On with Kara Swisher

1,319
News #61News Commentary #16

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. 

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Recent Reviews
  • KLBrown1
    Music
    Kara has the best music in podcast history! It’s rockin’!!!! From a new follower.
  • Boilingrug
    Great show
    Biden should start using a wheelchair & just dare Conservatives to say something.
  • oakboundbooks
    how can u take seriously a person so arrogant
    she would enunciate in the 21st c the following sentence as a self-proclaimed tech guru: “I’ve never thought newspaper delivery was a particularly effective way of getting information disseminated”…….. the level of arrogance is simply astounding none of her personal or professional opinionating to be taken other than as offhand blathering, though certainly if absorbed in this vein not without its highlights especially in the company of amusing guests
  • NoPixOK
    Bill Maher?
    I can’t subscribe to this podcast and live with myself due to the interview with an avowed Islamophobe. Ask yourselves if you’d interview an open anti-Semite.
  • lowcountyr letgo
    One of my favorite podcasts
    I love this podcast. And I love JLD’s Wiser that Me so I was stoked to listen to this one. It did not disappoint. Live listening to you talk about everything and it’s so surprising to hear you say literally just about exactly what I’m thinking. I agree that your interview with your son was great. Keep it up!
  • Berner daddy
    Interview with Laurene
    Kara, You may not realize it, but you are a national treasure!! I listen to Pivot and other pods. Totally clear vision and willing to tell the truth no matter the subject matter. Keep on keeping on!!
  • Ma Joad
    Cecile !!!!
    Haven’t listened for awhile, turned off by the Bill Maher interview. Cecile Richards is a welcome breath of fresh air!
  • dajamami
    Cecile Richard’s, Karlie Kloss questions
    First Cecile is absolutely amazing and as always Kara did an incredible interview. The most impressive aspect was taking questions from Karlie. Truly amazed by the insightful thought behind her questions and Cecile’s efforts with Charley. Can’t thank you enough for bringing both of these together and highlighting this incredible App!!!
  • AaronEd_93
    Experienced Journalist, insightful…sometimes
    Kara has some interesting stories and takes on the technology industry just by the amount of time she’s been a journalist and her experience. She can be arrogant and condescending. I think some of the conclusions she draws on events outside of her expertise are often wrong or uninteresting. I liked how Bill Maher shut down the comments her son made about him which she thought were so smart (they were predictable, uninteresting and lazy) and she had no real follow-up except repetition. She’s soft on people she likes, such as AOC. There was no questioning on the “defund the police” mantra that cost democrats so much.
  • Rachelle A
    Swisher amplified a Hamas propaganda point
    Oof. Major goof and journalistic failure on Swisher’s part in May 30th interview with Maher. After an audio clip from Mehdi Hassan, Swisher asserted that Hassan is “pointing out that the vast majority of people who are being killed are women and children.” Not in that audio clip he didn’t. And if he had, as a journalist it would have been incumbent on Swisher to correct him — because per even UN figures, about half the number is men, and half combined women and children, including teenagers being categorized as children. The mistaken assertion about the proportion of deaths has been voiced as a propaganda point, but is not actually a fact, and repeating it or even accepting it as an assertion is not appropriate for a journalist. Otherwise it was a good interview.
  • Pseudonym4
    Leftist echo chamber
    Kara is biased in all thought and opinion as well as an unapologetic misandrist. Zero guests that *gasps* disagree with her biases. Learn nothing.
  • hearingloss
    Hall of Fame Quality Journalist
    I always feel smarter and more prepared for this crazy world having listened to Kara and her guests. Thank God for people like Kara - and there are only a handful.
  • glimadoll
    If you would shut up occasionally you would be a better interviewer
    You are so impressed with yourself, and have the need to hear yourself talking all of the time, that you make a terrible interviewer. Shut up and let your guests talk!!!!! You are very tiresome.
  • Casnh
    Swisher-Maher, the Superbowl of unearned arrogance
    The two most supercilious blow-hards in media on one podcast! No thank you.
