Kara Swisher Spills Her Silicon Valley Secrets

Summary

The Daily Beast Podcast: Kara Swisher Spills Her Silicon Valley Secrets

Release Date: September 26, 2024

Hosts: Joanna Coles and Samantha Bee
Guest: Kara Swisher, Prominent Technology Journalist

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1. Introduction and Guest Welcome

The episode kicks off with Joanna Coles welcoming listeners to The Daily Beast Podcast, describing it as a vibrant and engaging platform for discussions on the latest in politics, pop culture, and beyond. Samantha Bee adds a playful remark, likening the podcast to "the best dinner party" without the food. They then introduce their special guest for the episode, Kara Swisher, lauding her as the "queen of podcasting" and expressing excitement about her appearance.

Notable Quote:
Joanna Coles [04:00]: "This week we're joined by the queen of podcasting and our beast of the week, Cara Swisher."

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2. Melania Trump's Activities and Public Image

Kara Swisher delves into Melania Trump’s recent endeavors, highlighting her active role outside the White House. The conversation covers Melania’s engagement with various events, her strategic appearances, and her association with controversial sources.

Notable Quotes:
Kara Swisher [08:03]: "The white edition, the white album, if you will, is, I think $250."
Joanna Coles [09:33]: "She’s such a mystery. Who knows?"

The hosts discuss Melania's multifaceted public persona, including her foray into merchandise like Christmas ornaments, which Swisher critiques as overly avant-garde. They also touch upon Melania's increased activities in New York due to her son's academic commitments, illustrating her strategic distancing from the White House.

Notable Quote:
Joanna Coles [10:46]: "She's also getting paid for campaign events, which is incredibly unusual during a campaign."

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3. Diddy Combs's Legal Troubles

A significant portion of the discussion focuses on Diddy Combs facing serious legal issues, including charges of sex trafficking and racketeering. Swisher and Coles examine the allegations, which accuse Combs of orchestrating large-scale exploitative events and using his business empire to manipulate victims.

Notable Quotes:
Joanna Coles [13:53]: "Diddy denies the charges, but he remains in federal custody without bail."
Cara Swisher [15:17]: "How tall is he? Is he actually very small?"

They explore the impact of these revelations on Combs's public image and his interactions within his professional circle, emphasizing the disturbing evidence uncovered during property raids.

Notable Quote:
Cara Swisher [19:34]: "It's so disturbing. It's so, so disturbing."

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4. VP Debate Preview

The hosts transition to discussing the upcoming Vice Presidential debate, expressing a mix of excitement, hope, and anxiety. They analyze the candidates, particularly focusing on J.D. Vance and Tim Waltz, assessing their strengths and pitfalls ahead of the debate scheduled for October 1st.

Notable Quotes:
Joanna Coles [20:09]: "Traditionally veep candidates don't actually move the needle."
Cara Swisher [20:38]: "He should be in the toilet."

They predict potential viral moments from the debate, speculate on moderators' strategies, and discuss the general public sentiment towards the debate, noting a sense of increased security compared to previous high-stakes political events.

Notable Quote:
Cara Swisher [23:00]: "If you were moderating the debate, would that be your question to him?"

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5. Podcasting and Media Insights

Shifting focus, the conversation moves to the realm of podcasting and media. The hosts and Swisher exchange thoughts on building successful podcasts, emphasizing the importance of content quality, audience engagement, and maintaining authenticity. They discuss the dynamics of hosting, scripting, and the balance between structured content and spontaneous dialogue.

Notable Quotes:
Cara Swisher [34:37]: "How do you decide for yourself that it is time to launch something new?"
Ryan Reynolds [36:12]: "One thing is three things you have to be. One is useful."

The dialogue highlights the evolving nature of media consumption and the pivotal role podcasts play in shaping public discourse, with Swisher sharing her strategies for creating engaging and meaningful content.

Notable Quote:
Ryan Reynolds [39:07]: "We push back on each other in a civil way that then you can see the journey of each of us."

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6. Elon Musk, X, and Election Impact

A critical segment of the episode examines Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter (now X) and its ramifications on the upcoming elections. Swisher provides an analysis of Musk’s influence on public opinion, the platform’s role in political discourse, and the broader implications for democracy.

Notable Quotes:
Joanna Coles [48:08]: "You've been shouting from the mountaintops for several years now about the inherent dangers in tech."
Ryan Reynolds [52:29]: "He's allowed to be risky. He's willing to blow things up. That's an advantage."

The conversation scrutinizes Musk’s business strategies, his engagement with controversial topics on X, and the potential long-term effects on political narratives and voter behavior.

Notable Quote:
Joanna Coles [49:19]: "The wake that he's having on every other boat on the same sea is intense."

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7. Interaction with Ryan Reynolds

In an unexpected twist, Ryan Reynolds joins the conversation, bringing a fresh perspective on podcasting and media entrepreneurship. Reynolds shares his experiences with launching successful ventures, emphasizing the importance of originality, audience engagement, and the balance between creativity and commercial viability.

Notable Quotes:
Ryan Reynolds [31:36]: "All the time. I'm always looking for podcast ideas."
Joanna Coles [43:03]: "I learned a lot from listening to Pivot during COVID."

Reynolds and Swisher discuss the financial aspects of media projects, the significance of building a loyal fan base, and the challenges of maintaining authenticity in a saturated market. Their interaction underscores the delicate interplay between content creation and audience connection.

Notable Quote:
Ryan Reynolds [42:06]: "Make money is critical. And make money shuts everybody up."

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8. Closing and Conclusion

As the episode winds down, the hosts and guest reflect on the discussed topics, reiterating the importance of informed discussions and thoughtful media engagement. They encourage listeners to stay tuned for future episodes, promising more in-depth analyses and conversations with influential figures.

Notable Quotes:
Cara Swisher [56:17]: "If you've been listening to this podcast lately, you'll have heard us talk about Five9."
Joanna Coles [56:29]: "We'll be back after the veep debate next Thursday with another episode of the Daily Beast podcast."

The episode concludes with a blend of promotional content and final thoughts, reinforcing the podcast’s commitment to delivering insightful and entertaining content.

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Key Takeaways:

• Melania Trump's Strategic Positioning: Melania Trump's increased activity in New York and her ventures into merchandise reflect a strategic distancing from the White House, raising questions about her long-term plans and influence.

• Diddy Combs's Legal Challenges: The serious allegations against Diddy Combs underscore ongoing issues of abuse and exploitation within high-profile circles, highlighting the need for accountability in the entertainment industry.

• VP Debate Dynamics: The upcoming Vice Presidential debate is portrayed as a pivotal moment, with candidates like J.D. Vance and Tim Waltz facing scrutiny over their political strategies and public personas.

• Podcasting Insights: Building a successful podcast hinges on quality content, audience engagement, and authenticity. The discussion emphasizes the importance of fostering a loyal fan base and balancing creative freedom with commercial success.

• Elon Musk's Influence: Elon Musk's acquisition of X (formerly Twitter) is analyzed for its potential impact on political discourse and democratic processes, raising concerns about the concentration of power in media ownership.

• Media Entrepreneurship: Ryan Reynolds’s insights into media entrepreneurship highlight the complexities of content creation, financial sustainability, and maintaining genuine connections with audiences.

