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.
Americans feel pessimistic about the economy even as the stock market soars and unemployment remains low. Kara speaks with a panel of economic experts to explain the disconnect. She’s joined by Atlantic staff writer Annie Lowrey, Catherine Rampell of MS NOW and The Bulwark and economist Claudia Sahm. They examine the impact of President Trump’s latest round of tariffs, the economic fallout from the Iran war and the hidden weaknesses in the current labor market. Plus: How vulnerable is the broader economy to an AI bubble? And what happens when economic growth increasingly benefits investors rather than workers? Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Threads, and Bluesky @onwithkaraswisher. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
From Bit Parts to Two Emmy Nods: Jeff Hiller’s Long Road to Success
Comedian and actor Jeff Hiller has managed to land roles on two of the buzziest TV shows of the last year. He just earned his second Emmy nomination for a guest role in “Pluribus,” and he seems poised for an even bigger role in the second season of the comedy horror “Widow’s Bay.” His success builds on his Emmy-winning breakout performance in HBO’s “Somebody Somewhere” as Joel, the compassionate best friend to series star Bridget Everett’s character, Sam. Kara and Jeff talk about why he thinks people are drawn to shows like “Pluribus” and “Widow’s Bay,” why Hollywood rarely tells stories about the middle class anymore, and the role faith has played in his life. They also talk about why it’s still hard to land roles, despite Jeff's Emmy success. Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Threads, and Bluesky @onwithkaraswisher. Clips courtesy of HBO and Apple TV. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The AI Job Disaster Congress Refuses to Fix
Former Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo says America is heading toward an AI jobs crisis. And she doesn't think Washington is ready. Raimondo joins Kara to explain why she's more worried about the country's political system than the technology itself, why Congress has failed to prepare workers for AI, and what she thinks should happen before millions of jobs disappear. She also discusses the future of the CHIPS Act, data centers, AI safety, higher education, and why she's launched a bipartisan effort to help workers adapt before it's too late. Recorded live at Johns Hopkins University's Bloomberg Center as part of the Discovery Series. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Ben Wikler Has a Plan to Save Democracy
Ben Wikler, political organizer and former chair of the Wisconsin Democratic Party, joins Kara to discuss his new book, “This Is the Plan: How to End America’s Meltdown and Save Democracy.” Drawing on the grassroots strategies that helped Democrats restore a competitive democracy in Wisconsin, he lays out a national plan to defeat Trumpism and halt America’s slide toward authoritarianism. That starts, he argues, with building a year-round organizing operation capable of competing in races at every level of government. They also discuss the Democratic Party’s internal divisions, the future of the filibuster and structural reforms including a national popular vote, a national ban on partisan gerrymandering and Supreme Court term limits. Plus: how election officials should prepare for President Trump’s attempts to interfere with the midterms. Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Threads, and Bluesky @onwithkaraswisher. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Are Insurgent Democrats Breaking the Party — or Rebuilding It?
