On with Kara Swisher

Latest Episodes:

Judy Woodruff on Polarization, Politics, and the Media Jan 29, 2024

Show notes

How does someone with more than five decades of political reporting under her belt assess the current state of the union? For the past year, former PBS NewsHour anchor and current senior correspondent Judy Woodruff has been touring the country for a new project, America at a Crossroads, reporting on the divisions that plague our nation. Kara speaks with Woodruff about the roles that both politicians and the media play in our growing polarization, whether journalists can be “truthful, not neutral” (as CNN’s Christiane Amanpour has said) and what recent media consolidations (and proposed cuts to public broadcasting) mean for our democracy.

Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on social media. We’re on Instagram/Threads as @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza

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PA Governor Josh Shapiro’s “Get Sh*t Done” Attitude Jan 25, 2024

Show notes

As Pennsylvania’s Attorney General, Josh Shapiro successfully defended the state election process in 2020 against suits brought by former President Donald Trump and his allies. We speak with Governor Shapiro about his administration's preparations for a likely Trump/Biden rematch in November. Plus: how his “Get Sh*t Done” motto is working out with a divided state legislature, why he’s launched a pilot project for using generative AI in government, and his reflections on the surge in antisemitism and how the controversy played out at University of Pennsylvania, where he is a non-voting member of the Board of Trustees.

Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on social media. We’re on Instagram/Threads as @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza

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Hope for American Democracy, According to Heather Cox Richardson Jan 22, 2024

Show notes

Donald Trump is an American figure decades in the making.

That’s the argument historian and professor Heather Cox Richardson makes in her latest book: “Democracy Awakening: Notes on the State of America.” Richardson lays out her case, discusses her change of heart on Biden (whom she’s interviewed twice) and answers a question from former Representative Adam Kinzinger. She also sheds some light on whether she will take her popular newsletter business away from Substack, which has recently come under fire.

Questions or comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on social media. We’re on Instagram/Threads as @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza

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Psychedelics with Joe Green Jan 18, 2024

Show notes

From therapeutic-assisted MDMA to decriminalized psilocybin and microdosing, movements to legalize psychedelics are everywhere. California-based Joe Green is a prominent voice in the movement, as the co-founder and President of the Psychedelic Science Funders Collaborative (PSFC). Kara asks him about the recent unfavorable headlines (including concerns over Elon Musk’s potential drug use and Matthew Perry’s death from ‘acute effects of ketamine’) and poses a question from Investigative Reporter Olivia Goldhill about how proselytizers can be held to account.

Questions or comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on social media. We’re on Instagram/Threads as @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza

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Fei-Fei Li and a Humane Approach to AI Jan 15, 2024

Show notes

Before the OpenAI Drama which pit AI enthusiasts (accelerationists) against doomers (decelerationists) we had a conversation with Stanford computer scientist and pioneering AI researcher, Dr. Fei-Fei Li. While cognizant of the challenges AI poses — including disinformation, polarization, biases, a loss of privacy and job losses that could lead to unrest — Li is a fierce advocate for the humane development of artificial intelligence and for increased diversity in the field. We taped this episode October 10, 2023 but wanted to re-air it in light of the ongoing debate about AI.

Questions or comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on social media. We’re on Instagram/Threads as @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza

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A Close Read of Trump’s 2024 Strategy Jan 11, 2024

Show notes

Trump’s back. Today, we go to a panel of experts to discuss his 2024 legal woes, dangerously escalating rhetoric, and what he might do if he retakes the White House in 2025.

Our guests are New York Times senior political correspondent Maggie Haberman, Vox senior correspondent Ian Millhiser, and ABC News Chief Washington Correspondent Jonathan Karl, who recently authored “Tired of Winning: Donald Trump and the End of the Grand Old Party.” Plus: former Trump White House communications director Alyssa Farah Griffin submits a question.

Note: this conversation was taped Tuesday, January 9, as the former president was sitting in a DC court and before the recent Republican debates (and Chris Christie’s announcement that he’d be suspending his campaign for President).

Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on social media. We’re on Instagram/Threads as @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza

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COVID Lessons Learned with Donald G McNeil Jr. Jan 08, 2024

Show notes

Four years after the start of the global pandemic, COVID-19 is no longer a global health emergency, but in the U.S., every week, the virus is still hospitalizing 15,000 people and killing a thousand. Today, we look back – and ahead – with former New York Times global health reporter Donald G. McNeil Jr., author of the new book The Wisdom of Plagues: Lessons from 25 years of Covering Pandemics. He and Kara discuss the conflicting findings surrounding the virus origin, including the lab leak theory currently being investigated by Congress, and grapple with whether we need a Pentagon for Disease in the future (addressing a question posed by former White House Chief of Staff and Obama Ebola Czar Ron Klain). Plus – McNeil speaks out about his own controversy: his 2021 departure from The New York Times.

Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on social media. We’re on Instagram/Threads as @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza

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OpenAI Drama to Trump to Elon Musk: What It Means for 2024 Jan 04, 2024

Show notes

Kara and Nayeema look forward to the characters and moments that may define 2024 by looking back at the coverage of the last year. We unpack the drama at OpenAI, to the contrast between Biden and Trump and Fox News, to Elon Musk and X with the most revealing interview moments from 2023.

Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on social media. We’re on Instagram/Threads as @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza

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Stay Tuned with Preet: The Many Lies of George Santos Dec 28, 2023

Show notes

On is off for the holidays, so today we have an episode of friend-of-the-pod Preet Bharara's podcast Stay Tuned with Preet. In this episode, Preet is joined by author Mark Chiusano for a deep dive on our favorite (or least favorite) Washington fabulist: George Santos.

Mark Chiusano is the author of The Fabulist: The Lying, Hustling, Grifting, Stealing, and Very American Legend of George Santos. He joins Preet to discuss Santos’s lifetime of lies, and what his ascension to power says about our political system.

On will be back with a fresh episode on January 4, 2024. Listen to Stay Tuned with Preet every Monday and Thursday: https://link.chtbl.com/staytuned

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The Man Taunting Mike Johnson, Ron DeSantis and George Santos Dec 21, 2023

Show notes

Randy Rainbow is a four-time Emmy and Grammy-nominated musical comedy sensation famous for his viral taunts of anti-LGBTQ+ politicians, hateful celebrities and, of course, George Santos. Rainbow (and, yes: that is his real name) talks about his approach to his work, his inspirations, and why he claims his videos aren’t political. Kara also asks Rainbow what “Elon the Musical” would sound like.

Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on social media. We’re on Instagram/Threads as @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza

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