Tennis legend Martina Navratilova is no stranger to controversy. But the battle she’s picked these days, which has pit her against inclusion of trans women in professional sports – has put her at odds with many in the LGBTQ community that considers her an icon, and made her strange bedfellows with Republicans with whom she’s otherwise on (Twitter) war footing. We explore why she’s chosen to plant this flag, talk about the continued pay inequity in tennis, and brainstorm what she’ll do next (hint: it could involve Elon).  Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on social media. We’re on Instagram/Threads as @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Who gets to compete as a woman? And who decides whether someone is “woman enough”? When it comes to South African runner Caster Semenya, it could be the European Court of Human Rights. The two-time Olympic gold medalist has been in a legal battle since 2019 with World Athletics, the global governing body for track and field, after it banned her from competing because of her naturally-occurring higher levels of testosterone. She discusses her experience, what labels get wrong and her new book A Race to Be Myself. Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on social media. We’re on Instagram/Threads as @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the swirl of drama around Sam Altman’s exit from OpenAI, one company seems to be the winner: Microsoft. It has both a significant partnership with, and an ownership stake in, the company, and now it's welcoming Altman and OpenAI researchers with open arms. For this emergency episode, Kara interviews Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on social media. We’re on Instagram/Threads as @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Why did Fox News knowingly air unhinged conspiracy theories about Dominion Voting Systems and Smartmatic and then fire Tucker Carlson, its most popular host, just days after settling with Dominion for $787.5 million? Brian Stelter, the former host of CNN’s Reliable Sources, explores these questions and more in a new book, Network of Lies: The Epic Saga of Fox News, Donald Trump, and the Battle for American Democracy. The TLDL: Tucker and Rupert deserved each other, until they didn’t. But do listen to get the scoops on Fox … and on CNN from this media insider. This interview was recorded live at 92NY on Tuesday November 14th.  Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on social media. We’re on Instagram/Threads as @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dan Doctoroff had a storied career as Deputy Mayor of New York City during the first two Bloomberg administrations. In six years, Doctoroff helped rebuild the city after 9/11. He later oversaw the terminal and media business at Bloomberg before joining forces with Google on (the now defunct) Sidewalk Labs mission to define the future of cities. These days, he’s taking on a new challenge: ALS, a.k.a Lou Gehrig’s disease. Doctoroff was hit with the neurodegenerative disease in 2021. He speaks candidly about how this challenge has helped him stay present and let go of the future — except, of course, in the search for a cure. Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on social media. We’re on Instagram/Threads as @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Are tech bros successful because of some innate talent, or could any of us be like them? Organizational psychologist and Wharton School professor Adam Grant takes on the myth of innate talent and the reality of growth in his latest book, Hidden Potential: The Science of Achieving Greater Things. We hear why forward-looking advice trumps feedback, how Gen Z can thrive in hybrid work scenarios and why Grant thinks there should be an age limit for politicians. Stay till the end to hear Grant turn the tables on Kara and psychoanalyze her frustration with Elon.  If you like this episode, you can find Adam’s podcasts here and here. Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on social media. We’re on Instagram/Threads as @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After three incredibly chaotic weeks, the House Republican Conference elected a relatively unknown (and startlingly retrograde) Louisiana congressman, Mike Johnson, as Speaker of the House. Today we learn who he is and what impact he will have on the issues, from gay rights and abortion to the keeping the government funded, as well as what his ascension portends for the 2024 elections. Our guests are: Marianna Sotomayor, a congressional reporter at The Washington Post; Nia-Malika Henderson, a senior political analyst at CNN and soon-to-be politics and policy columnist at Bloomberg Opinion; and Tina Nguyen, a national correspondent at Puck and author of The MAGA Diaries, a forthcoming book that chronicles her journey to becoming a (reformed) accidental conservative activist. Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on social media. We’re on Instagram/Threads as @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today we’re playing you an episode of Land of the Giants that takes a walk down memory lane to the early days of Twitter and how the platform became the best and worst place on the internet. If you like it; check out the Land of The Giants: The Twitter Fantasy and revisit our interviews with Ben Mezrich, Walter Isaacson, Ronan Farrow and William Cohan, or Kara and Nayeema’s own walk down memory lane on Twitter.  Enjoy! And we’ll be back on Thursday with a new episode of On. This episode hosted by Peter Kafka (@pkafka) and Lauren Goode (@laurengoode) EDITOR'S NOTE: This episode contains descriptions of sexual harassment and of graphic threats of violence. This section begins after the second midroll break and lasts for about 7 minutes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What does a dramatic narrative nonfiction account of a dramatic tech CEO look like? To find out, we turn to Ben Mezrich, the author whose books have been adapted to films like 21, The Social Network, and Dumb Money. His latest, Breaking Twitter, has already been optioned by MGM.  In this conversation: Ben’s process for blending hard facts with informed speculation, Kara’s advice for dealing with the tech titan, and predictions about Linda Yaccarino’s fate. Oh, also a brainstorm about who should play Elon on the big screen: Kara envisions a classic Vince Vaughn type, Nayeema picks Brendan Fraser, and Ben throws in a Succession character — but *not* the one you’d expect! Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on social media. We’re on Instagram/Threads as @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Uber: hard to live with it, or without it. In this episode Kara grills CEO Dara Khosrowshahi on the company’s sky-high prices, high take rate, treatment of drivers/couriers, policies around safety and why oh why he is kind to his predecessor, Travis Kalanick.  Before and after the interview, Kara and Nayeema make sense of the power and problems of Uber, and discuss Lesbians Who Tech (a conference — not in general).  Note: Khosrowshahi discusses a 15% “take rate” in the United States, exclusive of commercial insurance expenses. Globally, the company reported a 29.3% “take rate” in Q2 of 2023 inclusive of these costs.