On with Kara Swisher

Kara’s 2023 interview with journalist and biographer Walter Isaacson about his Elon Musk biography was one of her most contentious conversations ever — and one of the show’s most popular episodes. They’re still friends, though. And at this year’s New Orleans Book Festival at Tulane University, Isaacson got his chance to put Kara in the hot seat.

In this live conversation, recorded last month, Kara and Isaacson talk about the future of A.I., how power is shifting in the United States, and how those changes are reshaping American life. They also talk about Kara’s new CNN series, “Kara Swisher Wants to Live Forever.” 

Special thanks to the New Orleans Book Festival for hosting this event. 

Questions? Comments? Email us at [email protected] or find us on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Threads, and Bluesky @onwithkaraswisher.
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Louis Theroux joins Kara to discuss his new Netflix documentary, "Louis Theroux: Inside the Manosphere." The film explores the online world of male influencers selling fitness, wealth and self-improvement through ultra-masculine and misogynistic ideologies. Louis focuses on the extreme fringes of the manosphere, where racist, homophobic and antisemitic rhetoric mixes with conspiracy theories – and his depiction of these influencers manages to be both hilarious and nerve-racking at the same time. 

Kara and Louis break down how the manosphere economy works, why so much of the content targets teenage boys and how tech platforms amplify it. They also examine the loneliness and economic frustration that can make young men susceptible to these messages, and why ideas that once lived on the fringe are increasingly moving into the mainstream.

Questions? Comments? Email us at [email protected] or find us on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Threads, and Bluesky @onwithkaraswisher.

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Since announcing his decision to retire last year, North Carolina Republican Sen. Thom Tillis has become a kind of thorn in MAGA’s side, holding up appointments and voicing criticisms about legislation favored by President Trump. But his resistance raises a perennial question about Republicans in the Trump era: Why do lawmakers only push back when they’re on the way out?

Kara and Sen. Tillis talk about his concerns over the Trump administration’s handling of the war in Iran; why he thinks newly confirmed Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin will be an improvement over his predecessor, Kristi Noem; and why Tillis aims his criticisms at Trump’s advisers rather than Trump himself. They also talk about his worries about the upcoming midterms and where he thinks the party is headed after Trump leaves office. 

Questions? Comments? Email us at [email protected] or find us on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Threads, and Bluesky @onwithkaraswisher.
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Tristan Harris, a technology ethicist and co-founder of the Center for Humane Technology, studies how the tech industry’s platforms have become extractive and controlling. Kara first interviewed him in 2017, and after he was featured in the 2020 Netflix documentary “The Social Dilemma,” his profile shot through the roof. Now he's featured in a new film called, "The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist," which explores the promises and existential risks of AI. 

Tristan joins Kara to discuss how the current AI arms race is driven by the wrong incentives, and why that's leading us towards an "anti-human" future. He argues that the benefits and breakthroughs promised by AI are inseparable from profound risks, and calls for public pressure, regulation and global coordination to build a humane future with AI before it's too late.

You can find out more about the work Tristan and the Center for Humane Technology are doing at The Human Movement.

Questions? Comments? Email us at [email protected] or find us on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Threads, and Bluesky @onwithkaraswisher.
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While the Department of Homeland Security publicly claims to be resetting its tactics around immigration arrests, it's been building out its capacity to house detained migrants by buying up almost a dozen warehouses. If opened, they would dramatically expand a system that’s seen more than 40 deaths since Trump took office and is facing staggering accounts of human rights abuses.

Kara speaks with three experts who’ve been tracking the Trump administration’s detention boom: Ximena Bustillo, Homeland Security Department and immigration policy correspondent for NPR; Austin Kocher, a political and legal geographer and a research assistant professor at the Syracuse University who tracks immigration enforcement data on his Substack; and Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, a lawyer and senior fellow at the American Immigration Council.

Questions? Comments? Email us at [email protected] or find us on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Threads, and Bluesky @onwithkaraswisher.
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