Episodes

  • Put Your Phone Away: Yondr CEO on the Philosophy Behind Phone-Free Spaces

    Put Your Phone Away: Yondr CEO on the Philosophy Behind Phone-Free Spaces
    Jan 16 2025
    They’re incredible pieces of technology, they’re unbelievably useful, and we feel lost without them. Nonetheless, smartphones have become the bane of our existence. So Graham Dugoni started Yondr with a surprisingly simple and analog solution to their ubiquity: locking pouches that force cell phone users to put away their device while still keeping their phones on them. Now, they’re used everywhere from comedy shows, to concerts, courtrooms, and weddings. After the success of Jonathan Haidt’s The Anxious Generation, more and more states and school districts are instituting cell-phone bans — and, oftentimes, Yondr is the first company they turn to when they need help. Kara and Graham talk about the push to ban phones from schools, the company’s success, and his philosophical take on smartphones, social media and technology. 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
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    1 hr
  • Laverne Cox on Meta, Conservatives and The Battle For Trans Rights

    Laverne Cox on Meta, Conservatives and The Battle For Trans Rights
    Jan 13 2025
    Transgender kids and adults have become a political punching bag for conservatives — but Laverne Cox is stepping into the ring. Kara talks with the transgender activist, Emmy award-winning producer and four-time Emmy-nominated actor, known for her groundbreaking role as Sophia Burset in Orange is The New Black, about the Trump campaign’s $200+ million spend on anti-trans ads during the election (and the Harris campaign’s lack of response); why Meta’s decision to no longer monitor hate speech could lead to more gender violence, and not just against trans kids; and how to stay resilient in the fight for civil and human rights (including packing a go bag). Plus: Laverne and Kara bust myths in a speed round about gender-affirming care, which is being targeted by laws across the country, and talk about her upcoming Prime Video comedy series Clean Slate. 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
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    1 hr and 4 mins
  • Sen. Amy Klobuchar on Regulating Tech, Antitrust, Trump’s Picks & More

    Sen. Amy Klobuchar on Regulating Tech, Antitrust, Trump’s Picks & More
    Jan 9 2025
    Senator Amy Klobuchar has been legislating on Capitol Hill for 18 years. She recently won reelection and is now the number three Democrat in the Senate. And even though Big Tech has blocked her attempts at reform, at every turn, she is determined to keep pushing forward bills on everything from antitrust to privacy, competition, kids' safety and revenge porn. Kara and Klobuchar talk about Trump’s nominations, January 6th and the upcoming inauguration (Klocuchar was one of four members of Congress who counted the electoral votes and she’s the chair of the Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies), her attempts to work across the aisle, and of course, tech and antitrust legislation. 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
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    53 mins
  • Trump Whisperer Maggie Haberman On Trump 2.0

    Trump Whisperer Maggie Haberman On Trump 2.0
    Jan 6 2025
    After MAGA rioters attacked the U.S. Capitol on January 6th, 2021, many people thought Donald Trump's days as a political force were over. A notable exception was Maggie Haberman – senior political correspondent for the New York Times, political analyst for CNN, and author of Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America. Four years later, as the country prepares for President-elect Trump's second inauguration this month, Kara talks to Haberman about initial actions he'll likely take on immigration, tariffs and TikTok; which of his controversial cabinet picks could pass muster in Congress; and whether tech billionaire Elon Musk will have an all-access pass to the West Wing. Plus: how seriously she takes the administration's threats to retaliate against Trump's political enemies, Special Counsel Jack Smith, and journalists like herself. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    1 hr
  • AI Ethics and Safety — a Contradiction in Terms?

