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Camp Donald, Bezos's AI Fantasy, and Desperately Seeking Kara Swisher artwork

Camp Donald, Bezos's AI Fantasy, and Desperately Seeking Kara Swisher

Pivot

October 9, 2026

Kara goes missing, and Jessica Tarlov steps in to save the day! Scott and Jessica discuss Trump's bizarre comments about California, and the possibility of an October surprise involving Iran.

Speakers Kara Swisher, Scott Galloway, Jess Tarlov, Donald Trump, Vivek Ramaswamy

TopicsNews CommentaryNewsTech News

Kara Swisher (0:01)

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SPEAKER_2 (0:44)

I'm Ina Garten and each week on Happy Hour, I invite new and old friends for a drink and a fun conversation at my kitchen table in New York City.

On this week's episode, I'm joined by Nathan Lane. We talk about his critically acclaimed run in death of a salesman, taking his dog to therapy and winning an Emmy for only murders in the building. New episodes of Happy Hour are available every Wednesday. You can watch on YouTube or listen wherever you get your podcasts.

SPEAKER_3 (1:20)

Megan Rapinoe here. This week on Why Are You Like This, I am talking with Shrinkings and Ugly Bettys, Michael Urie. We dig into his Plano, Texas upbringing and how Vanessa Williams had a huge impact on his career. I'm also weighing in on the Indiana Fever, GM Amber Cox's comments on their fan base. Check out the latest episode of Why Are You Like This, wherever you get your podcasts and on YouTube.

Kara Swisher (1:47)

Hi, this is Kara Swisher. Just a note about today's episode. For the first time ever, I was late and really late, but co-host of Raging Moderates, Jess Tarlov, jumped in to save the day until I arrived. So please enjoy.

Scott Galloway (2:03)

Hi, everyone. This is Pivot from New York Magazine and the Vox Media Podcast Network. I'm Kara Swisher.

Jess Tarlov (2:09)

And I'm Scott Galloway.

Scott Galloway (2:10)

There you go. So a little different today. We cannot find Kara Swisher. And we've been making jokes for the last 15 minutes. You want to hear my favorite, Jess?

Jess Tarlov (2:18)

Yeah, lay it on me.

Scott Galloway (2:19)

We sent bloodhounds looking for her, but she found them first.

Or we think she might be in a Patagonia store asking for something less douchey in Silicon Valley. Anyways, we don't know where she is. We think that she lost track of time, the time zone, and that she's with the Barksdale's in Mississippi.

Jess Tarlov (2:38)

She's here though, no? I ran into her in the Vox studio in New York City, which was a delightful run-in. I guess that was two days ago. She could have popped on a jet to the jungle with an Ayahuasca shaman or something.

Scott Galloway (2:52)

It's funny you say that because every time people run into Kara, the first word they think of is delightful. You lost some credibility, but despite that, we're going to move forward with the show.

I know with us, for those of you who don't know, is Jess Tarlov, co-host of the managing moderates and some show on Cable TV and the-

Jess Tarlov (3:09)

Cable's dying. It doesn't even matter.

Scott Galloway (3:11)

There you go. I'm tied for first with Kate and Collins for the pervy obsession of the president.

Anyways, and we're not even going to go to that. First off, Donald Trump appears to be doubling down on his comments about Iran potentially striking California as he defends the war. Let's listen to what he said at a rally on Wednesday night.

Donald Trump (3:31)

You want to see trauma, you want to see problems, and I said it the other day, let them hit a missile into San Diego or Los Angeles on the way. Let them hit, you want to see a horror show, you want to see problems, let them hit San Diego, let them hit Los Angeles and you want to see some bad things happen, you want to see a country that would be in free fall.

We're not going to let that happen. We protect our cities, we protect our country, we're not letting that happen.

Scott Galloway (3:59)

All right, so I'm going to pretend I'm Kara Swisher.

Can you believe this guy? Now provide insight. Your turn, Jess.

Jess Tarlov (4:08)

I can believe this guy. The question is whether the American people can believe this guy anymore. If the polls are to be believed, we are in blue wave to potentially tsunami territory.

I like to be nauseously optimistic.

You always have to run like you're behind, and the good news is Democrats are actually doing that. But these kinds of comments are the things that really turn off independence and moderates. So if his base is largely intact, and there are parts of it that are fracturing for sure. But in general, you shot someone on Fifth Avenue, let me buy you a beer crowd is still hook, line, and sinker in there. This is the stuff for people who are on the fence, or who maybe took a flyer on him in 2024, because they thought that prices would go down, we wouldn't have wars in the Middle East, and that the Democrats were too scattered and woke and crazy, and weren't delivering. They look at this and just say, like, what's wrong with you? The question is, how did he put it, or people who are trying to decode Trump in the first term, or they said, don't take him literally, or seriously, or whatever it is. Where does nuking Los Angeles and San Diego, or I guess getting the Iranians to do it, we're not going to do it ourselves, where does that go on the scale of how seriously you're supposed to take him, or what signal is it sending to Iran about what's going on here?

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