Midterm Map Wars, AirPods Revamp, and Trump Phone Grift

Summary

Pivot Episode Summary

Podcast: Pivot (New York Magazine & Vox Media)
Date: May 12, 2026
Episode: “Midterm Map Wars, AirPods Revamp, and Trump Phone Grift”
Hosts: Kara Swisher & Scott Galloway

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Overview

This episode of Pivot zeroes in on the mounting political, technological, and business battles of 2026. Kara and Scott dissect the escalating war over redistricting ahead of the U.S. midterms, analyze rumors of Apple’s camera-equipped AirPods, and expose ongoing grift tied to Trump’s mythical mobile phone. As always, their trademark banter flavors discussions of global power shifts, media weaponization, and the culture of conspiracy and inequality in America.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Mother’s Day & Global Travels

• Opening Banter (02:17–04:05): Kara recounts her Mother’s Day festivities and recent trips to Europe, including keynotes at events in London, Norway (“we’re big in Norway!”), and Cambridge. Scott jokes about the organizational complexity of Kara’s large blended family.
• Global Sentiment on U.S. Tech & Trump (05:21–06:26): Kara notes widespread European concern over Trump and U.S. tech firms seen as “extractors” — a “reverse colonization” dynamic.
  • Kara: “One of the things they’re so obsessed with: Trump, all these countries and the danger he poses…” (05:46)

2. Shifting Global Cities & Economic Trends

• Resurgence of San Francisco & London (06:26–08:16):
  • Scott predicts a migration of capital back to London and other European cities, following recent safety concerns in the Gulf region. Kara highlights signs of a San Francisco comeback.
  • Scott: “America is still the best place to make money and Europe is the best place to spend it.” (08:16)

3. UK Politics and Nigel Farage

• Rising Multiparty Chaos (09:16–10:36):
  • Kara and Scott critique the destabilizing rise of Nigel Farage and the fragmentation of the UK’s political landscape.
  • Scott: “People would have a difficult time thinking of one person that’s done more damage to the UK than Nigel Farage.” (10:11)

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4. FCC “Weaponization” and Media Suppression

• The View & ABC Battle with the Trump FCC (10:36–13:52):
  • Kara reports on attempts by Republican FCC leadership to intimidate ABC and suppress free press via a probe into “The View’s” equal time rules.
  • Scott: “This is government harassment... It means Fox & Friends have been violating equal time for 25 consecutive years. This is just ridiculous.” (12:36)
  • Kara: “Brenda, I’m following you everywhere you go after you leave office and I will make sure people understand what you did constantly.” (13:37)

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5. Redistricting, Gerrymandering & Democracy

• Post-Voting Rights Rulings Fallout (13:56–21:58):
  • Virginia Supreme Court tosses a pro-Democratic map, reflecting a wider Republican effort to gerrymander ahead of the midterms. Kara and Scott lament both parties’ resorting to gerrymandering, but describe the Republican maps as “grotesque.”
  • Scott: “Within 90 days, I’m putting up for a vote... to de-gerrymander the entire United States. We need structural reform." (16:21)
  • Term limits and age restrictions for judges and justices are debated (“Old men who won’t fucking leave... we need a healthy shedding of skin.” (17:39))
  • Visuals of Tennessee political maneuvering are described as “the Confederate South” (19:20).

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6. Age and Cognitive Fitness in Politics

• Cognitive Decline & Leadership (20:08–21:58):
  • Both hosts argue for significant age gating in high office, echoing critiques of both Biden's and Trump’s cognitive abilities.
  • Kara: “He is cognitively disabled. I’m going to say that every single show…” (21:58)

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7. Cyber Threats & Steve Bannon’s Influence

• Anticipated Election Interference (23:02–24:25):
  • Experts warn that Russian cyber and information attacks are expected to favor Trump in the midterms. Bannon’s strategy of targeting “80 districts that matter” for potential chaos is outlined.
  • Kara: “The Russians are preparing to attack during the midterms in Trump’s favor, as recent studies have shown they did…” (23:02)

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8. Apple AirPods: The Future of Wearable AI

• Camera-Equipped, AI-Powered AirPods (27:33–33:55):
  • Apple is reportedly close to launching AirPods with built-in cameras for context-aware AI. Scott praises the convergence of audio and visual inputs, but warns Apple’s Achilles’ heel is still the underwhelming Siri AI assistant.
  • Scott: “They’re turning your ears into eyes... The hardware will be the best... the problem will be the AI overlay.” (29:14, 31:25)
  • Privacy concerns are acknowledged but not deeply resolved.

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9. SpaceX’s $55+ Billion “Terrafab” Chip Plant & IPO Play

• Chip Sovereignty & IPO Pitches (35:12–36:08):
  • SpaceX is planning a massive chip plant in Texas (“Terrafab”), both for strategic control over AI hardware and as a talking point for its anticipated IPO.
  • Scott: “This is a really smart move... It may or may not [succeed]; he may not be very good at this. It doesn’t matter. It is a great... big thinker.” (35:12–36:08)

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10. Elon, X, and Deepfake Investigations

• French Government Steps In (36:08–39:18):
  • Kara applauds European authorities for pursuing criminal charges against X over child pornography and deepfake proliferation, predicting eventual perp walks for tech executives.

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11. The Trump Phone Grift

• No Product, Still Collecting Deposits (43:34–45:04):
  • Trump Mobile continues to take $100 deposits a year after announcement, despite no product shipping, in what the hosts call a classic Trump grift.
  • Kara: “It’s grift… That’s $60 million bucks... collected.” (44:27)
  • Scott: “This wasn’t a down payment on a product. It was a donation. I don’t think anyone’s going to care.” (45:04)

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12. UFO Files & Aliens: A Needed Distraction?

• Philosophy of Infinite Universe (45:34–48:16):
  • With the Pentagon releasing hundreds of UFO files, Scott provides a pseudo-scientific argument for why aliens (and everything else) must exist somewhere in an infinite universe.
  • Scott: “If space never ends... that means everything exists. That means everything that’s happened has happened before.” (46:06)
  • Kara: “I would like the aliens to arrive just about now. Either Jesus or them. I don’t care.” (48:01)

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13. Conspiracy Culture, SNL & Chelsea Handler

• Debunking the Age of Doubt (50:12–52:54):
  • Kara laments that 25% of Americans believe recent attacks were staged, reflecting a deteriorating public belief in reality. She commends Chelsea Handler for her takedowns at the Kevin Hart comedy roast.
  • Kara: “The conspiracy theory minded... just spins your brain in a way that’s really gross.” (50:16)
  • Handler’s best line (to comedians who perform in Saudi Arabia):
    “Or do you tough-talking pussies only go to the Middle East for comedy festivals?” (52:01)

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14. Wealth Inequality & New York’s “Pied-à-terre” Tax

• Winners and Losers (52:54–61:00):
  • Scott supports NYC’s proposed tax on non-primary luxury residences, seeing it as a sensible way to tax the ultra-wealthy while disagreeing with activists who “doxxed” billionaire Ken Griffin.
  • Scott: “If there’s going to be incremental taxes, it should be on the wealthiest among us. And... a tax on second homes is a very elegant way of going after those of us who, quite frankly, have the money.” (57:42)
  • Critique of Democrats for preferring “virtue signaling” over effective action.

