DeepSummary
The podcast episode features an interview with journalist Kara Swisher, who has been covering the tech industry for decades. She discusses her early interest in the internet and how she transitioned from working at the Washington Post to covering tech companies like AOL and Google. Swisher initially believed in the transformative potential of technology but grew increasingly skeptical and critical of the lack of regulation and ethics in the industry.
A turning point for Swisher was a meeting in 2016 between tech leaders and newly elected President Donald Trump. Despite privately expressing concerns about Trump, the tech executives prioritized their business interests over raising issues like immigration policies. This made Swisher realize that these companies were ultimately driven by profit motives rather than the idealistic goals they claimed.
Swisher expresses disappointment in the government's failure to implement privacy protections and regulate the tech industry effectively. She believes the companies have grown too powerful, behaving like "nation states" without adequate oversight. Swisher also discusses her changing relationship with Elon Musk, whom she initially admired but now sees as having become megalomaniacal and disconnected from reality.
Key Episodes Takeaways
- Kara Swisher initially believed in the transformative potential of technology and the positive impact it could have on society.
- Over time, Swisher grew disillusioned with the tech industry as she witnessed a lack of ethics, regulation, and accountability for the negative impacts of their products and practices.
- A pivotal moment for Swisher was when tech leaders prioritized their business interests over raising concerns about Trump's policies during a meeting in 2016.
- Swisher criticizes the arrogance and belief among tech leaders that they know better than everyone else, including the government and media.
- She expresses disappointment in the government's failure to implement adequate privacy protections and regulate the tech industry effectively.
- Swisher believes the tech companies have grown too powerful, behaving like "nation states" without proper oversight or accountability.
- Her relationship with Elon Musk deteriorated as she saw him become increasingly disconnected from reality and megalomaniacal as his wealth grew.
- Swisher calls for better regulation and compensation for content creators, particularly in the context of AI technology's potential to use copyrighted material without proper compensation.
Top Episodes Quotes
- “It was capitalism after all.“ by Kara Swisher
- “They know everything that is correct.“ by Kara Swisher
- “I don't think any of us know, so. Okay, sure, genius, you know?“ by Kara Swisher
- “Pay me for my stuff. You can't walk into my store and take all my Snickers bars and say it's for fair use.“ by Kara Swisher
- “No regulation is going to work quite well enough. And the government falls down on the job a lot of times, but at least there's some semblance of guardrails on all those industries.“ by Kara Swisher
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Episode Information
The Political Scene | The New Yorker
WNYC Studios and The New Yorker (audio_production@condenast.com)
4/1/24
Kara Swisher landed on the tech beat as a young reporter at the Washington Post decades ago. She would stare at the teletype machine at the entrance and wonder why this antique sat there when it could already be supplanted by a computer. She eventually foretold the threat that posed to her own business—print journalism—by the rise of free online media; today, she is still raising alarms about how A.I. companies make use of the entire contents of the Internet. “Pay me for my stuff!” she says. “You can’t walk into my store and take all my Snickers bars and say it’s for fair use.” She is disappointed in government leaders who have failed to regulate businesses and protect users’ privacy. Although she remains awed by the innovation produced by American tech businesses, Swisher is no longer “naïve” about their motives. She also witnessed a generation of innovators grow megalomaniacal. The tech moguls claim they “know better; you’re wrong. You’ve done it wrong. The media’s done it wrong. The government’s done it wrong. . . . When they have lives full of mistakes! They just paper them over.” Once on good terms with Elon Musk, Swisher believes money has been deleterious to his mental health. “I don’t know what happened to him. I’m not his mama, and I’m not a psychiatrist. But I think as he got richer and richer—there are always enablers around people that make them think they hung the moon.”
This segment originally aired on March 1, 2024.