With just a few months left until the midterms and President Trump’s approval ratings hovering in the 30s, Democrats believe they’re poised to retake power in Congress this November. But party leaders worry a slate of primary wins by insurgent-left candidates could undermine their chances. And yet, Democratic voters made it clear they are looking for change by rejecting some of the establishment’s top recruits in primaries from Colorado to New York and beyond. Kara is joined by three experts to talk about the rise of these insurgent candidates: Adam Jentleson, president and founder of Searchlight Institute and author of the forthcoming book "Supermajority: How Democrats Can Build Lasting Power”; Amanda Litman, co-founder and president of Run for Something, a progressive group that works to recruit and support first-time candidates in state and local races; and Roshni Nedungadi, founding partner and chief research officer at HIT Strategies, a public opinion research company that specializes in researching young people and people of color. Kara, Adam, Amanda and Roshni explain why these candidates are gaining traction, what voters are looking for, and how Democrats can navigate these divides in the party over the next few months. Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Threads, and Bluesky @onwithkaraswisher. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The Cyberattack We’re Not Ready For
AI is giving cybercriminals capabilities once reserved for elite hackers and powerful nation-states. Cybersecurity expert Nicole Perlroth joins Kara to explain why she fears we’re inching closer to an “everything, everywhere, all at once” wave of cyberattacks. Perlroth reveals what she learned in reporting the latest season of her podcast, "To Catch a Thief: North Korea on Our Payroll," a deep dive into North Korean operatives who use stolen identities and American “laptop farms” to land remote jobs at major U.S. companies and funnel money back to the regime and its nuclear weapons program. She also examines China’s growing cyber capabilities, threats to critical infrastructure and what Anthropic’s Mythos model means for cybersecurity. Plus: how the Trump administration’s dismantling of cybersecurity and election-security programs could leave the U.S. vulnerable ahead of the midterms. Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Threads, and Bluesky @onwithkaraswisher. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan Take Us Inside Trump’s ‘Imperial Presidency’
In their new book, “Regime Change,” New York Times journalists Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan take readers inside President Trump’s return to the White House in 2025 and the chaotic year that followed. It’s an incredibly revealing look at a president and an administration untethered from the historical constraints of the office and willing to take extraordinary risks in pursuit of absolute power. Maggie and Jonathan reveal what they learned about Elon Musk’s chaotic reign in the White House, why so many of the top tech CEOs were eager to get into the president’s good graces, and what Trump seems obsessed with in 2026. They also discuss the future of Trump's political movement and the challenges Democrats will face from this administration should they regain power in Congress. Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Threads, and Bluesky @onwithkaraswisher. Come see Kara live in DC. She is sitting down with Former Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo on July 16 at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center, and you can be in the room. Register now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Inside the Fight Against Non-Consensual Deepfake Porn
Non-consensual deepfake pornography is on the rise. While celebrities were often the earliest targets, these AI-generated deepfakes are now spreading across communities and schools, and the law and tech platforms are struggling to catch up. Kara speaks with victims’ rights attorney Carrie Goldberg, tech journalist and Mostly Human Media CEO Laurie Segall and computer scientist V.S. Subrahmanian about how AI-generated explicit images are created, monetized and distributed. Segall details her investigation into Mr. Deepfakes, one of the internet's most notorious deepfake porn platforms. Goldberg explains her lawsuit against xAI over Grok-generated explicit images. And Subrahmanian breaks down the evolution of deepfake technology and why detection remains so difficult. Plus: why victims often have little recourse, what parents and schools can do and whether new laws like the Take It Down Act can make a difference. Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Threads, and Bluesky @onwithkaraswisher. Come see Kara live in DC. She is sitting down with Former Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo on July 16 at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center, and you can be in the room. Register now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The Gray Area: The End of the Human Internet
Today, we're bringing you an episode of "The Gray Area," another great show from the Vox Media Podcast Network. In this episode, host Sean Illing talks with Atlantic writer Charlie Warzel about the increasingly weird experience of being online. They discuss AI-generated content, bots, algorithms, the “dead internet theory,” and why so much of the web now feels artificial, manipulated, or unreal. They also explore psyops, conspiracy culture, social media, and the deeper question lurking beneath the AI boom: What are human beings actually for? Host: Sean Illing (@seanilling) Guest: Charlie Warzel (@cwarzel) Come see Kara live in DC. She is sitting down with Former Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo on July 16 at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center, and you can be in the room. Register now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The Vatican Takes On AI