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps:

• Joanna Coles [04:00]: "This week we're joined by the queen of podcasting and our beast of the week, Cara Swisher."

• Kara Swisher [08:03]: "The white edition, the white album, if you will, is, I think $250."

• Cara Swisher [19:34]: "It's so disturbing. It's so, so disturbing."

• Joanna Coles [20:09]: "Traditionally veep candidates don't actually move the needle."

• Ryan Reynolds [31:36]: "All the time. I'm always looking for podcast ideas."

• Joanna Coles [48:08]: "You've been shouting from the mountaintops for several years now about the inherent dangers in tech."

• Ryan Reynolds [42:06]: "Make money is critical. And make money shuts everybody up."

---

This comprehensive summary encapsulates the multifaceted discussions of the episode, providing listeners with a clear overview of the key topics, insights, and dynamic interactions between the hosts and their esteemed guest, Kara Swisher.

Transcript

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[Joanna Coles]

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[Cara Swisher]

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[Joanna Coles]

I recently had a flight get cancelled and I called the customer service number and spoke with a very helpful rep who immediately booked me on the next flight. It felt great. Such a relief. Have you ever had a customer service experience like that where everything just works? You get your issue resolved right away. Minimal hold times, no getting bounced between different reps, just quick, easy and dare I say it, kind of enjoyable. It feels like we've reached a point where every customer experience should feel that seamless, right? And you're in luck. Well we're all in luck, actually, because Five9 is changing the entire way customer experiences work. They use AI to create smarter, more informed interactions so you can get your problems handled in a way that's just more human. Whether you get in touch with a company through text, a call, email, a chat, whatever, it's all connected so you don't have to repeat yourself. They know you better so your experience is better and smoother. 59 creates intelligent customer experiences so everything feels personalized, not like a template or a script that gets read back to you. That's just one small part of what their suite of customer experience tech can do. It's already changing the game for companies from Estee Lauder to cvs. And you can learn more about the next level intelligence [e-mail] beast that's F I V e9.com beast welcome to the Daily Beast Podcast. I'm Joanna Coles, Chief Content Officer of the Daily Beast.

[Cara Swisher]

And I am Samantha Beat, Chief Content Officer of my house and home and nothing else.

[Joanna Coles]

Every Thursday, we're inviting you to the best dinner party you've ever been to. You're going to hear all our spicy takes on what's happening in politics and pop culture straight from the Daily Beast newsroom. And we'll be having amazing guests, too. Those sort of guests you've always wanted to sit next to and talk to off the record. This week we're joined by the queen of podcasting and our beast of the week, Cara Swisher. Be sure to stick around for her.

[Cara Swisher]

I love Carol. Let's get started. I'm excited to be here, Joanna. Thanks for asking me to do this.

[Joanna Coles]

I am very excited to have you. And I was trying to about when we actually first met, and the truth is, I can't remember.

[Cara Swisher]

I can't remember it at all. And I feel like we just kind of know each other through osmosis and through being at many fabulous parties.

[Joanna Coles]

Well, and also when you.

[Cara Swisher]

Standing awkwardly apart.

[Joanna Coles]

Standing awkwardly apart. And when you've known someone so well from television, sometimes you begin to think that you had those conversations with them when I realized you were actually having them with jon Stewart and 2 million other people. But I thought they were just with me.

[Cara Swisher]

You know what? Seen so much of everything that you've done, and I've absorbed so much of your content that I feel exactly the same way. What a thrill.

[Joanna Coles]

Okay. Well, there's so much to talk about.

[Cara Swisher]

There is so much to talk about. What a perfect time to start a journey like this.

[Joanna Coles]

Yeah. And also I'm so excited to have someone that's funny and intelligent to process things with, because you need someone to just unpack it.

[Cara Swisher]

I'm very excited to get to know you because I think that you are spicy. You are a zesty lady. You kind of. Can I say. Can I say that in a way? Every time we get together for a conversation, you really bring out the worst in me.

[Joanna Coles]

Oh, God. What is the worst in you? I want more worst.

[Cara Swisher]

Okay, well, you're gonna get it.

[Joanna Coles]

Be worst.

[Cara Swisher]

Be worst.

[Joanna Coles]

Be worst. That could actually be our mantra for this podcast. Be worst.

[Cara Swisher]

I hope you have swag.

[Joanna Coles]

We need swag. Oh, God. We do need swag, don't we? Yeah. What kind? Like hats, T shirts?

[Cara Swisher]

No, you need a nice T shirt, and you cannot put your own face on it. And. Because if you do, then you can actually never wear it.

[Joanna Coles]

And I could put your face on it.

[Cara Swisher]

Absolutely. Do not do that, because nobody will wear it.

[Joanna Coles]

What about a thong? We could have be worst thongs.

[Cara Swisher]

Just a whale tail. Just a nice whale tail with Joanna Cole's face on it would be great.

[Joanna Coles]

Bestseller.

[Cara Swisher]

Do they call it a whale tail?

[Joanna Coles]

I didn't even know what a whale tail is.

[Cara Swisher]

Already gone there. Oh, I'm not going to tell you.

[Joanna Coles]

It's a whale tail. A thong.

[Cara Swisher]

It is. And it peeks up above your jeans.

[Joanna Coles]

Oh, so great. I never wear thongs. When I was editing Cosmo, people used to obsess about thongs, and I would think, why do we have to wear daily things that became famous in porn?

[Cara Swisher]

At my stage of life, I have embraced a full cotton gusset, and I feel proud and happy to say that. And, folks, that's it for our podcast.

[Joanna Coles]

That's the podcast. We will be selling full cotton gussets at the end of the show at the Daily Beast. Of what I am the Chief Content Officer. I know we have lots of great sections, and one of our sections is called Obsessed. Yes, and I love that because every time I see you, I want to know what you're obsessed by.

[Cara Swisher]

Oh, thank you.

[Joanna Coles]

What are you obsessed by this week?

[Cara Swisher]

Okay, look, I know that we are in the midst of a big, like, election season, so we're all about countdown clocks right now. And I am. No, I'm no exception to that, except that my countdown clock is marked until Melania's book is released, which I believe is next week. And, oh, my goodness, I'm so hopeful that it's going to bring so much new information about her life to light. I'm not hopeful. I do Want the book, but I also don't want to pay for it.

[Joanna Coles]

It's also quite expensive.

[Cara Swisher]

Well, the white edition, the white. Her white album, if you will, is, I think $250.

[Joanna Coles]

I hope that's sign. I think it would be signed with a feather quill.

[Cara Swisher]

Quill.

[Joanna Coles]

In her blood.

[Cara Swisher]

Oh, in her blood, maybe.

[Joanna Coles]

And then you could clone. Can you clone off dried blood?

[Cara Swisher]

Oh, my God.

[Joanna Coles]

Can you imagine if there were hundreds of Melania clones?

[Cara Swisher]

Oh, my God. Yeah. I don't want to line her pockets with my. So I am going to check it out from my local library. That's my strategy.

[Joanna Coles]

I'm very curious about this book because I do know at least one mainstream publisher who turned it down. It's being published by Skyhorse. Okay. Which, as we wrote in the Beast, also published RFK Jr.

