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On with Kara Swisher
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On with Kara Swisher

Author: Vox Media

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It’s On. Get to the heart of what makes powerful people tick — in interviews that have them sit back, relax and get grilled. Twice a week, Kara Swisher and her executive producer Nayeema Raza invite a guest to be “On with Kara Swisher.” 

So why do newsmakers show up? “Smart people,” says Kara, “like difficult questions.” They may even find it fun. 

Mondays and Thursdays from New York Magazine and the Vox Media Podcast Network. 


112 Episodes
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After Kara and Nayeema discuss Dianne Feinstein’s 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 GOP’s 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 seat in Congress. We discuss whether his political sacrifice was worth it, what happens in the “Trump Resistance” text chain and why so many Republicans won’t come out against Trump — even when they see him as a threat to democracy.  This conversation was taped live at the Texas Tribune Festival on September 22, 2023.  Questions or comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on social media. We’re on Instagram/Threads as @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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 X’s 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 chronological order and then rejoin Kara and Nayeema for a debrief to address accusations that the schedule change amounted to “sandbagging” Yaccarino. (Kara’s response: it does not). Questions or comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on social media. We’re on Instagram/Threads as @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza To join the waitlist for the 2024 Code Conference, visit https://voxmediaevents.com/code2024. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
We're Running Late!

We're Running Late!

2023-09-2800:39

We taped a great conversation with Yoel Roth late on Wednesday at the Code Conference, and it'll be up shortly! Stay tuned. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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. She’s 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 time where “women were defined by their husbands.” We also talk about the future of BET and the role of identity-driven programming in American media.  Questions or comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on social media. We’re on Instagram/Threads as @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Biden’s 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 president’s 2024 ambitions. Columnists have weighed in on why Biden could lose to Trump — and whether it’d 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 Last Politician, a look a Biden’s first two years in office; Astead Herndon, national political reporter for The New York Times and host of The Run-Up; Jen Psaki, former White House press secretary for the Biden administration and host of Inside with Jen Psaki on MSNBC; and Alex Thompson, national political correspondent for Axios.  Questions or comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on social media. We’re on Instagram/Threads as @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Walter Isaacson and Kara are friends — but that doesn’t mean she’s going to go easy on him as they discuss Isaacson’s 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 Elon’s bad behavior. And Walter, well, he pushes back. Questions or comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on social media. We’re on Instagram/Threads as @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
A Jewish comedian walks into an apartment in Queens to meet a group of white supremacists … This isn’t the setup to a bad joke — it’s the inciting incident in Alex Edelman’s 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 Musk’s 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 us on social media. We’re on Instagram/Threads as @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Late-night legend and podcasting impresario Conan O’Brien 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 O’Brien 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. We’re on Instagram/Threads as @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza Photo credit: Gage Skidmore via Flickr Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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 Bannon’s podcast. This is the premise of Klein’s 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 her journey deep into Steve Bannon’s podcast archive, anti-vaxx groups online, and more realms of what she calls “The Mirror World.”  You can find Kara and Nayeema on Instagram/Threads @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza and Naomi Klein @naomiaklein.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
This Labor Day, we are re airing a fan-favorite episode about, who else, Elon Musk and Kara Swisher. Nayeema interviews Kara — who’s covered Musk since the late 90s. We’ll 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 you’re 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 Twitter employee Yoel Roth and journalists Bill Cohan and Ronan Farrow.  You can find Kara and Nayeema on Instagram/Threads @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Billionaire mogul and power broker Barry Diller doesn’t hold back (at all) as he takes us inside Washington, Silicon Valley and Hollywood. The legendary executive breaks down why Biden isn’t 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. We’re on Instagram/Threads as @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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 what’s 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 policymaking; Lenya Quinn-Davidson is Director of University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources Fire Network; and Chad Hanson is the Director of the John Muir Project of Earth Island Institute, a research and advocacy organization focused on federal public forestlands.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
We’re talking about Elon – again – but this time we're looking at the big picture: the tech titan’s “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 to break down the varying fortunes of SpaceX, Tesla and Twitter, and the sustainability of those companies under a leader that is ambitious, but capricious. Stay til the end to hear Kara tell Nayeema why, despite his shenanigans, she still has empathy for Elon Musk.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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 at on@voxmedia.com or find us on social media. We’re @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza on Instagram/Threads.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Kara and Nayeema are back with a fresh episode, and this time they’re tackling the DOJ’s 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
Today, we’re 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. They’ve 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, issues they have skimmed over in their two decades of friendship. Esther creates the space for the conversation they didn't know quite where to begin. This session was recorded in collaboration with NPR's Invisibilia and a sibling episode with Esther can be heard on their podcast.  Kara & Nayeema will be back Thursday with a fresh episode of ON.  You can find Esther Perel on Instagram @estherperelofficial Listen and follow Were Should We Begin? with Ester Perel Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Today, we’re re-airing one of Blakeney Schick’s 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 month.) In it, Birbiglia doesn’t shy away from such heavy topics either. Birbiglia and Kara discuss mortality, parenthood, their last words and finding comedy in all of life — even the sad bits.  Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on Instagram. We’re @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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 Instagram. We’re @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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 he’s flipped and flopped on Trump, can we trust him to not bend the knee again?  Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on Instagram. We’re @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
After Kara and Nayeema discuss Senators Warren and Graham’s unlikely alliance on tech regulation, we turn to today’s 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
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Comments (11)