Kara talks to Father Paolo Benanti, a Franciscan friar, theologian and AI ethics adviser to the Vatican, about why AI has become a central concern for the Catholic Church. They discuss Pope Leo XIV’s encyclical on AI, the Church’s role in shaping a more human-centered debate and why Benanti sees today’s AI race as a question of power, democracy, belief and human dignity. Kara presses him on Silicon Valley’s influence, Peter Thiel's views on the Antichrist and whether the Vatican can serve as a public square for global AI debate. Plus: can the Church help unite countries around shared global safeguards? Come see Kara live in DC. She is sitting down with Former Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo on July 16 at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center, and you can be in the room. Register now. Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Threads, and Bluesky @onwithkaraswisher. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The Media CEOs Betting Big on Journalism’s Future: Jim Bankoff & Meredith Kopit Levien
In a challenging decade for media, New York Times President and CEO Meredith Kopit Levien and Vox Media CEO Jim Bankoff have bucked trends and found ways to grow their respective organizations. Meredith has overseen a massive expansion of the Times’ digital subscriber base since becoming CEO in 2020. And after spending decades scaling up Vox Media, Jim is splitting the company between James Murdoch's Lupa Systems and Penske Media Corporation. In a live interview recorded at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in Cannes, France, Kara talks to Jim and Meredith about how they’ve adapted to a changing media landscape and the effects of AI on the publishing business. They also talk about the importance of independent journalism, the waning public trust in media, and how news organizations can earn it back. (A note to listeners: Vox Media is the parent company of the Vox Media Podcast Network, which produces “On with Kara Swisher.”) Come see Kara live in DC. She is sitting down with Former Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo on July 16 at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center, and you can be in the room. Register now. Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Threads, and Bluesky @onwithkaraswisher. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Career Advice: Kara Answers Listeners’ Questions
For this special episode of “On,” we’re switching things up, and you’re the ones asking the questions. Kara offers concrete tips on dealing with bad managers, navigating AI, deciding whether to change careers entirely, and more. Top performers in the business world turn to Kara for advice all the time. Now, it’s your turn. Come see Kara live in DC. She is sitting down with Former Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo on July 16 at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center, and you can be in the room. Register now. Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Threads, and Bluesky @onwithkaraswisher. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
TMZ’s Harvey Levin Says Politics Is Pop Culture
TMZ, the celebrity news juggernaut, opened a Washington, D.C., bureau this spring. Founder Harvey Levin joins Kara to talk about the stories his team is looking for and why he views politics as pop culture. Levin discusses TMZ’s earlier attempts to establish a presence in the capital and how the latest government shutdown helped revive the idea. He and Kara dig into TMZ’s standards, whether it pays sources, and Levin’s relationship with President Trump. They also discuss TMZ’s coverage of Spencer Pratt’s failed Los Angeles mayoral run. Plus: how Levin is pivoting the business toward social media and YouTube. Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Threads, and Bluesky @onwithkaraswisher. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Create or Destroy: Reimagining Marketing with Seth Matlins
Today, we’re bringing you an episode of “Create or Destroy: Reimagining Marketing with Seth Matlins,” a new podcast from the Vox Media Podcast Network. In this episode, host and marketer Seth Matlins speaks with political strategist David Axelrod, who was President Obama’s chief strategist and senior advisor. David is currently a senior political commentator for CNN and the co-host of Vox Media’s “Hacks on Tap” podcast. David sees the American brand as devalued but not beyond repair. He and Seth talk about how to fix it. Produced by Wisdomous and the Vox Media Podcast Network. Follow the podcast on Instagram / TikTok: @createordestroypod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Peter Chernin on ‘Backrooms,’ Sequel Fatigue, and Hollywood Mergers