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• "America is still the best place to make money and Europe is the best place to spend it."
  — Scott Galloway (08:16)

• "This isn't legal ambiguity. This is a government harassment campaign with an FCC seal on it."
  — Scott Galloway (12:35)

• "Old men who won’t fucking leave... we need a healthy shedding of skin."
  — Scott Galloway (17:39)

• "He is cognitively disabled. I’m going to say that every single show..."
  — Kara Swisher (21:58)

• “They’re turning your ears into eyes… What’s interesting is it’s not happening where people thought – it’s happening in the ear canal.”
  — Scott Galloway (29:14)

• “This is grift… That’s 60 million bucks, or something like that. They think that’s how much they collected.”
  — Kara Swisher (44:27)

• “If space never ends… everything exists. That means everything that’s happened, has happened before.”
  — Scott Galloway (46:06)

• “You tough-talking pussies only go to the Middle East for comedy festivals?”
  — Chelsea Handler, aired by Kara Swisher (52:01)

• “If there’s going to be incremental taxes, it should be on the wealthiest among us… A tax on second homes... is a very elegant way of going after those of us who… have the money.”
  — Scott Galloway (57:42)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 02:17 – Kara’s European trip, Mother’s Day banter
• 05:46 – European perception of Trump and Big Tech
• 08:16 – Scott on US vs. Europe: money, lifestyle
• 10:11 – Nigel Farage & UK politics critique
• 12:35 – FCC's move against ABC/Disney ("government harassment")
• 13:56 – Midterm redistricting, gerrymandering, Supreme Court
• 16:21 – Scott: “De-gerrymander the entire United States”
• 19:20 – Tennessee visuals: “the Confederate South”
• 21:58 – Kara: “He is cognitively disabled.”
• 23:02 – Russian cyber attacks, Bannon's 80-district strategy
• 27:33 – Apple AI AirPods with cameras
• 29:14 – “Turning your ears into eyes”
• 31:25 – “Hardware ready, software (Siri) not”
• 35:12 – SpaceX’s $55B chip factory, IPO plans
• 36:08 – French charges against X/Twitter over deepfakes, child porn
• 43:34 – Trump Phone “preorder” grift
• 46:06 – Infinite universe/aliens tangent
• 50:16 – Kara: “Conspiracy theory minded…spins your brain”
• 52:01 – Chelsea Handler’s Saudi festival joke
• 57:42 – Scott on pied-à-terre tax for NY mega-wealthy

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Tone & Language

As expected, the episode is packed with sharp, irreverent banter, profanity, and analogies — delivering heavy news with wit and skepticism. Both hosts are blunt about the dangers posed by political and tech power, and aren't shy about lampooning public figures or themselves.

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Summary for New Listeners

This episode captures Pivot’s unique mix of hard-nosed analysis and biting humor. It’s essential listening if you want to understand the chaotic state of American politics, the wearable AI wars, and the mechanisms of modern grift and inequality — all discussed by two of media and tech’s most unfiltered voices.

Transcript

[Kara Swisher]

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[Sponsor Voice]

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[Kara Swisher]

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Are you ready?

[Scott Galloway]

Yeah. What show is this? Where are we?

[Kara Swisher]

Oh, stop it. It's your main show. It's the one that fuels all the others. Hi everyone. This is Pivot from New York Magazine and the Vox Media podcast network. I'm Kara Swisher.

[Scott Galloway]

And I'm Scott Galloway.

[Kara Swisher]

So, I didn't hear from you yesterday on Mother's Day, but that's okay. No, I'm teasing. I'm teasing.

[Scott Galloway]

Yeah. I can't even imagine the Royal Ascot wedding. Coronation Jubilee. That is Mother's Day at your house.

[Kara Swisher]

It is. It's great. I got so many things. It was really nice, Alex. I came back from Europe yesterday and Alex was at the airport with balloons. And we took a picture in which I look like a Hobb, which was sweet. And then the Littles left me the most beautiful things they did. Clara did a whole book to me. Mutter M U T T E R. And Saul did this beautiful Shrinky Dink, which I liked. I like a Shrinky Dink. And then decorated something. And then Louise called several times. So that was really fun.

[Scott Galloway]

I just can't imagine the operational complexity of Mother's Day in your household. Seriously.

[Kara Swisher]

Three mothers.

[Scott Galloway]

You got three mothers. An ex, a ceramic mug business. And somebody definitely crying in a Subaru. It's gotta be.

[Kara Swisher]

That's Louis.

[Scott Galloway]

It's gotta be. There's a lot of Millie mothers.

[Kara Swisher]

There's a lot of mothers. Yeah. No, I have to say. And also my mother, too.

[Scott Galloway]

Oh, my gosh. I forgot. Lucky.

[Kara Swisher]

Yeah. Alex wins the thing. He went and made flower bouquets with my mother and went out with her for lunch. He hung out with Megan, which was great, and did all kinds of things with Megan. And then he met me. He went out with Amanda and the kids to a playground and played with the kids and helped her. And so Alex wins Mother's Day, I would have to say.

[Scott Galloway]

That's nice.

[Kara Swisher]

What did you do for your lovely wife?

[Sponsor Voice]

Not a lot.

[Scott Galloway]

All I do is remind the boys to call her.

[Kara Swisher]

Oh, wow.

[Scott Galloway]

That's what I do. I basically a lot of angry texts of something along the lines of, have you called the person that gave you life?

[Kara Swisher]

Oh, nice.

[Scott Galloway]

That kind of thing. Because men are just not that considerate on their own. There's this illusion that my boys are incredibly considerate, thoughtful people in this household.

[Kara Swisher]

Yeah.

[Scott Galloway]

And it's their prefrontal cortex walking around. Whose name is dad.

[Kara Swisher]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Scott Galloway]

Anyway, so.

[Kara Swisher]

No. Yeah. Do you have a good memory of your mother for Mother's Day since you're so close to. You were so close to her?

[Scott Galloway]

It's a nice. That's a generous question. I don't remember specific Mother's Days. I don't. Yeah. I don't. I remember them when I was out of the house and when I was older. More than I remember them. When I was younger. We used to do the same thing, Kara. Whenever it was anything worth resembling a celebration or birthday, we used to go to this deli on Western Boulevard called Junior's Deli.

[Kara Swisher]

Oh, yeah, of course.

[Scott Galloway]

And get the brisket dip. And my mom would get the lox, eggs and onions. And inevitably, a waitress who had been there 20 years would just come over and talk about how much I'd grown. And then we'd get halva on the way out.

[Kara Swisher]

Halva?

[Scott Galloway]

Yeah.

[Kara Swisher]

Wow. That's a nice memory. I love those. In any case, I'm back from Europe. I know you're concerned. I was a Cambridge.

[Scott Galloway]

Oh, are you back from Norway?

[Kara Swisher]

No, I was in England. I was in London with Tina Brown's event, which was great. Then I went to Norway. We're big in Norway, Scott. I have to tell you, many fans, the Nordic media days, that'll get us

[Scott Galloway]

another 10 or 12 downloads.

[Kara Swisher]

Well, there's only 5 million people in Norway, but I gotta say, they're really good. But they were really great audience. And then I was at Cambridge, at university, at the Cambridge Union, which was really fun. I got to stay at King's College, which, you know, it's the punting boats and the beautiful lawns and the giant cathedrals and everything. It's quite a beautiful town, Cambridge. One of the things they're so obsessed with Trump, all these countries and the danger he poses, and they're all very concerned about these U.S. companies and, you know, and sort of the feel is, are they colonizing us? You know, backwards colonization, which is. I know, a loaded word, but we're sort of extractors of their stuff. Anyway, it was really interesting to hear. I learned a lot by just hanging out with all these people from Europe.

[Scott Galloway]

Yeah. My thesis is that London is going to boom over the next three years, and not for the right reasons, but my thesis is that there's been this enormous transfer of human and financial capital out of London into the Gulf. Even if you talk to kids who are about to graduate from college, there'll be a few of them that are planning to go to Dubai. And my thesis is that, traditionally speaking, these masters of the universe from Europe who all migrated to Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Riyadh, that in the last several weeks, their wives have been on there taking their kids to school and seen an incoming projectile and then went home and said, we're out of here. I think that the veil, or the veneer of security and safety, more security than safety, they're still exceptionally safe places to live, has been pretty badly punctured. And I think that's going to have a dramatic reversal of the tides into Geneva, Milan, Madrid, and London.

[Kara Swisher]

Also, I hate to say it but beautiful, beautiful places. The same thing oddly enough is happening. There's just more statistics out of San Francisco in terms of the recovery and everything else which is interesting. And just in real estate terms I had someone like contact me to buy my house. Like the housing market is now on fire for all for everyone's moved back which is really, it's interesting. It's just an interesting shift of these people and then they complain, you know, they complain, complain and then they come right back because they are the. I don't like to pick and choose places but I have to say they really are the best places. These beautiful New York, San Francisco, London, Milan. They're just beautiful places to live and full of really interesting people. I don't know.

[Scott Galloway]

Anyway, it just struck me, look, I've been, as I said for the last 30 years I've been molesting the earth for business and my reductive analysis of all regions. If I were to describe the world and where to live and for what reasons, America is still the best place to make money and Europe is the best place to spend it. If you're in the making money part of your life then you should absolutely figure out a way to get to the US or one of 20 super cities where two thirds of all economic growth will take place. It's better to be good in Shanghai than amazing in Melbourne. Actually. Australia is a pretty, pretty robust economy. But if you have the luxury of being a part of your life where you have the disposable income and flexibility, it's very hard to beat Madrid.

