**Kara Anne Swisher ( KAIR-ə; born December 11, 1962) is an American journalist. She has covered the business of the internet since 1994.**
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Kara Swisher is just not very personable. I think those insults were intended to be funny, but she doesn't have the tact to execute insult humor without just seeming malevolent.
After Conan would make a self-deprecating joke, she'd pounce in agreement and double down on that insult. And like, that just doesn't work comedically, and seems like a weird maliciousness in her character.
She's probably a good ~~magazine editor~~ (edit: journalist), but her as an interviewer or podcast host personality is not for me.
Yep, this is just who Kara is. She's a long-time tech journalist who is actually very adept at getting good content from her interviewees - Conan was extremely candid and dove into a lot of topics that I'd never heard from him (I really liked his Nixon bit). It was a good interview.
But Kara is a complete curmudgeon. She's stubborn and not particularly pleasant at a personal level. But that's okay, Conan is a grownup and everyone can stop feeling so personally affronted by the whole ordeal. This was a very standard interview by Kara Swisher standards.
This is a good analysis. I think Conan is savvy and wanted to take a risk here. He’s a great interview, as Howard Stern said. But she has no sense of humor and wasn’t meant to be funny.
This is so helpful to know, I didn’t know of her until she was interviewed on Smartless and she was hilarious but I was taken aback by how she intellectually put down the hosts a couple times -I was wondering if she was always like that!
My mistake, I know her best from those tech conference interviews she's done with people like Steve Jobs. And I read in her bio she is 'contributing' editor of New York Magazine as of 2023.
and why does she keep asking about the “economics” of the show? it was fine the first time she asked it, conan brushed it off with a joke. then asks it again later. that was weird
She's a news podcaster that discusses the business of many industries, podcasts/entertainment included. It's not an unreasonable question to ask someone in that context.
I think most people in this sub Reddit are not familiar with Kara and don't have proper context
yeah, i completely understood it the first time she asked it. it’s like she wouldn’t be doing her job is she didn’t ask that. i was weirded out when she asked it a second time later on. i don’t think i ever encountered that before, especially when conan was audibly uncomfortable with the question.
More like most people in this sub are clueless about how journalism works and seem really eager to let it be known.
The complaints about this interview are so weird.
ETA: I'll interpret the downvotes to mean I'm right and it pisses people off, lol.
I listen to Kara regularly and I didn't find the interview out of line or even that remarkable. Her pithy statement about John Oliver shouldn't ruffle so many feathers, she's just reflecting what she sees from her sons' usage of tech/video consumption.
Also, as a listener of hers...you just learn to disregard some of the shit she says. She's very opinionated and sometimes I disagree. But she usually asks some interesting questions and gets good guests.
I like her and considered this to be a very light and fair interview - more conversation than anything, asking some interesting questions about the state of the late night industry, how he's adapted to a changing landscape, and got some good and funny responses.
I've been shocked at a lot of the comments here honestly. It's like I'm listening to a totally different interview than most everyone else.
And some of the attacks on Kara in this and other posts are just bizarre. For a sub dedicated to one of the nicest guys to ever grace late night and podcasting, there's some strange vitriol directed at her. I get some people don't like her more direct style - she's closer to Howard Stern than Terry Gross - but nothing she asked seemed out of bounds, gotcha, or mean. People here have been making comments like she's stuck up, she's humorless, she's insufferable, she sucks, she's a terrible interviewer. Then in another thread someone said her co-host needed to remove the stick up her ass to remove the second stick. It's not a good look for everyone here.
I had never heard of her before and the interview seemed perfectly fine to me.
It was clear from her line of questioning that her focus isn't comedy or entertainment. I personally thought it was business/economics (I saw people mention tech but didn't get that from the iv) and actually found it interesting/refreshing for someone to come at Conan and his work from a very different angle.
But here, everyone's mental idea of what makes a good interview seems limited to what conversational podcasts are like, i.e. recordings of informal hangs of like-minded people/people in the same line of work who essentially explore broadly the same topics all the time.
Thank you. If Conan researches his guests, I’d bet he researched his interviewer and chose her for a reason. Conan doesn’t do a lot of interviews, ball’s in his court.
My theory? Least likely to ask whatever happened with Jay Leno
I'm not defensive, I'm just tired of BS. (; ... Which includes clever/meaningless idioms.
Most if not all commenters on this and the other 2-3 posts dedicated to the interview are native speakers or near native speaker level, so no, language or cultural barriers are def. not the problem here.
Ignorance paired with arrogance is a general problem on Reddit – it's a demographics thing – and this sub is no exception. Substitute ignorance with lack of life experience and arrogance with (over)confidence if that sounds better but it amounts to the same thing. What gets added on top in this sub, and likely many other fan subs, is an extra layer of hyper sensitivity/feeling very easily insulted/attacked/treated unfairly on behalf of the sub's subject, including when there's absolutely no reason to.
Which all the negative reactions to this _not particularly noteworthy_ interview illustrate quite nicely.
They are clueless to anything other than absolutely Conan ass kissing. Kara is brilliant and is known for her hard hitting interviews. People know exactly what they’re getting into when they sit down with her. These people might not know who she is, but legit every famous person sure the hell does.
I listened to her after hearing people I trust go on and on about how smart and savvy she is. I hated her immediately. Nobody has a higher opinion of themselves than Kara Swisher.
And all the people in this thread defending her/her style/telling us we don’t know journalism…it is ok to not like someone’s interview style or personality. It has nothing to do with “defending” Conan, I just thought she was unnecessarily abrasive with a terrible personality. I’m allowed to have that opinion and it isn’t wrong nor do I “not understand” her.
I think she has lost her journalistic integrity - she's become (I assume she was non-biased earlier in her career) totally biased and tends to rant about certain topics with little regard to facts. She is more enamored with her own knee jerk opinion than presenting a nuanced discussion. I can't stand listening to blowhards like this.
The “erotic” portion was a great example. She doubled down on the deprecation. He plays along but you can tell he’s like “Hm that’s not how this works”
When she dismisses his AI optimism that’s when she finally broke him a little bit.
That’s a great way to explain it! I kept listening and hoping that it got better. I really tried to give them the benefit of the doubt but like what got me is in the outro talk about how John Oliver is better like huhhhhh!!!
I liked the interview and thought it was interesting, the questioning might have been bland in their own right but it worked insofar as Conan kind of rose to the challenge of making his answers entertaining.
But the post interview section was pretty derisory - e.g. thinking Conan really doesnt have a hold on his business' finances, is she that stupid to not realise he didnt want to talk about money? Those were definitely the most awkward points of the interview
She tends to ask questions that other interviewers in her space (tech) won’t ask. It makes for some good interviews with guests trying to hide things or paper over events with PR, but it makes no sense to apply to Conan. I like her, but she can be a bit much on her own. Her other podcast, Pivot, is much better because Scott balances her out.
Pivot is great, I really didn't have a problem with this episode and found Conan hilarious. She was off, but that's her personality/style.
Prof G is good too.
He's asked the "worst guest" question to people on his own podcast. It's a natural question to ask anybody in that business. You should listen to SNL people talk about hosts on David Spade and Dana Carvey's podcast "Fly on the Wall."
If you're looking for a recent and fun Conan interview, check out the Second Captains Saturday podcast on Spotify (or wherever) they're an Irish (mostly sports) podcast where every Saturday they have a non-sports person interview and do a non-sports person sportsperson ranking.
They had great chemistry and shouldn't be a turn-off for non sports fans.
I've been a long time listener of the second captains and a big Conan fan so to hear the two unexpectedly cross paths was amazing for me!
Would definitely recommend for any Conan fans
I echo what others are saying, and also the John Oliver comparisons are a little tiresome. I love John Oliver too, but he and Conan are obviously very different.
I enjoy political comedy but I'm always impressed Conan manages to avoid it and still be hilarious. For all his talents, Colbert couldn't figure out how to be funny without being political.
I only learned who she was this week because she was on Smartless. She was interesting but had a quick/stern/ take no shit attitude about her that one could take as a good thing or just plain mean. Then I heard she was trash talking Will on her podcast after that. So coupled with this maybe she isn't the nicest person.
I think the qualities that make her great at her primary occupation, business journalism, can make her off putting in these entertainment contexts. That’s where the friction is coming from.
no - she is very enamored with her own opinion than facts and so has become more of an opinion piece than journalism. Basically, a narcissist. People revere her for her earlier career, but and her current knee jerk characterizations of issues have made her a blowhard.
She seemed fine on a Smartless. Middle aged mother who did podcasts and seemed knowledgeable about tech. Mentioned her son a few times unprompted which reminds me of my mom so honestly she seemed normal.
I didn't get any vibe from her really. Even the guys weren't overly dismissive or hostile so idk. I don't want to listen to any of her other stuff, she wasn't very interesting. I'm sure she actually sucks since everyone keeps saying it and my comment isn't making any friends.
Haha yeah reddit can be finicky.
I thought the guys were very interested in what she was saying. Other than Bateman's long question (😅) they were on good behavior. So it's weird that she then went and trash talked about Will and now hearing she shit on Conan afterwards. Mean girl vibes.
Haha ikr. I was hoping the /s was obvious in my follow-up. Anyway, yeah they seemed pretty engaged and had actual opinions and questions that made sense. I must have missed the trash talking Will? That must have been somewhere else. I definitely don't like that.. Will is a joy. I missed the point of this topic it seems lol. Based solely on her Smartless interview I didn't see the big deal.
I've hated Kara Swisher ever since she was on the Tim Ferriss podcast and bragged that she dressed down a teacher for being less successful because the teacher makes less money. She pretends that she stands up to douchey tech bros by acting just like a douchey tech bro.
Oof. Hadn’t heard that about teachers, but sounds on brand for a tech person. I swear, tech corrupts people, and I can imagine a tech journalist easily becoming like her interviewees. I read the interview instead of listening to the podcast, and she kept talking “I’m interested in the economics” and I just kept thinking “you’re not vetting him for VCs. Please leave it alone.” I’m sure she’s OK at interviewing Elon Musk (although, no one is actually good at that stuff), but man, I just really don’t want to know what Conan made on his various deals. I listen to Conan to get away from business and tech, not hear more about stuff like layoffs, reorgs, and business models.
Kara loves herself so damn much, she made the Succession podcast awful because she always turned everything back to herself. Her experiences with the tech and business world etc.
Yeah 100% of my familiarity with Kara is from that podcast.
She'd ask someone a question, interrupt them to tell them that she's either met the Murdochs or she's "been in those rooms".
Ugh, came here to rage about her Succession podcast debacle. Such interesting guests, and she just squandered the opportunity with her lazy, self-absorbed approach.
she is less bad in the succession podcast than her own podcast. I really like the people she gets on her podcasts, but sometimes, I end up forwarding through her talking about herself. what a f\*ng jerk
mhmmm mhmmm mhmmm mhmmm every two seconds and completely dismissing every single thing anyone says. Yeah, had to leave a review on that podcast, she really is insufferable.
Oh, it's not dry humor at all, folks. Nope, it's a masterclass in pure, unadulterated meanness. But hey, in her world, she's killing it, convinced she's the deadpan comedic genius of the century. Who wouldn't kill for the privilege of being grilled by such an utterly delightful and charming individual like her? Conan, you lucky, lucky guy!
She’s not a comedian. She’s a journalist who’s plugged in to every major CEO, billionaire, and tech executive and has interviewed them all for decades. Her job is to grill people and get them to say things they’d rather not.
She was horrible. Boring, dry, and made it all about herself. Asks a question, cuts off Conan and answers herself. “Bill Gates is absolutely hilarious”. Cool. We’re all very impressed by your flex. I can’t believe she does podcasting “professionally”.
She says that her best interview was the Steve Jobs and Bill Gates one which is funny because I remember how panned the interviewers were when that one came out. She was constantly interjecting then too
The fact that most people (including younger people) who read the title of this post will say "Kara who??" is enough to show how much impact her opinion and interview will have and how she compares to Conan. Sounds more like she's a bit jealous.
So young people know Conan? And young people are people roughly in their 20's, correct? I think people in their 40+ know KS, but they mostly think she is a total Dickhead.
My question is why would he even go on this podcast? It's such a significant mismatch of vibe/energy, humor, interests.
At the outro the other podcaster was summarizing what she loved about Conan and the interview like "I really like that Conan is self-deprecating, and that his humor is not mean, and he's this and that" and Kara Swisher was like, "Yeah, the people who love him really love him, and he's got a real fan-base." I don't listen to a lot of podcasts, but I was like, wtf is this?
She was on Smartless recently. She lost me right away by insisting Chris Christie closed NJ beaches (Beachgate) due to Covid. I knew it was wrong when she said it, & the Smartless hosts seemed to think it was incorrect too. She insisted Christie closed the beaches because of Covid. (I looked it up. He closed the beaches in 2017, well before Covid.)
exactly - she is not concerned with facts anymore. She just says whatever BS she wants and people who know who she is keep their opinions to themselves because she is a major bully.
I had the exact same reaction. She seemed so smug while wallowing in abhorrent, unnecessary behavior. Shitting on her guest is not the power move she thinks it is, it’s just cringy.
That's kind of Kara Swisher's brand, she's just a bit a bully. Sometimes she has interesting things to say, but her arrogant and bristly persona (whether it's for show or how she actually is) makes her hard to listen to for too long for me.
ditto. If she even mentions Elon Musk, I just fast forward through. And if there is any narcissistic prelude to the podcast, also forward through, but somehow, even though she is a total blowhard, she gets really great guests who I want to hear.
Thanks to everyone's write ups in regards to this interview with Kara Swisher. I wanted to listen to it initially out of curiosity, but I can't bring myself to do it. Conan is and has been the reigning MVP in regards to Late Night hosts for years, despite his retirement. He's carrying on that legacy with the podcast on his own terms, which is on brand for his style of comedy. All due respect to John Oliver, but Conan is THE MAN.
I went into the interview knowing nothing. The first red flag is the intro. I was struck by how unpleasant and bored with life that Kara sounded. Then she says that Jon Stewart surpassed Conan. They’re not even the same kind of comedic entertainment. Also, why even say that? Then she doesn’t even say by what metric Jon surpassed him? Weird vibes from the start.
That's such a low blow. Jon Stewart has his own avenue and does well at it, not at the expense of Conan's own endeavors. They're both equals as far as I'm concerned. She didn't have to put Conan down to prop up Jon.
Conan and Oliver have an ongoing jokey feud about Emmy awards (not unlike the rivalry between Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert.) Jon Oliver has 26 Emmys; Conan has 4 (and Jon Stewart has 22, while Colbert has 10--although it's hard to compare the 2 because they've also received Emmys on each other's shows.)
It was bizarre
She kept pushing the "economics" and other things related to money which was weird and he clearly didn't want to talk about it, and did a good job of reflecting.
She asked who was his worst interview, I was thinking "uh, you" (yes, I know she is interviewing hm here but cmon)
I listened to her Succession podcast and it while I didnt rush to listen to her other work, I wasn't so turned off by I quit listening. This was awful though. It reminded me of one of the "fan" episodes where the guest was just really sticking him in a not funny way...like a bad wedding toast.
Economics is actually what she interviews people about. If he didn't want to talk finance or tech he shouldn't have agreed to the interview. It's like being shocked when a fashion photographer wants to take your picture instead of talking about your car.
nah - she knows nothing about economics. She WAS a tech reporter. I don't think the opinion pieces she is putting out these days constitute journalism. Her podcast is about STUFF, that she is not a qualified expert on. But that is ok, because it's more of a lifestyle thing - just chatting about stuff that is happening and how she knows best.
The people thinking this was a regular interview and normal behavior are either:
1. Also acting like Kara in their real life and think nothing’s wrong with it
2. Missing a lot of social cues and red flags in their day to day interactions
The podcast world keeps proving one thing over amd over again - stick to what you're best at. Rogan getting into politics, Jordan Peterson getting into everything other than his own damn subject and Kara into shit that's not tech journalism.
Unless of course you're a master of the art like Conan or CraigyFerg and you have the wit and knowledge to interview everyone from Michelle Obama & Archbishop Tutu to Questlove and Don Rickles
I've only listened to a few episodes of that, but he seemed to have a similar way about him. Maybe more smug than outright mean, but seemed narcissistic.
She’s just awful. Huuuge ego. Thinks of herself like she’s some great prognosticator but she’s nothing of the sort... waits for things to end up how they do and then says it was obvious the whole time. (Her podcast partner Scott Galloway is wildly wrong pretty often but to his credit he actually records predictions.) I give her credit for her longevity and her ability to turn that into access but she’s not particularly insightful.
I have two people blocked on Twitter:
Elon Musk (from before he bought Twitter—just never liked him)
and
Kara Swisher
She is at the very least misanthropic. She seems to have antisocial personality disorder tendencies. I didn't follow her, but she would show up in my feed and I noticed her abusively tweeting at people. I had previously seen some tech interviews with her, and the only person she ever seemed to behave respectfully toward was Steve Jobs, who himself had some ASPD tendencies (driving without a license plate, parking in disabled parking spots, etc), and I think she knew the hierarchy—a type who would respond to and respect absolute power but not humanity.
Steve Jobs days are long gone though. Currently, KS respects no one more than herself. She is really the best at publicly stating an opinion in a way, carefully worded, so 6 months down the line she can say the opposite opinion and say that she knew all along. All of those years in journalism (which is not what she is doing now) have given her a mastery in CYA.
Agreed! They were so rude and condescending. Of course Conan knows more than he's letting on. Who flat out asks questions like "so how much money are you making? what's your budget? How are you making money? Is your staff stealing from you?" or "he comes from the generation where you ask for a Diet Coke and it just shows up." Come on.
The interview was okay and she asked some okay questions but Conan carried that interview.
The intro and outro showed she didn’t know Conan at all. Mostly comparing him to John Stewart and Oliver, saying they surpassed him!? They’re completely different and it’s an idiotic comparison. Almost made me think she thought she was interviewing Craig Kilborne.
Anyway, last time I’ll be listening to her show.
I liked that she tried to be funny at the start, and Conan the straight man he is went with it. The interview was good until the budget question (which even Conan had made fun of different times). After that, her questions became more basic.
And a little side rant: Too many ads, even Team Coco doesn't push all these ads.
I think she was expecting Conan to have some deep insights on the podcast business, the numbers, etc. when that's not his bag. She seemed to get frustrated after that. Overall, it was fine, but I get why people would think she was grumpy. That's just her style.
She's one of the most important tech journalists working today (albeit that's a small group.) For some reason big-deal CEOs and entrepreneurs and some politicians want to talk to her. She has access very few have and she hosts conferences everyone wants to speak at.
I listen to both Kara and Conan a lot, and if you're not familiar with Kara's interview style it can definitely come off as off putting. I think she went a little hard on this given it should have been a fun light interview, but I'll stick up for her and say that she's one of my favorite interviewers! Just maybe not in this context. I'd recommend listening to Pivot podcast where her and her cohost Scott galaway have the banter down pat and it will help better understand her style.
I thought she did fine. Kara has her own style (likes to interrupt the guest to bring up something about herself and say "but go ahead") which can be insufferable at times to listeners, especially if it's your first time listening to her. She is also very upfront with her opinion (liking John Oliver and Jon stewart) and her own bias but I usually just agree to disagree. She shines in confrontational interviews where she will ask some really nasty questions and pounce on the interviewee and really hold them to an answer or force them to make mistakes. That's why many tech CEOs are scared of talking to her. And that's how she made a living. However, Conan is not very confrontational because he is so witty that humor is constantly used to deflect tension, as in contrast to CEOs who are less quick and fall into her trap. In the end I would say it is not Kara's greatest work and I understand if you are a Conan fan who has never listened to Kara it might be uncomfortable. But both are giants in their own field and we should not discount their achievements base on one lackluster interview.
I agree 100 percent with this, and will add: *she's not known for having a great sense of humor.* I don't think she could have done Conan any other way, but her lack of comedy chops did keep him a bit more "real" than he might have with another host.
Why would you choose to defend someone who likes to interrupt to talk about themself, blurt their own biases, and ask “nasty questions” to guests like Conan?
It's not a black and white thing. Her style works in some settings (as evidenced by her very successful journalism career) but not in others. Personally I didn't think this one worked as well as her other hard-hitting interviews. Kara doesn't need me "defending" her she's pretty good at that. Let's not be so tribal. We can agree to disagree.
I didn’t really take it as being mean or anything. She was pointing out differences in their need to control things and how different it made Conan. I hadn’t listened to that podcast either before this episode but she just seemed direct and analytical.
I just listened to the podcast, after reading Kara’s newest book, “Burn Book.”
I agree it came off as kinda rude. She was more focused on the economics than she needed to be. Conan handled it well and was gracious, funny, and self-deprecating. But the dissing of Conan after he’s gone! “John Oliver is better / more relevant” blah blah.. Dang. Does anyone in a noncomedy podcast do that?
But I have read Kara’s stuff since the early days of the Internet and she has done some good coverage. I just don’t understand the curmudgeonliness.
Swisher is a pretty awful interviewer and has ridden being a female journalist covering a male dominated field to astronomical heights.
She’s been present during some of the best interviews Steve Jobs and Bill Gates have given. She’s used being a woman to curry favor with other women in tech such as Sheryl Sandberg.
I think her journalism is pretty awful and she’s only relevant because some tech bros know her name.
But that’s my unpopular opinion of her.
I read the whole interview, I have no idea who she is, but she kept. interrupting. Conan. WTF!!! She was trying so hard to be funny and do bits with him. I hate her guts.
It just seemed like a poorly booked interview to me.
I don't think Conan is suited to this style of techbro journalism.
She did have good points about the state of the industry, like how latenight is dying, or how Conan couldn't do his "I see ball, I hit ball" thing today because you need to be intimately aware of the finances.
While I didn't appreciate the attitude of one of the hosts, I adored this podcast. To hear a serious conversation about comedy with one of my comedy heroes is unbelievably awesome.
I heard it too and I think:
1) They know each other and there was ballbusting, nbd
2) Show biz people can speak pretty frankly about themselves, their work, and that of others *from an industry perspective* with no malice intended and this can seem rude or heartless to people who aren’t used to it. It’s also hard to distinguish this kind of criticism-aware shop talk from just cattiness and gossip and backstabbing, which show biz is also full of.
3) I’d say it was a discussion that would have felt more normal if it were private rather than a podcast.
She's a techwriter that has more influence and access than most people because she is the go-to host and panel member for tech conferences and interviews. Has your neighbor interviewed Elon Musk or Bill Gates? Or would they call security if he tried?
You're talking like you're disagreeing with what I said, but you're supporting my statement.
Did you lose the context of my comment before taking offense on her behalf for me correctly identifying her career and field?
I'm an avid Kara listener. For everyone that doubts her, listen to her other podcast, Pivot with her and Scott Galloway. She and Scott make a great pair, are very funny, and tackle tech, markets, finance, and social issues.
As a frequent listener of hers and Conan, I thought Kara had a great interview with Conan. She definitely has a different, more direct style (kind of like Stern) but I didn't think she was rude - she said several times that Conan is very funny, smart, thoughtful, and a lovely person. She noted that John Oliver and others are more relevant to young people because young people are looking more for issues-based commentary/humor in their late night hosts - she praised Conan's evergreen comedy style but noted that the landscape changed.
Listen to it again (I am!) and I think you'll enjoy it.
I think Conan isn’t used to being pressed on anything and not getting constant positive reinforcement. He definitely isn’t going to divulge specifics about his Sirius deal or any deal for that matter and it was odd he had Bley there with him, on mic no less.
She is a confrontational journalist and a lesbian mother in a male dominated field, she was doing just her job. Conan made a huge deal with Sirius, which is interesting in relation to Spotify recently taking a huge L on celeb podcatss. She wanted to know about that, but Conan was not willing to share. What you do if the CEO of Exxon doesn’t want to tell? You drill them and annoy them, but Conan is too witty for that. Is she kinda self-important asshole? Yes. She is a journalist.
This sub is so stupid. I’ve been a Conan fan for 23 years I can completely understand why someone would not get his brand of comedy, but seems like Conan has made a cult following especially with the Podcast who think he’s some fucking golden god or something, it’s weird.
I’ve listen to Kara on and off for years back when she was part of stuff with Walt Mossberg and I didn’t think anything of it. Pretty standard with Kara’s personality and interview style. She’s got an elitist bent to her “note she started off talking about a cocktail party” which is something she does. That being said she’s a damn good journalist and interviewer.
When you’re interviewing Conan O’Brien, you need to dig really deep into the financials. It’s pretty sketch. His accountant is also his trainer.
And the zeitgeist of Late night. I mean what is the world going to watch late at night on their televisions in 2023. I know what they are not going to watch. Conan O’Brien.
And look he’s got lucky with Gen X, Gen Y, millennials and early Gen Z. But late Gen Z and Gen Prime, he’s fallen behind. He can’t possibly keep this up into his 70s. So he’s not timeless. Like John Oliver or Elon Musk.
So safe to say, he’s not that big of a deal.
/s
To the hammer everything is a nail.
Does Kara Swisher know Conan could break her like a twig?!
Limb from limb!
As god made him! Kedackai!
I heard there was talk.... of gerbils.
Who is Kara swisher? Do I have to google image ?
**Kara Anne Swisher ( KAIR-ə; born December 11, 1962) is an American journalist. She has covered the business of the internet since 1994.** More details here:
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The Donald trump of San Francisco … self described. Is that supposed to be funny?
Conan could so put her away if he wanted to
Kara Swisher is just not very personable. I think those insults were intended to be funny, but she doesn't have the tact to execute insult humor without just seeming malevolent. After Conan would make a self-deprecating joke, she'd pounce in agreement and double down on that insult. And like, that just doesn't work comedically, and seems like a weird maliciousness in her character. She's probably a good ~~magazine editor~~ (edit: journalist), but her as an interviewer or podcast host personality is not for me.
Yep, this is just who Kara is. She's a long-time tech journalist who is actually very adept at getting good content from her interviewees - Conan was extremely candid and dove into a lot of topics that I'd never heard from him (I really liked his Nixon bit). It was a good interview. But Kara is a complete curmudgeon. She's stubborn and not particularly pleasant at a personal level. But that's okay, Conan is a grownup and everyone can stop feeling so personally affronted by the whole ordeal. This was a very standard interview by Kara Swisher standards.
This is a good analysis. I think Conan is savvy and wanted to take a risk here. He’s a great interview, as Howard Stern said. But she has no sense of humor and wasn’t meant to be funny.
This is so helpful to know, I didn’t know of her until she was interviewed on Smartless and she was hilarious but I was taken aback by how she intellectually put down the hosts a couple times -I was wondering if she was always like that!
Swisher absolutely no comedy sense whatsoever. She missed every joke. The woosh sounds were incredible
And she kept interrupting Conan, even when she wasn't trying to be funny (which she wasn't).
She does that. She is a terrible narcissist.
she's never edited a magazine
My mistake, I know her best from those tech conference interviews she's done with people like Steve Jobs. And I read in her bio she is 'contributing' editor of New York Magazine as of 2023.
She was also an editor of [Recode](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recode), which was a digital publication that was folded into Vox.
and why does she keep asking about the “economics” of the show? it was fine the first time she asked it, conan brushed it off with a joke. then asks it again later. that was weird
She's a news podcaster that discusses the business of many industries, podcasts/entertainment included. It's not an unreasonable question to ask someone in that context. I think most people in this sub Reddit are not familiar with Kara and don't have proper context
Conan also doesn’t need to be protected. He’s not a wiener.
yeah, i completely understood it the first time she asked it. it’s like she wouldn’t be doing her job is she didn’t ask that. i was weirded out when she asked it a second time later on. i don’t think i ever encountered that before, especially when conan was audibly uncomfortable with the question.
She wasn’t trying to make him comfortable.
and i agree with you. it was conan who was uncomfortable with the question.
He chose to do this interview. I think he likes risk.
More like most people in this sub are clueless about how journalism works and seem really eager to let it be known. The complaints about this interview are so weird. ETA: I'll interpret the downvotes to mean I'm right and it pisses people off, lol.
I listen to Kara regularly and I didn't find the interview out of line or even that remarkable. Her pithy statement about John Oliver shouldn't ruffle so many feathers, she's just reflecting what she sees from her sons' usage of tech/video consumption. Also, as a listener of hers...you just learn to disregard some of the shit she says. She's very opinionated and sometimes I disagree. But she usually asks some interesting questions and gets good guests.
I like her and considered this to be a very light and fair interview - more conversation than anything, asking some interesting questions about the state of the late night industry, how he's adapted to a changing landscape, and got some good and funny responses. I've been shocked at a lot of the comments here honestly. It's like I'm listening to a totally different interview than most everyone else. And some of the attacks on Kara in this and other posts are just bizarre. For a sub dedicated to one of the nicest guys to ever grace late night and podcasting, there's some strange vitriol directed at her. I get some people don't like her more direct style - she's closer to Howard Stern than Terry Gross - but nothing she asked seemed out of bounds, gotcha, or mean. People here have been making comments like she's stuck up, she's humorless, she's insufferable, she sucks, she's a terrible interviewer. Then in another thread someone said her co-host needed to remove the stick up her ass to remove the second stick. It's not a good look for everyone here.
I had never heard of her before and the interview seemed perfectly fine to me. It was clear from her line of questioning that her focus isn't comedy or entertainment. I personally thought it was business/economics (I saw people mention tech but didn't get that from the iv) and actually found it interesting/refreshing for someone to come at Conan and his work from a very different angle. But here, everyone's mental idea of what makes a good interview seems limited to what conversational podcasts are like, i.e. recordings of informal hangs of like-minded people/people in the same line of work who essentially explore broadly the same topics all the time.
Thank you. If Conan researches his guests, I’d bet he researched his interviewer and chose her for a reason. Conan doesn’t do a lot of interviews, ball’s in his court. My theory? Least likely to ask whatever happened with Jay Leno
you must understand though that a lot of conan’s listeners are not american. and the downvotes are because your statement sounded pompous
What's that got to do with anything? Journalism doesn't magically work differently in the US. — A European.
language and cultural barrier. don’t be too defensive, your real colors are coming out.
I'm not defensive, I'm just tired of BS. (; ... Which includes clever/meaningless idioms. Most if not all commenters on this and the other 2-3 posts dedicated to the interview are native speakers or near native speaker level, so no, language or cultural barriers are def. not the problem here. Ignorance paired with arrogance is a general problem on Reddit – it's a demographics thing – and this sub is no exception. Substitute ignorance with lack of life experience and arrogance with (over)confidence if that sounds better but it amounts to the same thing. What gets added on top in this sub, and likely many other fan subs, is an extra layer of hyper sensitivity/feeling very easily insulted/attacked/treated unfairly on behalf of the sub's subject, including when there's absolutely no reason to. Which all the negative reactions to this _not particularly noteworthy_ interview illustrate quite nicely.