j law

Yikes, Linda's reactions/responses are painful to listen to. Such a clear example of a person who has sold their integrity and their soul along with it. She's trying her best to justify it to the audience...and perhaps to herself.

Sep 29th
Reply

Kristopher Mullin

Conan carried this one. The outro was quite distasteful.

Sep 13th
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jason carey

he's Mr. Burns so he's the evil one

Aug 31st
Reply

dp

Oppenheimer was a disappointment. no need for imax as it could have as easily been a netflix original or TV movie. Great performances but really bad creative choices by director and producers. We get it, he got screwed over but way too much time in the dramatic (zzz) hearings and didn't even really touch on Oppys management of the project or the plates he must have kept in the air. Which didn't allow for audience who isn't familiar with the project to really feel the screwing he got. The choices made by the powers that decided how to tell the story made the film an hour too long. Juice not worth the squeeze. Hype.

Aug 3rd
Reply

Enea Koxhioni

Rarely disagree with too many of Kara's takes but Nayeema was absolutely right to push back and hold her feet to the fire at the end. You CAN regulate your way to healthier society. That's literally what the FDA should be doing, but isn't. Tons of governments have strict food regulations (Finland, Japan, Canada, Ireland) AND are also effective in having healthier citizens because of those policies. McDonalds ketchup tastes different on either side of Niagara because Health Canada simply does not allow certain ingredients, or above certain concentrations of additives. Companies always take the path of least resistance no matter the human cost. It's not totalitarian or anti-capitalist to acknowledge that and want your government to want what's best for its citizens, and actually intervene on their behalf (what the FDA doesn't do). Ironically people can now live longer and consume more of that corpo's products. This baked in presumption of failure or incompetence of government is really a

Apr 13th
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🤨

These two are insufferable. Finding excuses for china during a moment of high tension. Way to go.

Mar 16th
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Corrie Schmidt

his vitriol towards meghan stems from the fact that he had a romantic interest in her that wasn't reciprocated. he's been relentlessly trashing her ever since. he's an awful human being

Dec 20th
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Laura Norvig

I would never defend Elon or his actions, but you guys do get that he's neurodivergent, not neurotypical like you, right?

Nov 17th
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Laura Norvig

"The laws I make they may be wrong, but that depends what side you're on. ... don't question me. I am the law." -- Saucy Jack in Captain Andy https://youtu.be/vy32krRMkEk

Nov 17th
Reply

Krisztina Szabo

is there such a thing as too-many-same-same-slacker-ads? am ready to unsubscribe - so sorry you see me leave.

Oct 19th
Reply

Patricia Bowen

Thought your intro was a bit self important and your first guest was too. hope the next episode is better.

Sep 28th
Reply
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