[Kara Swisher]

It isn't. I was walking around thinking I could live here.

[Scott Galloway]

Madrid, Paris, Oslo in the northern Europe in the summer. I mean the south of France. Oh, maybe we'll just take a quick hop over to Capri or go check out the sites in Rome. Europe is fantastic.

[Kara Swisher]

Of course you have to have money to do that. One of the things that though there is sort of hanging over England is this. You know the Starmer government is in real trouble. It's going into a multi party system and obviously the Nigel Farage group restore whatever the fuck they want to restore. Reform movement is really gaining power but it's more like a fractured power like a many party system and of the conservative or fallen off the map. They're very worried about Nigel Farage being the prime minister that's for sure. A lot of people or else creating a situation where they can't form a government because of too many different power centers. And then the Greens are also gaining, which is interesting.

[Scott Galloway]

I am blissfully unaware of UK politics. But I would have, I think people would have a difficult time thinking of one person that's done more damage to the UK than Nigel Farage.

[Kara Swisher]

I would agree. I would agree. If they pick him, boy do they deserve what they get because this guy,

[Scott Galloway]

I think if I were Starmer I would be running on backsit. They should absolutely rejoin the eu. It's just few more self inflicted wounds than our entry into Iraq and also the uk.

[Kara Swisher]

He is a nefarious figure and so Putin close and just the whole thing, the whole every bit of Nabija Farage is awful. I don't know where to turn in that way. Anyway, we should get to the news. This is a really interesting story, I thought and I was paying attention. The FCC's lone Democratic commissioner is accusing the Trump administration of waging a quote, sustained coordinated campaign of censorship and control against abc. In a letter to Disney CEO Josh d', Amaro, Anna Gomez said the FCC under Brendan Brand a car has been weaponized to pressure a free and independent press and all media into submission. The letter comes after ABC accused the FCC of attempting to chill free speech, which it did in a petition filed last week. That filing is tied to the FCC's probe into whether the View violated equal time rules when Texas Senate candidate James Talarico went on the show earlier this year. ABC argues the View got an FCC exemption in 2002 as a bonafiti news interview program, which it is, and that ruling remains in effect today. And you know, as usual, Brenda has said so many things publicly that are really damning in terms of when they come to court, you know, as being such a suck up to the Trump administration and not an independent person he's supposed to be. He can have his opinions about things but has become more censorious than all the left he accuses them of and is making all manner business threats. It's interesting that Disney and ABC is pushing back rather hard under this new CEO. Something probably I suspect Iger wanted to do but felt he couldn't at the time. But any thoughts on this?

[Scott Galloway]

Well, yeah, they're learning. They have figured out that sucking Ron DeSantis and Donald Trump's has not paid off for them.

[Kara Swisher]

No.

[Scott Galloway]

Remember the economic warfare that Desantis was trying to levy for political reasons and it doesn't pay, it doesn't pay to appease these guys.

[Kara Swisher]

They did push back on Desantis if you recall. Remember they sort of played games with

[Scott Galloway]

him for a while. Sort of.

[Kara Swisher]

Yeah, they did. Well, anyways, Trump, they Did not. That is correct. Yeah.

[Scott Galloway]

And now go to the legal veracity. This isn't, this isn't legal ambiguity. This is a government harassment campaign with an FCC seal on it. Saying that, saying that the equal time probe or that the view violates equal time, that basically, essentially means Fox and Friends have been violating equal time for 25 consecutive years. This is just ridiculous.

[Kara Swisher]

Exactly.

[Scott Galloway]

And then the lone FCC or the lone Democrat on the FCC is a woman named Anna Gomez who essentially is yelling into a void while the institution continues to be weaponized against the press. It's not. I mean, Commissioner Gomez basically can't even dissent. It's more like a hostage note when she writes her letters of dissent. So this is nothing but again, more weaponization of media or weaponization of our government agencies to try and squelch free speech. It's just insane when they talk about, I mean, all this bullshit that supposedly Democrats call for violence and the language they use.

[Kara Swisher]

And Brenda is just making it worse by giving these stupid speeches with this smug little, you know, shit eating grin that he always has on his face. And again, Brenda, I'm following you everywhere you go after you leave office and I will make sure people understand what you did constantly.

[Scott Galloway]

This is, and I hate to say this, and it goes into our next story. Do you want to talk about gerrymandering?

[Kara Swisher]

Yeah, we will. Yeah, I can read. For people who know. Obviously this got big press. As redistricting wars ramp up ahead of the midterms, Democrats are facing some major setbacks. The Virginia Supreme Court just struck down a voter approved map that could have netted the Democrats up to four House seats. It's not over yet and we'll see. It's going to go to the Supreme Court. But the Supreme Court, of course, did its business by weakening the Voter Rights act in recent rulings, setting off redistricting pushes in several Southern states. Republicans could now have around 15 new winnable districts. But Trump's approval ratings are still a massive hurdle. As one Democratic strategist put it, Trump has the power to rig the maps, but he doesn't have the power to get his approval rating higher. It could slap back at them. It's really interesting. One of the long shot options reportedly tossed around in Virginia lower the mandatory retirement age for the state Supreme Court and replace the entire bench. I think there's a bunch of things they may have to do. But what's a real shame is that now the Democrats are gonna have to gerrymander their states, which is not good for any. None of this Is any good to be breaking this precedent of 10 years following the census to do this? What is essentially stealing? Just when you look at the map in Tennessee, it's insane. People are 210 miles away from other voters, which is crazy. It's crazy. It's a crazy map. And it's all done to retain power, which I think they won't actually doing this. I think people are offended by having their votes stolen from them.

[Scott Galloway]

Well, Democrats, and I agree with this, wanted to fight fire with fire or gerrymandering with gerrymandering. And they lost both the map and you could argue the moral high ground, although I think it was the right move. And you can't argue with the fact the other side is destroying democracy. I mean, Tennessee is the template, right? There's two Democratic congresspeople in 2020, Nashville and Memphis. Republicans redistricted Nashville in 2022, and now it's Memphis. The playbook is pretty straightforward here. They find a Democratic district and they redraw the lines until it disappears. Now I actually believe, I don't believe. I mean, a really interesting message and the right message for a candidate, specifically a presidential candidate. And right now, the only one actually talking about fucking issues is Rahm Emanuel. They're all just cosplaying Obama, hoping rhetorical flourish and talking about breaking bread with Jews and Muslims. And we need to come together.

[Kara Swisher]

Although I have to say, Newsom got the job done in California. He like hit them hard and won.

[Scott Galloway]

He fought back and he won. He fought the law and he won. Yeah, but we need structural reform. One, a really decent talking point, an issue for a president, a presidential candidate would be the following. Within 90 days, I'm putting up for a vote in the Congress and the Senate to gerrymander the entire United States. Six Republicans, six Democrats. We're gonna use technology. It might be just as much as putting a grid on top of the United States map and saying, okay, it might be AI, whatever it is, but we need to de gerrymander the United States. And then I think another structural reform and it goes to a larger issue. A lot of the world's problems right now can be reverse engineered to old men who won't fucking leave. It creates fascists who find reasons to deny democracy. It creates public investment that lacks investment in young people and children. It creates a demographic collapse because young people don't get money, because old people keep voting themselves more and more money. I see it in academia. Young academics are leaving the field because there's no fucking room for them. Because A guy who was the bomb in 1988 and gap one accounting won't fucking leave because we give them tenure about the time they become totally unproductive. There needs to be a shedding, a healthy shedding of skin. I have self imposed term limits on boards. You need to move on. And one of those structural reforms should be term limits and age gating for the most important people over the long term in the United States. And that is our Supreme Court.

[Kara Swisher]

Both at the same time or one or the other.

[Scott Galloway]

Yeah. For God's sakes, if you're 72, your prefrontal your brain is shrinking. Your brain starts shrinking at 45. By the time you're 72, most people have a very difficult time with cognitive function. And I'm sure there's exceptions that Ruth Bader Ginsburg was very smart at 80. She should have been forced to retire at 72, as should the rest of them. You need young thinking, you need people. You need people who occasionally have a fucking child in the House so they can relate to the issues facing young people. You don't want to pack the court because all that means is when a Republican gets in, they're going to expand the court from 12 to 30 people under their watch. You need age gating and you need term limits. But more than anything, a great talking point for a Democrat right now would be I am going to DE GERRYMANDER the U.S. within 90 days, I'm going to put a vote up and you can find out who is not up for true democracy here, right?

