On with Kara Swisher

Latest Episodes:

The Daily Show’s Josh Johnson Can Make Even A Recession Funny Apr 10, 2025

Show notes

Emmy-nominated writer, stand-up comic and actor Josh Johnson may be the most prolific comedian on the internet right now. You might recognize him as a regular correspondent on The Daily Show, or maybe you've come across his sharp political critique on TikTok (where he has 2 million followers), or watched one of his longer, philosophical stand-up routines on YouTube (where he has 1.5 million subscribers). Josh is currently touring the country (catch his Flowers Tour in a city near you), but he took a break this week to sit down with Kara at the Great Hall at The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in New York City. They discussed Josh’s entrepreneurial approach to distributing and owning his work, how to make dry political topics like tariffs funny and relatable, what Elon Musk should really be doing with his money and how the ultimate antidote to fear is community.

Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on Instagram, TikTok, and Bluesky @onwithkaraswisher.

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The Onion’s Owner on Satire, Infowars, Defending Democracy & Trump Apr 07, 2025

Show notes

Last year, after pressure from activist investors, Jeff Lawson stepped down from his perch as CEO from Twilio, the cloud communications company he co-founded. But he didn’t spend any time twiddling his thumbs — that same spring, he bought the satirical news organization The Onion, and by the end of the year, they’d tried to buy Alex Jones’ Infowars at a bankruptcy auction.

Jeff also stayed busy on the political front, continuing his work on DemocracyFirst, a political action committee he co-founded, in 2022, to support candidates committed to democracy.

So there was plenty to chew on when Kara interviewed Jeff last week at Democracy’s Information Dilemma, a symposium hosted by the University of Michigan’s Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy.

They discuss the tech founder mindset; how Jeff is remaking The Onion; why political satire is more necessary than ever; why DEI — which Jeff championed as a CEO — can sometimes do more harm than good; and how to fight for democracy during Trump 2.0.

Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on Instagram, TikTok, and Bluesky @onwithkaraswisher.

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Trump’s Attacks on the Press and on Freedom of Expression Apr 03, 2025

Show notes

President Donald Trump has always bashed the press. But his attacks are no longer just rhetorical — he’s using lawsuits to intimidate the news media, and he’s inspired a conservative legal movement to overturn the New York Times Co. v. Sullivan. The landmark Supreme Court decision protects freedom of speech and freedom of the press, and unfortunately, Trump’s attempt to destroy it are part of a larger pattern of tearing away at our right to freedom of expression.

To break it all down, Kara speaks to three exceptional journalists: David Enrich, a deputy investigations editor for The New York Times and the author of four books, including the newly released, Murder the Truth: Fear, the First Amendment, and a Secret Campaign to Protect the Powerful; Ruth Marcus, a former associate editor and columnist for The Washington Post and the author of Supreme Ambition: Brett Kavanaugh and the Conservative Takeover; and Ben Mullin, a media reporter for The New York Times covers the major players in the news and entertainment business.

Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on Instagram, TikTok, and Bluesky @onwithkaraswisher.

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Michelle Buteau on Comedy, Community and Calling Out Dave Chappelle Mar 31, 2025

Show notes

Comedian Michelle Buteau is a true mutli-hyphenate — actor, standup comic, TV host, podcaster, and executive producer — and she wouldn’t have it any other way. Kara spoke to Buteau about the season 2 launch of “Survival of the Thickest,” a Netflix series loosely based on her 2020 memoir, and how she’s using her life stories to push the boundaries of representation. They also talked about Buteau’s 20-year stand up career, how she became the first woman to record a special in Radio City Music Hall (“A Buteau-ful Mind”), why she stands by calling out Dave Chappelle for his transgender jokes, and how she wants to use her producing prowess to uplift more marginalized voices, despite the current political climate.

Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on Instagram, TikTok, and Bluesky @onwithkaraswisher.

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Graydon Carter on Vanity Fair, Editing & a Short-Fingered Vulgarian Named Trump Mar 27, 2025

Show notes

Graydon Carter is the co-founder of Spy Magazine and Air Mail, and for 25 years, he was the editor of Vanity Fair. His memoir, When The Going Was Good, chronicles a time when the going was extremely good for glossy magazines and their star editors. During the golden age of magazines, Vanity Fair combined celebrity profiles with deeply reported journalism to great acclaim, and Carter, arguably, became more famous than many of his extremely talented writers.

He and Kara discuss everything from office politics at Vanity Fair to Canadian politics, including President Trump’s (possible) descent into madness, the artistry involved in making a restaurant cool (as opposed to hot), and why anxiety is an essential ingredient for editors.

Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on Instagram, TikTok, and Bluesky @onwithkaraswisher.