[Cara Swisher]

Fantastic.

[Joanna Coles]

And Woody Allen. So I think they publish books that nobody else will publish.

[Cara Swisher]

Wonderful. Wonderful track record. And is that the team also doing the big PR campaign? Because she's been making her videos, I think. I feel like the drip, drip, drip of press has been incredible. The four. I think there's four videos so far. Four videos, Four videos. Very weird and creepy. The intro one.

[Joanna Coles]

Hello.

[Cara Swisher]

Hello. There's one about the assassination attempt, which felt like, you know, a little rushed. One about the rose garden. And then, of course, we had to talk about the exquisite female form. Her exquisite female form, which I do not deny. Is that the same team behind that strategy? She's such a mystery.

[Joanna Coles]

Who knows? Cause the lighting is very strange in those videos, which I find odd because she was actually a model. So why is she doing them in black and white or sort of black and white and in shadow.

[Cara Swisher]

A little fuzzy, too. I mean, I do have old eyes, but I able to properly focus on it. So there is. There's a lot of. There's Vaseline, there's goo on the lens. I don't blame her for that. I wish we had goo on our lens.

[Joanna Coles]

I would love. I would love all Vaseline on lenses, please.

[Cara Swisher]

She is cashing. She's cashing in.

[Joanna Coles]

She's cashing in lately. She's cashing in.

[Cara Swisher]

You know, she's got that big prenup. Is she afraid if they split? God forbid they split, he's not going to pay his bills.

[Joanna Coles]

Well, it's a very curious marriage, isn't it? Because she appears to have said, and we've certainly reported this in the Beast, that she's not planning to go back to the White House. Right, we know that, Barron. Actually, as we reported, six Months ago, is going to nyu. And she's using that as an opportunity to spend much more time in New York. So she's not living in the same state as her husband. And she's certainly getting paid for campaign events, which is incredibly unusual during a campaign.

[Cara Swisher]

And the money is coming from very mysterious sources. No, I mean, $237,000 to speak to the Log Cabin Republicans.

[Joanna Coles]

I would charge double that to speak to the log cabin Republicans.

[Cara Swisher]

155,000 from one of her husband's super PACs in 2021. All that money is definitely going under her bed. Separate beds, separate bedrooms, separate homes, separate states.

[Joanna Coles]

And she's also, don't let's forget. Got her special Christmas ornament line, which I'm very excited about.

[Cara Swisher]

Oh, my God. I just looked at them and they are so. It's like a spiky. A lethal, very spiky star.

[Joanna Coles]

Is it? I wondered if it was almost inspired by the COVID virus.

[Cara Swisher]

I was reflecting on the fact that my Jesus was not born under that spiky looking star. Impossible. Christmas decorations inspired by Suspiria is how I think of her.

[Joanna Coles]

Well. And we know that she hates Christmas because that was in that recording that Stephanie Winston Wolkoff did of her. Stephanie writes for the Beast from time to time. And it was just the most extraordinary. Who hates Christmas?

[Cara Swisher]

Melania hates Christmas.

[Joanna Coles]

Melania hates Christmas.

[Cara Swisher]

Who gives a fuck about Christmas decorations? I'm working my ass off at Christmas. Who gives a fuck about Christmas with the decorations and stuff? Anyway, that's my.

[Joanna Coles]

That felt like I was transported.

[Cara Swisher]

Thank you so much.

[Joanna Coles]

That was so good.

[Cara Swisher]

I've been working on.

[Joanna Coles]

Maybe that should be our merch.

[Cara Swisher]

Just me. I'll do a phone message for you.

[Joanna Coles]

Oh, that's genius. I absolutely want you to do that on my outgoing message. I freaking hate Christmas. But you can leave a message for Joanna Coles. We're both going to race to get a copy of the book. We just don't want to pay for it.

[Cara Swisher]

That's right. Yes. We need to strategize that properly. I think libraries are a great resource that way. They only pay for the one copy and everybody just borrows it.

[Joanna Coles]

Do you think it will get banned in Florida because it's referring to nude pictures?

[Cara Swisher]

Hopefully. That would be incredible, wouldn't it?

[Joanna Coles]

But it could happen. Anything could happen. Okay, so, Sam, now let's go to the Download, which is another part of our site where we focus on the biggest stories of the week. First up is Diddy Sean. Diddy Combs is Currently facing serious legal troubles, including charges of sex trafficking and racketeering. And the allegations span years and involve accusations of abuse, coercion and orchestrating large scale events that he called freak offs where women were truly exploited. Federal authorities claim he ran a criminal enterprise to conceal his actions, using his business empire to control and manipulate victims. And his properties in LA and Miami were raided earlier this year, you might remember, revealing disturbing evidence, including guns and drugs. Diddy denies the charges, but he remains in federal custody without bail.

[Cara Swisher]

Yes. What a story.

[Joanna Coles]

Extraordinary story.

[Cara Swisher]

You have someone at the Daily Beast who's really following, who's really tracking this, right?

[Joanna Coles]

Yes. Our reporter Ebony Boykin Patterson did an extraordinary piece with another reporter, Kate Bricolade, a couple of months ago about his bullying at work.

[Cara Swisher]

Right.

[Joanna Coles]

And actually, as part of the story, I spoke to one of the people who was very senior in his organization and she said that when she had agreed to go and work for him, they had a deal that he was not allowed to call her after 11pm at night because he kept cat hours. So he would actually go to bed at around five in the morning when she was getting up. And so they had this rule that he never called her between 11 and 5, which was when she was sleeping, but he was up and partying.

[Cara Swisher]

Oh my God. How many people in his orbit who worked for him do you think did not know the extent to which he was really abusing people at his parties? I mean, literally, people had to have IV infusions to recuperate.

[Joanna Coles]

That does not sound like the kind of party you want to go to where you literally have to recover. Possibly almost hospitalized.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Oh my God.

[Joanna Coles]

Not very sexy to have an IV drip in your arm.

[Cara Swisher]

I met him once. He did not invite me to, surprisingly, he did not invite me to one of his fun parties.

[Joanna Coles]

Tell me everything.

[Cara Swisher]

I met him.

[Joanna Coles]

How tall, how tall is he? Is he actually very small?

[Cara Swisher]

That's the only thing that I don't remember about our single encounter together was his height. He's taller than. I'm kind of short. So everybody is sort of taller than me. So, yes, I met him at the dnc. I can't remember which one. It was ages and ages ago. And I was in kind of a cordoned off area with cameras and a producer. And so I was grabbing whoever I could to ask him a couple of questions about what was going on. And he walked in the room and I went up to him and he was with his, you know, he had an aide who was kind of, as I recall, his manservant And I think that he would carry a little parasol.

[Joanna Coles]

Around with him in the outdoor Farnsworth.

[Cara Swisher]

I think he called it was him. And there was no indoor parasol, but he just had a right hand man. And so I went up to them and it was an area where you would expect to be interviewed to. It wasn't like so outrageous for me to approach with a camera and a very polite question.

[Joanna Coles]

Well, he was probably hanging around, hoping to be introduced, right?