[Kara Swisher]

Absolutely. I mean, one of the things it just that when you look at these maps, you know, at some point, obviously gerrymandering's been around forever, but these are like, they're unknown. The Republicans are committing unnatural acts. They really are. It looks like a weird sex position the way they have drawn these things. And it's grotesque. It's grotesque. And you know what it was, I have to say, those images from Tennessee with those fat white old men laughing at young, very vibrant, interesting black legislators like you're nothing more than.

[Scott Galloway]

They really did look like the Confederate South.

[Kara Swisher]

They look like the Confederate South. It was aversion and then laughing. You all are, by the way, y' all are gonna die of a heart attack relatively soon because you look like you could get out for a walk or two. But one of it just was the visuals were so like these old racist fucks and I'm not sure that's. And then at the top of the heap is Trump, who looks like, who's cognitively I keep saying this, Scott, we have to, you know, we did it with Biden. I think we have to zero in on his cognitive difficulties that just continue. And today Dr. Oz and the other one, Britt, Katie Britt, were like talking to him like he was a toddler, like a toddler when he was something or the. Oh, Mr. President, it's like you talk to someone in old folks home, he's old age gating again.

[Scott Galloway]

Age gating. No one should be allowed to run for president if when elected they're going to be older than 70 or pick a number, have neurologists decide. But at some point, neither Biden nor Trump should be entrusted with overseeing the 6 fleet or NAFTA agreements or trying to stay up till four in the morning to get the votes they need. Whatever it is, this is a young person's job.

[Kara Swisher]

Agreed. You know, when I said that to you, I think you were surprised. You were like when I said, I'm leaving at 72, I have 72. And that's it. That's it. I'm gone. I'm off to Cambridge.

[Scott Galloway]

That's the number you've picked, 72.

[Kara Swisher]

Yes. I bought myself a cap in Norway. I bought myself a cap. I love it. I'll send you a picture. Yes, that is it. 72 and I'm gone. I'm gone. Like, see you later. Maybe I'll sit and write historical novels from my cottage in Cambridge. But I'm gone. Like gone gone.

[Scott Galloway]

I'm pretty sure your third wife's gonna be Susan Collins. I think you're gonna be one of those tech people that goes MAGA on us. No, no, Susan Co. And I'm up for you, Mary, by the way.

[Kara Swisher]

She has a tremor.

[Scott Galloway]

If a man and a woman need a marriage license to get married, what do two women need to get married? A liquor license.

[Kara Swisher]

Oh, very funny.

[Scott Galloway]

I don't think that's sexist. Yeah, I think it's profane and vulgar, but I don't think it's sexist.

[Kara Swisher]

I don't think it's funny is the issue I have. Anyway, it's not that funny. It's not that funny. Anyway, these redistricting, I think he cannot fight the polls. The polls are so bad, everyone doesn't like him. That's one thing I did the message I gave to people, I was like, he is widely. He has his group that like him. But I gotta tell you, you gotta watch the cracks in MAGA and you gotta watch the polling, which is everyone is sick to fuck with this guy. And he is cognitively disabled. I'm gonna say that in every single show until past the 2026.

[Scott Galloway]

That's the cold comfort that we as progressives are serving ourselves up this morning, and that is that Trump can't rig them. He can rig the maps, but he can't rig his rating, infuriate people. That's the hope that basically segregating voting again with taking away, neutering certain parts of the voters, voters rights acts, this ridiculous corrupt gerrymandering that it'll come back to haunt him in vibes. And my fear is the following.

[Kara Swisher]

Okay, tell me, because I have a fear too.

[Scott Galloway]

I believe that America is still highly sexist, highly lexist, and opts for a person who may be wrong more often than not strong, but is effective versus people who are right and ineffective. And this is the key distinction between the Democrats and the Republicans right now is the Republicans are wrong in being highly effective and Democrats are right and virtuous and totally fucking ineffective.

[Kara Swisher]

I'm not so sure. This whole thing with the ballrooms and the weird, the thing with the weird title base and et cetera, it's just, just, it's getting like.

[Scott Galloway]

People vote based on a ballroom.

[Kara Swisher]

No, I know they don't, but it's part of the whole crazy old man thing. One thing that I will say I was with a bunch of cyber experts and the two things they did point out, I think correctly, is one, the Russians are preparing to attack during the midterms in Trump's favor, as recent studies have shown they did, obviously against both Clinton. And so they're gonna attack, you know, online, like a lot of online cyber attacks. Cyber attacks. Not just cyber. Cyber and information. Fuck upper, essentially. And then the second thing is, I sat next to one guy who's an American who was talking about, who's obsessed with Steve Bannon and he feels they're going to try to, and Trump has sort of talked about it a little bit, go to 80 districts that matter and put martial law in place or create all manner of ice and proud boys, et cetera. Because if you listen to Steve Bannon, he does talk about this. And I think a couple of the cyber people were paying a lot of attention to Steve Bannon and what he's doing. That meat sack of rumpled whatever is very effective in many ways. Speaking of effective, although I can't believe he keeps hanging on, looking the way he does. Anyway, let's go on a quick break. When we come back, a game changing feature coming to Apple's AirPods

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[Kara Swisher]

Support for Pivot comes from the Freedom from Religion Foundation.

Quick reminder, America started a rebellion.

[Scott Galloway]

Yeah, we fired a king claiming divine

[Kara Swisher]

authority and then wrote a constitution with no mention of God, which is a big deal.

The whole separation of church and state

[Sponsor Voice]

thing, as you know, and those lines are blurring.

[Kara Swisher]

You see it in things like America Praise event on May 17 where the government starts uniting with religion which typically

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or historically doesn't end well for freedom,

[Kara Swisher]

and the Freedom From Religion foundation is working to protect that line.

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[Kara Swisher]

Go to FFRF US/Pivot or text Pivot

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[Kara Swisher]

Scott we're back with more news. This is really interesting. Apple's reportedly reached the late stages of development for new AirPods that include tiny cameras designed for AI features. Who said they were going to put cameras? You and I have talked about this. The cameras would help Siri understand what's around you so you could ask questions about objects, landmarks or directions in real time. The new AirPods are expected to look similar to AirPod Pro, but with slightly longer stems to fit the camera hardware. This is astonishing. I think Apprel originally wanted to launch the AI wearable sooner, but delays in its upgraded Siri pushed the timeline back. You will of course lose 50 pairs of these. Scott.

[Scott Galloway]

50, 50, 100. By the way, this has no pods in it. Cause I can't find them.

[Kara Swisher]

I can attest in Scott's New York apartment There's so many AirPod cases everywhere and they're like one AirPod in them. Some are never been opened. It's really, it's a fun.

[Scott Galloway]

I love those things.

[Kara Swisher]

So talk about this because one, they're obviously privacy because a lot of people have been pushing back on the metaglasses which sell just okay. They're not like they're. They're popular, but not that popular. So talk a little bit about this because there is a privacy issue here. Like people looking out at the same time, it's inevitable you're gonna have these heads up displays in some way. And this is a version of heads up display that isn't in your face, which I think is more effective that it's in your ear of a camera in your ear. I love your thoughts on this. Cause you have big thoughts on visual like heads up displays.

[Scott Galloway]

Well, as much as I hated mixed reality headsets and the Oculus, I love this and it goes back to a very anthropological thing. What is harder for people to adapt to when they lose their vision or they lose their hearing?

[Kara Swisher]

Vision, I guess, but not hearing. Hearing. Okay. All right.

[Scott Galloway]

As a matter of fact, when your hearing goes, you stop processing words and you become more. This is going to sound strange. Well, it's not strange. People have a much more difficult time maintaining societal contact, relevance in relationships when their hearing starts to go as opposed to their vision starting to go. Your hearing, the last sense to go when you die is hearing. You're supposed to, when people pass, you're supposed to keep telling them that you love them. Supposedly that's literally the last sense to go. And I think it's the most underrated of the senses that we have over invested in visuals and underinvested in hearing. AirPods, if they were a distinct company, just AirPods would be a Fortune 50 company. And what is Apple doing doing here? They're turning your ears into eyes and sending the footage. You know, unfortunately they might be sending the footage to Cupertino, but the AI wearable race is now happening. What's interesting though is it's not happening where people thought it was going to happen. It's happening in their ear canal. So Meta has ray bans, Apple has AirPods. Google probably has some glassing, I don't know what they're calling it this week.