  • RJPlumer
    Maher is a Pain
    Bill Maher lately has been painful to watch him interview or be interviewed. You did an amazing job and pushed back often. He has a tendency lately to talk over people trying too hard to get his point across which is infuriating at times. You are right he has changed in recent years. Great show and interview thank you.
  • 61HB
    Where is Nayeema?
    Please give this long time listener information on what happened with her. I don’t recall seeing or hearing anything about it. My apologies if I missed it.
  • Portsmouth gal
    Why Bill Maher?
    You’re so much better than this, Kara! Bill Maher comes across as an old, white cranky pants. Who loves to talk about weed. Who cares? I cannot describe my visceral reaction to his responses as you read your son’s questions to him. He describes young people as woke and entitled, but I’m afraid the latter description came across as pure projection. Talk about full of himself. And I’m 60! I enjoy your show a lot but I don’t know why entertainers like this are enabled by being given a serious interview. It was the first interview of yours that I turned off early.
  • Leigh-Lew
    Seriously again with Louie?
    Why when we listen in to hear an interview with real people with important ideas do we have to constantly hear what your son says. Please stop platforming your children. They are not as profound as you think and interfere with what could be a good show.
  • Parentpissed
    Huge fan - who else critiques tech billionaires? No one
    They’re all motivated by money now even RH as the fear of losing what one has is a fact of human nature. Kara has the sensibility of a journalist whereas some of her discussion guests do not and cannot understand what that feels like as a calling, a vocation. For that reason I love to listen to her podcast versus others’ podcasts. believe in her commitment to what I believe is a genuine, heart-backed perspective. I don’t believe you can choose it - it chooses you.
  • Mgwbmmb
    Refreshing takes on the industry!
    Kara brings all her experience to help people understand the impact of tech in today’s culture
  • Margcita
    Did Nayeema disappear as a consequence of this suggestion that she be credited as a co-host?
    I could not be more impressed by Nayeema. Not only is she brilliant but she tolerates Kara’s narcissistic, impatient snippiness elegantly and with such good nature.. Is there some reason her name and photo don’t appear under the hosts for the show? Co-hosts are hosts. She brings so much knowledge, research, insight and humor to each episode. Brava, Nayeema!
  • Bizboi69
    She isn’t very smart
    Her takes consistently sound uninformed and vague. She struggles to put thoughts together and is not a compelling speaker. She struggles to verbally form a thought. However, she cannot stop herself from interrupting speakers and talking about herself.
  • LuckyLeopold
    Kara is fantastic buy her book !
    Long time fan of Kara Swisher the world needs a lot more people like Kara ! Great story teller and good sense of humor.
  • So bad, had to review
    Terrible
    Kara is the most uncouth woman on the planet and on her way out, thankfully. De classe.
  • Drew in Seattle
    Bad reviews
    Am always puzzled by people in the public eye who assume that because they are who they are, everything they put out into the world should be praised and validated. Guess what. No matter who you are, not everyone is going to like you. A bad review is just an opinion, and critics have every right to their honest response to your work. Have some humility. Not everything you print or utter is golden. Maybe you could even learn something by listening to someone who calls your work ‘throw pillows’. Let’s face it, Lamont relies a lot on corny aphorisms. Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to pull back a bit on that? In our current age, public figures have the ability to inhabit a large and comfortable cocoon of doting supporters. How could anyone think they are less than amazing? The have ‘followers’! The next time you wonder why Lindsay Graham says such stupid things, remember that he has a warm, cozy circle around him who hang on his every word. You’re not that special.
  • Moonraker410
    Can take in modest doses
    Kara has great guests so I look forward to listening but her gargantuan ego is much to take. She interrupts guests constantly and it doesn’t come off as hard-hitting journalism but more to sound off her approval or disapproval or to remind everyone how much she knows. Its painful to listen to and distracting.
  • Jaw tracker
    Terrible- Respect your guests / don’t talk behind their backs.
