Kara Swisher · 37:36
These tech companies into any kind of prone position, I think. But we'll see. We'll see. Yeah. Actually, I think that's a certainty. Okay, Scott. Let's pivot to a listener question. You've got you've got I can't believe I'm gonna be a mailman. You've you've got mail.
Speaker · 37:51
Hey, Karen Scott. My name is Rachel, and I'm calling from Los Angeles. Big fan over here. Incidentally, I've had erotic dreams about both of you, separately, I should say. Anyway, I've got a soft ball question. I feel like we could all use something lightweight at the moment, and that is why is no one talking about the Kia rebrand? And secondly, is Kia sexy now?
Kara Swisher · 38:13
Oh my god. I'm so glad she didn't have it with both of us.
Scott Galloway · 38:17
I literally heard nothing she said after erotic dreams. I... Like, I don't... I have no idea what she... You have to take this.
Kara Swisher · 38:23
I'm so glad she said separately, I should say.
Scott Galloway · 38:26
You have to take this.
Kara Swisher · 38:28
Can't believe this. Kia... Of course, Kia's sexy. Kara Swisher drives a Kia Sorento. Of course, Kia is sex... I was totally on to this. They are... I love my Kia. I love my freaking Kia. I love it. I think it's sexy in its unsexiness. They did have a rebrand. They make a great car. They have a new logo they unveiled in early twenty twenty one, but drivers are seeing it for the first time. I have the old logo on my car, I believe. It dropped motors from its name. You know, they're pivoting to electric vehicles. I have a hybrid. And so, yes, yes. I don't know why no one's talking about it because I talk about my Kia all the time and no one pays attention. And me in the Kia, you should have an erotic dream about that. That's all I have to say.
Scott Galloway · 39:06
Jesus Christ. I don't think I've ever been this not turned on in my life. Kia. Literally roll up in a Kia, throw down Discover Card, and talk about how into magic you are, and I can guarantee you will never conceive another child.
Kara Swisher · 39:20
I'm doing great. She's having erotic dreams about us, Scott. I have
Scott Galloway · 39:23
a Kia. I just wanna know what I'm wearing in her erotic dream. Do I need do I need ED medication in her dreams to to Jesus her Christ. Just tell her thank you. Just... Would she like a signed book of adrift? This literally has made my day.
Kara Swisher · 39:40
I think you're naked reading adrift. That's what I think.
Scott Galloway · 39:43
Or makes me naked. I look 56.
Kara Swisher · 39:47
You look good. I have to say Scott looks good.
Scott Galloway · 39:49
Thank you for saying that.
Kara Swisher · 39:49
Oh my god. I can say definitively I've never had erotic dreams about you, Scott. Definitively say that.
Scott Galloway · 39:56
Back to her question. Is Kia sexy? I would have to say... Let me think.
Kara Swisher · 40:00
No. Yes.
Scott Galloway · 40:01
No. It's not sexy.
Kara Swisher · 40:02
She's
Scott Galloway · 40:02
wrong. Actually, there's a lot of news. Supposedly, Kia's really easy to steal.
Kara Swisher · 40:06
Are they? Oh, good to know.
Scott Galloway · 40:08
Did I tell you my car my car theft story? Back to
Kara Swisher · 40:11
me. Okay.
Scott Galloway · 40:12
So my first Halloween in New York, I dress up as Starship commander Jean Luc Picard. Huge crowd. Huge crowd pleaser.
Kara Swisher · 40:19
Okay.
Scott Galloway · 40:20
Huge crowd pleaser. I get home. I'm totally fucked up at 2AM. Mhmm. I had just bought a brand new BMW seven series cause I'm single and wanna impress people.
Kara Swisher · 40:29
And
Scott Galloway · 40:30
I hear it start up. I'm on the 2nd Floor. I like to buy 2nd Floor apartments because that way, the fire, can get downstairs, and I like the view of the city.
Kara Swisher · 40:37
I know. You're on... I was wondering why you're on the 2nd Floor. But go ahead.
Scott Galloway · 40:40
Best view in the city is either the penthouse or the 2nd Floor of Plus, it's it's... You always wanna take the stairs. You don't... I never wanna take elevators.
Kara Swisher · 40:46
I'm so worried about a fire. I can't even believe it. Go ahead.
Scott Galloway · 40:49
Anyway, so I hear my car start up. And I'm I'm like and I look out the window, and I see someone who is not me in my brand new seven series. I go running down with my phaser.
Kara Swisher · 40:59
Right.
Scott Galloway · 40:59
And this guy takes off down 15th Street, and I start chasing him. You know, my testosterone takes over.
Kara Swisher · 41:06
Dressed like Jean Luc Picard?
Scott Galloway · 41:07
Starship commander Jean Luc Picard is chasing a BMW down. True story, 15th Street. He hits a red light. I catch up to him. And all this bullshit stupid ideas I start thinking. I I I see one of those big steel trash cans in the corner, and I'm like, I'm gonna grab this thing, put it through the window. What what
Kara Swisher · 41:25
are you, Charles Bronson? What
Scott Galloway · 41:27
Well, no. I'm fucking stupid. And then I, like, for a moment, have a moment of sanity, and I'm like, what if he has a gun? Yeah. And I just sat there, and I waited till the light turned green. This guy was freaking out in the car, and I just waved goodbye, and he took off. And about nine months later, my car was recovered. And you know what it obviously was? BMW only gave me one key, and they said they couldn't find the second. Mhmm. These things are literally... I talked to a bunch of people at BMW. They're literally impossible to steal unless someone has one of those those keys. Mhmm. And so I called BMW, and I said, you clearly have organized crime at one of your dealerships.
Kara Swisher · 42:02
Mhmm.
Scott Galloway · 42:03
And, anyways, I got into a big tiff with BMW. These are just literally the the most privileged problems
Kara Swisher · 42:08
in the world. Rich people's problems. But I do like the image of Jean Luc Picard in Ikea.
Scott Galloway · 42:14
That's what she should dream about in her dream. Hello, Star Trek. That's right. Good moment.
Kara Swisher · 42:19
You, Jean Luc Picard. That... Incredible.
Scott Galloway · 42:21
That's right.
Kara Swisher · 42:22
That's who that you should dream about. Anyway
Scott Galloway · 42:24
product dreams.
Kara Swisher · 42:24
I I know. I can't believe it separately, I may add. That's what I like. Anyway, if you've got a question of your own you'd like answered, send it our way. Go to nymag.com/pivot to submit a question for the show, or call 85551 Alright, Scott. One more quick break. We'll be back for predictions.
[Ad break]
— Predictions segment begins —
Kara Swisher · 43:59
Okay, Scott. Let's hear some predictions. Because I'm gonna start, actually. Let me just say Mhmm. I predict Rupert Murdoch's gonna sue me, and here's why. I wrote a series of texts about Linkrot. It's called Linkrot, where when we left News Corp, we wanted to buy the archive and feed of All Things D. And they wouldn't sell it to us because they wanted to, but then Rupert said no. Actually, they went to ask him and wouldn't do it. We were gonna give him a lot of money. And one of the things we were worried about is the lynx dying, right? That this amazing body of work and videos and videos with all the young moguls of the time were on there. And we and they promised to keep the links from rotting. And it wasn't that I thought they were necessarily malevolent. It's that when you replatform all the time, things get broken, links get broken. And so I was very, very worried at the time, made a lot of noise. We insisted. And the other thing that I was mad about is, like, they kept pushing whenever they went to All Things D, they went to WSJ Tech sites. And I'm like, they didn't ask for that. They asked for All Things D. It's disingenuous when you when people want something and then they get pushed somewhere else. And I thought it was really disingenuous. Anyway, it's a real problem for everyone. And there's a 2013 study that found almost half of the links cited in Supreme Court decisions were dead. It didn't lead anywhere. And so my archive is gone, and there's lots of solutions. Like, there's archive.org. There's blockchain pitches and things like that. But I have some of these videos, which are historical as far as I'm concerned, some of them on my computer, I might just load them all up. Like, Taylor Swift does own her songs. I might just load them up and just say, it... I'll put them everywhere and sue me. Like, I I don't know what else to say because it's really astonishing that they You will
Scott Galloway · 45:39
get sued though, Kara.
Kara Swisher · 45:40
I know that. But they made an agreement to keep it up, and this is his... This is... It's not that it's better than anyone else, but they... So, of all things, Dee really was there.
Scott Galloway · 45:48
Do you have a signed legal agreement that that they have to keep these things up?
Kara Swisher · 45:52
I've gotta find it.
Scott Galloway · 45:53
Yeah. This is what you sound up. Yeah. You sound like Sylvester Stallone that just bitches bitches and moans that he doesn't own Rocky. And the bottom line, he was an adult, and he signed it over to someone.
Kara Swisher · 46:01
Did, but it was also in agreement that said they were gonna keep it and and not do the kind of creepy things they were doing with it. That was part of the agreement. And there... I have no
Scott Galloway · 46:10
When you say creepy things, you mean you want them to keep it, keep those things up and live?
Kara Swisher · 46:14
No. No. I wanted them to archive them so when you click the link, it would go to them separately. This was the... I was worried about this very thing, and they agreed to do that. I have emails upon emails of them agreeing to do that after I yelled and yelled and yelled. Now they're not there, and they're... Those people probably are gone that agreed to it. And so it's... We've gotta have a better solution to all these things just disappearing. And I'm not... I I know what we sold. We did try to buy it. Then we got them to agree to do it, and then they didn't. And we have no recourse at this point at all. There's no recourse Mhmm. Whatsoever. And I'm not I'm not bitching and moaning.
Scott Galloway · 46:48
I think that ranks right up there with your BMW being stolen. No. Oh, no. You're bitching and moaning.
Kara Swisher · 46:53
No. No. I'm bitching and moaning. This is stuff that is gone now, and it's... It happens all over the Internet and who owns it. And besides the fact that they tried to, like, use it as a marketing opportunity for themselves, which is gross, fine, whatever. It's still gross.
Scott Galloway · 47:05
I mean, capitalist? Oh my god. I can't believe they do that.
Kara Swisher · 47:08
No. No.
Scott Galloway · 47:09
That's the least gross thing News Corp will do today, Kara.
Kara Swisher · 47:12
When... No. When you search for something, you should go to it with disclosure. Like, we've taken it over, and we wanna push you over here. It's it's... Come on. They they yell at tech companies for doing these things and then do it themselves. Anyway, it's really disappointing. Sorry. That's my... My prediction is we've... We're gonna get in some sort of wrangle with them in some fashion. Thank you.
Scott Galloway · 47:30
Some sort of wrangle?
Kara Swisher · 47:31
You'd be mad if seven years of your work got, like, disappeared. But go ahead. Go ahead.
Scott Galloway · 47:35
I agree with you. And I know that. There is some, what I'll call, historic value to those interviews, especially Mark Zuckerberg sweating.
Kara Swisher · 47:45
Oh, that's still up. But go ahead.
Scott Galloway · 47:47
Sorry. My prediction is that on TikTok, I think there's so much money on the line here. And you have big American VC firms involved. I think Sequoia is an investor. I think, don't know, the General I Atlantic Partners. Anyways, there's so much money on the line here because TikTok is the most ascendant tech platform likely ever. It's probably worth right now if you try to put a value on it somewhere between 500,000,000,000 and $1,000,000,000,000, maybe even more Mhmm. Because the metrics are just so staggering. There's so much money here that one or two things is gonna happen. They're either gonna figure out some sort of you summarized it perfectly in our last episode. You said we have to separate ownership from the product, and that is it's an amazing product, but it... We're probably justifiably, in my view, never gonna be very comfortable with this type of product and its type... And its level of success with the current ownership. I think they're gonna do something fairly dramatic here, either a spin or American investors or American entities will take... Will be sold a majority stake or quote unquote, the ownership will be expunged from parties or entities linked to China. If they don't do that because there's so much money on the line, it means they couldn't, and we should be worried. And you're probably gonna see for some of the right and quite frankly, of the wrong reasons, American regulators use it as a punching bag to come in and do something very heavy handed, which I would argue is probably not the right thing. And we'll... I think there's been some good discussion online. We'll distract from some of the privacy issues that continue to plague us around the other platforms. But there's gonna be... In the next ninety days, we're either gonna see a fairly dramatic change in ownership structure, or we're gonna see regulation proposed that is like... That is Trump like.
Kara Swisher · 49:44
Yeah.
Scott Galloway · 49:44
It says, we're not down with you being here
Kara Swisher · 49:46
Yeah.
Scott Galloway · 49:47
In The United States.
Kara Swisher · 49:48
Yeah. Trump certainly had highlighted this, but the way he did it was wrong, and it made it into a laughable thing when it was a very... At the time, I said this is a very serious issue, and and and the clown show is pushing it, which is a problem in a in a clown show way. But I I agree with you. I think this is gonna be a real problem for them. And I I don't... Well, I don't think... It might get acquired. Yeah. I don't think the Chinese government will will... Unless they think the jig is entirely up, they are not gonna let their hands off of this. I just don't see that. It's too It's it's too good until... And they... Maybe they think they can wear us down to just not pay attention.
Scott Galloway · 50:21
Well, you know what solves... Kinda solves all problem? Is if Microsoft acquires it.
Kara Swisher · 50:25
Well, that was tried. Right? Remember, Trump wanted a
Scott Galloway · 50:28
vague... Well, no. They weren't acquiring it. Trump was carving it up like birthday cake, deciding who got what. And there's laws against that. But Oracle can't afford it, don't think. Oracle doesn't have the market cap because this thing is worth $500,000,000,000 to a trillion dollars. But if I don't think Facebook could do it. I'm not sure Google could do it for any trust concerns. But if Microsoft came in and said, look, we're very good at technology. We have a history of working with our defense departments. We understand your security concerns.
Kara Swisher · 50:56
What about Apple?
Scott Galloway · 50:57
I don't think Apple wants to be in that business.
Kara Swisher · 50:59
Well, I know.
Scott Galloway · 51:00
They are not I wouldn't say they're not a good acquirer, but I think they have decided that unless it's a perfect seamless fit, we don't acquire companies because our culture is
Kara Swisher · 51:07
so powerful. They have talent and talent.
Scott Galloway · 51:11
But that would kind of solve the problem here. And not only that, give the economic reward to some incredibly creative people who deserve that economic reward.
Kara Swisher · 51:20
That's a big lift for Microsoft.
Scott Galloway · 51:22
For the most ascendant platform in history, I would take that risk.
Kara Swisher · 51:25
Okay. Alright.
Scott Galloway · 51:26
I would take that risk.
Kara Swisher · 51:27
You and should buy it. Let's find some money. Let's do that.
— Predictions segment ends —
Scott Galloway · 51:30
That's always your solution. After your after after your stint as FCC commissioner?
Kara Swisher · 51:35
No. Not FCC. It's a whole new thing. The Department of Information. I'd make it scary looking. I'd wear severe black clothing, and I call myself Treg. You know all the reporters are, like, featured.
Scott Galloway · 51:44
It just staggers the imagination people have erotic dreams about either of us when you when you talk that way.
Kara Swisher · 51:50
Treg.
Scott Galloway · 51:50
Even though you are wearing my clothes.
Kara Swisher · 51:52
I'm enjoying your clothing. This is so not coming back to you. It's really just I just am warning you right now. Anyway, read us out, Scott. That's the show. We'll be back on Tuesday with more Pivot. I will be home soon, honey. Read us out.
Scott Galloway · 52:06
Today's show was produced by Lara Naiman, Evan Engel, and Taylor Griffin. Ben Woods engineered this episode. Thanks also to Drew Burrows and Neil Savario. Make sure you subscribe to the show wherever you listen to podcasts. Thanks for listening to Pivot from New York Magazine and Vox Media. We'll be back next week for another breakdown of all things tech and business. Put a chocolate on a friend's pillow when they're staying with you. It's the little things, Kara. It's the little things.