[Kara Swisher]

They originally had contact lenses. They remember the long time we broke a story about them working on contact lenses with visuals in them. But go ahead.

[Scott Galloway]

The problem here, I think it's a great idea and I'll buy one. The problem is the hardware at Apple. The hardware is always ready before the software and they wanted to launch this sooner. But Siri is probably one of the worst tech products of the last 10 years.

[Kara Swisher]

It really is.

[Scott Galloway]

And Apple, I mean think about it. Apple has the world's best supply chain and the world's most embarrassing AI assistant.

[Kara Swisher]

It is. It's so bad. I hate Siri.

[Scott Galloway]

If you think about it, hate Siri. I mean, essentially AirPods as they envision it right now with this, with cameras, is essentially because of a very weak AI assistant overlay. It's like a Lamborghini chassis waiting for an engine that works. So the hardware will be the best looking hardware, the best operating hardware. The problem will be the AI overlay. And I told you what I believe.

[Kara Swisher]

They have to get it right.

[Scott Galloway]

I think they're going to shit can Siri and license it to someone else for tens of billions of dollars, right?

[Kara Swisher]

Yeah, why not just make it like I am constantly. Siri, call Scott or Siri, you know, text Scott or something. And it never works. It sometimes works and it just. It should work every single time.

[Scott Galloway]

But what if it was Gemini? What would Gemini needs to catch up? What would Gemini pay Tim Cook or the new guy to design something to say we're your default AI?

[Kara Swisher]

Look, Siri, just talk to me. Even though I didn't want to go away. Siri.

[Scott Galloway]

I think they're in the pole position here. I think the most elegant move to massively throw 10, 20 billion dollars a year to the bottom line would be to have a bake off and say one of you is going to be the intelligent side of Apple. And that is your.

[Kara Swisher]

That's kind of a big thing to give up though. But they're not good at it. Just like with maps. They're just not good at it.

[Scott Galloway]

Well, search. They give it up in search and it worked out well for them.

[Kara Swisher]

Search. Yeah, exactly. Let me ask you a physical question. Okay. So when AirPods people do not remember this. When AirPods first came out, people made fun of the look of it. You remember everyone, you look like an alien. You look like you're wearing earrings for men. And then everyone just loves them. Right. And they fall out of your. There was all manner. Now if they're even longer with these like stems, it could, could look odd. But it seems to me the best solution is the in the ear airpod looking like things. Not over the ear, not around the neck, over the head. Except, you know, I'm on an airplane, I wear, you know, a pair of really good noise canceling headphones, but that's different. So you think that's okay. And the privacy issues, you don't have an issue with the people. It can see everybody and it's recording, presumably.

[Scott Galloway]

Well, that is a big issue. I haven't thought that through.

[Patrick Radden Keefe]

Right.

[Scott Galloway]

Because you're not supposed to be taking pictures of people's kids. The surveillance.

[Kara Swisher]

Government.

[Scott Galloway]

Government.

[Kara Swisher]

If you go into the White House,

[Scott Galloway]

uploading your data, your whereabouts, but no one creates tech hardware that is a better signaling device than Apple. And pulling out your iPhone, I've always said pulling out your iPhone is like pulling out an Amex Black Card, but for a billion people, not 10 million. It says that you get it. It says you're one of the seven wealthiest people on the planet. It says you're probably in the creative arts industry. It is incredible signaling. I wear my AirPods. If I'm at a conference and I just need to get somewhere without speaking to people, or I'm just feeling exhausted by people. I just put my AirPods on and I act like I'm talking to somebody, like I'm speaking to myself.

[Kara Swisher]

I know that trick. But let me just say one of the things, I'd like to not look at my iPhone anymore. I use my watch quite a bit, but it's not good enough. And if my AirPods were better I would not pull my phone out at all. A hundred percent, you know, that's the thing. So I think this is really interesting, another interesting piece of tech, and we're very tech heavy today. SpaceX chip making project in Texas will have an initial price tag of at least $55 billion and could eventually grow to 119 billion, according to a public hearing. Not. The project called Terrafab will create chips to power AI for SpaceX and Tesla. I think this is a smart move by Elon. SpaceX is asking for tax breaks for the project, of course, which will be discussed at a hearing next month. And Texas will definitely give it to them because that's what Texas does. They bend over. Speaking of bending over, SpaceX is of course preparing to go public with one of the largest IPO offerings in June. To me, more than the robotics focus, this is really an important. I mean, the way they do energy is sort of rapacious to the people living in the areas they're living in, and they're getting a lot of pushback. But the idea of your own chips, all these companies really have to be in that game, it seems like. And it's important. Elon really does know this. I don't think he's as highly technical as he makes himself out to be, but he does understand this is the heart of it.

[Scott Galloway]

I agree with you. This is a really smart move and it's one of the most interesting. And it's also, quite frankly, it's fundraising. It's going to be a big slide in his roadshow for SpaceX IPO. They're talking about a 60 to $120 billion chip fabrication plan, Terafab, and it would be bigger than the biggest One in the US right now is a $65 billion plant from TSMC. So the world's most advanced chip maker with 50 years of experience, Elon, is trying to out TSMC. TSMC. So I. It creates. He's very good. He and Trump are both obsessed with being in your fucking face every day. And they're very good at it. And so this is. It may. I'm not. I think it's going to happen. The guy is a big thinker.

[Kara Swisher]

Exactly like XAI went nowhere.

[Scott Galloway]

It may or it may not, he may not be very good at this. It doesn't matter. It is a great. This guy is a big thinker. He's bold. He's pulled off some incredibly big things.

[Kara Swisher]

This was the right direction. Yeah. Let me say he did surrender XAI by doing the anthropic Deal. It just everybody's left. He's not going to win here. He could win in this and I think he probably might. This is a better focus for him. Speaking of focuses for French prosecutors are summoning Elon and X's former CEO Linda Yaccarino. Oh, Yakarino, where did you go? She's doing some health company to face preliminary criminal charges into X. The investigation includes charges of child pornography and sexualized deepfake. It was interesting when I was in Europe they were like, oh, it's not going to go anywhere. I don't really care. I'm glad a government is doing it right because ours certainly wouldn't and they should face an investigation of what was happening there at X doing all this. Who made the decisions about these child pornography and sexualized deep fake creations? I'd like to know. And I'm glad a government is pursuing it. I don't even care if they win. I'm glad they're doing it. That's my feeling.

[Scott Galloway]

There you go. More power to them. At some point Big tech executives, their flight pattern is going to look like gerrymandered because they're not going to be able to go to the airspace the world. We forgive these founders, especially during a Trump administration for the economic growth.

[Kara Swisher]

Yeah, these sociopaths is the word I would use.

[Scott Galloway]

Yeah. But we are net gainers from big tech. We just are in the U.S. that's not to say we should.

[Kara Swisher]

They still should pay the price for stuff like this.

[Scott Galloway]

I agree. That's not to say we shouldn't hold them accountable. It's not to say they shouldn't be subject to the same rules and regulation as other industries. But if you had a red button to push and do away with all big tech, you wouldn't want to do it. And for all the problems and externalities, there isn't a single nation in the world was presented with the opportunity wouldn't say, put your headquarters here. The problem is the big tech. I don't think Italy is a net gainer from big tech. The US is, but I'm not sure other nations are.

[Kara Swisher]

Yeah, they are.

[Scott Galloway]

And so a lot of these nations are doing the math and saying you've got at our media companies, you don't pay that many taxes here. You haven't really increased employment a lot. You're just creating tremendous disruption and sexualized deep fakes. Yeah. And also you now appear to be an existential threat to our kids emotional and physical well being. We're not down with, you know, the idolatry of Innovators, for a lot of good reasons and some bad, has totally kind of infected or overwhelmed the US the worm has turned a little bit. AI is way down. People are realizing what a negative impact this has had on our children and then going much bigger. It's manifesting itself in terms of being ground zero for frustrations around income inequality. But these other nations just aren't that impressed by these guys. They're like, okay, you broke a law, we're going to charge you.