The low-budget horror film ‘Backrooms’ is the surprise hit of the summer so far, netting more than $200 million globally in its leap from YouTube to the big screen. But among the film’s producers is a Hollywood heavyweight: Peter Chernin. As the former president and COO of News Corp. and chairman and CEO of the Fox Group, Peter greenlit huge hits like “Titanic” and “Avatar,” before moving on to found both North Road and The Chernin Group. Kara and Peter talk about why “Backrooms” appealed to young audiences, how Hollywood has played it too safe over the last decade, and what it needs to do to get back to making the kinds of movies people want to see. They also talk about how AI could impact the movie-making business and why he’s not opposed to Paramount’s merger with Warner Bros. Discovery. A note to listeners: This episode was recorded before the Justice Department approved Paramount’s acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery late Friday. Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Threads, and Bluesky @onwithkaraswisher. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Death in the Digital Age
The only real way for any of us to truly live forever is in the memories of others. In the final episode of the Hacking Longevity series, Kara talks to Valorie Jones, chief technology officer at StoryFile, which uses AI to create interactive video experiences. StoryFile also works with individuals to create a digital twin – or avatar – that can answer questions and create conversations long after they're gone. Kara then speaks with journalist Danielle Crittenden about her new book, Dispatches from Grief: A Mother’s Journey Through the Unthinkable, a memoir about the death of her daughter. They’ll talk about how technology can impact the grieving process and what many get wrong about grief. Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Threads, and Bluesky @onwithkaraswisher. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Marc Maron on Podcast Grifters, Fascism & His Legacy
Kara sits down live at the Tribeca Festival with comedian, actor and OG podcaster Marc Maron following the world premiere of his new film, “In Memoriam.” In it, Maron stars as Langston Stanfield, a fading, narcissistic actor who’s facing a terminal cancer diagnosis and is determined to secure his place in the Oscars’ “In Memoriam” montage. Kara and Marc talk about the film, death, legacy, anxiety, narcissism and why it’s easier for him to be candid with a room full of strangers than with the people in his life. They also get into Marc’s life after ending WTF, the manosphere, empathy, tech oligarchs and phone addiction. Plus: why Marc wishes everyone would stop podcasting. Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Threads, and Bluesky @onwithkaraswisher. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
ICE, Iran and $1,000 ‘Cheap Seats’: The World Cup Returns to the U.S.
When FIFA picked the U.S. to co-host the 2026 World Cup alongside Mexico and Canada, Americans saw it as more than just a boon for the country’s tourism industry — it was a chance to finally prove to the world that the U.S. is a soccer-loving nation. But on the eve of kickoff, the tournament has been overshadowed by exorbitant ticket prices, disappointing global travel projections, the war in Iran, and uncertainty about the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement plans at stadiums. Kara breaks it all down with three experts: Rachel Bachman, senior sports reporter for The Wall Street Journal; Will Leitch, a contributing editor at New York Magazine and the founder of the seminal sports blog Deadspin; and Tariq Panja, a global correspondent at The New York Times who focuses on where money, geopolitics and crime intersect with sports. The four of them talk about the stakes for FIFA’s biggest World Cup and whether the soccer on the field can outshine the controversies surrounding it. Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Threads, and Bluesky @onwithkaraswisher. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Music, Consciousness and the Power of Connection
How should we understand the relationship among sound, consciousness and a healthy mind? It has to do with the power of connection, not just to other people but the world around us. In this episode of the Hacking Longevity series, Kara talks to Dr. AZA Allsop, an artist and psychiatrist who runs a lab at Yale that studies how music and sound can affect mental well-being and the power of connections we feel with other people. Later, she talks to science journalist Michael Pollan, author of A World Appears: A Journey Into Consciousness. He goes deep on what makes the brain work, and he has some very interesting thoughts on whether machines could become sentient. Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Threads, and Bluesky @onwithkaraswisher. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Theo Baker Cracks Open Stanford’s Faustian Bargain With Silicon Valley
Kara talks to Theo Baker, a Stanford University student journalist and the youngest-ever George Polk Award winner, about his new book, "How to Rule the World." In it, Baker unpacks his investigation into former Stanford president, Marc Tessier-Lavigne over research misconduct in labs he oversaw. He breaks down how the university reacted and what it says about power at Stanford and in the Valley Theo reveals the “Stanford inside Stanford” and the university’s lucrative, no-boundaries relationship with Silicon Valley’s tech entrepreneurs and venture capitalists. He and Kara discuss secret power networks, “builders” versus “wantapreneurs” and whether Stanford is a university or, as one professor put it, an “incubator with dorms.” Plus: Theo weighs in on the backlash against AI among young people. Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Threads, and Bluesky @onwithkaraswisher. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Producer's note
Steal the structure. Not the show.
Keep the useful structure, then change the audience, point of view, and voice until the idea is unmistakably yours.
