Pivot Podcast Summary Episode: Tech Stock Troubles, Epstein Fallout, and SF Mayor Daniel Lurie (November 17, 2025) Hosts: Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway Special Guest: San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie

Episode Overview

Broadcast live from San Francisco’s Sidney Goldstein Theater, this episode delivers a sharp, candid discussion of critical tech, political, and business stories, diving into:

• The state of San Francisco (housing, crime, AI, and tech resurgence) with Mayor Daniel Lurie
• The sharp downturn in tech/AI stock markets
• The Epstein files fallout and political repercussions
• Recent US immigration guidance
• San Francisco’s unique culture and future prospects
  Plus, a lively audience Q&A segment, featuring both humor and pointed policy analysis.

Key Discussion Points

1. San Francisco’s Recovery & Future with Mayor Daniel Lurie

Housing and Affordability Crisis (02:14 – 09:04)

• Kara Swisher launches with the city’s surging rents and housing crisis, pressing Lurie on criticisms of his density proposals.

• Lurie explains "family zoning" and increased density along transit and commercial corridors:

  “Parts of our city have not been rezoned for 50 years. We need to build more housing ... We want to be a city that does it our way—and not the Sacramento way.” (03:15)

• Swisher notes big tech’s role in the affordability crunch and their exodus/return cycles.

• Lurie: Public safety, behavioral health, and the demand for civic engagement from tech companies are the city’s current priorities. He outlines new business partnerships and asks tech firms for deeper involvement in public goods:

  “My demand is that you as a company be engaged in our public schools, be engaged in our arts and culture, which they were not.” (07:07)

Tech Relations, Crime, and Business Climate (04:17 – 09:04)

• The city is seeing improved crime stats (“down 30% year-over-year”) and commercial rebirth (big retailers returning, Blackstone investing).
• Lurie emphasizes leveraging San Francisco’s unique assets:

  “We are indeed a city on the rise, where the home of AI ... It’s all happening in San Francisco.” (05:19)

Tech Industry’s Social Contract (09:04 – 11:19)

• Lurie calls for tech companies to reinvest locally: supporting transit, arts, and schools, not just reaping benefits:

  “No one’s coming to save San Francisco except for San Franciscans.” (08:12)

• Lurie’s ‘ask’ of tech:

  • Be in the office, support local businesses, and fund public transit.

  “When you come back to work, be in the office five days a week ... go shop at the local businesses.” (10:58)

Federal Politics & Trump’s Threats (12:04 – 14:47)

• Swisher asks about Lurie’s interaction with President Trump (who threatened to send troops), and the dynamic with tech billionaires involved.

  “I just stay focused on what I can control ... I can control public safety in San Francisco.” (13:55)

AVs and Innovation Balance (14:47 – 16:49)

• Discusses Waymo/Cruise and the expansion of AVs, balancing tech innovation with climate and safety:

  “I always want us to be on the leading edge ... I think Waymo is incredibly safe ... I don’t think it’s an either-or between AVs and transit.” (15:50)

What’s Most Challenging? (16:49 – 17:52)

• Lurie shares frustrations with the slow “pace of change,” but notes a recent rapid government push to restore food stamps after shutdown:

  “Seven days from start to the time we put in the mail ... We got it done in seven days.” (17:47)

2. Tech Stock Troubles & AI Valuation Bubble

Post-Shutdown Stock Drop (21:03 – 24:34)

• Swisher and Galloway break down plummeting tech/AI stocks after government shutdown. Nvidia, Alphabet, Meta, and more were hit.
• Galloway on S&P concentration:

  “10 companies now represent 40% of the S&P by market value ... If these companies sneeze, the whole world is probably catching pneumonia.” (22:00)

AI Bubble, Echoes of Dot-com (24:34 – 28:27)

• Related-party deals between Nvidia, OpenAI, Oracle, and others evoke late-90s-style bubble behavior.

• Galloway: Enormous company commitments (e.g., $1.2 trillion spend by OpenAI) may be “marketing ... trying to scare away competitors.” (27:05)

• Swisher: Today's infrastructure/build-out costs make it different from the dot-com era; still, consolidation looms:

  “At some point it’s going to be good for maybe one, possibly two players ... everyone else ... is going to be shit out of luck.” (28:27)

Is the Bubble Burst Inevitable? (29:20 – 32:43)

• Galloway: Predicts Chinese dumping of cheap LLMs, eroding margins; historical analogy to airlines, vaccines, PCs—innovations that changed society, but didn’t make lasting corporate profits:

  “No technology that’s changed my life more [than] planes ... But as of today ... the airline industry is at breakeven.” (30:29)

  “I believe China right now is planning to dump massive AI LLMs at a fraction of the cost ... It’s going to take these companies down and really fuck with our economy.” (31:06)

3. Epstein Fallout & Political Repercussions

The Latest Files and Effects (32:43 – 46:13)

• Massive dump of Epstein-related files shows deeper Trump association.