[Kara Swisher]

Yeah, I like the activity and I think as you said long time ago, early in our relationship, someone has to do a perp walk. Whether it's chatbots and kids dying or something like that. Someone has to go to jail. They won't. But I like the effort by these governments and I don't think it's. I think someone needs to investigate how they made these decisions about sexualized deepfakes and child pornography on whatever service that doesn't and what they did to stop it or not stop it. I think it's important for public to know.

[Scott Galloway]

There was a guy, I think he was a McKinsey partner on the board of Goldman and he took insider information and traded on it. He went to jail. Think about what's happening in the Trump administration around oil prices. Think about what's happening in tech, in terms of teen self cutting and depression among teen and being weaponized. You said you expect the Russians to cyber attack us. They've been cyber attacking us.

[Kara Swisher]

Yes, I know.

[Scott Galloway]

They use these porous platforms that are totally focused on shareholder value. They create lists of people who are pro Ukraine or people who are polarizing and they infect their comments and people's perception of them. They diminish their credibility and they create fights everywhere to try and atomize this. We're attacked every day and the ultimate trojan horse is big tech who charges them a small fee to go sit inside the Trojan horse and start attacking America from within.

[Kara Swisher]

That's correct. And by the way, they'll shift in a dime. I don't know if you notice. Suddenly David Sacks is like, anthropic is going to be really successful after needlessly.

[Scott Galloway]

I heard all of a sudden he likes anthropic.

[Kara Swisher]

Oh God, he's so such a. Let me just tell you, we were right about that one. Like immediately when it's back, when they're back. Because he's losing the fight over unfettered AI and they're just better, that's all. Anyway, he was lying the first time about when they attacked him. And for a government official. To do that to an American company without any proof is really grotesque. I don't mind it if there's proof, but in that case it was because he wanted to feather his own nest. Anyway, let's go on a quick break and we come back. We'll check in on the Trump phone. Speaking of, of, dare I say it, fraud.

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[Scott Galloway]

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[Scott Galloway]

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[Mitch Purse]

I'm Mitch Purse, two time NWSL Champion, Championship MVP and forward for the US Women's National Team. Before I went pro, I graduated from Harvard with a degree in psychology, which comes in handy more than you think. Any athlete pursuing greatness knows there's a certain mentality you have to have. What people don't know is what that costs. In my podcast, Confessions of an Elite Athlete, I sit down with the best athletes in the world and explore the psychology mindset and unseen battles on the path to greatness. So take a seat and learn from the Confessions of an elite athlete on YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Kara Swisher]

Foreign.

[Tank Sinatra]

This week on Net Worth and Chill, I'm joined by Tank Sinatra, the Meme king. With over 15 million followers across Tank's good news Influencers in the Wild and his personal account, Tank is breaking down what the meme economy really is, how much a single sponsored post pays, why major brands are throwing serious money at jokes, and how meme culture think, Preparation H starter packs and a perfectly timed screenshot is actually reshaping how we think about money and value. Get ready for a conversation that'll change the Way you scroll, make you rethink what going viral is really worth. And prove that sometimes the most serious money moves are wrapped in the silliest of jokes. Listen wherever you get your podcasts or watch on YouTube.com YourRichBFF.

[Kara Swisher]

Scott, we're back. It's been almost a year since the Trump phone was announced and there's still no sign the device is anywhere close to shipping. But that hasn't stopped Trump Mobile website from continuing to accept $100 deposit for the phone. The fine print notes a pre order deposit provides only a conditional opportunity if the Trump Mobilator elects to offer the device for sale. And while the phone was initially touted as being made in America, the site now describes as being shaped by American innovation. Looks like these aren't coming and that people have lost their money, which we said would happen. This is exact. You know, I'm not sure where the phone ranks among various Trump Griffs. Another Trump venture where things weren't looking so great. Trump media just posted a net loss of 406 million and I think they made under a million dollars in revenue driven largely by unrealized losses in crypto holdings. And while they're doing all this grift, the Pentagon has released a batch of quote, never before seen UFO files on a dedicated government website. The files include details from over 400 reports from the 40s in recent years, including several Apollo missions, President tout of the administration, transparency and truth social post saying now the people can decide for themselves what the hell is going on. We cannot decide. They're just more lights. Hey, I could get more out of just like a book I buy at the airport about these things. So it's just a lot of hand waving all over the place. And grift, I mean the Trump phone, which Scott and I both said was never gonna happen, is not gonna happen, people. And that's 60 million bucks or something like that. They think that's how much they collected. It's grift.

[Scott Galloway]

First off, this wasn't, this wasn't a downtime payment on a product. It was a donation. I don't think anyone's going to care. I think the likelihood that he was ever going to have a competent phone was probably didn't escape these folks. As it relates to aliens. I'm convinced that aliens have been monitoring us, including all of our media. And if we're really honest, about 2/3 of our media is porn. So I think this explains that the aliens aren't using anal probes for information. They're just Trying to speak our language.

[Kara Swisher]

Can you ask me a question? Do you believe in aliens? I'm just curious. When you think about UFOs and you see these pictures and let me tell you, everybody, I looked at some of these pictures, they look like the pictures you always see. Bright lights, things moving across the sky, unexplainable phenomena, often lights, you know, or lights moving in a pattern or something like that, which could be explained lots of different ways. But do you actually believe in aliens, sir?

[Scott Galloway]

This is going to sound like I'm on edibles, but I'm not. But I believe in everything. What do I mean by that, if you believe? Well, there's some logic here, I think,

[Kara Swisher]

like Loch Ness monster.

[Scott Galloway]

Most astrophysicists believe it appears the infinite space theory, that space never ends. So if space never ends and it's regenerating and the space time continuum curves and space never ends, that means. Means everything exists. That means everything that's happened has happened before. Because if space never ends, that means the infinite possibilities of everything exist and everything that you can imagine is out there.

[Kara Swisher]

God, I need an edible at this point. Okay, that means we exist all the time, forever, you and I.

[Scott Galloway]

No, it means that if there's an infinite number of universes, at some point there's a universe very similar to ours with similar lifespans, similar earth and gas and organisms and similar charas and Scotts. And if you don't believe, if it's not exactly like it, just keep going through infinity and eventually you'll get to it. So.

[Kara Swisher]

Oh wow.

[Scott Galloway]

The fact that this is like the

[Kara Swisher]

plot of Interstellar or something like that.

[Scott Galloway]

Well, if space is infinite and I'd like to hear an argument for how it couldn't be, then of course there's a galaxy and another alien intelligence that can send probes here. Having said that, I don't think they'd be that interested with us. So I don't. Do I believe they exist? Yes. Do I believe the ones we have seen are actual aliens, Intelligence or life? I don't think so.

[Kara Swisher]

Maybe they're flashes from another universe. Maybe that's what we're seeing. Lights that maybe they, you know, like in all the sci fi they or the Marvel movies, all the different universes suddenly get. The sky gets ripped open and one of the universes comes in to this one. You have to close the. It's always having to close a fucking portal in those movies, which I never understand, but I vaguely do.

[Scott Galloway]

I think we should ask aliens to hunt down all the people on Jeffrey Epstein's island. I think we could call it Alien vs. Predator.

[Kara Swisher]

They show that.

[Scott Galloway]

Ha ha ha ha.

[Kara Swisher]

I would like the aliens to arrive just about now. That's what I would like them to do.

[Scott Galloway]

You ready for it?

[Kara Swisher]

I would like them to come now. It's time. It's time. It's time. Either Jesus or them. I don't care. Jesus needs to come back or they do. I don't either one. I'm good with anybody showing up and like getting our. That's the distraction we need. And I would love.

[Scott Galloway]

But that's what this says. Karaoke described distraction.

[Kara Swisher]

Of course. Absolutely. Anyway. Well, we wish you will come aliens.

[Scott Galloway]

All I gotta say is if females invade the earth and kidnap men with large, you're in no danger. And I'm just. I'm just writing this to say goodbye.

[Kara Swisher]

Oh, can I have your stuff?

[Scott Galloway]

Can I?

[Kara Swisher]

I'd like your stuff.

[Scott Galloway]

Can I have your stuff?

[Kara Swisher]

Can I have your.

[Scott Galloway]

You have my stuff. I show up to my house in New York and I'll be like down two cashmere sweaters. I know. Even soon.

[Kara Swisher]

Yeah, that's true. I have your stuff. They're in Brooklyn right now. Anyway, you can stay at Brooklyn anytime. You'll never come to Brooklyn. Which is fantastic.

