Episodios

  • Judith Butler on Why Gender Is in Trump’s Crosshairs

    Judith Butler on Why Gender Is in Trump’s Crosshairs
    Apr 24 2025
    Philosopher and critical theorist Judith Butler, Distinguished Professor in the Graduate School at UC Berkeley, has been at the forefront of gender theory for 35 years. But while their work Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity, which helped establish the idea of gender as a social construct in the 1990s, was lauded by the LGBTQIA+ community for opening the doors to queer theory, they’ve been vilified by those on the right for whom gender theory is a threat to “tradition.” Kara and Judith talk about their latest book, Who’s Afraid of Gender, which analyses the growing attacks on gender and gender theory around the world; how Trump’s executive order redefining sex as binary impacts everything from personal rights to medical research; and why recent attacks on the independence of universities could have a chilling effect on academic freedom in the long term. Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on Instagram, TikTok, and Bluesky @onwithkaraswisher. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    1 h
  • Trump, Immigration & the Erosion of Due Process

    Trump, Immigration & the Erosion of Due Process
    Apr 21 2025
    President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown has led to a series of legal skirmishes with major constitutional implications. To unpack it all, Kara speaks to three experts: Caitlin Dickerson is a Pulitzer Prize-winning staff writer for The Atlantic who covers immigration. She is currently writing a book on the impact of deportation on American society. Maria Hinojosa is the host and executive producer of the Peabody Award-winning Latino USA and the founder of Futuro Media Group, which just released the second season of their Pulitzer Prize-winning podcast, Suave. She has won over a dozen awards in journalism, including four Emmys and the Edward R. Murrow Lifetime Achievement Award Deborah Pearlstein is the director of the Princeton Program in Law and Public Policy at the Center for the Study of Democratic Politics. She is an expert in constitutional law and her book, Losing the Law, will be published next year. This episode was recorded on Thursday, April 19th. While we were recording, the Supreme Court announced it will hear a case related to President Trump’s executive order to undo birthright citizenship. And on Saturday, April 20th, the Supreme Court ordered the Trump administration to temporarily halt the removal of Venezuelan migrants from the country. Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on Instagram, TikTok and Bluesky @onwithkaraswisher. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    1 h y 1 m
  • Why Melinda French Gates is Betting On Women in Politics, Business and Tech

    Why Melinda French Gates is Betting On Women in Politics, Business and Tech
    Apr 17 2025
    Melinda French Gates is a businesswoman and philanthropist, as well as an advocate for women and girls both in the U.S. and abroad. And over the past few years, she’s also become a force in Democratic politics. Kara and Melinda talk about her new memoir The Next Day, which takes readers through some of the most important transitions in her life, including her very public divorce with Bill Gates and her decision to leave the Gates Foundation; how she is working to offset the impact of cuts to programs like USAID on the health of women and children around the world; where political lobbying works (and it’s not in the White House); and why she thinks it’s essential to get more girls into A.I. Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on Instagram, TikTok, and Bluesky @onwithkaraswisher. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    54 m
  • Trump's Tariffs: Chaos, Confusion & Consequences

    Trump's Tariffs: Chaos, Confusion & Consequences
    Apr 14 2025
    President Trump's chaotic rollout and partial rollback of tariffs has roiled financial markets and confused many allies, both domestically and internationally. Although he temporarily calmed bond markets by announcing a 90-day pause on his misleadingly labeled "reciprocal tariffs," the uncertainty he created continues. Meanwhile, China has responded to the 145% tariffs on their imported goods by imposing retaliatory tariffs on American products and halting exports of rare earth minerals. To help us makes sense of the mess, Kara talks to three experts: Raj Bhala is a professor at the University of Kansas School of Law and one of the foremost scholars on international trade law. He is also the author of Trade War: Causes, Conduct, and Consequences of Sino-American Confrontation. Bill Cohan is an M&A banker-turned-financial journalist and a co-founder of Puck. He’s the author of a number of books, including Power Failure: The Rise and Fall of an American Icon. Catherine Rampell is a nationally syndicated columnist at The Washington Post who specializes in economics, politics, and public policy. She’s a special correspondent for PBS Newshour and she will soon anchor and co-host of MSNBC’s The Weekend. This episode was recorded on Wednesday April 9th. Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on Instagram, TikTok, and Bluesky @onwithkaraswisher. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    1 h
  • The Daily Show’s Josh Johnson Can Make Even A Recession Funny