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Fired Up: FTC Commissioners Alvaro Bedoya and Rebecca Slaughter Say They’ll Fight Trump Mar 24, 2025

Show notes

President Trump fired Alvaro Bedoya and Rebecca Slaughter, the two Democratic commissioners at the Federal Trade Commission, last week, sending shock waves through political and business circles. The FTC is an independent, bipartisan agency and, as a defender of antitrust and consumer protection laws, one of the most important government watchdogs. FTC commissioners serve seven year terms and, according to a 1935 SCOTUS ruling, can only be fired for cause. But even though, based on that decision, Bedoya’s and Slaughter’s terminations are illegal, FTC Chair Andrew Ferguson has come out in support of Trump’s firing power. The White House says it’s ready to take the case to the Supreme Court.

Kara talks to Bedoya and Slaughter about why this happened now, what Elon Musk and other tech billionaires stand to gain by getting rid of “minority commissioners,” and why business leaders are concerned that Trump’s move could affect other independent agencies, like the Federal Reserve.

Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on Instagram, TikTok, and Bluesky @onwithkaraswisher.

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Is America Ready for a Full-Blown Cyberwar? with Nicole Perlroth, Michael Schmidt & Lt. Col. Vindman Mar 20, 2025

Show notes

Everything, everywhere, all at once — but not the movie. This is how cybersecurity experts describe a scenario where a foreign adversary shuts off critical infrastructure, like oil pipelines, water networks, ports, and electric grids, all over the country. The terrifying truth is that China has already hacked into our critical infrastructure. They’re “living off the land” and could conceivably attack whenever is most convenient. What’s worse? Our political leaders are defunding America’s cybersecurity efforts. In order to dig in deeper, Kara talks to Nicole Perlroth, Michael Schmidt, and Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, (Ret.)

Nicole Perlroth spent a decade as the lead cybersecurity reporter at The New York Times, before going inside the tent and joining the advisory board of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and the Council on Foreign Relations’ Cyber Task Force. She is a founding partner at Silverbuckshot Ventures and the host and producer of To Catch a Thief, a new podcast on China’s rise to cyber dominance.

Michael Schmidt is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter for The New York Times and the author of the best-selling book Donald Trump v. The United States. He’s also the executive producer and co-creator of the Netflix series Zero Day, a political thriller about a devastating cyberattack on the U.S.

Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman is the former director of European Affairs for the National Security Council. Vindman was a key witness during President Trump’s first impeachment and testified about Trump’s infamous phone call with President Zelensky of Ukraine. He is a senior fellow at the Johns Hopkins Foreign Policy Institute and the author of The Folly of Realism: How the West Deceived Itself About Russia and Betrayed Ukraine.

Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on Instagram, TikTok and Bluesky @onwithkaraswisher.

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Ezra Klein & Derek Thompson: Less Obstruction, More Government Mar 17, 2025

Show notes

Scarcity is a policy choice — one liberals need to reject and replace with abundance, according to journalists Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson in their new book, Abundance. They say that by building a wall of bureaucracy in front of growth, Democrats have created an affordability crisis, hindering their own progressive goals and leading voters to flee blue cities and states. Kara talks to Klein and Thompson about concerns around equity and access; the tech industry’s culpability in all of this; which Dems are best positioned to pursue an abundance agenda; and how pursuing abundance can help fight the Trump-Musk agenda of cruelty.

Klein hosts the popular New York Times podcast The Ezra Klein Show and writes an accompanying column on the intersection of politics, policy and society. Thompson is a staff writer at The Atlantic, writes the weekly Work in Progress Newsletter, and hosts the Plain English podcast.

Correction: Ezra Klein was a founder of Vox.com, a news site created in 2014. He was not a co-founder of Vox Media, the company that publishes On With Kara Swisher.

Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on Instagram and TikTok @onwithkaraswisher

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Chelsea Handler on Men, Trump & Money (+ Excellent Parenting Advice) Mar 13, 2025

Show notes

From spiking her childhood lemonade stand drinks with vodka to launching Netflix's first talk show, Chelsea Handler has always had an entrepreneurial instinct. Case in point: the comedian’s new book, “I’ll Have What She’s Having” is her sixth to top the New York Times best-seller list.

Chelsea joined Kara onstage at SXSW to share her juiciest stories from the book (including the joke that made Woody Allen literally spit out his desert), offer her unfiltered takes on President Trump and Elon Musk, break down the problem with men, and reveal how she became a “father” to her ex-boyfriend’s three daughters.

Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on Bluesky, Instagram, and TikTok @onwithkaraswisher.

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How Sen. Elizabeth Warren Is 'Fighting Like Hell' Against Trump, Musk & Big Tech Billionaires Mar 10, 2025

Show notes

How is Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) pushing back against the Trump/Musk “co-presidents” wreaking havoc in Washington?

Speaking to Kara at SXSW, Warren talks about what Musk has to gain by shutting down watchdogs like the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and other DOGE antics; why a crypto reserve would be bad for Americans and the cryptocurrency industry; and what Democrats are doing to fight back against this hostile government takeover. Plus: will Warren make another run for president again in 2028?

This interview was recorded Saturday, March 8th, on the Vox Media Podcast Stage at SXSW, presented by Smartsheet.

Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on Instagram, TikTok and Bluesky @onwithkaraswisher.

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