[Scott Galloway]

I've been there twice. Both times to go to the new Soho house over there. That's it.

[Kara Swisher]

Alex and I will be in Brooklyn.

[Scott Galloway]

If you're not on the island called Manhattan, there's no reason to ever visit the northeast.

[Kara Swisher]

Well, Legs and I will be in Manhattan on Tuesday.

[Scott Galloway]

The northeast is so overrated. Except for a seven by two mile island. That's it.

[Kara Swisher]

Let me just say Legs is going to be in Brooklyn with me and he's going to eat, you know, tonight. By the way, let me just say it's Amanda's birthday today. And happy birthday Amanda. We're going out for oysters tonight in D.C. and I literally gonna have to take out a small loan because Alex is coming. Like last time I took him for sushi it was like $400. Anyway, one more quick break and we get back wins and fails.

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[Kara Swisher]

Okay, Scott wins and fails. I feel like I shall go first.

[Scott Galloway]

You go first.

[Kara Swisher]

Speaking of conspiracy theories, this is one that I find very troubling. And look, listen, I even kind of believe it. One in four Americans think the April shooting at the White House Correspondent center was staged. According to a new survey, roughly 1 in 3 Democrat respondents said they believe the event was staged, compared to 1 in 8 Republicans. The same thing with the other. A lot of like Marjorie Taylor Greene, all these people think the shooting in Butler was staged. I just feel the falling off of assuming. And this is, this does go back to Kennedy assassination and before. There's always been a conspiracy theory minded populace. We have, but it's just a little slightly depressing because like remember when you said I thought Jeffrey Epstein didn't kill himself? Just like nobody believes anything. And I find it really depressing that our shared like I get conspiracy theories and I see why you might think this. And I hate myself for even saying, oh, maybe it was right without any proof. And I find that feeling in me really gross. I have to say. The conspiracy theory minded. But you become more that way as you live in this world where AI and social media and everything else just sort of spins your brain in a way that's really gross. And speaking of clarity, I have to say one thing is first of all, Matt Damon on Saturday Night Live was superb. And he looks like he's great in the. He was super. That was a superb show. SNL is really bringing it.

[Scott Galloway]

He's a really solid actor.

[Kara Swisher]

Anyway. But I have to give, talking about clarity, Chelsea Handler at the Kevin Hart roast was fucking super. So was Tom Brady, by the way. But let me say Chelsea Handler handed it back to the MAGA sort of adjacent comedian bros. You love that.

[Scott Galloway]

I thought of you when I saw that.

[Kara Swisher]

Let's listen to her call out the comedians who went to the Saudi Comedy Festival.

Now that your favorite leader is making the draft mandatory, I assume that all of you will be signing up to go fight in Iran. Or do you tough talking pussies only go to the Middle east for comedy festivals?

She had so many lines. That was a nicer one. And then she had some choice words for Toni Hinchcliffe. And she said Toni is what happens when women don't have safe access to abortion care. Which I thought was funny. And then also like, who's warming Joe Rogan's balls in their mouth now that you're here tonight, he looked sick. The way she attacked him. And it was so good. She did such a good job. I have to say, Chelsea, I love you. Marry me. I gotta say, so good. She was fanta. And they just, he was so uncomfortable. Like they can't take a joke. These people. They can dish it out, but they can't take it. And Chelsea put them down. Put them down. And I love to see it. Anyway, your thoughts?

[Scott Galloway]

I agree with you on that. So my wins and fails. My win is Mayor Mamdani's pied a terre tax. I'm not even going to get into whether the city of New York should be cutting costs or spends too much money. I don't have enough domain expertise. I'm a resident of Florida. But the percentage of federal employees as a percentage of the population has steadily gone down. I've never bought that. There's just waste, fraud and abuse everywhere. And if we're going to get our fiscal house, in order to do we need to cut spending and raise taxes? The answer is yes. So I'm just going to talk about the raising taxes side of it. If you're going to raise taxes, it feels to me that there's a very legitimate argument that the people who have done the best over the last 30 or 40 years are the very wealthy and specifically owners. And it's pretty basic. Productivity has gone up 45 degrees, wages have gone flat. The delta between those two lines is trillions of dollars in value creation and almost all of it has gone to the top 1, if not the top 0.1%. So it seems to me that just basic math is it makes sense for the wealthiest among us to pay a disproportionate amount of incremental taxes needed to operate this great experiment called the US to pay for our Navy to pay for food stamps. And the problem is, okay, so what do you do in New York if you need to raise revenues? Do you increase corporate taxes? The problem with that is, and JDM diamond pointed this out, JPMorgan has gone from 30,000 to 20,000 employees in New York in the last 10 years because it's a very expensive place to do business.

[Kara Swisher]

It is, no question.

[Scott Galloway]

Meanwhile in Texas, it's gone from 10,000 employees to 30,000. So at some point you get diminishing returns. And a lot of the people that work at corporations are middle class people who commute in from the different boroughs. So you got to be very careful about raising costs on business because New York is getting to the point where a lot of businesses are contemplating leaving or is at least doing the bulk of their hiring somewhere else, then you think, well, we could just go after all rich people. The problem is there are a lot of people in New York making a half a million, 600, 800 grand a year as a couple and they can't. I was that couple. And I had to leave because it's just so goddamn expensive there. And you're already paying 13 or 14% incremental taxes. So I like the idea. And let's bring this back to me. In 2017, when I sold my company, company, I made the mistake of giving NYU, I think 2 percentage of the company. So the dean called me and said, can you come up here? And when the dean calls you and says, come up here, it's either very good or very bad news. And he said, we just got a check for X. And he said, first off, thank you. And he said, if my math is correct, that means you sold your company for Y. And I said yes. And he's like, I need you to move out of faculty housing right away.

[Kara Swisher]

That's right, you lost that house. And he said, you liked that house, didn't you?

[Scott Galloway]

I loved it there. It was all a bunch of 110 year old widows from some 10 year old history professor that died 40 years ago. No one makes eye contact. No one talks to each other. I loved it. Washington Square Village. It was amazing. No one even looks at you in the eye. Occasionally there'd be a little mimeograph paper saying, join us in the third floor to celebrate Lois Frankel's life. You know, occasionally there was a notice about someone who died. That's it. Oh my God, I absolutely love it. Anyways, he said he was really funny too. Peter Henry, one of my role models and the best boss I've ever had. He said you're in strategy. He's like, answer me this. What do you think the objective is of faculty housing? And I'm like to provide housing for young faculty who could otherwise not live here. And he's like, bingo, I need you to move out next week, not the week after that. Anyways, I bought a place which Kara Swisher is very fond of. It's one of my second homes and I spend about, I don't know, about 60 days a year there, maybe 90, I don't know. And here's the bottom line. This tax I figured out. I did the math. If it goes through through unfettered or.

[Kara Swisher]

I'm the one that told you about this by the way.

[Scott Galloway]

You told me about it. So I began looking into it. It's unlikely it'll be watered down, but if it goes through, as Mom Donnie has proposed it, it would be an incremental $100,000 a year tax. On me personally, I'm not fond of that. It's a form of a wealth tax because all that really does is take, say, a condo worth 10 million and make it worth 8 and a half or 9 million because it's an extra $100,000 a year. But here's the bottom line and the reason why I think it's a win. One, our municipalities need to get their fiscal house in order. Two, it's clear that if there's going to be incremental taxes, it should be on the wealthiest among us. And three, a tax on second homes, which is also being proposed, by the way, in San Francisco and Montana, is a very elegant way of going after those of us who, quite frankly, have the money.

[Kara Swisher]

Right? It's under. It's over $10 million. The house is correct.

[Scott Galloway]

Over five. Over five. In addition, it also kind of. You get a twofer here, and that is if people decide to sell, it does free up housing stock. So nobody likes a tax. I get it. And the wealthy are going to come out of their skin. I get it.

[Kara Swisher]

Ken fucking Griffin needs to shut the hell up. He looks like, hold on.

[Scott Galloway]

I'm not done with my wins and my fails.

[Kara Swisher]

All right, okay, I get at it.

[Scott Galloway]

I actually think as far as taxes goes, which nobody likes, see above the meaning of the word tax, I think this is an elegant, thoughtful, less bad tax.

[Kara Swisher]

My little lesbian communist from San Francisco, finally, go ahead.