[Cara Swisher]

So I went up to him and I said, would you mind if I asked you a couple of questions? And he seemed very taken aback. His voice was soft, he was like, I think that's okay. And so I said thank you. And I reached out and I shook his hand. And then he immediately, like instantly turned to his attendant, held his hands out helplessly, and his attendant squirted copious amounts of Purell into his hands. And he softly rubbed his hands together to extinguish whatever microbes I had put on his hands. And it was so rude. I mean, it was actually so rude. And I do understand that, you know, you shake a lot of people's hands and you do. Your hands feel dirty, but you don't typically need to sanitize while the person is standing before you.

[Joanna Coles]

That's ridiculous.

[Cara Swisher]

Expressing your disgust. And it occurred to me in the light of all of these freak offs that it's always the germaphobes who want to go home and recreate Caligula every Tuesday afternoon. Do you know what I mean?

[Joanna Coles]

Anyway, so interesting that so much lube was used. I think the Feds picked up 1000 bottles of lube and baby oil. So industrial, industrialized freak offs going on.

[Cara Swisher]

Oh my God.

[Joanna Coles]

But what I'm fascinated by is what is.

[Cara Swisher]

You're fascinated by more things than just that.

[Joanna Coles]

Well, that's. I know, that is pretty fascinating, isn't it?

[Cara Swisher]

You want to come over to my house? How many tarps are we going to need?

[Joanna Coles]

But can you imagine the Amazon delivery guys? I mean, they must have been backing up the truck with that stuff.

[Cara Swisher]

Goodness. So much trauma. It's so awful.

[Joanna Coles]

Well, inmate 374520, as he's now referred to in the Metropolitan Detention center, is now sharing a cell with none other than Sam Bankman. Fried.

[Cara Swisher]

What a. What a. What a rummy. Wow.

[Joanna Coles]

It's just extraordinary. And I'm sort of fascinated by what's he doing all day? Like, what is it like a day in the life of Diddy in the mdc.

[Cara Swisher]

And also, can you imagine what the crisis PR teams How much they're in absolute overdrive because so many of their celebrity clients were at these parties.

[Joanna Coles]

Well, one of the pieces that did incredibly well on the Beast was the notion of Diddy hiding in plain sight, like so many of these stories do, like Harvey Weinstein, like Jeffrey Epstein, where they get air cover from celebrities. I mean, this is a man who launched his couture collection on the steps of the Met Gala only last year, surrounded by pictures of Anna Wintour.

[Cara Swisher]

Surrounded by. Surrounded by celebrities and celebrity enablers.

[Joanna Coles]

And there's video of Ashton Kutcher talking about his parties. There's videos of Leo DiCaprio. And then when you hear the women's stories, it's so disturbing.

[Cara Swisher]

It's so disturbing. It's so, so disturbing. It really buoyed my spirits that he was not let out on bail. I think that's well deserved.

[Joanna Coles]

Right? And they offered 50 million, I think, didn't they? And they were like, no, because he's a flight risk. And probably. I mean, I know he's on suicide watch, too, as was Epstein. So that was effective.

[Cara Swisher]

Okay. My big story that's coming down the pike, and this is looking again toward the future is the VP debate next week, which I am. Excited, tentative, hopeful, scared. I don't know. I have a lot of feelings. What are your feelings?

[Joanna Coles]

My feelings are that it may not matter that much, that traditionally veep candidates don't actually move the needle. Although arguably Sarah Palin did against John McCain. Although JD Vance has turned out to be a spectacularly bad candidate, and Tim Waltz has turned out to be a surprisingly good candidate. I think J.D.

[Cara Swisher]

Vance. Doesn't he pull just so extremely in the toilet with voters?

[Joanna Coles]

He should be in the toilet.

[Cara Swisher]

He should be in the toilet. The debate is next Tuesday. It's October 1st. I have my snacks prepared. I think there's so much.

[Joanna Coles]

What are you going to eat during it? Actually, what would your snacks be for the Veep debate?

[Cara Swisher]

We're going with a caramel corn, and we're going to have a cheese. I always have to have a. I love to have a cheese tray. So I'm assembling all of the cheeses for my.

[Joanna Coles]

I heard from a lot of people that they were too anxious to watch the debate with Kamala and Trump.

[Cara Swisher]

Yes.

[Joanna Coles]

I'm thinking that people feel more secure about this one.

[Cara Swisher]

A little more secure. The debate will be moderated by Nora O'Donnell and Margaret Brennan. How do you think that they are prepping for this debate? I know that Pete Buttigieg is playing J.D. vance. Yes, yes. And Tom Emmer is playing Tim Walls. Do we know much about Tom Emmer?

[Joanna Coles]

Well, we know he loves hockey. He's from Minnesota. He loves playing ice hockey. And he's very right wing. I mean, he's very, you know, he's known for his conserv. He's very conservative on fiscal responsibility, deregulation, doesn't really believe in much government. So he'll be a perfectly good candidate to represent J.D. what I find astonishing is how J.D. vance went from a best selling memoirist of hillbilly elegy to where he is now. And it feels like that incredible goodwill he got with that book has been utterly squandered.

[Cara Swisher]

Yes, he's really leaned into grievance. His entire bodily expression is an expression of grievance. He's a misanthrope. I think his smile is erectus. And I love it when he tries to joke. Actually, it's my favorite.

[Joanna Coles]

Well, when he tries to order a doughnut, he can't do basic things like whatever makes sense. And you're like, well, no doughnut makes sense. It's all going to give you diabetes. That's not the point. But I would ask him about Usha. I'm very interested in Usha Vance. And you would think because she was educated at Yale and Cambridge and she worked for a liberal leaning law company, which she had to give up her job, that she'd obviously spent a lot of time investing in the moment he was chosen to be veep candidate. I tend to give her the benefit of the doubt and think, oh, she can't believe any of this. Now I actually think that she's Lady McVance.

[Cara Swisher]

If you were moderating the debate, would that be your question to him? Would it just be, what does Usha think of all of this?

[Joanna Coles]

It might be. It might be. Actually, it would be like, what does Usha think when Laura Looma says that if Kamala wins, the White House will smell of curry?

[Cara Swisher]

Oh my goodness. Oh my. I just sweat. I just had a spontaneous sweat from each one of my pores.

[Joanna Coles]

I can't see it though. Cause you're hiding it behind that jacket.

[Cara Swisher]

I would ask about. I would ask a father follow up question about the cats and dogs. The fact that he is spreading that disinformation about Haitian immigrants, which I just cannot get over. It's led to such dangerous conditions for the Haitian immigrant population. I would ask why he celebrates or embraces being so popular with neo Nazis who are all just like high fiving each other that he keeps sharing these memes that they've been trying to get going for years and years.

[Joanna Coles]

One of the interesting things, I think, which I hadn't really reflected on until recently, was that with two assassination attempts against him and actually a third one that we just wrote about actually in the Beast yesterday, I mean, the guy didn't actually turn up, but he called up and threatened Donald Trump, is that we could actually be looking at President Vance.

[Cara Swisher]

I find that so chilling. It's actually a place that I have not really gone in my imagination yet.

[Joanna Coles]

Well, you might want to fire up your imagination, because it's not impossible.

[Cara Swisher]

Firing up the imagination machine. What do you think the viral moment will be from next week's debate? Like, what is going to be the fly on Mike pence for the 2024 VP debate? Please let there be another fly and let it go right in J.D. vance Hospital.

