, Breaking Twitter, has already been optioned by MGM. In this conversation: Bens process for blending hard facts with informed speculation, Karas advice for dealing with the tech titan, and predictions about Linda Yaccarinos fate. Oh, also a brainstorm about who should play ...
Nov 02, 2023•1 hr 8 min•Transcript available on Metacast Uber: hard to live with it, or without it. In this episode Kara grills CEO Dara Khosrowshahi on the companys sky-high prices, high take rate, treatment of drivers/couriers, policies around safety and why oh why he is kind to his predecessor, Travis Kalanick. Before and after the interview, Kara and Nayeema make sense of the power and problems of Uber, and discuss Lesbians Who Tech (a conference not in general). Note: Khosrowshahi discusses a 15% take rate in the United States, exclusive of comme...
Oct 30, 2023•1 hr•Transcript available on Metacast 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 and venture capitalist, and Deb Roy, the director of the MIT Center for Constructive Communication, about how we got here and what some potential solutions are. Stick around after the interview to hear Kara and Nayeema discuss the ethics of stapling bread to trees. This episode was recorded live at the University of Virginias Karsh Institute for Democrac...
Oct 26, 2023•52 min•Transcript available on Metacast Social media has been inundated with disinformation about the Israel-Hamas war from a flood of graphic visual content, to unsubstantiated claims and opportunistic content generation (and monetization) by third parties to this conflict. To make sense of this fog of war, we turn to a panel that brings together a reporter, a researcher and a former Facebook/Meta insider: Shayan Sardarizadeh is a senior disinformation journalist with the BBC, Rene DiResta is a research manager at the Stanford Intern...
Oct 23, 2023•1 hr•Transcript available on Metacast In the fog of war, were joined by CNN Chief International Anchor Christiane Amanpour. Shes covered the Middle East for decades and brings her signature truthful, not neutral journalism to the tense battle that has unfolded in Israel and Gaza. Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on social media. Were on Instagram/Threads as @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Oct 19, 2023•42 min•Transcript available on Metacast What are the most immediate, and potentially catastrophic, risks posed by AI? According to pioneering AI researcher, Dr. Fei-Fei Li, they include disinformation, polarization, biases, a loss of privacy and job losses that could lead to unrest. The Stanford computer scientist is a fierce advocate for the humane development of artificial intelligence and for increased diversity in the field. She and Kara discuss AIs problems and possibilities, the need for increased public sector investment and he...
Oct 16, 2023•1 hr 1 min•Transcript available on Metacast In a time of a divided House (and divided GOP) not to mention polarized social media how can you engage through disagreement? Abraham Lincoln may have some clues, as Steve Inskeep deduces. The journalist and host of NPRs Morning Edition has a new book, Differ We Must: How Lincoln Succeeded in a Divided America, which details the political life and legacy of Lincoln through the lens of disagreement and understands how the 16th president practiced politics skillfully in order to assemble a majorit...
Oct 12, 2023•1 hr 4 min•Transcript available on Metacast Today were replaying you a summer episode where Kara and Nayeema took 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 Stewar...
Oct 09, 2023•1 hr 2 min•Transcript available on Metacast After Kara and Nayeema discuss the defenestration of Kevin McCarthy, we turn to podcaster and political savant Jon Lovett of Crooked Media fame. Kara and Jon share laughs as they talk about the podcast biz, unions, Trump and Bidens chances in 24. This conversation was taped live at the Code Conference on September 28, 2023. Questions or comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on social media. Were on Instagram/Threads as @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza Learn more about your ad choices. Vi...
Oct 05, 2023•40 min•Transcript available on Metacast After Kara and Nayeema discuss Dianne Feinsteins death and her legacy as a leader, we turn to Kara's interview with Adam Kinzinger. The former Republican congressman has said he would only vote for Trump in one scenario: if his opponent were Satan. Once a rising star in the Tea Party, Kinzinger is now a leading voice inside the GOPs anti-Trump cohort. He was one of only ten House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump after January 6, 2021 and, like many of his peers, he paid a high price: his s...