[Scott Galloway]

And as long as I can roll out of my apartment and I have the money, which I do, and go to Jack's wife Frida and sit there and order a latte and watch the freak show of commerce, sex, capitalism, art, fashion, walk by me. It is worth a hundred grand a year to me, and it's still worth that to a shit ton of people. Because if you have a second home in Manhattan, my brothers and sisters, you are doing just fine.

[Kara Swisher]

Yeah, Pied a terre.

[Scott Galloway]

So the pied a terre tax and the second home tax being proposed across municipalities that need to raise revenue. It is an elegant, thoughtful tracks. This is what you're not going to like. My fair jail is Mehrmandani and his class warfare against the rich and doxing Ken Griffin. That was totally, totally out of line.

[Kara Swisher]

I would agree with you.

[Scott Galloway]

Totally out of line. And here's the problem with Democrats. We want to redistribute Virtue, not income. Propose a tax on the wealthiest. I get it. Get on with it. Stop complaining about billionaires. Do your fucking job and raise taxes on the wealthy, but instead do not go to their homes and dox them. And this is what's gonna happen. This is what's gonna happen. Ken Griffin, who had a $6.5 billion project underway in Manhattan, supposedly has given a quarter of a billion dollars to New York based charities. You know what he's gonna say? Fuck you. And he's absolutely gonna take capital he was investing in Manhattan and move it to Florida and Texas. And here is the problem with Democrats. We'd much rather signal virtue than do our fucking jobs. And that is, it is one thing to be right, but it doesn't matter if you're ineffective. And the Democrats are going to lose if they continue to try and with this undercurrent of young men are the problem. Don't have problems. Most white people are racist and all billionaires are evil. Well, guess what? You're going to lose the young male, the wealthy, and quite frankly the white folks if you keep this class warfare demonization of success up. One of the most wonderful things about America and the reason why we have consistently attracted the best and brightest around the world is we celebrate success. Now, do we need to redistribute income to the middle class? Abso fucking lutely. But notice how they never talk about Oprah or Beyonce. This is identity politics at its worst. It's demonizing success and you are gonna end up with lower treasury receipts. But great, you're gonna virtue signal.

[Kara Swisher]

All right, let me ask you, what is the thing? Because I think the most effective messaging around this area and I often say, are billionaires awful? I'm like, not all of them. No, of course not. I think the most effective way is to say everyone needs to pay their fair share. That I think is a very effective thing. And you're saying the same thing. And remember, I think Gore tried to sort of demonize rich people, of course, which is ironic since he is one. But one of the things that I think is effective is everybody should pay their fair share. Like everybody shouldn't get breaks. Everyone shouldn't get to meet with the President if I don't. Right. Everyone shouldn't be in a meeting where they get stuff. I think the get while they're getting good stuff of them standing there and pulling in like Scrooge McDuck all the money is a very good message. Why do they get the best bits and you don't? I Think that is not demonizing them. It's saying fair share. This is how much they pay, this is how much you pay. This is how much corporate tax has gone down, this is how much your taxes have gone up. I think that is fully a great way to do it. And I agree that I didn't love the thing of using Ken Griffin. I think you could have done much wider is all these people have second homes and they should pay a tax on it and that's that. And they're very rich and they can not just they can afford it. They don't have to pay taxes and win with math is the way you kind of do it with people in a smart way. That's my feeling. What about you? From a marketing perspective, what do you think?

[Scott Galloway]

If teachers unions were much more powerful and they had figured out a way to weaponize government and were getting paid $500,000 a year on average, plus benefits, plus retirement, they would not be saying enough, we don't need any more. People will always respond to incentives in a capitalist society to get more and more. Until we get rid of Citizens United, the wealthiest among us will weaponize government and owe us incremental seed. The transfer of power of our economy from laborers and consumers to investors. The entire shooting match around income inequality is the following. The point of America is to make the jump to lightspeed by evolving from an earner to an owner. Because once you're an owner, your wealth compounds tax deferred. And owners are more so powerful and have such powerful lobbies. Because of Citizen United, they keep coming up with new tax rates. I can buy a jet today and write the whole fucking thing off in year one, cash flow positive. If I own a home and I put it in an llc, I'm an owner, I can sell it, don't have to have a capital gain I can roll into another investment property, put it in a trust $30 million exemption and start building a dynasty until we have an elected populace, elected representatives who stop transferring capital, influence, well being, health per year series from labor labor and from consumers to shareholders, none of this is going to change. And the key to all of this, none of this happens unless you do away with Citizens United. And for Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren who keep complaining about the wealthy, well then do your fucking job. When you controlled all three houses of government, taxes went down on the rich during the Biden administration. So everyone. It's like the guy complaining that the game was rigged is wearing a referee's uniform.

[Kara Swisher]

Yeah, I agree with you.

[Scott Galloway]

You need structural reform but demonizing billionaires, Everybody does the same thing. Everyone responds to incentives and feathers their bed the most they can.

[Kara Swisher]

I also think they. They do it to themselves. I do think. On the other hand, the look of the Bezos at that Met gala wasn't good.

[Scott Galloway]

Totally different issue. But I agree with you.

[Kara Swisher]

They do it to themselves. They do it to themselves. So let them do it to themselves. Rent Venice. Everyone knows how that feels. I have to say I agree with you. You're right. I think it was a rare mistake by Mamdani, who's a little more deft as the way he handled Trump.

[Scott Galloway]

Very savvy politician.

[Kara Swisher]

I thought that was a little cloddish of him. I think you're right. I think you're right. Anyway, those are good ones. Although Ken Griffin's still been a whiny bitch about it anyway. He's always a whiny bitch.

[Scott Galloway]

Smart guy, I understand, but really smart guy.

[Kara Swisher]

All of them need to stop talking. Every one of them. Anyway, we want to 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, pivot and we specific question for you listeners today. Who do you want to see co host with me in August when Scott goes away on vacation? We already have a really good list actually, and really including Chelsea Handler is coming. So I'm very pleased about that. We want to hear your ideas and maybe we can get them for you. So we'll pick at least one from the people, the suggestions of the people. And don't be kooky, don't be like the Pope. I can't get the Pope, although I'm working on getting an interview with him. But I mean, I could try to get the Pope but it's not gonna work. So email us, call us or tell us on the socials. We wanna hear your suggestions. I would prefer an alien if that's possible. If anyone's listening from up there or tapping into this show elsewhere in the Kara and Scott universe. This week on on with Kara Swisher. I'm talking with author and journalist Patrick Radden Keefe. He's one of my favorite journalists. He writes amazing books, obviously wrote about the opiate crisis. He's written about the crisis in Northern Ireland. He's just amazing journalist. His new book is called London Falling. It's about a mysterious circumstance around the death of a 19 year old who was pretending to be the son of a Russian oligarch I asked Radden Keefe why he's drawn to these true crime stories. Let's listen to a clip.

[Patrick Radden Keefe]

I don't really even think of myself as a crime reporter, but it is a situation where when I go out and I kind of pursue what's interesting to me in the world, it's often stories about people transgressing in one way or another. It's often stories about people kind of using their own charisma to change the world a little bit, to find some little wormhole, some loophole they can get through, or actually to kind of reorganize the world in a way that they would want. And it's funny because we talk about those stories as if they're outliers, but I feel as though that is the era we live in.

[Kara Swisher]

It's a great interview. So smart. Elsie's very handy. Handsome Scott. He was in. He was invited too. Yeah.

[Scott Galloway]

That will be that hands down. Will be on Netflix within 24 months.

[Kara Swisher]

Oh, I think he's already sold it. Say nothing.

[Scott Galloway]

Like I hear that story and I want to know more.

[Kara Swisher]

That's correct. It's going to be great. I actually was asking him who's going to play the kid in the movie. I think he's already sold it. I believe so. By the way, it's a riveting read. It's really. You can't put. I'm not sure it has that as much meaning as he's putting in it, but it's fantastic read and it is. It's about modern day London too, which is interesting. Okay, that's the show. Thanks for listening to Pivot. Be sure to like and subscribe to our YouTube channel. We'll be back on Friday.

[Scott Galloway]

Today's show was produced by Lara Naiman Zoe Marcus, Taylor Griffin and Todd Weissman. Ernie and her Todd engineered this episode. Thanks also to Drew Burrows, Ms. Silvero and Dan Shalon. Nishat Khorra 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. We'll be back later this week for another breakdown of all things tech and business.