[Joanna Coles]

What if the same fly is hanging around, waiting?

[Cara Swisher]

The most robust fly?

[Joanna Coles]

I think there might be soup in the beard. I'm just going to say I don't like beards. I grew up with pognaphobia, which is actually a fear of men with beards. Ladies with beards, too. But more commonly, it's men with beards. It's a real thing. And I think often if you stare at a beard long enough, I can see bits of old soup and occasional pieces of corn.

[Cara Swisher]

I'm sorry, I'm gonna just pause for one moment on your medical. Your medically diagnosed phobia of people with beards.

[Joanna Coles]

It's my only phobia, and it was out of control during COVID Wow.

[Cara Swisher]

Wow.

[Joanna Coles]

I really don't like that.

[Cara Swisher]

I just picture little ants crawling around in a beard.

[Joanna Coles]

Oh, interesting.

[Cara Swisher]

Yeah. Do you think that Trump is gonna live tweet this live exit? Is he gonna Truth Social?

[Joanna Coles]

Of course he is, because he's not gonna be able to cope with not being the center of attention.

[Cara Swisher]

Okay, okay, okay. I wondered if he cared enough what J.D. vance does, but no, of course, you're right. What was I thinking?

[Joanna Coles]

Well, actually, that's a very good point. He may be doing a rally at the same time, but I bet that he's on Truth Social. You're right. Of course he's going to be on Truth Social.

[Cara Swisher]

Yeah.

[Joanna Coles]

And now let's pay some bills. But after the break, we're talking to the Kara Swisher, so don't miss it.

[Cara Swisher]

Gifting is hard, but here's a hint.

[Joanna Coles]

Give the gift of connection from US Cellular.

[Cara Swisher]

Not sure what that means. Well, here's a slightly more specific hint. You can choose four free phones and.

[Samantha Bee]

Get four lines for $90 a month from US Cellular.

[Cara Swisher]

Your family wants new phones, so how do we know? They told us.

[Joanna Coles]

Yeah, the good news is that compared.

[Samantha Bee]

To wrapping presents, you're great at getting hints.

[Joanna Coles]

So take the hint and get them.

[Cara Swisher]

Four free phones and four lines for.

[Joanna Coles]

$90 a month US cellular built for.

[Samantha Bee]

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[Ryan Reynolds]

Where'd you get those shoes? Easy.

[Cara Swisher]

They're from dsw. Because DSW has the exact right shoes.

[Ryan Reynolds]

For whatever you're into right now. Now.

[Cara Swisher]

You know, like the sneakers that make office hours feel like happy hour, the.

[Joanna Coles]

Boots that turn grocery aisles into runways.

[Ryan Reynolds]

And all the styles that show off.

[Cara Swisher]

The many sides of you, from daydreamer to multitasker and everything in between. Because you do it all in really great shoes. Find a shoe for every you at your DSW store or dsw.com.

[Joanna Coles]

In today's world, customer Experience, or CX for short, is being completely revolutionized, and one company is leading the charge. 5. 9 what they're doing is really interesting. They're integrating AI into customer experiences through phone calls, text, email, chat, any touch point between a customer and a brand. It's all getting smarter and more streamlined, which is a win for brands and consumers. Five9's intelligent AI powered CX platform is becoming a huge competitive advantage. Massive companies like estee Lauder and CVS are already using Five9 to enable top tier customer experiences where typically you might not expect it. And it's all happening incredibly fast because brands have seen how powerful great customer experiences can be. It leads to higher profits, better customer retention, all types of business outcomes. It's way more than a contact center, it's a profit center. Which is why more brands should be looking to elevate how they engage with customers. So if you want to know how you can elevate your CX game, check out59.com beast. That's F I V e9.com beast if you're a business owner, Five9 is a technology platform you would be crazy not to check out. So now we're going to change gears and introduce you to our beast of the week, Cara Swisher. Cara is a prominent American journalist. She's a technology commentator, she's an entrepreneur, and she's really known for her sharp insights and no nonsense approach. She's one of the most influential voices in tech journalism and she began her career covering Silicon Valley in the early 1990s and quickly gained a reputation for her deep industry knowledge and fearless interviews with top tech leaders and founders. She's also the host of multiple successful podcasts including Pivot with NYU professor Scott Galloway and On with Kara Swisher, where she interviews key figures across industries.

[Cara Swisher]

We're so excited that you're here. Cause this is our inaugural dual interview where we road test all kinds of things.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Oh, why me? I would wanna know. Don't you know four famous people than me?

[Cara Swisher]

No. There's no one better for us to interrogate than you.

[Ryan Reynolds]

All right, okay. Go for it.

[Cara Swisher]

Podcast virtuoso.

[Ryan Reynolds]

That's true. It's true. Yeah.

[Joanna Coles]

We want all your tips.

[Ryan Reynolds]

All right. Okay. All right, ask away.

[Cara Swisher]

Okay, first of all, just on background, I know that you know each other very well. You're text level friends. I assume you've attended many swanky parties, highest caliber parties. How do you know each other?

[Joanna Coles]

My favorite Kara story is that Kara and I were in a cab in Las Vegas. We were about to go on a flyover of the Grand Canyon. And onto Taxi TV came Kara with her famous aviator sunglasses on. And I went, oh my God, Kara, you're on the TV in front of me. And then she turned her face around from the seat in Front of me and I had double Cara. And it was like a hallucination.

[Ryan Reynolds]

That's true.

[Joanna Coles]

A very good hallucination.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah. But I think of it, I'm on Taxi tv, so not kind of a.

[Joanna Coles]

Low bar fame in Vegas tax.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Mario Lopez is better than that.

[Joanna Coles]

Will you tell the story of how I did once silence you?

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah. I invited Joanna when she was running her magazine, Cosmopolitan, to talk about. We often brought different. I've interviewed you, Sam, and everyone else about. And I often do it in the intersection of tech because magazines were undergoing enormous pressure around advertising and digitization and everything else. And she was doing rather well with. At Hearst. And so we thought she was lively and she was running a lively magazine. It was doing really well. And she was on the upswing there in their. You know, they're climbing the greasy pole of magazine publishing. And I thought she just would be a great interview about that. And we'd had previous people, the woman who ran all of the Time magazine things who had since gone away, and different people, but it's always interesting to talk to people in that area. So she gets on there. And I had read cosplay when I was younger. You know, thin thighs in 30 days. I think that was often the thing which you can do for your man to keep him hot in the summer night, you know, on the winter nights, stuff like that. And so we. I was expecting a little bit of the sexy. The sexy naughty stuff because she's British also. And she gets up and we start talking in a serious fashion about the business of publishing. And suddenly she asks what she was talking about. Sexual positions. I don't know how she got to that spot, but of course it went right there. And this is a code conference, so this is an audit audience that is very awkward in general. And it was live. And she goes, I wonder. And then she suddenly goes, I wonder what the swisher. Sexual. What is the swisher? And I go, the swisher? She goes, you know, the sexual position. And then she starts pontificating on what she thought the swisher would be. I think it was a modified wheelbarrow kind of thing. And so it was. I was like. And no one has ever done that because I didn't want to think of a sexual position called the swish. There you go.

