On with Kara Swisher

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. 

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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"Raising money off frothy numbers to sugarcoat the rotten apple is what built this town.” That’s according to Duncan Park, the protagonist of "The Audacity," a new dark comedy from AMC about tech CEOs and their relationships with their families, therapists and enablers.

Live from SXSW, Kara spoke with executive producer and showrunner Jonathan Glatzer ("Succession," "Bad Sisters," "Better Call Saul"), star Billy Magnussen, and executive producer Gina Mingacci ("Killing Eve," "Orphan Black"). The series follows Duncan, an ambitious, arrogant data-mining CEO determined to join Silicon Valley’s billionaire elite, and holds up a mirror to the greed and ego shaping modern tech culture.

They discuss how tech’s obsession with disruption and data has come at the cost of privacy and real human connection. While "The Audacity" is a sharp satire, it also finds surprising humanity in even the most unlikable tech bros — and even made Kara feel empathy for them, despite her best intentions.

Questions? Comments? Email us at [email protected] or find us on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Threads, and Bluesky @onwithkaraswisher.
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As the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee and a member of the Gang of Eight, Virginia Sen. Mark Warner is among the select few members of Congress who get to sit in on top intelligence briefings. But with the war in Iran now in its third week, Warner says the administration still hasn’t presented any plans to meet President Trump’s demands for the regime’s “unconditional surrender.” 

Kara and Sen. Warner talk about what he’s hearing from the administration about its timeline for the war, why the regime is unlikely to fall anytime soon, and why he thinks an unstable Iran could pose more of a risk to U.S. interests. They also talk about the risks the already unpopular war could pose if it drags on longer than the administration anticipates. 

Questions? Comments? Email us at [email protected] or find us on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Threads, and Bluesky @onwithkaraswisher.
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Kara sits down with Matthew Belloni, author of the flagship Puck newsletter What I’m Hearing and host of The Town podcast, to take the entertainment industry’s temperature just a few days before the Academy Awards.

They dig into the Warner Bros. Discovery/Paramount/Netflix saga and the consequences of the Ellison-backed deal for creatives and crews. Then Kara and Matt debate whether consolidation can fix Hollywood’s broken economics and why legacy companies are facing a “Titanic-esque” moment as linear TV collapses.

They also unpack the streaming wars, Netflix’s next moves, Disney’s succession questions and how AI could reshape filmmaking from visual effects to writers’ rooms. Plus, they make their predictions for the Oscars.

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

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