• Swisher: “The release of the documents ... is such an online phenomenon, it’s crazy ... it’s problematic for the president.” (36:13, 38:03)

• Galloway:

  “I hope Ghislaine Maxwell dies in prison but I don’t really care ... we’ve bastardized ... a very important process of our justice system ... clemency and pardons.” (33:55)

• Both hosts reflect on the coin-operated, corrupted justice process and contrast with petty virtue signaling.

Redline, Visuals, and Endgame (41:31 – 45:14)

• Swisher believes the Epstein story may finally undo Trump, especially if photos or further evidence emerges.

  “If there’s a photo ... like what happened to Andrew, I think it’s game over.” (42:35)

• J.D. Vance (VP) may be next up; hosts jokingly discuss couch-related innuendo about him.

• Galloway highlights the risk that the administration will selectively release or “soft release” only damaging info to opponents.

Media, Distraction, and Accountability (46:13 – 48:03)

• Swisher critiques Megyn Kelly’s appalling comments in the context of the Epstein fallout—calls for moral lines in media, while Galloway laments overreaction and distraction.

  “I think we need less career ending stuff when people fuck up ... we have to have a little [grace] if we’re going to have 24/7 media.” (46:13)

4. Immigration Policy and Nativist Creep

New Visa Restrictions (49:25 – 55:19)

• Secretary of State Rubio’s new guidance: denies visas to those with chronic health issues, seniors, or dependents with disabilities.

• Galloway:

  “70% of America is either overweight or obese ... That seems very strange to me [to exclude on obesity].” (50:24)

• Swisher: “The real obesity problem is here in this country. They don’t want to address that.” (51:13)

• Galloway describes the cycle where progressive overreach (e.g., lax border policies) provokes authoritarian overreaction; both agree the new regulations are cruel and performative.

5. San Francisco’s Unique Appeal and Tech Culture

City Love/Hate, Social Commentary (55:19 – 56:38)

• Galloway reminisces about past life in SF—bluntly calls out tech industry hypocrisy:

  “Never met a more rapacious bunch of douchebags who would fuck their sister for a nickel. But we’re saving the whales.” (56:01)

• Swisher’s defense:

  “I love San Francisco ... had the best day ... I love San Francisco in the rain.” (56:38)

Audience Q&A Highlights

Former Flames & AI Workforce Fears (59:05 – 66:06)

• Surprise reunion with Scott’s elementary school crush, Debbie Brubaker, brings humor and nostalgia.

• Tech journalist Casey Newton raises a key AI question:

  “You did not seem to take into account the possibility that one or more of these companies creates a pretty effective digital worker ... If that happens, how might it change your analysis?” (62:18)

• Galloway’s analysis: Massive labor force impact required to justify current AI valuations—predicts either economic chaos or stock collapse:

  “The only way ... is a 12.5% destruction in the labor force ... which is chaos. So we’re either going to have unemployment chaos ... or the companies get cut in half.” (64:22)

Legal Weed’s Perennial Problem (66:24 – 71:47)

• Audience member Joyce (cannabis entrepreneur) asks why banking/advertising barriers persist despite popular support.
• Swisher: “It’s ridiculous ... 80/20 issues where Congress does the very opposite ... alcohol lobby just has more power.” (68:41)
• Galloway: Advocates youthful experimentation—“I love being high. I’m a better version of myself ... But guardrails matter for young people.” (70:28)

Notable Quotes

• Mayor Lurie:
  • “No one’s coming to save San Francisco except for San Franciscans.” (08:12)
• Scott Galloway:
  • “There’s been more wealth created in a 7-mile radius of SFO ... than all of Europe in the last 20 years.” (23:57)
  • “I believe China ... is planning to dump massive AI LLMs at a fraction of the cost ... It’s going to take these companies down and really fuck with our economy.” (31:06)
• Kara Swisher:
  • “[The Epstein doc release] is such an online phenomenon ... It feels like the late stage of Trump ...” (38:03)
  • “At some point ... everyone else is going to be shit out of luck in this scenario. It’s not going to be lots of companies.” (29:20)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [02:14] – Mayor Lurie on San Francisco’s housing crisis
• [04:50] – Lurie: Falling crime, business climate, tech’s role
• [09:54] – Tech industry’s asks, civic engagement
• [12:04] – Federal intervention and Trump
• [14:47] – AVs, safety and innovation
• [21:03] – Stock crash analysis, AI dependence
• [29:20] – Bubble warnings, China/AI threats
• [33:55] – Epstein fallout and political corruption
• [41:31] – Will Epstein files end the Trump presidency?
• [49:25] – Rubio’s immigration/health policy
• [59:05] – Debbie Brubaker reunion
• [62:18] – Casey Newton’s AI jobs question
• [66:24] – Cannabis business, law, and social change

Tone & Style

The episode is dynamic, candid, at times profane, with Swisher’s signature bulldog interviewing and Scott’s biting analysis. Both challenge, joke, and warn, blending the personal and the global, political and economic, with a bias for facts and irreverence.

For those who missed the episode:
Expect a rapid-fire, unfiltered conversation—covering SF’s challenges and prospects, Wall Street’s AI addiction, the tectonic shift of Epstein revelations, immigration policy’s cruelty, and the joys/irritations of tech culture. All with audience laughs and participation woven through.