It’s a very special New Year episode for The Assignment: a conversation with Emmy-winning comedian and writer Samantha Bee about the state of politics and how she’s engaging with the political moment. Bee is known for her time as a correspondent on The Daily Show and her own late-night show, Full Frontal with Samantha Bee. She is now the host of the podcast Choice Words.
Anthony Scaramucci is synonymous with the rough and tumble world of an incoming Trump Administration, and the perfect person to talk with about what it’s like to be in Donald Trump’s orbit. This episode is a bit of an experiment with a couple of fellow podcasters. Audie is joined by Kara Swisher, the co-host of Pivot and On with Kara Swisher, and Van Lathan, the co-host of Higher Learning.
Audie talks with journalist Kara Swisher about the rise of Silicon Valley’s big donors and how Trump won some of them over. Plus, how Kamala Harris’ California roots have worked to her advantage with tech donors.Kara is the author of “Burn Book: A Tech Love Story.”
Kara Swisher is a journalist turned entrepreneur, a podcast star with high wattage guests, a punchy interviewer who never backs down, and now an important voice in the public debate over whether and how to regulate tech companies. Audie talks with Kara about her new memoir, “Burn Book: A Tech Love Story.”
Tim Alberta is a fantastic reporter whose profiles of 2024 hopeful Nikki Haley and former CNN boss Chris Licht proved illuminating and impactful (Licht lost his job days after). In his latest book, Alberta has profiled not a person but a movement: the evangelical church.
What does the recent chaos at OpenAI say about the state of-and fears about-the development of artificial intelligence? Kara Swisher is the host of the popular podcasts On with Kara Swisher and Pivot and has been a leading voice on tech and business for three decades. Kara joins Preet to break down the OpenAI saga.
At Code 2023, Yoel Roth, former Head of Trust and Safety at Twitter joined Kara Swisher as a surprise guest an hour before Linda Yaccarino, current X CEO, took the stage. Roth recounted the death threats he received because of Elon Musk, X’s declining users and advertisers, and shared some advice for the platform’s new leaders. The two interviews back to back made for a meta-conversation about Twitter’s past and X’s future.
As she pens her memoir, Kara’s been thinking about legacy, but on this episode we reflect on the legacy of another powerhouse reporter: Audie Cornish. After hosting NPR’s flagship “All Things Considered” for a decade, Audie Cornish took a risk and left for the greener pastures of CNN+ -- only to see that venture get unceremoniously squashed by CNN’s new CEO less than a month after it launched.
From AI and the recent launch of GPT-4 to behind-the-scenes pressure on Washington to resolve the Silicon Valley Bank crisis, today’s guest is in the thick of it all. Kara tells Nayeema that Reid Hoffman is “one of the good ones.” Kara has known the billionaire Greylock VC Partner since the 90s, when he was fresh off the sale of PayPal and before he co-founded LinkedIn.
Is AI going to fall in love with you? Write your term papers? Or help you plan a trip to Belize? The answer to all three is: maybe. How well it does any of those things remains to be seen, but Kara tells Nayeema the fast-developing AI will be more significant than almost anything else she's covered in tech.
Does Kara ever get sick of talking about Elon Musk? That’s a question Nayeema asks today, and they both agree: as exhausting as he can be, Elon is a defining force in business, media and innovation. So today we turn to the titan’s biographer: Walter Isaacson. He’s written the book on everyone from Leonardo da Vinci to Steve Jobs, and is now deep in the Elon Files.
The dust from last week’s once-in-a-century, marathon voting session in the House has settled, and Kevin McCarthy is finally Speaker of the House - for now. But what’s next? We talk to Manu Raju, CNN’s Chief Congressional Correspondent, and Charlie Sykes, a former conservative talk radio host and a founder of The Bulwark, to make sense of it all.
Kara and Scott are back together! They discuss the new power balance in Congress, how A.I. will and won't transform, and a potential ban on non-compete clauses. Plus, Jack Ma will give up control of Ant Group, and echoes of January 6th in Brazil.
Love them or hate them, chances are that you’ve watched at least one Darren Star series. Kara once called them the “hottest trash on TV” but for over 30 years she has devoured shows that Star has created and executive produced, including “Sex and the City,” “Beverly Hills 90210” “Melrose Place,” “Uncoupled” and - most recently - the Netflix hit “Emily in Paris.”
Elon Musk's Twitter is a spectacle, and the drama and meaning of the last six months is perhaps best unpacked by Yoel Roth. The company’s former head of trust and safety survived the early flood of firings and resignations - in fact, he was ascendant, in the early days of this new Twitter, and he became the face Musk presented to advertisers.
Guest host William D. Cohan joins Kara to discuss the latest developments in the Twitter saga: banned accounts will return! Apple could ban Twitter from the App Store! Elon drinks caffeine-free Diet Coke?! Also, protests in China could disrupt Apple. Friend of Pivot Anand Giridharadas joins to discuss his latest book, "The Persuaders," and how clear, concise messaging could help save democracy.
Chris Licht faces an uphill battle at CNN. He got the CEO gig in the midst of a prickly merger between Warner Bros. and Discovery and right after the shocking exit of beloved long-time boss, Jeff Zucker. In his first six months, he’s shut down CNN+, ousted Brian Stelter, and shuffled anchors around, including Don Lemon and Jake Tapper.
After Kara and Nayeema have a chat about -- what else? -- Elon Musk’s latest moves, we dive into democracy and the midterms. The results are (mostly) in, and the “red wave” that Republicans predicted never came. To understand why, Kara gets deep into political reporting in three key swing states: Arizona, Georgia and Pennsylvania.