Pivot · Nov 5, 2024

Election Predictions, Comcast Spinoff Plans, and Guest Dan Harris

Automatic transcript of the end of the episode, from 56:59. Speakers are labeled by software and may contain errors. Highlighted passages are Scott’s predictions.

Guest · 56:59 Likely to land for your children. Better than any lecture you could give them is taking care of yourself in a way that they observe and will, I think, absorb. And in terms of history, there's some evidence that reading history actually is a balm in the face of our current tumult because you can start to see that we've been through horrible stuff before. Would you rather be where we are right now or on the lip of World War two or the civil war? Personally, I'll take today. So I think... I I hear a lot of wisdom in both of your election evening plans. And, also, Scott, I'll be on with Brian Williams as well. Scott Galloway · 57:41 Oh, I'm go... I'm on at, like, 4AM. They know... They have you up first. Kara Swisher · 57:46 That is as tight as a tick and a da da da. He'll have a million of those. Right? Scott Galloway · 57:50 He'll be like, that's like watching a moose drive a convertible. And everyone, I don't know what that means, but it sounds good. Kara Swisher · 57:56 You know, you guys are going to the nicest place. Mister mister Williams is very calming. I think that's a good choice. Scott Galloway · 58:02 They have to have you on if you have a prime membership. So 87% of America has a ride on. Exactly. Kara Swisher · 58:07 I am just... I'm gonna just watch Rachel Maddow. That's all I'm gonna do. She makes me Scott Galloway · 58:10 feel And that's gonna help your stress? Kara Swisher · 58:12 It is. She does. The lesbians make me calm. Scott Galloway · 58:16 That's like two Subarus colliding into each other in a 150 miles an hour. Oh my god. So inappropriate. A Subaru Forester and a Subaru Impreza had a head on collision on election night. Kara Swisher · 58:28 If Trump wins, we have to we have to initiate the militia Etheridge, and so we've gotta move on. So, anyway, I think I think I'm gonna stay home and just be calm about it. Anyway, Amanda, of course, is, like, lost... Is already losing her mind already, so we'll see where it goes. She already warned me. She goes, I will not be good if he wins. I was like, okay. Great. Sounds fantastic. Anyway, Dan, are you writing 15% happier next? What is your next thing? Guest · 58:56 I am working on a, a book that I've been writing for six years that I have not been able to get right, which really moves from mindfulness, which was the subject of my first book, to... And I don't know the right word for this, but I'm gonna use the word love or warmth or friendliness or this capacity we all have for compassion that we can direct not only toward other people, but also ourselves. That seems like the missing skill in an anxiety epidemic and in the middle of a really divisive time. So that's what I'm thinking about. Scott Galloway · 59:28 So you you mentioned you have a nine year old, just one? Or Guest · 59:32 Just one. Scott Galloway · 59:33 So I really relate to some of the stuff you talk about around anxiety and panic attacks. I also get them rarely, but consistently when I'm speaking. And one of the things I found really helps when I'm feeling stressed is time with my boys. In general, my boys just raise my stress level. But when I'm really stressed, I find they bring it down because they can be so awful. It demands that I go out of my own head. Any thoughts around time with kids? Guest · 59:59 I mean, to me, this goes back to action absorbs anxiety. If you can be useful to anybody else, it will pull you out of your stuff. And Yeah. So parenting, for all of its vexations, can do that. And and you can up the effectiveness of that by just tuning in to what does it feel like if I'm taking care of another being. It feels pretty good. So let's let's let's turn the volume up on that and turn the volume down on our own self centered rumination. I mean, another of my little dumb quips is that the view is so much better when you pull your head out of your ass. Kara Swisher · 1:00:41 Well, and I think that's where we will end it. That's really... View is It so much is... You will be 26% happier if you pull your head out of your ass. That's what I'm feeling Scott Galloway · 1:00:52 right now. Kara Swisher · 1:00:53 Dan, you're fantastic. We love your podcast. We love all your work. Guest · 1:00:56 Thank you. Kara Swisher · 1:00:57 And thank you so much. We... I already feel better, and you can listen to Dan. Guest · 1:01:00 I'm Thank you. Kara Swisher · 1:01:00 10% happier. Scott Galloway · 1:01:02 Thanks, Dan. Kara Swisher · 1:01:02 Bye. Wasn't that lovely? Isn't Dan lovely? Scott Galloway · 1:01:05 So you didn't come through. You purposely tried to get in between me and Emily Rodikowski, but I wanna be friends with Dan Harris. So I need you to set us up for a mandate. Now I I Okay. I want Emily, but I need Dan. So you Okay. I realized you're a little jelly of me and Emily's budding relationship, but you can make up for it by setting me up with Uh-huh. I wanna mandate with Dan. I need that guy in my life. That guy just makes me feel calm. Kara Swisher · 1:01:34 I will. Scott Galloway · 1:01:34 He's a total baller. Kara Swisher · 1:01:35 His hair is spectacular. Scott Galloway · 1:01:37 He's very handsome. He's very successful. That's what I wanna roll with. And I'll have lunch. Does he live in DC? Seems like the kind of guy who would live in DC. Kara Swisher · 1:01:45 I don't know. Scott Galloway · 1:01:45 Well, don't care where he lives. But I go to dinner with him, and people like, oh, there's Scott, with Dan Harris. I always knew Scott was more interesting than he seems. And people people will love Kara Swisher · 1:01:53 him. So I will make. Scott Galloway · 1:01:55 He does new Kara Swisher · 1:01:56 work. So next time Scott Galloway · 1:01:57 you're in a Set up a playdate. That's your job. Kara Swisher · 1:01:58 I will set up a Scott Galloway · 1:02:00 playdate for Kara Swisher · 1:02:00 Scott Galloway. I will do that. That will be your your birthday present. By way, everybody wish Scott a Scott Galloway · 1:02:05 happy birthday. Will never end. Kara Swisher · 1:02:07 Birthday. The last weekend, it will never. I know. I forgot. But it was his birthday just recently. So congratulations. Scott Galloway · 1:02:14 Very much, Karen. — Predictions segment begins — Kara Swisher · 1:02:15 Alright. We'll be back for... We're gonna change wins and fails to predictions, and then we'll do wins and fails on Thursday. So we're obviously gonna predict about the election, and we will do that in a minute. Okay, Scott Galloway. Prediction Prediction from you, obviously, about the election, unless you wanna talk about something else. Scott Galloway · 1:02:39 Well, I'll do two because we're supposed to be tech and business, so I'll try and... I'll do something about tech and business, and then, obviously, people either Kara Swisher · 1:02:47 Yeah. Scott Galloway · 1:02:48 Come here for a prediction or or either will love or hate this prediction. But I think there's a really decent chance. I think Intel is probably the ripest large... It's not large cap now. It's mid cap. It's the ripest candidate I've seen in a while for a take private. That is... It's got outstanding assets, decent cash flow. I think actually a pretty talented CEO, depressed stock price, and it needs to be out of the public view or public markets for a good twelve to thirty six months, similar to what Dell did. The investments they need to make Mhmm. The layoffs they need to make, quite frankly, the efficiencies they need would best be done as a private company, not a public. And it's got so many outstanding assets in terms of its management, its suppliers, its supply chain, its vendor relationship, its customer relationships, its its brand, its global brand, it's arguably one of the probably the 10 most recognized tech brands in the world. It to me, Kara, just screams Kara Swisher · 1:03:42 Are you up to something? Scott Galloway · 1:03:44 I am not personally. No. Kara Swisher · 1:03:45 Up to something? Scott Galloway · 1:03:46 It just screams take private to me. This would be... I I gotta think that this would be one of the better... It's just so fucking ripe it's about to fall off the tree for a a big private equity firm to come in and put together a great investor group and take it private, in my view. My other prediction is simple. I think this poll out of Iowa shows there's real surprising momentum. It just feels everything is coming our way, and then just the feet on the street operation organized by the Harris campaign because of the money and the organization here. I don't even think this is... I'm predicting, Kara, that it's not just a win for Harris. It's a decisive win. Kara Swisher · 1:04:24 Sorry, Scott. I had to change to my iPhone because we had a power surge. I'm blaming Tucker Carlson. Scott Galloway · 1:04:29 I said that Kamala was gonna win and was gonna be decisive. Kara Swisher · 1:04:32 Well, Scott, I I think I couldn't agree with you more. I think it's, it's something I've been saying for a long time. I think women are the quiet majority of people who are gonna be active in this election. It doesn't mean that Trump hasn't done very well given all his... All the hair on this guy, and and there's a lot of it. But, you know, he's an... He was a president, and so there is that popularity element of it. I just think the people he's aimed at are people who are low propensity voters, and they don't leave the basement because they're stoned. Like, that's the people he's trying to get to vote. I think the last week, all the mistakes have been massive and really significant, much more so than people realize. I think reporters have spent far too much time on Twitter, and so they think that that that the world is more dire than it is because Elon's managed to create a terrible environment there. And so media reporters just cannot possibly imagine being pro Harris at this point. So that's why they're doing that, and they spend too much time focused on polls and easily gamed predictions markets. My biggest thing... Two things have been, and then you can react, is, one, the amount of money she's raised from small donors. It says a lot to me. It is about motivated people. I do think, women do vote, and they don't... And they... They're tired of incels. They're tired of rapists. They're tired of being told what to do with their bodies, and they are much more motivated than the men who are just like, I like a tough guy, like, that kind of thing. I don't think they like him that much. Lastly, today in the in the last week and a half at least, his rallies have been sparsely attended. And right now, there's pictures of him in North Carolina on the final day of the election, half empty halls in North Carolina. It says a lot to me. These people are tired of the show. And as a longtime watcher of the apprentice, let me just say, I got tired of the show in the last season and got stopped watching it. And that's what it feels like. And you can decry me for watching the apprentice, but it was a good show. So that's where I feel. I think she's gonna perform better, but I have to tell you, I think he's gonna do everything possible to stay out of jail, including declaring victory very early in the evening. So it could be a very long few days and very... And and I'm worried a little bit more than probably you about violence. Scott Galloway · 1:06:45 So I agree with the nat nat. I do get a little bit defensive. I think there's some misandry in there, Kara, when you refer to young men as saying women are tired of rapists and incels and are getting stoned in their basements. I don't think the Democratic Party has done itself any favors by ignoring the struggles that young men face. And I think the Democratic Party has lost a lot of potential voters. Young men are actually as in favor of gender equality as young women. They don't that Democratic Party, by purposely advocating or stating that they try and advantage 76 of the population, is not advantaging that 74%, but it's discriminating against the 26% that are young men. And I think sometimes we have a tendency to stereotype them and not recognize the nuance and just just the very real struggles that young men face. I don't think the Democratic Party's draping self in glory there. Kara Swisher · 1:07:40 I a 100% agree, and I think it's one thing Harris should spend a lot of time doing, bringing in people like you and Richard Reeves and stuff like that because I think it is a crisis. I'm just talking political strategy. I don't think this is a dependable group of voters. Scott Galloway · 1:07:53 That's all. Think you're right. I think you're right. Kara Swisher · 1:07:55 That's what I mean. And I think we have to. I have three sons. It matters a great deal to me how young men feel about their their lives. And we want to bring them in and make them feel better and not... I don't love that a lot of, say, men of color right now are like, ugh. He... Trump doesn't like us. That's why I'm not voting for him because he's saying we're garbage. I don't like that either. It's like they should feel good about this country, and they should feel good about their role in it. And... But I do think women have had it, really had it with... And I I I I don't... I'm not saying insults. You made this argument yourself, which was ins... You know, like, women are tired of being, like, told what to do with their body, really and truly. And, I think that's the quiet thing that men are now saying out loud about, being unhappy. Scott Galloway · 1:08:41 I think Kara Swisher · 1:08:41 women are very unhappy underneath in a way that will motivate them to vote. And we should we should begin to bring ourselves together as a group of people. And I I I would recommend you watching the will. I. Am video of the song. We used to get along not as well as we could have, but better than we do now. And this... All this garbage has to stop. The gar... Everything with garbage has to stop. We're not garbage. We're the American people. It has to stop. And, hopefully, that will mean kicking Trump to the curb finally because he is a part of our personality that exists but shouldn't anymore. Scott Galloway · 1:09:17 Word. Word, my sister. Kara Swisher · 1:09:19 Word, sister, brother. Well, we'll see. We'll see on Thursday. We could be totally depressed. But we're here for it. We're here for it, and we'll do whatever we can. We're still gonna build a great country regardless of what happens, but we want Kamala to win because she's super cool. Scott Galloway · 1:09:33 But I think that's an important an important point. Something that's unproductive is the catastrophizing on both sides to claim America is over if he or she wins. America has endured worse than he or she. And while I do think certain groups, in my view, young people who would incur deficits or what are effectively tax increases that will be unprecedented, Obviously, women, in terms of a continued loss of domain over their own bodily autonomy. But to believe that America's not gonna be around in four years if he or she wins just doesn't recognize history or how enduring and outstanding America is. Kara Swisher · 1:10:10 I agree with you, Scott, and I think it is. And I do like her message, which is much more about unity on the way out. His is about a fluoride, whether you should have fluoride in the water, and Al Capone. We're done with that. And I'm glad that she's doing a unity message at the end. Hopefully, she can stick with that, and I hope she does if she becomes president. And it would be a great moment in our history to have the first woman president of The United States. Just exciting. And I'd be just as excited if it was Republican, honestly, as long as it was a good one. But I'm very excited about that. Anyway, Scott, read us out. — Predictions segment ends — Scott Galloway · 1:10:42 Today's show was produced by Lara Nayman, Zoe Marcus, Taylor Griffin, and Christine Driscoll. Ernie or Todd engineered this episode. Thanks also to Drew Bros, Mia Savirio, and Dan Shulon. Nishat Kurwa is Vox Media's executive producer of audio. Make sure you subscribe to the show wherever you listen to podcasts. Thanks for listening to Pivot from New York Magazine and Vox Media. You can subscribe to the magazine at nymag.com/pod. We'll be back later this week for another breakdown of all things tech and business. Kara, I will see you on the other side. Kara Swisher · 1:11:10 And go vote, everybody. [Ad break]