    Terrible host. Kara thinks she’s an expert in everything but has never produced anything of substance and her insights are extremely superficial. She’s insecure and boastful. The co host and Kara have the worst chemistry. Unlistenable. Re Walter Isaacson interview. Issacson seemed like such a decent gentleman and Kara was just kept constantly pushing her Elon hate agenda. In general, Don’t interview guests and then talk behind their backs afterwards in the debrief if they have a different view … shows lack of integrity and disrespect for the guests. Let the guests talk… they are the experts and it’s distracting to hear Kara’s constant interruptions which add no value. They did this to Oliver Stone and is an ongoing theme. Gonna stop listening
  • soulrockerTLee
    YUCK - kara is self-absorbed
    She is neither interesting or interested. She just likes to hear herself.
  • Future Momma
    Overblown, opinionated liberal
    She definitely is stubborn, opinionated and extremely liberal. I appreciated her bringing on a wide variety of guests but I get really annoyed with her constant interjection and lack of letting guests talk. She talks over very disrespectfully and tries to guide to the answers she wants. Way too nutty on progressive views for me.
  • Salmon iTunes
    Airline Captain
    Please ask Senator Cantwell on Monday how she see’s the FAA Reauthorization Bill playing out. It contains everything from what type of baby seats that can be used on an airline, to drones, to landing slots in DC, to mandatory pilot retirement age. Kara, would you rather have a captain with 27 years of airline experience flying your family into bad weather at your destination or a 27 year old captain? That is who is in charge of the largest pilot union that Maria Cantwell is listening to. Airlines are now hiring the least experienced pilots ever done before. Smaller regional airlines flying to the nation’s smaller cities can’t even hire enough qualified pilots to operate their fleets. The major airline unions are now being controlled by the 75% recently hired. We are asking for two more years. Mandatory retirement extension of 67 years old. Support safety and support Age 67. We are union members.
  • eriklatt
    Great interviewer
    Kara is a stellar interviewer and gets A-class guests. I like that she is well informed on the topic and pushes back in the interview to get at a deeper understanding than having just listened to the guest lecture (which I feel happens in other podcasts). Only rarely do you need to tone it down a touch (though you are always respectful and the point isn’t for everyone to agree at the end and your viewpoint is very clear and I would hate if you overcorrected in this area so maybe it is all just fine)
  • zen- net
    Love the podcast
    Always informative and Kara is a great interviewer.
  • I hate this APP!!!!!!!!@#@
    Disappointed in the Jonathan Haidt interview
    Been a pivot listener for years, and sometimes listen to this podcast as well. I was excited when she interviewed the author of the anxious generation. In this interview, Cara was unreasonably argumentative with the author even though her perspective is pretty much just because “she is a mother of 4” and she seemed to think that she was better informed that him, although she clearly was not. It felt like she was making excuses because she had let her own teenage children access phones and social media too early. I listened to the interview with her son a few weeks ago. It was obvious that he does have some of the same phone issues described in this book! It just seemed like she was trying to make excuses for her own choices, even though the author explains in the book that people really didn’t know better back then. She argues that this is going to be so hard to implement, but I really don’t think that’s the case! I have a son in middle school and my group of friends decided years ago that our kids are not getting cell phones until much much later! It actually hasn’t been that hard to hold out. And it will only get easier more people get on board. My son is 12 and doesn’t even ask for one. His good buddy across the street is 14 and knows he’s not getting one either. The tide is turning in the unlimited access of tech for kids.
  • angrylf
    Paper tiger
    Kara Swisher has a HUGE ego & talks tough but she can be quite gutless. Rather than being an upfront, objective journalist she constantly references personal feelings and beefs with subjects and she will even second guess their opinions, which have bearing on her, after an interview. Her wrap up after speaking with Martina Navratilova was shockingly biased and uncalled for. Maybe it’s time to rebrand as just a chat show host because this is not journalism - not good journalism anyway.