[Cara Swisher]

Wow, Joanna, you went right there to the special.

[Joanna Coles]

I did. And the audience liked it. The audience did like it.

[Ryan Reynolds]

They did. They liked to see me silenced, I think.

[Cara Swisher]

Well, we have brought you here because we do want to ask you about podcasting. In general and building a business in that way.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Right.

[Cara Swisher]

I mean, how do you decide for yourself that it is time to launch something new?

[Ryan Reynolds]

All the time. All the time. I'm always looking for podcast ideas. And you know, this. It's just a question of time versus versus money versus everything. Like, what should I make money? Everything I do, I make money at. And so I think that's a powerful position to be in, especially for a woman. If you're not making money, they get to tell you things and they get to talk to you. And I try to limit the amount of people who can talk to me or say things or tell me what to do. And so if you make money, that tends to shut everybody up. They're still irritating, but they don't bother you. So I often think in terms of how to build one piece of content, it starts with a content. It's probably like doing a show like you were doing or a magazine or anything else. What's really good content and what is interesting. And some of it is you look out and see what people have done and you, you know, you. A lot of stuff is copying. We've been copied over and over again in the conference business, for example, and even the podcasting, you know, business that people are trying to do with Scott and Kara kind of thing. But we're not fresh either. We're sort of. There's always been Joe and Mika or local news or whatever. There's always been. Or even. Even cheers. A man, you know, a feckless man and a sassy woman. That's kind of an old trope. So content. It starts with content. But I always think everything is. What is the content? What is the advertiser proposition? How do you sustain and get an audience of fans? And I think that's the most important thing is fan base. Because if you have a fan base, it starts to build and people recommend to each other. And a lot of media people don't think in terms of fans. I think of fans all the time. And that's something that's comfortable for you, Sam, because you have fans. Right?

[Cara Swisher]

Right.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Media people don't often. Media, regular media people don't think like that.

[Cara Swisher]

How do you put your fans first and, like, center in your mind? How do you center them in the experience?

[Ryan Reynolds]

We talk about them. We talk. We talk about things, and we listen to them when they write us and stuff like that. We have an interaction with them quite a bit, and we talk about. We want you to come up to us, and they do, and we want to hear Their feedback. It doesn't mean we're going to follow what, you know. Like, I have so many people coming up to me as, I don't like God's dick jokes. I'm like, okay, okay. I'm not changing them because you don't like them, but don't listen. I don't know what to say. It's part of our little shtick is his stupid dick jokes. But, you know, I do. I like to hear what moves them. And often what you have to do because of podcasting is different even than television. In television, you're famous, and in magazines, the editor is away from the people. Right. In podcasting, you have a close emotional relationship with your audience in a way that is very different. You're in their ear. One of the things we do a lot is we talk about ourselves. We, a lot of people don't. You don't know about the inner life of, I don't know, Colbert or whatever. You sort of do, but you don't. Right.

[Cara Swisher]

It's more presentational.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Presentational. So in this case, you let them into your. Your life kind of thing and act like real people. And so I think you have a very emotional, intimate relationship with your fan base. And it differs depending on the person. And so you can't be scared not to do that. But at the same time, you can't just, you know, there's a lot of yammery away podcasts. Often guys, you know, I think will suit the shit. And it's like, so boring. They're so. They're boring in person.

[Joanna Coles]

Well, I can't believe how long some podcasts are. Like, Andrew Huberman goes on for like three hours.

[Cara Swisher]

I do admire the vitality of your conversations with Scott. I listen. I'm a very regular listener. And I wonder how you. I mean, this is just such a technical, such a small question, but I wonder. You must be very intentional about who does what.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah, with the script. There's a script, but it's not scripted. But it's not. It's a script that's not scripted. And so I'm run. I run the thing. Scott doesn't even read it often. He doesn't know what. He's always like. This is coming together so closely. We have a script where we say our topics. There's a lot of facts that we have in there because we talk about stock market or Elon or whatever, what happened that week. So we're accurate. That's critical for us. Then we, like, link to something. We'll say, this person said It. We often put in a clip saying, here's like today we did. What did we do? Someone was, oh, it was me yelling at that stupid Trump person on CNN this week. So we put that in. So people, instead of talking about it, listen to what I did to him. And so he knows the general topics. And then I run it like the moderator. Like I run it like the MC or something like that. And then, you know, but then I also allow, when things go a certain way, we go there. Like we don't. I don't stay on the script if something interesting happens. Like he started talking about Trump and crypto. I thought he'd say one thing and he said a different thing. And so we pursued it down that path. So we. It's like a really. I don't know if you remember my Dinner with Andre, that movie.

[Cara Swisher]

Right.

[Ryan Reynolds]

It's a great conversation. And one of the things that I think we do well is we push back on each other in a civil way that then you can see the journey of each of us. And that's the thing, the changing of minds, the conversation. And that's what makes a good debate good, as opposed to like some of these scream fests on cable where you learn nothing and you come away with nothing. So that's important is to learn to disagree civilly but firmly. I guess if you disagreements, we're going.

[Joanna Coles]

To dig into the news, we're going to pull out stories from the Daily Beast. But I'm curious, you know, both me and Sam, do you think we're going to get on?

[Ryan Reynolds]

I can't tell. Scott and I never had met when we started doing the podcast, which was I saw him as, you know, it's an old story. I saw him in Germany and he was so arrogant, but so correct. And I went up to him and I said, look, listen, he gave a presentation and it was a dld. And he said. I said to him, listen, you said three things, three to 10 things I didn't think of. And I think of I'm real smart. And I was like, so you're real. I didn't think that. And you made me think a different way. I said, but you're such an arrogant prick at the same time, so I'm offended by you. And he was like, well, thank you. He thought that was. And it was like instantly we had like kinetic energy. And I said, will you come on the podcast? And I was looking for a new co host and there were obvious people that I could have picked. Right. It scored higher than my. I just Done an Elon Musk interview and it was much higher than that one. And those usually scored super high. So I pay attention to the numbers. And so I called him. I said, I can't believe this, but we scored higher than this. I can't believe it. It must be a fluke, right? So I had them back again and it worked again, the same thing. And you could. And we started getting letters and everything else. And so I don't know if you'll get along. You just have to see. But I didn't see him in person very much that first year at all.

[Cara Swisher]

That boys my spirits because I like Joanna very much. She's very zesty in person. She is lively.

[Joanna Coles]

I'm being very quiet now.

[Cara Swisher]

Yes, you are being very quiet.

[Joanna Coles]

I'm being very quiet. I'm just listening.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Well, Daily Beast isn't very quiet. I can feel Joanna all over that thing. It's like delicious bits of things that are bad.

[Cara Swisher]

Like delicious.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Is what you're doing. And so you have to put out your fuckery personality. That would be what I would be. And you're rye, Sam. You're rye.

[Cara Swisher]

Yeah.

[Joanna Coles]

Sam is very rye. She like rye whiskey.

