On with Kara Swisher

4.2 (2.2K)
NEWS COMMENTARY
UPDATED SEMIWEEKLY

It's on. Twice a week, award-winning journalist Kara Swisher gets to the heart of the story through no-holds-barred interviews with power players across business, tech, media, politics and beyond. So why do her guests show up? “Smart people,” says Kara, “like difficult questions.” Mondays and Thursdays from New York Magazine and the Vox Media Podcast Network.

1 DAY AGO

Meta's Chief AI Scientist Yann LeCun Makes the Case for Open Source

Kara sits down for a live interview with Yann LeCun, an “early AI prophet” and the brains behind the largest open-source large language model in the world. The two discuss the potential dangers that come with open-source models, the massive amounts of money pouring into AI research, and the pros and cons of AI regulation. They also dive into LeCun’s surprisingly spicy social media feeds — unlike a lot of tech employees who toe the HR line, Yann isn’t afraid to say what he thinks of Elon Musk or President-elect Donald Trump. This interview was recorded live at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center in Washington, DC as part of their Discovery Series. Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on Instagram and TikTok @onwithkaraswisher Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

55 min
3 DAYS AGO

RFK Jr., Vaccines, Bird Flu & Health Under Trump 2.0

RFK Jr. was on the Hill, on Monday, working to persuade senators he’s capable of running the Department of Health and Human Services and its almost $2 trillion budget. Ever since the news his lawyer has petitioned the federal government to revoke the approval of a polio vaccine broke, that job has gotten a little harder — but it doesn’t mean he won’t get confirmed. And so could a number of other highly unorthodox candidates that Trump plans to nominate for key positions in the HHS. Kara talks to an expert panel to make sense of it all and find these nominations could means for America’s public health policy. Her guests are: Dr. Zeke Emanuel, Dr. Celine Gounder, and Donald McNeil Jr. Dr. Emanuel has written and edited 15 books and over 300 scientific articles. He was Chief of the Department of Bioethics at the National Institutes of Health, one of the architects of the Affordable Care Act and he teaches at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Celine Gounder is an internist, infectious disease specialist, and epidemiologist, a CBS News Medical Contributor and Editor-at-Large for Public Health at KFF Health News, and she teaches at New York University. Donald McNeil wrote for the New York Times from 1976 to 2021, where he was a health and science reporter and the lead reporter the COVID beat. He won the prestigious John Chancellor Award in 2020 and was on the New York Times team that won the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service in 2021. You can find his latest work on Medium. Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on Instagram and TikTok @onwithkaraswisher Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

1h 8m
6 DAYS AGO

Chef Matty Matheson of ‘The Bear’ on Culinary Stardom, On and Off The Screen

Canadian chef Matty Matheson has been a force in the culinary world for over two decades, but the non-foodies of the world recognize him as Neil Fak, the goofy, handyman-come-waiter-in-training on the FX/Hulu hit series The Bear. Aside from being the show’s much-needed comic relief, Matheson is an executive producer and a culinary consultant on set. Matheson first became chef de cuisine in his early 20s and now owns over a dozen restaurants. He also runs an incredibly popular YouTube channel with over 1.5 million subscribers and he’s authored three cookbooks – his latest, Soups, Salads, Sandwiches, came out in October. Kara and Matty talk about the good, bad and ugly of the restaurant industry, why he loves both haute cuisine and homestyle cooking and how his YouTube persona changes when he puts on his chef’s hat. Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on Instagram and TikTok @onwithkaraswisher Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

49 min
DEC 12

Rep. Ro Khanna on Tech, Trump & Elon

Representative Ro Khanna represents the wealthiest congressional district in the country, but he wants to show Democrats how to speak to the working class. And perhaps surprisingly, he’s pretty good at it. But although Khanna was one of Bernie Sanders’ co-chairs in 2020, the “progressive capitalist” from Silicon Valley (don’t call him a democratic socialist) also hobnobs with tech titans. Because according to Khanna, the way to reindustrialize and revitalize the economy is by mobilizing both union leaders and tech and industry leaders — and he thinks he can be the one to bring them together. Kara and Ro discuss everything from the DOGE committee, the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, and Trump’s threats to jail members of the January 6 committee, AI policy, KOSA, and tech antitrust. Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on Instagram and TikTok @onwithkaraswisher Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

1h 11m
DEC 9

Marc Benioff on Elon, AI Agents, and the “DOGE”

How will AI agents change the economy and the workforce — and are Americans ready? Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff has some thoughts. After a stellar quarter boosted by the customer resource management company’s new AI autonomous agents, Agentforce, Benioff explains to Kara how employers and employees will be impacted by a new era of digital workers; why he thinks investing tens of billions in AI capital expenditures (like his competitor Microsoft) is a “race to the bottom”; and what he hopes will come from Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency. Plus: Kara and Marc go another round on “DOGE Master” Elon Musk, and whether it’s still possible for business leaders to still defend their values and workers without fear of political repercussions. They also remember their mutual friend, former YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki, who died earlier this year. Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on Instagram and TikTok @onwithkaraswisher Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