  • Shadwell von Bernstein
    Biased and ego driven
    Swisher pretending should could debate with Jonathan Haidt clearly demonstrated she is an intellectual light weight. She has no business discussing research as her anecdotally driven bias, fragile ego (how dare anyone else be an expert on tech this is my gig), and emotional responses can’t be controlled. She is not as smart or educated as she thinks she is.
  • c UCB's h of dnjmy
    Upset
    You platformed haidt the reactionary nut job that is taking the same almost verbatim argument about television and shifting it to cell phones…. And still failing to propose real solutions to online bulling and why we still live in a society that promotes negative feedback loops.
  • MichelleRN
    Obsessed
    More than often great, always good!
  • 1Victor22
    Journalism at its best
    Great questions and depth, anchored by real facts.
  • Tim Factor
    Premier Tech Journalist
    Smart, lively and informative. Kara is always prepared and fearless in interviews. She’s never afraid to slay a few dragons!
  • peterseil
    What happened to Nayeema?!
    So strange that an integral part of the show just disappeared with zero explanation. The show is still okay but not as good without the amazing Nayeema :/
  • sterlingmarshel
    Decent when you mute
    There are many incredible topics that Kara talks about with intelligence and candor. Having been an insider and Silicon Valley insider for so many years, she brings a special insight into each topic. Whats hard to listen to, is when she goes on rants about how great she is. She must feel very insecure that people don’t think enough of her. It can be very annoying and it disrupts the flow of the topics That’s where the mute button comes in handy.
  • backseatdrvr
    you’re not mean
    just listen to one of your podcasts and you are not mean. You ask tough questions, and questions that are important and people interpret that as mean, that’s their problem. As you said, what did I ask that was mean, might have been uncomfortable, but it wasn’t me.
  • JHK-Listens2022
    Taylor Lorenz is beneath you Kara
    Taylor Lorenz is biased, uninformed and whiny.
  • SLomas8121
    Reed Jobs
    Loved the episode with Reed Jobs. He was so very good at explaining things, making it easier to understand how cancer works and what is being worked on to treat it. Keep up the great work, Reed! Thank you, Kara!
  • sooooooooo dissapointed
    Great interviews
    Tough fair and direct. Is there a better interviewer? One ding, she shouldn’t lie to her friend Don Lemon about his train wreck Musk interview. Lemon misunderstood and misstated Musk at every turn. Allowed Musk to seem thoughtful and logical in comparison.
  • Nicholiosis
    Episode with Margrethe Vestegar
    Wow, what a well-spoken and classy lady! Why do Americans, like the Silicon Valley guy, have to be so purposefully antagonistic? Her response was 🤌🏻 and insightful. We need more people in our government and running our tech companies like her. New role model for me as a woman. 🌟
  • Tanker57
    Kara is great
    Love Kara and her podcast is always informative. I appreciate that she doesn’t banter with Nayima anymore. I thought I it was a waste of airtime.
  • odhark
    Bring back Nayeema!
    This show is nothing without Nayeema challenging Kara at times. Kara is a horrible narcissist who is obsessed with her own greatness. This show needs someone who is not Kara. Nayeema brought the show down to earth from Kara’s gilded spaceship. Now she’s just running interviews with herself from her book tour. It’s incredibly dull.
  • Allene
    Insufferable
    I’ll tune in when she has interesting guests but she’s such an awful interviewer and blows so many opportunities to have really interesting conversations. I’m done trying to like this pod. She’s snarky and entitled.
  • #####mmm######
    Time to make changes
    I started listening when it was Kara and Nayeema. I think it is better with just Kara, although the scripted intros feel clunky and overwritten. Sometimes the interview questions sound too scripted. I wonder about directions conversations could have gone in. Kara is at her best when she’s dialed in and off script. I wonder what the point of the show is, other than for Kara to have an interview show? Whcih makes sense because she’s a talent. I think she needs a new team or some fresh energy on this one. It just isn’t working as is, right now, in the way that Pivot is. I think for now I’ll probably skip this show unless I love the guest and stick with Pivot. Change is good.
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