    The Daily Show’s Josh Johnson Can Make Even A Recession Funny
    Apr 10 2025
    Emmy-nominated writer, stand-up comic and actor Josh Johnson may be the most prolific comedian on the internet right now. You might recognize him as a regular correspondent on The Daily Show, or maybe you've come across his sharp political critique on TikTok (where he has 2 million followers), or watched one of his longer, philosophical stand-up routines on YouTube (where he has 1.5 million subscribers). Josh is currently touring the country (catch his Flowers Tour in a city near you), but he took a break this week to sit down with Kara at the Great Hall at The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art in New York City. They discussed Josh’s entrepreneurial approach to distributing and owning his work, how to make dry political topics like tariffs funny and relatable, what Elon Musk should really be doing with his money and how the ultimate antidote to fear is community. Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on Instagram, TikTok, and Bluesky @onwithkaraswisher. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    1 h y 6 m
  • The Onion’s Owner on Satire, Infowars, Defending Democracy & Trump

    The Onion’s Owner on Satire, Infowars, Defending Democracy & Trump
    Apr 7 2025
    Last year, after pressure from activist investors, Jeff Lawson stepped down from his perch as CEO from Twilio, the cloud communications company he co-founded. But he didn’t spend any time twiddling his thumbs — that same spring, he bought the satirical news organization The Onion, and by the end of the year, they’d tried to buy Alex Jones’ Infowars at a bankruptcy auction. Jeff also stayed busy on the political front, continuing his work on DemocracyFirst, a political action committee he co-founded, in 2022, to support candidates committed to democracy. So there was plenty to chew on when Kara interviewed Jeff last week at Democracy’s Information Dilemma, a symposium hosted by the University of Michigan’s Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy. They discuss the tech founder mindset; how Jeff is remaking The Onion; why political satire is more necessary than ever; why DEI — which Jeff championed as a CEO — can sometimes do more harm than good; and how to fight for democracy during Trump 2.0. Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on Instagram, TikTok, and Bluesky @onwithkaraswisher. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    1 h y 4 m
  • Trump’s Attacks on the Press and on Freedom of Expression

    Trump’s Attacks on the Press and on Freedom of Expression
    Apr 3 2025
    President Donald Trump has always bashed the press. But his attacks are no longer just rhetorical — he’s using lawsuits to intimidate the news media, and he’s inspired a conservative legal movement to overturn the New York Times Co. v. Sullivan. The landmark Supreme Court decision protects freedom of speech and freedom of the press, and unfortunately, Trump’s attempt to destroy it are part of a larger pattern of tearing away at our right to freedom of expression. To break it all down, Kara speaks to three exceptional journalists: David Enrich, a deputy investigations editor for The New York Times and the author of four books, including the newly released, Murder the Truth: Fear, the First Amendment, and a Secret Campaign to Protect the Powerful; Ruth Marcus, a former associate editor and columnist for The Washington Post and the author of Supreme Ambition: Brett Kavanaugh and the Conservative Takeover; and Ben Mullin, a media reporter for The New York Times covers the major players in the news and entertainment business. Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on Instagram, TikTok, and Bluesky @onwithkaraswisher. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    58 m
  • Michelle Buteau on Comedy, Community and Calling Out Dave Chappelle

    Michelle Buteau on Comedy, Community and Calling Out Dave Chappelle
    Mar 31 2025
    Comedian Michelle Buteau is a true mutli-hyphenate — actor, standup comic, TV host, podcaster, and executive producer — and she wouldn’t have it any other way. Kara spoke to Buteau about the season 2 launch of “Survival of the Thickest,” a Netflix series loosely based on her 2020 memoir, and how she’s using her life stories to push the boundaries of representation. They also talked about Buteau’s 20-year stand up career, how she became the first woman to record a special in Radio City Music Hall (“A Buteau-ful Mind”), why she stands by calling out Dave Chappelle for his transgender jokes, and how she wants to use her producing prowess to uplift more marginalized voices, despite the current political climate. Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on Instagram, TikTok, and Bluesky @onwithkaraswisher. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    58 m
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