1h 2m
DEC 7

Why Tubi CEO Anjali Sud Says Free Is the Future of Streaming

How does an ad-based streamer compete with subscription-based models like Netflix, Hulu, Max, and all the rest? By charging nothing. At least that’s what Tubi is doing. And despite being seemingly less prestigious than premium streamers, Tubi is used by millions of Americans and outranks Peacock, Max, Paramount Plus, and Apple TV+ in total viewing time. For those who are fatigued by subscriptions fees and monoculture viewing, Tubi offers an enormous catalog of nostalgia and “newstalgia” movies, hours of bingeable classics, over 250 live channels, plus Tubi originals – all at no cost to viewers. So why aren’t more people talking about it? Kara sits down with Tubi CEO Anjali Sud in this special episode of On presented by e.l.f. Cosmetics to talk about Tubi’s appeal to cord-cutters and cord-nevers; how niche-specific fans help inform Tubi content; why Sud thinks Tubi can democratize storytelling and create space for emerging filmmakers; and how she came to be one of few female CEOs in tech. This interview was taped live at the Whitney Museum in partnership with e.l.f cosmetics as a part of their campaign to increase representation and diversity in boardrooms. Find out more here: https://www.elfbeauty.com/changing-the-board-game/so-many-dicks Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on Instagram and TikTok @onwithkaraswisher Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

54 min
DEC 5

Did a Chatbot Cause Her Son’s Death? Megan Garcia v. Character.AI & Google

What if the worst fears around AI come true? For Megan Garcia, that’s already happened. In February, after spending months interacting with chatbots created by Character.AI, her 14-year-old son Sewell took his own life. Garcia blames Character.AI, and she is suing them and Google, who she believes significantly contributed to Character.AI’s alleged wrongdoing. Kara interviews Garcia and Meetali Jain, one of her lawyers and the founder of the Tech Justice Law Project, and they discuss the allegations made by Megan against Character.AI and Google. When reached for comment, a spokesperson at Character.AI responded with the following statement: We do not comment on pending litigation. We are heartbroken by the tragic loss of one of our users and want to express our deepest condolences to the family. We take the safety of our users very seriously, and our dedicated Trust and Safety team has worked to implement new safety features over the past seven months, including a pop-up directing users to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline that is triggered by terms of self-harm or suicidal ideation. Our goal is to provide a creative space that is engaging, immersive, and safe. To achieve this, we are creating a fundamentally different experience for users under 18 that prioritizes safety, including reducing the likelihood of encountering sensitive or suggestive content, while preserving their ability to use the platform. As we continue to invest in the platform and the user experience, we are introducing new safety features in addition to the tools already in place that restrict the model and filter the content provided to the user. These include improved detection, response and intervention related to user inputs that violate our Terms or Community Guidelines, as well as a time-spent notification. For more information on these new features as well as other safety and IP moderation updates to the platform, please refer to the Character.AI blog. When reached for comment, Google spokesperson Jose Castaneda responded with the following statement: Our hearts go out to the family during this unimaginably difficult time. Just to clarify, Google and Character AI are completely separate, unrelated companies and Google has never had a role in designing or managing their AI model or technologies, nor have we used them in our products. User safety is a top concern of ours, and that’s why – as has been widely reported – we’ve taken a cautious and responsible approach to developing and rolling out our AI products, with rigorous testing and safety processes. Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on Instagram and TikTok @onwithkaraswisher Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

1h 13m
DEC 2

Nathan Myhrvold: Tech’s Renaissance Man

Nathan Myhrvold likes to challenge conventional wisdom. When the founder and CEO of Intellectual Ventures (and former Chief Technology Officer at Microsoft) isn’t running one of the world’s leading invention businesses, he’s busy doing norm-defying research on topics like dinosaur bone density, asteroid sizing, and the proper way to knead dough. Kara and Nathan talk about everything from AI, politics, nuclear power, and global warming to “splash shots” — photographs of colliding wine glasses. Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on Instagram/TikTok as @onwithkaraswisher Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

1h 11m

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TRAILER

Coming Soon: On with Kara Swisher

It’s on. Kara Swisher is back, getting to the heart of what makes powerful people tick… by asking the questions that make them squirm. New episodes drop every Monday and Thursday starting September 26. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

09/03/2022

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3 min

4.2

out of 5

2,189 Ratings

Love this podcast. More advertisement than others

6 days ago

Farangkeya

Listen to almost all episodes (including Pivot). Feel like they both have the most advertisement segments than many other podcasts (and I listen to many).
A lone star

4 days ago

Cluttershark

A lone star interviewing fantastic guests. I’m learning so much. Love Kara!
Megan Garcia Interview

Dec 5

Thisisafakenameftw

I feel for this mother. However, why wasn’t she asked why her son was able to access the gun in stored in the house? Blaming Character.AI is valid but only goes so far.
Benioff interview

Dec 10

CK-MA

Benioff is got his head in the sand about Elon and the orange moron!!

It's on. Twice a week, award-winning journalist Kara Swisher gets to the heart of the story through no-holds-barred interviews with power players across business, tech, media, politics and beyond. So why do her guests show up? “Smart people,” says Kara, “like difficult questions.” Mondays and Thursdays from New York Magazine and the Vox Media Podcast Network.