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Democracy is challenged, at home and abroad, and at least some of this blame falls on “Big Tech.” Kara talks to Alexis Ohanian, Reddit co-founder and venture capitalist, and Deb Roy, the director of the MIT Center for Constructive Communication, about how we got here and what some potential solutions are. Stick around after the interview to hear Kara and Nayeema discuss the ethics of stapling bread to trees. This episode was recorded live at the University of Virginia’s Karsh Institute for Democracy’s Democracy 360 event on October 17th. Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on social media. We’re on Instagram/Threads as @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Social media has been inundated with disinformation about the Israel-Hamas war — from a flood of graphic visual content, to unsubstantiated claims and opportunistic content generation (and monetization) by third parties to this conflict. To make sense of this fog of war, we turn to a panel that brings together a reporter, a researcher and a former Facebook/Meta insider: Shayan Sardarizadeh is a senior disinformation journalist with the BBC, Renée DiResta is a research manager at the Stanford Internet Observatory, and Katie Harbath spent 10 years as the public policy director at Facebook. Together, they unpack how we got here – and how we might seek clarity in a moment fogged by intense emotion, unfolding information and immense complexity. Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on social media. We’re on Instagram/Threads as @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the fog of war, we’re joined by CNN Chief International Anchor Christiane Amanpour. She’s covered the Middle East for decades and brings her signature “truthful, not neutral” journalism to the tense battle that has unfolded in Israel and Gaza. Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on social media. We’re on Instagram/Threads as @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What are the most immediate, and potentially catastrophic, risks posed by AI? According to pioneering AI researcher, Dr. Fei-Fei Li, they include disinformation, polarization, biases, a loss of privacy and job losses that could lead to unrest.  The Stanford computer scientist is a fierce advocate for the humane development of artificial intelligence and for increased diversity in the field. She and Kara discuss AI’s problems and possibilities, the need for increased public sector investment and her brief stint on Twitter’s board.  Questions or comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on social media. We’re on Instagram/Threads as @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In a time of a divided House (and divided GOP) — not to mention polarized social media — how can you engage through disagreement? Abraham Lincoln may have some clues, as Steve Inskeep deduces. The journalist and host of NPR’s Morning Edition has a new book, “Differ We Must: How Lincoln Succeeded in a Divided America,” which details the political life and legacy of Lincoln through the lens of disagreement and understands how the 16th president practiced politics skillfully in order to assemble a majority and navigate the country through The Civil War. Kara and Steve also imagine what Lincoln’s social media feed would look like, compare him to Donald Trump and Joe Biden and grapple with whether “objectivity” is the best north star for journalism today.  Questions or comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on social media. We’re on Instagram/Threads as @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today we’re replaying you a summer episode where Kara and Nayeema took a field trip to Martha Stewart’s 156-acre estate for an interview with the media mogul and O.G. influencer. On the menu for this conversation? The media maven’s early interest in tech, parties with Bill Gates (and the artist formerly known as Puff Daddy), doing Sports Illustrated at age 81, big ideas like “KMartha” or “MarthaAI,” and why nothing — not prison time nor the idea of aging — can stop the constant reinvention of Martha Stewart. Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on Instagram/Threads. We’re @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After Kara and Nayeema discuss the defenestration of Kevin McCarthy, we turn to podcaster and political savant Jon Lovett of Crooked Media fame. Kara and Jon share laughs as they talk about the podcast biz, unions, Trump and Biden’s chances in ‘24.  This conversation was taped live at the Code Conference on September 28, 2023. Questions or comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on social media. We’re on Instagram/Threads as @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After Kara and Nayeema discuss Dianne Feinstein’s death and her legacy as a leader, we turn to Kara's interview with Adam Kinzinger. The former Republican congressman has said he would only vote for Trump in one scenario: if his opponent were Satan. Once a rising star in the Tea Party, Kinzinger is now a leading voice inside the GOP’s anti-Trump cohort. He was one of only ten House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump after January 6, 2021 — and, like many of his peers, he paid a high price: his seat in Congress. We discuss whether his political sacrifice was worth it, what happens in the “Trump Resistance” text chain and why so many Republicans won’t come out against Trump — even when they see him as a threat to democracy.  This conversation was taped live at the Texas Tribune Festival on September 22, 2023.  Questions or comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on social media. We’re on Instagram/Threads as @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On Wednesday, two Twitter-related interviews rocked the stage at the 2023 Code Conference. Kara interviewed the former head of trust and safety at Twitter/X, Yoel Roth, and Julia Boorstin, CNBC's Senior Media & Tech Correspondent, interviewed X’s CEO, Linda Yaccarino. The late booking of Roth rattled Yaccarino, and her interview led to a media storm. Today, we bring you both interviews. We start off with Kara and Nayeema, as they set the stage early on Wednesday morning, play the interviews in chronological order and then rejoin Kara and Nayeema for a debrief to address accusations that the schedule change amounted to “sandbagging” Yaccarino. (Kara’s response: it does not). Questions or comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on social media. We’re on Instagram/Threads as @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza To join the waitlist for the 2024 Code Conference, visit https://voxmediaevents.com/code2024. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Sheila Johnson is best known for co-founding BET, a network she launched with her ex-husband, Bob Johnson, and which they eventually sold to Viacom for billions. She’s since built a hospitality brand, been an active philanthropist and is an owner or partner in three professional sports teams. But many of those achievements came at great cost, as Sheila writes in her new memoir, “Walk Through Fire: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and Triumph.” We discuss how she navigated her success and independence in a time where “women were defined by their husbands.” We also talk about the future of BET and the role of identity-driven programming in American media.  Questions or comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on social media. We’re on Instagram/Threads as @karaswisher and @nayeemaraza. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices