Pivot · Jan 23, 2026

Davos Drama, DOGE's Social Security Scandal, and Netflix Goes All-Cash for Warner Bros

Automatic transcript of the end of the episode, from 44:02. Speakers are labeled by software and may contain errors. Highlighted passages are Scott’s predictions.

Kara Swisher · 44:02 Camps even as the army was lying about what they were, which was, you know, which was astonishing that they did this. Which, I mean, blankets, does it end it? No. But it helps. Just like these these Scott Galloway · 44:12 It's embalming at a Kara Swisher · 44:13 minimum. Women driving these kids. Right? That is critically important for citizens to get out there even... And there's a lot of videos of just average citizens who are, like, have never come out, and it's like, I'm sick of this shit. I love that. But one of the people that it reminds me of is this guy, Colorado governor Ralph Carr. He opposed the intern... Japanese Americans. He called it unconstitutional. He welcomed them to Colorado. He cost him politically. He lost because of all this anti Japanese sentiment. He thought denying rights based on ancestry was an undermining of the American system, and and and he welcomed them. And he he was... It was unpopular, and he he he... The downfall of his political career. Now there's lots of things named after him in Colorado. But he took... It was a price. It was an absolute price for this guy, and the backlash was significant at the time. But if you think about those kind of things, you you do need a political figure like this even if at great cost, and you're absolutely right. And they do have to put their bodies on the line and their political reputations. But to me, this is gonna be citizens gonna push back here because that's how the Minnesota way. And one thing, I really appreciate these moms, calling in. This is the kind of stuff you need to do. None of them... They're just exercising their rights as citizens in The United States, and they do not seem particularly dangerous to me. So I think that's a good thing. I'm sorry. I wasn't mean to put words in your mouth. I just think the focus, unfortunately, is gonna be on citizens going forward. Scott Galloway · 45:40 No. And you're right. It's clear. I haven't I haven't registered nor paid attention to some of, you know, for example, senator Klobuchar and what they have said. And I do empathize with, like, you know, the point is, okay. What exactly do you do with people with federal government who have mandated weaponry? The whole thing is, again, I... I'm I'm waiting for the Democrat to say, this is who we're who we're... We are going after these folks. I mean, I think you are breaking laws, and if you break more laws, Kara Swisher · 46:16 we're coming you. Keeping names. We're taking... Making lists. Scott Galloway · 46:19 Yeah. We're taking names. Kara Swisher · 46:20 I agree with you. Scott Galloway · 46:21 And it it may take us thirty six months before we can do anything, but thirty six months goes fast. Kara Swisher · 46:26 Yeah. Absolutely. I think it's, you know, I I think it's sad for the people having to do it, but that's... But but they're also doing it without stopping, and I get they need money, but there's other ways to... People hate them. People hate them, and that's not no way to live. One more quick break will be after predictions and Cara's wins and fails. Scott Galloway · 46:44 Nice. [Ad break] — Predictions segment begins — Kara Swisher · 48:16 Okay, Scott. Let's hear your prediction, and then I will say my wins and fails. Scott Galloway · 48:21 So if there is an upside, and I I admit... I... Would be impossible to call this an upside, but I do think that there may be some element of distraction around this Greenland shit. I I won't even give them that credit. Bottom line is my prediction is that I think we're about to see The US conduct a military strike on Iran. I think you look... The USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike force... By the way, this is... None of this is confidential information. It's all been reported. The fueling tankers that basically give you, like, a gas station in the sky, many of them were relocated to bases in the region. And some of that just might be okay. The region is a bit hot right now, so we want additional kinetic power there. But I think, one, I think it's the right thing to do. I think we have an unbelievable opportunity here to topple a regime who's been the primary funder of terror and the most oppressive regime maybe globally in a long time and is really deeply weakened. I interviewed Neil Ferguson yesterday, the historian for the professor g pod, and he... I asked him, what is the likelihood the regime survives if we don't intervene in a coordinated strike? And he put it at 90%. He said, they'll just wait it out. Kara Swisher · 49:38 Well, they tamp down the protesters. They've tamped down Scott Galloway · 49:40 Well, yeah, when you start killing people. Right? So Kara Swisher · 49:44 Speaking of which. And Scott Galloway · 49:47 you can do the right thing for the wrong reasons. I think Trump is gonna do this because I think he absolutely loved the macho Tarzan light that Venezuela provided him. Kara Swisher · 49:57 He... Yeah. He was jonesing for something like that, it gets away from the Epstein files. Again, thirty four days. Scott Galloway · 50:02 There you go. — Predictions segment ends — Kara Swisher · 50:02 Turn them over, Pam. Pam, it's a law. Turn them over. Yeah. I agree with you. I think that's exactly right. I am gonna do a wins and fails. I, the Oscars weren't released yet. I'm gonna do something lighter because this has been a heaviest situation despite the fact that I I really enjoy your Davos stories. I... I'm really... The the Oscars came out. A lot of great movies this year, a 100%. But I was actually very heartened to see someone like Kate Hudson get a... Get an Oscar nomination. I think she's Scott Galloway · 50:26 What'd she been nominated for? Kara Swisher · 50:27 For Song Song Bo. Oh, saw that. Scott Galloway · 50:29 You liked that. That's supposed to be a cute movie. Kara Swisher · 50:30 Movie. I don't think she'll win. Probably Jesse Buckley from Hamnet. There's a bunch of others who are probably more actor y, but I think she's a hardworking... You know? Yeah. She's the daughter, obviously, of Goldie Hawn, but she's done some amazing work, including comedy, more serious stuff, Almost Famous. Scott Galloway · 50:46 Absolute... Almost famous or absolute famous? What was that called? Kara Swisher · 50:49 Almost Famous. Almost Famous. Cameron Crowe's movie. She was wonderful in that movie. But I think she's a hardworking... And she's in a a Netflix series I like a lot about the LA Lakers, essentially. And she's... She... I took... As I said, I took my wife Amanda who was like, Kate Hudson. And then she came out, she goes, that was an astonishing acting. I was not expecting how layered and good that was. And so, so anyway, so she was... I just feel good for her. Good for her to get in there. I don't... I doubt she'll win, but, I think it's a nice job. You should see the movie. It's still... It's... If you feel bad, go see that movie. It's it's sort of like heated rivalry. You feel bad? Watch it. And then I'm assuming two wins. Again, with the heated rivalry, one of the funniest things happening on the Internet, this is not a new thing, are people acting out scenes from heated rivalry in public and putting them on the line. And they are so funny. They are so... They made me laugh my ass off. There was one where the two guys were doing it in the DMV in front of this woman, and she was just watching the whole thing, and it just... The feeling... One of the things that was really interesting is Esther Perel talked about the reason people like Hida Ravu, which is sort of the the media of the moment, really. And it's because she was saying that it makes you feel better about the outcome, that you're expecting the hit, and you don't get the hit. You get the right response from people. And it retrains you to think everybody's not evil, essentially. Like, I I know as a gay person watching it, like, I was waiting for someone to get beaten up. I was waiting for some rejection or some ugliness, and it... All the answers are good. And so I... I'm gonna go watch this a second time because I was just sitting there waiting for the bad news as a gay person because it always comes in those depictions and in life. So it was not not as much anymore, but definitely in my younger life. So I I just thought that was great. That was great too. I'm gonna do two wins. I don't Scott Galloway · 52:38 have a fan. I know. I I don't even see movies anymore. I already know who's gonna win the Oscar. Who? Well, you just tell me which film has the following. What? It's a, quote, unquote, brave film, which means... Which is Latin for it has sad people, foreign accents, subtitles, or it's a it's a biopic where someone discovers racism in the third act. Which movie is that? Kara Swisher · 52:59 Is it Hamnet? No. I don't know. One battle after another. I really don't know. Oh, no. I... They're all very good movies. They're all... They are... These are not... These movies that are being nominated are terrific, actually. Scott Galloway · 53:10 Yeah. And all these actors claim they hate sequels unless it's the same movie about Hollywood loving itself, which they remake every year. Kara Swisher · 53:15 I wish sinners would win, but I don't think it will. Scott Galloway · 53:18 Is that a good film? You like that? Kara Swisher · 53:19 Yes. Yes. I love that movie. I thought it was great, and I wish I... You know, actually, when I was looking at the nominations, I was like... And I don't think that show matters anymore or those... The the Oscars necessarily matter, but they're they're all good. I was like, oh, I'd have a hard time picking here. Every one of the actors, terrific, supporting. The only thing that has to win, is Golden from k pop demon hunters. Thank you. That was the only thing I would have to say. Song of the year. And, a happy song. I'm gonna leave on a happy note. That's what I'm doing. I'm not gonna talk about Scott Galloway · 53:51 I like it. Kara Swisher · 53:51 Other things like that. Anyway, we wanna hear from you. Send us your questions about business tech or whatever's on your mind. Go to nymag.com/pivot to submit a question for the show or call 85551 Before we go, Scott, you also got a shout out from Michelle Obama on call her daddy podcast. It's such a combination. Call her daddy and Michelle Obama has someone who's done important work on how social media is affecting children. People should go check that episode out. Congratulations. It was very lovely to hear that. I have a lot of writing me about you. Meanwhile, Kara Swisher is getting some accolades of her own. Let's play a voice mail I got this week on my phone. Speaker · 54:30 If this is Karen's... Kara Swisher's number, I just wanted to relay that she's a fucking piece of shit. Scott Galloway · 54:38 That's it? Kara Swisher · 54:39 Oh, thank you for that. That's good. What's for? Please call back and tell me what it's for. I really appreciate that. Oh my god. It's not a number. Don't I don't know. You have Michelle Obama's petting you all over the place saying you're wonderful. I get this. I'm a fucking piece of shit. Scott Galloway · 55:01 So just to Anyway That that pisses me off because guess what? Yeah. You know who doesn't get voice mails like that? Kara Swisher · 55:07 What? Scott Galloway · 55:08 Men. Kara Swisher · 55:09 Yeah. They don't. They don't. Time. Usually from men, actually. Usually from men. But, yeah, she's a woman. Scott Galloway · 55:15 Don't know. Misogyny is sort of a universal practice. It's not limited. I I... It's probably unfair to call her misogynist. Maybe she feels wrong by you or whatever, but but I'm I'm not exaggerating. I get a lot of shit posting online. No one ever, like, calls me any Kara Swisher · 55:29 Oh, I get it all the Scott Galloway · 55:30 time. And there's just a different level of... Anyways, I don't know who Kara Swisher · 55:36 I did seriously think it was my mother at first. Scott Galloway · 55:40 That's lucky on Mother's Day. By Kara Swisher · 55:42 the way, our producers are are... So they can call and leave you a message if you're feeling left out. Scott Galloway · 55:48 Yeah. No. I have to... I I like to pay people to leave those kinds of messages for me. Kara Swisher · 55:53 Yeah. I know. Well, I just wanted to play it because, you know, lady, if you're gonna leave me a fucking asshole message Scott Galloway · 55:58 Yeah. Say and Kara Swisher · 55:59 using it as content. And also say why. But fuck you. Like, anyway, I don't really care. Anyway, that's the show. Thanks for listening to Pivot, and be sure to like and subscribe to our YouTube channel. We'll be back next week. Scott, Michelle Obama loves you. Read us out. Scott Galloway · 56:16 Today's show is produced by Lara Nayman, Zoe Marcus, Taylor Griffin, and Christine Driscoll. Additional assistance from Kate Gallagher and Brad Sylvester. Ernie and her Todd entered into this episode. Manolo Moreno edited the video. Thanks also to Jubaro, Mio Saviro, and Dan Shalon. Nishat Karow is Vox Media's executive producer of podcast. Make sure to follow Pivot on your favorite podcast platform. Thanks for listening to Pivot from New York Magazine and Vox Media. You can subscribe to the magazine at n1mag.com/pod. We'll be back next week for another breakdown of all things tech and business. [Ad break] Speaker · 57:35 I'm Josh Muchio, host of the pitch, where startup founders raise millions and listeners can invest. For our sweet season 16, we're giving you more of what you love and less of what you don't. Kara Swisher · 57:47 I definitely start to blank out when we're talking about middleware AI wrappers. Speaker · 57:52 Software is out. Actual cool stuff is in. We've got consumer brands. We're building Eight Sleep for daytime. Hardware that helps blind people see. Speaker · 58:02 They kept asking for middle finger. Next thing we knew, we had, like, 10 students running around flipping each other off. Speaker · 58:07 We've got deep tech to change the weather. Kara Swisher · 58:09 Our big vision is to make it rain and snow on demand. Speaker · 58:13 What if you wanted to not make it rain somewhere else? Like, one day, we're just like, screw Arizona. And dairy? Kara Swisher · 58:22 I never imagined my life journey would be milk. Speaker · 58:24 Season 16 of the pitch is out now. Listen wherever you get your podcasts. This season is presented by Engine. [Ad break]