[Cara Swisher]

I like. I have a very nerd energy, though. I like my little notes and charts. I always have a pen in my hand, just like Bob Dole. And Joanna is more of the hurricane that comes in.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Right, Right. Or disagreement. I think disagreement. One of the. Here I'll give you my absolute. This is what I do for every business I make, whether it's a conference, conference or website. One thing is three things you have to be. One is useful. Useful to what? Is useful to people. You don't. You can be one of these things and do really well. If you have all three, you're a huge hit. You're you. Are you writing that down, too?

[Cara Swisher]

I am writing it down with my nerd chart.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Nerd chart. Okay. Useful is critical. And that by means is they can use it at work or they. They can use it in some way in their life. Use it to be more interesting somehow. They can take it. Take away what you're saying to them and it's useful. Like, that's really important. The second thing is to be entertaining. Like entertaining or slash interesting. Slash substantive. And it depends on who you are. Like, you may find Ezra Klein interesting. If you're a wonk. You may find, like, what's the entertainment or interesting aspect that people find you. And I think people find our relationship really interesting. Like, I think people find our insights really interesting. Use. They're more useful than interesting, but it has to be entertaining or funny. I think funnies is important. Obviously, you're good at that. Sam and Joanna, you're also good at that. And so I think people like that because in this world, there's so much relentless crap. People want a moment where they can hope and feel good.

[Joanna Coles]

I learned a lot from listening to Pivot during COVID I listened to it. I listened to every single episode.

[Ryan Reynolds]

You learned.

[Joanna Coles]

I learned a lot because I felt so cut off from people.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Right.

[Joanna Coles]

And the point of our podcast is I want to develop a friendship with Sam. We've known each other on and off over the years, but I love the relationship you have with Scott. And I want a relationship with someone. Ask each other.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah. It's over time. It has to be genuine. And the last thing that's really critical and that's what you're just talking about is remember Must See tv.

[Cara Swisher]

Yes.

[Ryan Reynolds]

You know, it's like people wait in line for certain sneakers, waiting. You can't get Scott and I. I don't care how many people you jam together. It's never happening with another person, including for both of us. Sometimes maybe it will. But you, you have to you. It's a must see TV kind of thing, which I think is really powerful. And if there's all three. Yes, if you have all three, you can have one and do very well, I'll tell you that. But make money, that's another thing. Make money.

[Joanna Coles]

Well, we definitely want to make money. We definitely want to make money. One of the things I love about you is that you talk about making money. You're an incredibly unusual woman because a. You leave big brands. Most people wrap themselves in brands. You've left the Wall Street Journal. You've left the New York Times. Where does your confidence come from? I am so in awe of your confidence.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I can do math right. And I don't make as much money there. I make 10 times as much as the New York Times. Like they may think, think paying you a certain amount of money is fine. I think if I make something and create it, I should benefit from it. Right. If I make. If I make them $5 million, why are they getting, you know, 4.8 million of it or 4 point more than that? 4.9 million of it. Why? Well, I made it. Same thing with the Journal. When we made Walt and I made the Code conference, it was making 6, $7 million in profit a year. Why did they. We didn't. We split that one. We split that one much in a much More advantageous. And then it got me to. First of all, if I made it, I thought of it. We used to do polls of code where I was. Where we listed what was important. Wall street journal was always 10 if it was on the list. It was always Walt and Kara's relationship, the guests they book, which the Wall Street Journal didn't help us, the food, whatever. But Wall Street Journal brand, that was a big lesson for me. It didn't matter that it was the Wall Street Journal to them, that was a big insight. And then with the Times, I had a purpose there in that I wanted to get out the idea that tech was very dangerous. And that was a platform where they, They. I was saying that over at my other platform, but at the New York Times, it came on like a brick shithouse. Right. So that's. And then when I was done with it, I was done being underpaid. I don't mean to be rude, but I mean, they, they. They had a pretty good salary, but not what I could make on my own. And then. So that's not confidence, it's just math. And then the last thing is I really. I didn't want to. To have people tell me what to do and that you have to decide which of the stuff you like and which. I mean, Sam, you know about the network, and that's harder because it's a TV show.

[Cara Swisher]

It is harder. But I found myself as I, you know, as I've achieved success, and now I'm very unwilling to really listen to what anyone thinks of me or if.

[Ryan Reynolds]

They have good things. You will, Right?

[Cara Swisher]

Yeah.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Of course.

[Cara Swisher]

I'm absolutely always here to take great notes, but very generally uninterested in hearing someone tell me to change my whole self to fit into their thing.

[Joanna Coles]

Right.

[Cara Swisher]

I've walked away from a lot of stuff that was that exact thing because I'm too old and I've done too much and, you know, I've had too much success to listen to people tell me to change myself.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah.

[Joanna Coles]

And also, often people want you to do the thing that you've done before or something that's worked before because they're nervous about leaning into the future.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah. But I see, like, I had a great luck to meet Jim Bankoff of Vox. Like, I had sold him a company for quite a lot of money.

[Cara Swisher]

Right.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Or in shares and cash. And I came to him, I said, I don't want to do this anymore. I want to do podcasting. This is 10 years ago. I think it's going to be huge. I think we'll make a lot of money doing it and give me an intern and I'll do it. I've been entranced by the idea of podcasting since Steve Jobs talked about it in an interview. Pod. He broadcasting in pod. He said it on stage. A code. And I never lost it. Stuck in my head like crazy. And I was watching all these single entrepreneurs make these things, and I was like, I can do that. I did it with the. With the site. I did it with a conference. Similar thing with the conference. When I left, I was like, it's over, it's done. People are now copying me. I think the business is tired and maybe I'll reinvent it at some point, but not today. And not. I can't keep doing the Broadway. I was making a Broadway hit every year and it was a hit. And I was like, at some point, I'm not going to have a Broadway hit. And I. 20 is enough of them, I feel like. So.

[Cara Swisher]

And it has to be driven by a genuine interest. You have to wake up every day and want to do the thing that you're doing.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I was. I was bored myself. Yeah, I was bored myself.

[Joanna Coles]

You've been shouting from the mountaintops for several years now about the inherent dangers in tech. Talk to us about the impact you think Elon Musk and X is having on the run up to the election.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Well, as a business, it's a nothing burger. There's. It's. It's less than a nothing burger. It's a shitty little business. I. You know, it just is. I. I'd have to look at their numbers, but I suspect even my podcast makes more money. It's more profitable. Like, it just is not profitable. And so it's a rich man's yacht is what it is. It's his version of that. Like he's going to do it, but as a thing, as him as a character. And using X to do so, it's very powerful because he's got money and means and he's demented, right? And so he. He has a point of view, however warped and caught, you know, curdled. It is. And so one. One person who said something to me, and I can say it now because he's letting me. Mark Cuban. When it happened, I was trying to figure out why Elon was buying it. It wasn't out of love, although he loved the site, right? He said, kerry's using it for his other businesses because when he walks in a room, he's the Tesla guy, which is cool, and the SpaceX guy. Which is cool, but it's not that cool. Right. But when he has Twitter added to it, especially when he goes see autocrats or in other countries, he goes, this isn't about the United States, it's about, about everywhere in the globe. So he became a global celebrity in owning Twitter, even if it's a bad business. And I thought that was very canny. I thought that was a really smart way to think about it.

[Joanna Coles]

That is a smart way. And I hadn't thought about it that way. There's also the thing that it may be a rich man's yacht, but his.

