On with Kara Swisher

Latest Episodes:

Inside the Elon-Substack Drama with Chris Best & Hamish McKenzie Apr 13, 2023

Show notes

Last week, Elon kicked off a feud with both Substack and his very own former Twitter Files ingénue (and Substack star), Matt Taibbi. Kara and Nayeema break down the battle of the bros before turning to an interview with those at the center of the storm: Substack co-founders Chris Best and Hamish McKenzie.

The two address questions about Substack Notes (which Elon dubbed, and they deny, is a “Twitter clone”), the challenging business model of newsletters and their stance on free expression. Somehow, they manage to avoid uttering the name “Elon.” Kara doesn’t shy away though.

Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on Twitter @karaswisher and @nayeema

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What Rupert Murdoch and Succession’s Logan Roy Have in Common (and Don’t) Apr 10, 2023

Show notes

Today, after Kara and Nayeema discuss what the Dominion defamation lawsuit might mean for Rupert Murdoch and News Corp, we turn to a fictional media story of Logan Roy and HBO’s Succession. Our guests are Brian Cox, series creator Jesse Armstrong and director Mark Mylod. SPOILER ALERT: there are lots of spoilers in this episode, starting at about 10 mins in so go watch the show first.

Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on Twitter @karaswisher and @nayeema.

You can listen to other episodes of the Succession companion podcast here.

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WeightWatchers CEO Sima Sistani talks TikTok, Telehealth Deal on GLP-1/Ozempic and Why She Took the Job Apr 06, 2023

Show notes

WeightWatchers recently announced a $132 million deal to acquire telehealth company Sequence and enter the prescription drug space (think: GLP-1 drugs like Wegovy and Ozempic). It begs the question: why is a company built on personal accountability facilitating medical interventions? We ask our guest, WeightWatchers CEO Sima Sistani. Before and after the interview, Nayeema and Kara discuss their own experiences with diet fads and whether drugs like Wegovy and Ozempic will help America deal with the obesity epidemic or simply avoid tackling underlying issues like food supply, corporate greed and light regulation.

Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on Twitter @karaswisher and @nayeema

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Brooke Shields: Stardom, Teen Girls & Social Media Apr 03, 2023

Show notes

After a brief discussion about the impact of social media on the mental health of teenage girls, Kara and Nayeema turn to today’s guest: Brooke Shields. She became a teenage superstar through her roles in “Pretty Baby” and “Blue Lagoon” as well as the famous Calvin Klein ads (“Do you want to know what comes in between me and my Calvins? Nothing.”). In her new Hulu documentary, “Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields,” she talks about how she sees those hypersexualized roles today and how she survived life in an industry that she says did nothing to help her. Shields also revisits her complex relationship with her mother, who introduced her to modeling and acting, and how Shields now counsels her own two teenage daughters about feeding the social media “monster.”

Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on Twitter @karaswisher and @nayeema

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How to Make It in Media with Audie Cornish Mar 30, 2023

Show notes

As she pens her memoir, Kara’s been thinking about legacy, but on this episode we reflect on the legacy of another powerhouse reporter: Audie Cornish. After hosting NPR’s flagship “All Things Considered” for a decade, Audie Cornish took a risk and left for the greener pastures of CNN+ — only to see that venture get unceremoniously squashed by CNN’s new CEO less than a month after it launched. Yet Cornish has made it work: launching a new podcast, “The Assignment” and providing on-air analysis (slash occasionally taking the anchor chair) at CNN. In a conversation taped live at the On Air Fest, where Cornish was honored with the the 2023 Audio Vanguard Award, she talks about how she learned to ask for help as a young reporter covering Hurricane Katrina, what the media industry has to pay attention to in order to outgrow its early naivete and why the “chaos” at CNN is healthy.

Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on Twitter @karaswisher and @nayeema

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Katie Porter: Taking Big Business to Task While Running for Dianne Feinstein’s Seat Mar 27, 2023

Show notes

After a quick discussion of last week’s TikTok testimony, Kara and Nayeema turn to today’s guest: Congresswoman Katie Porter. The California Democrat has gone viral for her whiteboard-wielding grilling of CEOs like Jamie Dimon and Mark Zuckerberg and her subtle art of not giving a f*ck during the recent marathon that was Kevin McCarthy’s speaker vote. But today, Kara’s the one doing the grilling (sans whiteboard). Taped live at Manny’s in San Francisco, the two talk about the aftershocks of Silicon Valley Bank as well as what was behind her very early announcement that she was running for Dianne Feinstein’s Senate seat. Stay tuned until the end to hear what Kara’s mom thinks about Katie Porter.

Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on Twitter @karaswisher and @nayeema

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When Silicon Valley Invaded Texas Mar 24, 2023

Show notes

Lawrence Wright has produced some of the most seminal pieces of journalism on scientology, terrorism and – now – the Silicon Valley invasion of his hometown: Austin, Texas. Kara and Larry taped this interview in front of a live (outdoor) audience in Austin. They talk about recent transplants – from Elon Musk to Joe Rogan and Emma Stone – and the city’s transition from a quirky capital to a growing hub for tech companies and home to Hollywood stars and a breeding ground for libertarian ideas. And, most fundamentally, they talk about the idea of finding a place that feels like home.

Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on Twitter @karaswisher and @nayeema

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OpenAI CEO Sam Altman on GPT-4 & the A.I. Arms Race Mar 23, 2023

Show notes

We’re on the cusp of an artificial intelligence arms race that has venture capitalists drooling, regulators petrified and competitors from Google to Microsoft to Elon Musk racing to get their products out the door. Kara talks to Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI and the man who’s led the launches of ChatGPT and GPT-4. They discuss the hallucinations of ChatGPT+, why Open AI moved from an open-source nonprofit to a closed-source “capped profit” company and why Altman doesn’t believe artificial intelligence developers should enjoy Section 230 immunity. Afterwards, Kara and Nayeema break down the interview and the promises and perils of an unknowable A.I.-powered future.

Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on Twitter @karaswisher and @nayeema

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Reid Hoffman Talks Trump, Thiel & AI Mar 20, 2023

Show notes

From AI and the recent launch of GPT-4 to behind-the-scenes pressure on Washington to resolve the Silicon Valley Bank crisis, today’s guest is in the thick of it all. Kara tells Nayeema that Reid Hoffman is “one of the good ones.” Kara has known the billionaire Greylock VC Partner since the 90s, when he was fresh off the sale of PayPal and before he co-founded LinkedIn. Today they discuss Hoffman’s donations to Biden and other Democrats, how his political views have impacted his friendships with Peter Thiel and Elon Musk, and why he is so bullish on AI.

Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on Twitter @karaswisher and @nayeema

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SVB, IG & AI with Instagram Co-founder Kevin Systrom Mar 16, 2023

Show notes

After a quick rundown of Kara’s Twitter feud with SVB-enthusiast David Sacks, we turn to an interview with a former Silicon Valley Bank customer: Kevin Systrom. When you found one of the most successful social media apps at 27, it’s tough to figure out where to go with Act Two. But after leaving Facebook (now Meta) in 2018, Systrom is back with an AI-powered news-reader called Artifact which has been dubbed a “Tiktok for Text.” Onstage at SXSW this weekend, as the SVB crisis was playing out, Kara and Kevin discuss his regrets about Instagram, his plans to crack the news business and what’s wrong with tech bros.

Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on Twitter @karaswisher and @nayeema

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