    AI Ethics and Safety — a Contradiction in Terms?
    Jan 2 2025
    We’re kicking off the year with a deep-dive into AI ethics and safety with three AI experts: Dr. Rumman Chowdhury, the CEO and co-founder of Humane Intelligence and the first person to be appointed U.S. Science Envoy for Artificial Intelligence; Mark Dredze, a professor of computer science at Johns Hopkins University who’s done extensive research on bias in LLMs; and Gillian Hadfield, an economist and legal scholar turned-AI researcher at Johns Hopkins University. The panel answers questions like: is it possible to create unbiased AI? What are the worst fears and greatest hopes for AI development under Trump 2.0? What sort of legal framework will be necessary to regulate autonomous AI agents? And is the hype around AI leading to stagnation in other fields of innovation? 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
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    53 mins
  • Samantha Bee on Being “Democrat-Celibate” (from The Assignment with Audie Cornish)

    Samantha Bee on Being “Democrat-Celibate” (from The Assignment with Audie Cornish)
    Dec 30 2024
    Samantha Bee is a comedian, author and former late-night host who hosts the podcast Choice Words with Samantha Bee and co-hosts The Daily Beast Podcast with Joanna Coles. Her weekly late-night comedy series, Full Frontal with Samantha Bee was nominated for over 70 awards — and she has personally been nominated for 18 Emmy awards and won for both writing and executive producing. Full Frontal was explicitly, and hilariously, political and left-leaning so it’s a bit surprising that Bee has declared herself Democrat-celibate, (at least for now). Samantha explains her new approach to politics and dishes on her biggest regret in this CNN pilot titled “Off Script” with Kara, Audie Cornish, CNN correspondent and host of The Assignment, and Van Lathan, co-host of The Ringer’s Higher Learning podcast. 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
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    41 mins
  • Sarah Silverman on Being Wrong – and Treating Trolls with Kindness (from ReThinking with Adam Grant)

    Sarah Silverman on Being Wrong – and Treating Trolls with Kindness (from ReThinking with Adam Grant)
    Dec 26 2024
    Happy Holidays! We have a special episode from our friend Adam Grant and the folks at the TED Audio Collective. Sarah Silverman is a comedian, actor, and writer who doesn’t shy away from saying what she thinks. In this episode of ReThinking with Adam Grant, Sarah shares stories from her bold, distinctive career that has taken her from Saturday Night Live and Seinfeld to Broadway, late-night TV, plays and Disney animated movies. Adam and Sarah also discuss defusing anger, finding courage, and forging connections when we don’t see eye-to-eye. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    39 mins
  • The Best (and Most Overrated) Books of 2024

    The Best (and Most Overrated) Books of 2024
    Dec 23 2024
    Which subpar books actually warrant writing a bad review? Do best sellers usually live up to the hype? And how does our relationship with technology affect the publishing industry? Kara sits down with two of her favorite book critics, Dwight Garner of The New York Times and Becca Rothfeld of The Washington Post, to discuss the best and worst books of 2024. The trio debates standout books and notable disappointments, the craft of book reviewing, and the best way to experience a great book. They also explore the importance of best-seller lists, how concerned we should be over the rising tide of book censorship, and which books from 2024 could end up becoming forever classics. Books mentioned includes (listed alphabetically): What Are Children For? On Ambivalence and Choice, Anastasia Berg & Rachel Wiseman Boswell’s London Journal 1762-1763 Believe Nothing Until it is Officially Denied: Claud Cockburn and the Invention of Guerrilla Journalism, Patrick Cockburn D'Aulaires’ Book of Greek Myths Carson McCullers: A Life, Mary V. Dearborn You Dreamed of Empires, Álvaro Enrigue James, Percival Everett When the Clock Broke, John Ganz The Upstairs Delicatessen, Dwight Garner Small Rain, Garth Greenwell Lesser Ruins, Mark Haber Alphabetical Diaries, Sheila Heti A Few Words in Defense of Our Country: The Biography of Randy Newman, Robert Hilburn Splinters, Leslie Jamison Howl's Moving Castle, Diana Wynne Jones Creation Lake, Rachel Kushner Liars, Sarah Manguso We Who Wrestle With God, Jordan B. Peterson Intermezzo, Sally Rooney The Extinction of Experience: Being Human in a Disembodied World, Christine Rosen Things Are Too Small, Essays in Praise of Excess, Becca Rothfeld Knife, Salman Rushdie I Heard Her Call My Name, Lucy Sante The Rebel’s Clinic, Adam Schatz The Politics of Cultural Despair, Fritz Stern Hillbilly Elegy, J.D. Vance 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
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    1 hr and 2 mins