[Ryan Reynolds]

When he's ramming it into democracy.

[Cara Swisher]

Yes, right.

[Joanna Coles]

The wake that he's having on every other boat on the same sea is intense. And the thing I find puzzling about him too is, is that he's clearly so brilliant. I've spent certainly some time not talking to him intimately, but certainly listening to him and have met him a couple of times. And the things that I find odd is that he's so brilliant. Starlink exceptional, you know, SpaceX exceptional. Neuralink potentially exceptional. And. Yeah. And Tess, I had a Tesla and I ended up giving it back because it didn't work and because I couldn't stand him just ranting on X. I just had enough of him. But I don't understand how he manages to be a brilliant engineer and then an apparent lunatic when he's.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I would stop you with brilliant engineer. There's much better engineers, there's much more. I would say he's a brilliant businessman and I'd compare him to Henry Ford, who was a great operational businessman, as I pointed out on CNN the other night. He didn't found Tesla. He has another CEO at Space X. Right. He just. He's one of these people who's sort of a P.T. barnum character. I mean, he's more talented than P.T. barnum, but Henry Ford or Edison would be the comparables, right? Or Howard Hughes, any of these people. And so he's very good at taking other people's ideas and running with them. And he's very good operationally because he's willing, as other people aren't, to blow things up. That's an asset. But it really isn't, is it? You know, other people, NASA people. It's like, oh, he bested NASA. Well, NASA people couldn't blow up those rockets, so they had to be careful because if they blew up the rockets, they were out of a job. He's not out of a job when he blows. So if you blow up enough of them you get it. Right? So he's. He gets to be risky and they don't. So that gives him an inherent advantage. He's also willing to be risky. Like, he's willing to go up against Brazil and that. And sometimes it pays off, and other times it really doesn't. And in this case, his bet is Trump will win. Right. And because, by the way, if he doesn't, he's in a war world of hurt.

[Cara Swisher]

Right.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Because real people with real subpoenas will show up at Tesla and say, huh. You may. You know, there's a lot. It's gonna be a lot of huh with subpoenas attached to it. And it's not because he's persecuted. It's because there are problems.

[Cara Swisher]

I feel like what we really need is just a bunch of pods of menopausal orcas to just chew on the rudder of that rich man's yacht.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I guess I just. You know, he's very smart, but he's not. He also manages to take up mind space the way Trump does. Right, Right. He's not as good as all that. There's so many better and more interesting entrepreneurs around. It's just they're not egomaniacs that say, look, he has an incessant need for attention.

[Cara Swisher]

Right?

[Joanna Coles]

Right.

[Ryan Reynolds]

And no matter, every time he puts himself in at the Taylor Swift thing, what did he have to do? Say he was gonna impregnate her in a creepy, rapey way. And what did he have to do? You know, everything he has to comment on so he can get in on it. And there's other lesser versions like Bill Ackman. It's kind of pathetic that he's. Oh, me too. Let me tell you, the crazy, off, crazy thing I have to say, you know, whatever.

[Joanna Coles]

There's a new book that's just come out about him, Right?

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yes.

[Joanna Coles]

And about X.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Character limit. Right.

[Joanna Coles]

Character limit. And one of the things they're talking about is that sense that when you go back to his early tweets, they're very normal, and then they get increasingly more peculiar. And obviously his wealth has grown. So while I agree with you that there are probably better engineers around, it's hard to think of any. Anybody that has got the number of successful businesses that are new businesses. Henry Ford did one thing, and he did it brilliantly.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah, I guess. I think they're related to each other. Like, there's also businesses that. Hyperloop isn't working. Like, there's. Solar is okay. Like, you know, neuralink. We'll see. And by the way, in case you're interested, there are six other businesses that do the same thing. They're just not hand wave, jazz hands, like interesting. And there's a lot of car stuff coming. And I. If I had to give him one thing, two things is SpaceX. But he's allowed to blow up rockets, so that's an advantage. But I would say Tesla, he did push forward, but Google was there early. They just didn't push hard enough. The planes are covered with the bodies of pioneers and he's a very fast follower, just like Walmart or stuff like that. I would say what happened to him was drug use, which has been written about in the Wall Street Journal. Covid a need for therapy, a very unhappy childhood, which, you know, that's not. Lots of people have, and a generally dark personality. I mean, the stuff with these kids that has become apparent is.

[Cara Swisher]

It's so ugly.

[Ryan Reynolds]

It's ugly. Yeah.

[Cara Swisher]

I do want to know if you have a sense of how to put the horses back in the barn.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I do think there is a. There will be. You know, we have encountered the Henry Fords. I mean, there were. If I would recommend. I always recommend Rachel Maddow's Ultra. There were several really rich people that were pulling this stuff. There was a Texas oilman like this who was an Elon Musk character, very innovative oil person, I forget his name, was really meddling in politics like you cannot believe. And was trying to, you know, essentially kill off Franklin Roosevelt. You know, there were. There have been people like this in our history that are crazy, like really. And malevolent. And then there's a quiet ones. There's tons of quiet ones around that aren't Elon that are doing this too. And what I would recommend is that we really understand part of it is foreign powers attacking us. Elon, There was just a story. He's retweeting Putin talking points almost daily. Now it's really. And I don't know what that's about, but I'd like to know why that's happening. And I think ultimately powerful people that overreach. It's sort of like a Bond villain. Something not good is going to happen here. You can only anger so many people for so long before. Or let me call it Carmela Happens. You know, there is Carmela coming. If we'll see.

[Joanna Coles]

Do you think there is Kamala coming? If you're looking at it now, would you say that you think she's going to win?

[Ryan Reynolds]

As long as he's trying his best not to. He's got a Lot of money. Putting his shoulder into it with the thing. I do. I think there's. I know there's this. Oh, he always polls differently. I think we all know Donald Trump and I think as long as she gets out there more and we get to know. I use a phrase that Audie Cornish used a lot. Kamala. Curious. I think people are very much so. And I do think there's a quiet. Just like in all these elections in Kansas and Iowa and all these places around abortion, there's a quiet group of people that are like, I'm sick of this shit. He's got a lot of the new phrase right now, just so you know, you can pass along, is high floor, low ceiling. That's Donald Trump. High floor, low ceiling, high floor, low ceiling.

[Joanna Coles]

And lifts.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Yeah, lifts. I don't know him. He's a. I don't. I think he's cognitively disabled at this point.

[Cara Swisher]

I think so, too. This was wonderful. Thank you so much.

[Ryan Reynolds]

All right, well, good luck, you two.

[Joanna Coles]

Yeah, thank you very much, Cara. Thank you for listening. And please, like, subscribe and share this podcast with a friend you want to feel smarter than or argue with.

[Cara Swisher]

Look, if you're sharing, feel free to share it with all your weird uncles.

[Joanna Coles]

Do tag us on all your favorite social platforms and tell us what you think. We'd love your feedback. And we'll be back after the veep debate next Thursday with another episode of the Daily Beast podcast.

[Cara Swisher]

Well, Joanna, as my personal muse once said, be best, be beast. Oh my God, put it on a T shirt.

[Joanna Coles]

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[Ryan Reynolds]

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[Ryan Reynolds]

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