Oct 02, 2023•1 hr 2 min•Transcript available on Metacast On Wednesday, two Twitter-related interviews rocked the stage at the 2023 Code Conference. Kara interviewed the former head of trust and safety at Twitter/X, Yoel Roth, and Julia Boorstin, CNBC's Senior Media & Tech Correspondent, interviewed Xs CEO, Linda Yaccarino. The late booking of Roth rattled Yaccarino, and her interview led to a media storm. Today, we bring you both interviews. We start off with Kara and Nayeema, as they set the stage early on Wednesday morning, play the interviews in ch...
Sep 28, 2023•2 hr 39 min•Transcript available on Metacast 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 for billions. Shes since built a hospitality brand, been an active philanthropist and is an owner or partner in three professional sports teams. But many of those achievements came at great cost, as Sheila writes in her new memoir, Walk Through Fire: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and Triumph. We discuss how she navigated her success and independence in a t...
Sep 25, 2023•57 min•Transcript available on Metacast Bidens poll numbers are atrocious, and in recent columns from The Washington Post to The New York Times and The National Journal, the punditocracy has started to sour on the presidents 2024 ambitions. Columnists have weighed in on why Biden could lose to Trump and whether itd be better for him to step aside. Is this a phase, a pipe dream or an actual crisis? We convene an all-star panel to discuss. Our guests: Franklin Foer, staff writer for The Atlantic and author of the recently released The L...
Sep 21, 2023•1 hr 3 min•Transcript available on Metacast Walter Isaacson and Kara are friends but that doesnt mean shes going to go easy on him as they discuss Isaacsons new hit biography: Elon Musk,which is causing much consternation among readers and reviewers. Kara pushes Walter on whether the book equivocates or excuses too much of Elons bad behavior. And Walter, well, he pushes back. Questions or comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on social media. Were on Instagram/Threads as @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza Learn more about your ad ch...
Sep 18, 2023•1 hr 26 min•Transcript available on Metacast A Jewish comedian walks into an apartment in Queens to meet a group of white supremacists This isnt the setup to a bad joke its the inciting incident in Alex Edelmans hit one-man show, Just For Us, which recently wrapped a nine-week run on Broadway. We talk to Edelman about the value of entering rooms with people you vehemently disagree with, Elon Musks threat to sue the ADL, and whether there should be any uncrossable lines in comedy. Questions or comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find u...
Sep 14, 2023•51 min•Transcript available on Metacast Late-night legend and podcasting impresario Conan OBrien joins Kara to talk about the decline of late night, the writers strike, his $150 million deal with SiriusXM and his new HBO Max show, Conan OBrien Must Go. They also trade notes on interviewing and accounting. Questions or comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on social media. Were on Instagram/Threads as @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza Photo credit: Gage Skidmore via Flickr Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.c...
Sep 11, 2023•59 min•Transcript available on Metacast For years, Naomi Klein has had a problem: the author and Guardian columnist has been chronically confused with Naomi Wolf, a conspiracy theorist and favorite guest of Steve Bannons podcast. This is the premise of Kleins new book, Doppelganger: A Trip Into the Mirror World, where she investigates how her dark twin fell down the conspiracy theory rabbit hole and what that tells us about the lure of conspiratorial thinking and its dangerous use as a political strategy. Today, we talk to Klein about...
Sep 07, 2023•1 hr•Transcript available on Metacast This Labor Day, we are re airing a fan-favorite episode about, who else, Elon Musk and Kara Swisher. Nayeema interviews Kara whos covered Musk since the late 90s. Well unpack how Elon became Elon, why Kara came to believe he was one of the greatest visionaries in Silicon Valley, when exactly she soured on him and why she still holds out some hope. If youre not sick of Elon by the end of this episode, you may also want to listen to our conversations with Elon biographer Walter Isaacson, former Tw...
Sep 04, 2023•1 hr 5 min•Transcript available on Metacast Billionaire mogul and power broker Barry Diller doesnt hold back (at all) as he takes us inside Washington, Silicon Valley and Hollywood. The legendary executive breaks down why Biden isnt his fave, how we can save the news business and the republic from AI, and how the evil genius of Netflix factors into the ongoing WGA and SAG strikes. That, and more, in what Kara and Nayeema dub the Mediterranean ratf*ck episode. Questions or comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on social media. W...
Aug 31, 2023•1 hr 11 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
