Kara Swisher · 24:09
Less so than Netflix. And then we'll see what Apple does. You know? I don't think Google It's
Scott Galloway · 24:13
a matter of time. Amazon is now the second largest spender on scripted television, which means they're gonna start winning everything and cleaning it up. They're eventually gonna get... It really is a matter of resources. It takes some time because there's the, you know, down in Los Angeles, there's just something different in the water there and they've out incredible cultures of these company, but eventually they'll buy that.
Kara Swisher · 24:31
They hired an NBC person though, right? Is that right? To replace the sexual harassing person. Yeah. Yep.
Scott Galloway · 24:38
Yeah. We did not know that.
Kara Swisher · 24:39
Yes. Same woman. A woman who, is a really well regarded executive, an NBC... I think an NBC executive. In any case, it was really great that they got that, and I think you'll you'll just see more and more of I'll I'll be interested in what Apple does, what... If Apple's really... I just don't see them making things, but they've hired some peep... Really excellent people. We'll see if they can muscle their way in here in a certain way. I don't... Tim Cook doesn't look like he'd be super comfortable, you know, hanging with his gang, but we'll see. We'll see. We'll see. I I have a one fail, obviously, Rudy Giuliani, which is... I can't tell if it's a win for him or a fail. I I can't tell if this... Like, I've decided to call it, like, collusion confusion is what he's
Scott Galloway · 25:16
That's exactly right.
Kara Swisher · 25:17
Collusion... He's like, what he's doing is like, woah. Yeah. He did... Maybe he didn't do it. Maybe. And then by the end, we're gonna be like, what? And then he's gonna be like, it was a red light. So he ran it. Big deal. And you're like, woah. Red light. What? Like like, I just feel like he's either the most brilliant person on the planet or else he's really truly lost his mind. And both might be true at the same time. That's my
Scott Galloway · 25:39
You're a 100% right. The thing that it dawned on me watching, I thought this guy's literally lost it. He's crazy. And I thought, oh, wait. Maybe he's crazy like a fox. Because what the Russians have mastered, and this guy, you all know, Naval Harris, author of Sapiens whose name I just mangled, censorship is no longer about holding information or withholding information. It's about overwhelming people with so much information that they get totally
Kara Swisher · 26:04
That's I try to do with my podcast Here a I am again.
Scott Galloway · 26:09
Sit out everybody so you can say you said that before. But look
Kara Swisher · 26:14
what I you've love that. Controlling the content. Constant content. Yes. It's true.
Scott Galloway · 26:19
But it's one of your favorite terms, mudding the waters. And that's exactly what he's doing. He's fatiguing us. He's saying, well, maybe they colluded, maybe they didn't, or maybe it was worse. Maybe... And by the time you get done listening to the guy, you're like, I'm just sick of hearing
Kara Swisher · 26:30
about that. It's also feel like old news. It'd be like, didn't he admit to this?
Scott Galloway · 26:33
Didn't he admit that already?
Kara Swisher · 26:35
Like, literally, it's gonna be like, oh, and then it's gonna be, oh, he just... He ran a red light. Like, so what? So so what? He talked to the Russians. And you're like, I think I care about that. Like, I think I did before.
Scott Galloway · 26:45
This That whole treason thing should should kind
Kara Swisher · 26:47
of be red flag. Treason's bad. Like, that's where that's where they're getting... And he does... Like, his full court press on cable and elsewhere is... And online, and then it's backed by Trump using Twitter. It's just really I I I think, oh my god. They're geniuses. And then I'm like, no. They just know how to... They just... They're... It's just completely demanded. There's a new book out about the White House by someone who was very close to Trump, which paints a shockingly chaotic picture, which I think we're all surprised by.
Scott Galloway · 27:15
It's not a buttoned up, well run organization
Kara Swisher · 27:17
with No. Empathy Apparently, and there's a lot of cursing. There's a lot of cursing in it. It's literally like the show. Like, they've they've lived in reality television for so long. They lived their life in reality television. And so it's a real mess there. I just have this feeling that it's going to get worse.
Scott Galloway · 27:34
So back to Netflix. Have you seen either of the documentaries on the Fyre Festival?
Kara Swisher · 27:39
Yes, I have.
Scott Galloway · 27:40
What did you think of
Kara Swisher · 27:41
I like the one... The sec... I like... I I know they paid him to talk, unfortunately. They may... They disclose it and everything, but I like the second one because they talked about the broader issue of people being manipulated on social media. So, of course, I would like that one. But the fur... They're both good. They're both great. One was on Hulu. One was on Netflix. It was a lot of stuff for one stupid thing, but I thought it's a great classic tale that has been since the beginning of time. And I I thought it was great. And I I felt bad for these sort of millennials or whoever they were. I don't know if they're Gen and z or whatever. I felt bad for them. And at the same time, I'm like, ugh, you dumbass. Like, you know what I mean? That's how I felt. Like, I felt bad they were manipulated and taken advantage of, especially some of them who didn't have a lot of money. At the same time, I was like, you need to get a life where this doesn't happen to you kind of thing. So that's how I thought.
Scott Galloway · 28:25
You're a 100% right. Anyone who decides to spend $5,000 to go to The Bahamas and see blink one eighty two should be screened from the gene pool. That's just Darwin. That's just that's just the hand of evolutionary progress saying, okay, these people should be broken, I should die
— Predictions segment begins —
Kara Swisher · 28:42
recommend them I recommend them highly. The other one I'm gonna watch this weekend is The Valley of the Boom, which has Bradley, whatever, the guy from West Wing. It's all about the beginnings of Internet y kind of thing. So I'll see if I like it because I was there, and I will give report on it next week. They just got sent it to me. It's coming this weekend or just was this weekend. Alright. Predictions. Predictions, Scott.
Scott Galloway · 29:02
I think the government shutdown's over by the time you and I speak again.
Kara Swisher · 29:05
Next week. Really? How? Give me the how because nobody at my fancy Washington party last night could think of it, there were a lot of fancies there.
Scott Galloway · 29:13
My sense is that shit's about to get real, that we're on the verge of either a, you know, a disaster or a national security breach that will be directly reverse engineered to the shutdown. And I think both sides are at the point where they realize they're both parties are incurring substantial risk. And I think something's gonna break here. At least I'm hopeful because it's so bad for our brand, The US brand. It's worse for the president, but it's bad for the Democrats too. So I think we might see something resembling. What,
Kara Swisher · 29:45
give me a what? What are they gonna do?
Scott Galloway · 29:47
Some sort of deal where both sides claim victory. It'll be the president, I wanna say blinking first or squinting first, he'll claim that he got what he wanted. This he's
Kara Swisher · 29:59
gone out getting on kind of a limb there. Don't you think he's gone out on a $5,000,000,000 limb?
Scott Galloway · 30:03
We'll see, but there's reports that the FBI's had to seize investigations around terror.
Kara Swisher · 30:09
Oh, yeah.
Scott Galloway · 30:10
Anything bad happens in the next... The next time something really bad happens on a national security level, people are gonna immediately assign the shutdown to it. That is gonna be bad for both parties.
Kara Swisher · 30:20
Yep. Yep. I think also the TSA thing, the the most immediate thing that affects people. I mean, lines. I... Very worried about fruits and vegetables and everything. Everything the government does is is important. There's a lot of important things the government does. And I think the TSA thing is gonna affect people more because you wait at lines, and then the airlines are gonna be mad, then businesses are gonna be mad, and it sort of sucks. It, like, launches us right into a recession, really, in a lot of ways, and people feel like... I had a long discussion with my son today, and we were sort of iterating it out of where it goes. We have very intelligent drive to school discussions, but that was what we talked about is how do you stop the iterations from... You know, how do you solve the problem? But it seems like both sides are... Just like on Twitter this week, dug in, like, literally nobody could be reasonable. Like, my attempt to be reasonable was seen by everybody as... Well, no. A lot of people were really nice about it. But it was really interesting. Like, I was reasonable, really reasonable. But that's... So that's my worry is that it's impossible to be reasonable.
Scott Galloway · 31:17
Another prediction we talked last week. I said that 2018, or excuse me, '19 was gonna be a rough year for WeWork. Yeah. I think it's also gonna be a rough year for Tesla, I know you love Elon Musk.
Kara Swisher · 31:27
I do not. What... Why do you think that?
Scott Galloway · 31:28
Oh my god. You still hang with Elon.
Kara Swisher · 31:30
I think he's an interesting
Scott Galloway · 31:31
entrepreneur. Would I talk
Kara Swisher · 31:33
to him? Because I'm a handmade into tech. My interview with him was not easy, but go ahead. Right go right ahead. Tucker. Tucker's friend. Friend of Tucker.
Scott Galloway · 31:41
But it's not but it's not weighing on
Kara Swisher · 31:42
your fought.
Scott Galloway · 31:43
Yeah. You're clearly over it. Anyway, so I think Tesla... So so any industry, the key to building a big business or a really valuable business is going after an industry that's ripe for disruption. Its pricing has gone up faster than any underlying innovation relative to inflation. And the auto industry is actually a pretty well run industry. And I think Tesla's, I think Tesla, so the question is, will Tesla change the world or will they go out of business? And I think the answer is yes, but I think we're about to start the latter part of that. I think Tesla is about to have a very difficult year because if you look at, and and this is a sample size of one, but I have a Tesla and I've been trying to sell it. And I find it's getting easier and easier to imagine a Tesla free garage because Mercedes and Audi are coming out with competitive vehicles. And I think they're just much better at making cars. While not as visionary, I think Tesla's about to get thwacked by the invisible I hand of
Kara Swisher · 32:41
think their issues are around servicing. I've heard a lot of complaints by people who own them that they can't get them serviced. They have a hard I think the next steps are hard. They are definitely executionally hard. That said... And, I'm not a handmaiden dick, but these companies would not have done those things without Elon doing what he was doing.
Scott Galloway · 32:57
So thank you
Kara Swisher · 32:58
for that. You know what mean? They wouldn't have moved in these directions so aggressively. They would
Scott Galloway · 33:01
have Change the world. 100%.
Kara Swisher · 33:03
That's... So that is... That's not... That's no small thing. Now the question is, can he... It's still the best of the cars also, from what I understand. I don't drive one, but I... From people who do it, I think most people think he he makes the best car. And there's something to that. Like, the quality of what he's making is really high. And so they have to keep up with that, and that would be... It would... If they do that, it's all good for the world. Right? He's sort of accomplished his his goals in a lot of ways. I... I'm hoping to do another interview with him soon. I wanna do it inside the tunnel. Inside the
Scott Galloway · 33:34
Oh, the boring company? You mean the tunnel where they they move cars? But you don't. It makes no sense. You you would never own a Tesla, that you don't fit the cohort. You know who owns Teslas?
Kara Swisher · 33:44
Who?
Scott Galloway · 33:45
It's a 100% midlife crisis men, because this is what a Tesla says. A Tesla says, Oh, I'm groovy and I'm rich, have sex with me. That's exactly what a Tesla says. Says, care about... Hold on seriously. If you drive a Tesla on the East Coast, you're probably getting your electricity from a coal fired plant, which means you're probably putting more emissions into the air than if you drive a combustion car. But if you're a 55 year old guy in the midst of a raging midlife crisis and you want a signal to the world, I'm not only groovy and hug trees, but I'm also rich, have sex with me, you buy a Tesla.
Kara Swisher · 34:18
I see. Alright.
Scott Galloway · 34:19
Tesla is literally a midlife crisis Just
Kara Swisher · 34:21
horrible.
Scott Galloway · 34:22
On steroids.
Kara Swisher · 34:23
Alright. Listen to me. I am doing a column. I'm getting rid of my car completely. I'm not gonna have a car again in
Scott Galloway · 34:28
my life. I will You can get around with a car.
Kara Swisher · 34:30
I will be. You can
Scott Galloway · 34:31
get around without a car.
Kara Swisher · 34:32
Dead. What you see? I don't have a car here. I borrow my access to use it sometimes. I'm gonna use... I'm I'm not gonna not drive a car, but I'm not gonna own a car anymore. I am selling my car in San Francisco.
Scott Galloway · 34:41
You're going all Uber?
Kara Swisher · 34:42
I'm going all Uber, all, like, those, you know, quick rental cars. What are they called? Fast car. Whatever. I'm doing all
Scott Galloway · 34:50
So if you do this ownership. We should auction... Let's do this. Let's auction your fiesta for charity, and I'm in for for $2,500.
Kara Swisher · 34:58
If it doesn't go for $2,500 fiesta. There's no no option No. I'm not... Oh, that's not a bad idea.
Scott Galloway · 35:05
For charity. Seriously.
Kara Swisher · 35:07
Who wants it, though? I mean, that's my whole point. I'm gonna talk... Let me just tell you why, and then we'll finish up. Here's why. A hundred years ago, when I first got to The Wall Street Journal in the '90... Mid nineteen nineties, I wrote a piece saying... Called cutting the cord. And I... It was all about that I'm never gonna have a landline phone, and I... It is a picture of me with those giant sort of clown scissors with with wires wrapped around me. It was a little s and m. And it was me cutting the cord. And I wrote a story, and I will send it to you. It was about me... I said, someday, you will not have a landline phone. You will not have a thing in your office. You will not
Scott Galloway · 35:39
have a car.
Kara Swisher · 35:39
You'll all be in mobile. I will never buy another car again ever. I'll be dead. That is my... That is what I'm writing about. I will be dead. I will never... I have bought cars. I am done with buying cars. So that is my story. That's gonna be my column.
Scott Galloway · 35:54
And so you're fairly bearish on the auto industry as a whole.
Kara Swisher · 35:57
Mean, everyone has been saying that. Because there'll be fleets of cars. There'll be... No. Because I'm not gonna not drive in a car. How silly. I'm gonna get in an Uber. I'm gonna... I I will rent a car when I need it, but I will not own a car. I will not have insurance for a car. I will not have AA. I will not have tire problems. I will not buy gas. These are all the things I'm not gonna do. And that's that's what I'm writing about. Thank you very much. Just love to
— Predictions segment ends —
Scott Galloway · 36:19
roll up. I love to roll up to my kids' school. I'm an overpriced car.
Kara Swisher · 36:22
Oh my god.
Scott Galloway · 36:22
Honk at people and say, hey. Oh, Jesus. The big dog's here. He's a professor, but he has a nice car. He's so interesting.
Kara Swisher · 36:29
Yeah. If you ever considered therapy, it's an interesting option for you.
Scott Galloway · 36:32
A car is really important to your identity. Seriously. Not
Kara Swisher · 36:36
Kara Swisher's. I'm done. I'm done with the automobile.
Scott Galloway · 36:40
You've had it? You've just had it?
Kara Swisher · 36:42
Love scooters. I love... I'll ride scooters. I'm not gonna naughty.
Scott Galloway · 36:44
My god. You're on scooters?
Kara Swisher · 36:46
I... We're not gonna That's ridiculous. We gotta go. We have just a few minutes.
Scott Galloway · 36:50
You're on a scooter.
Kara Swisher · 36:51
Yes. I love scooters.
Scott Galloway · 36:54
Which brand of scooter do
Kara Swisher · 36:55
you drive or whatever? Scooters lying on the sidewalk, I just grab it. I don't care. I don't have any... I don't own one. I'm not gonna own them. I rent them. They're all over my hipster neighborhood in DC and my hipster neighborhood in San Francisco. I get on the scooters. I ride them. I have my little helmet. It's very nice. I like my little world with me.
Scott Galloway · 37:11
You gotta send a picture out of that.
Kara Swisher · 37:13
I will... You can't take a picture on a scooter. That is like a mistake, but I will send you a scooter picture. I will put it up. I will put it up. But I love scooters. Anyway, Scott, I will talk to you back. I'll be... Still be here in DC, and you will be in Miami. So we'll be talking next week. There's gonna be a lot to talk about. The FTC, fine for Facebook will probably be out by then and a whole bunch of things. So I look forward to talking about it.
Scott Galloway · 37:34
I think you should bring us back together. I think you should go scooting with Tucker Carlson.
Kara Swisher · 37:38
He lives he lives in DC. I... You know, where I tape for CNBC is the same building that... I should go up to Fox and go, hey, boy. Hey, guy. Hey, girl.
Scott Galloway · 37:47
Hey, Tucker.
Kara Swisher · 37:48
Hey, girl. That's what I'd say. Hey, girl. Kara. He's got such a
Scott Galloway · 37:51
high vibe.
Kara Swisher · 37:51
Kara, what are you? Hey. I am. God. It's People
Scott Galloway · 37:54
like you. He always says it.
Kara Swisher · 37:56
Kara, people like you. I can't do that. My mother wrote it... Write a letter to him. She was mad. She's a Fox News fan, and she's not watching Tucker Carlson anymore. She wrote a very indignant letter to him.
Scott Galloway · 38:05
Thanks, mom.
Kara Swisher · 38:06
And she was like, you know, everything he said was untrue. I said, it might catch a clue about
Scott Galloway · 38:09
Fox, mom. You're... But you're clearly over this. Listen to you.
Kara Swisher · 38:12
No. I'm just like Get over it. No. Why don't
Scott Galloway · 38:14
we get Literally, get over it.
Kara Swisher · 38:15
Me. Look. You can say I'm a crazy left wing San Francisco liberal lesbian, but you cannot say I'm untowed. I'm sorry. That is not allowed.
Scott Galloway · 38:22
No. That's unfair.
Kara Swisher · 38:23
That's not allowed.
Scott Galloway · 38:24
That's not Seriously, find find a find a mannequin, put a bow tie on it, stick stick it in the trunk of your fiesta, and drive it off a bridge.
Kara Swisher · 38:30
I am gonna find Tucker Carlson. Give him a big Carrot's wisher hug. Alright. There you go. Scott, we'll talk next week in the same time zone. Rebecca Sinanis produces the show. Nishat Kerwa is Vox Media's executive producer of audio. Thanks also to Eric Johnson. Thanks for listening to Pivot from Vox Media. We'll be back next week for more of a breakdown on all things tech and business. If you like what you heard, please subscribe on Apple Podcasts or wherever you're listening.