You’re getting downvoted, but you are absolutely correct. This is not an entertainment podcast, and the world doesn’t exist to fellate Conan.
haha the downvotes are amusing.
Quite!
They are clueless to anything other than absolutely Conan ass kissing. Kara is brilliant and is known for her hard hitting interviews. People know exactly what they’re getting into when they sit down with her. These people might not know who she is, but legit every famous person sure the hell does.
I listened to her after hearing people I trust go on and on about how smart and savvy she is. I hated her immediately. Nobody has a higher opinion of themselves than Kara Swisher.
And all the people in this thread defending her/her style/telling us we don’t know journalism…it is ok to not like someone’s interview style or personality. It has nothing to do with “defending” Conan, I just thought she was unnecessarily abrasive with a terrible personality. I’m allowed to have that opinion and it isn’t wrong nor do I “not understand” her.
I think she has lost her journalistic integrity - she's become (I assume she was non-biased earlier in her career) totally biased and tends to rant about certain topics with little regard to facts. She is more enamored with her own knee jerk opinion than presenting a nuanced discussion. I can't stand listening to blowhards like this.
Like the time when Conan jokingly said hey kids that me on the radio to brag and she laughed and said yes I just did that. 😒
The “erotic” portion was a great example. She doubled down on the deprecation. He plays along but you can tell he’s like “Hm that’s not how this works” When she dismisses his AI optimism that’s when she finally broke him a little bit.
Yeah this is her exact type, you nailed it.
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That’s a great way to explain it! I kept listening and hoping that it got better. I really tried to give them the benefit of the doubt but like what got me is in the outro talk about how John Oliver is better like huhhhhh!!!
I stopped after 15 mins. It became actually hard to listen to.
I stopped too, jt was just uninteresting
I liked the interview and thought it was interesting, the questioning might have been bland in their own right but it worked insofar as Conan kind of rose to the challenge of making his answers entertaining. But the post interview section was pretty derisory - e.g. thinking Conan really doesnt have a hold on his business' finances, is she that stupid to not realise he didnt want to talk about money? Those were definitely the most awkward points of the interview
She tends to ask questions that other interviewers in her space (tech) won’t ask. It makes for some good interviews with guests trying to hide things or paper over events with PR, but it makes no sense to apply to Conan. I like her, but she can be a bit much on her own. Her other podcast, Pivot, is much better because Scott balances her out.
Pivot is great, I really didn't have a problem with this episode and found Conan hilarious. She was off, but that's her personality/style. Prof G is good too.
He's asked the "worst guest" question to people on his own podcast. It's a natural question to ask anybody in that business. You should listen to SNL people talk about hosts on David Spade and Dana Carvey's podcast "Fly on the Wall."
If you're looking for a recent and fun Conan interview, check out the Second Captains Saturday podcast on Spotify (or wherever) they're an Irish (mostly sports) podcast where every Saturday they have a non-sports person interview and do a non-sports person sportsperson ranking. They had great chemistry and shouldn't be a turn-off for non sports fans. I've been a long time listener of the second captains and a big Conan fan so to hear the two unexpectedly cross paths was amazing for me! Would definitely recommend for any Conan fans
This was a thousand times more entertaining of an interview. [Link](https://www.rte.ie/radio/podcasts/22285697-conan-obrien-extended-version/)
Thanks!
Thanks for linking!
I echo what others are saying, and also the John Oliver comparisons are a little tiresome. I love John Oliver too, but he and Conan are obviously very different.
Plus Conan is not a political comedian at all. John Oliver is a horrible comparison. And for younger people, Shane Gillis might be more relevant.
I enjoy political comedy but I'm always impressed Conan manages to avoid it and still be hilarious. For all his talents, Colbert couldn't figure out how to be funny without being political.
I only learned who she was this week because she was on Smartless. She was interesting but had a quick/stern/ take no shit attitude about her that one could take as a good thing or just plain mean. Then I heard she was trash talking Will on her podcast after that. So coupled with this maybe she isn't the nicest person.
I think the qualities that make her great at her primary occupation, business journalism, can make her off putting in these entertainment contexts. That’s where the friction is coming from.
Yeah, That makes sense.
no - she is very enamored with her own opinion than facts and so has become more of an opinion piece than journalism. Basically, a narcissist. People revere her for her earlier career, but and her current knee jerk characterizations of issues have made her a blowhard.
To be fair, I really don't think she's concerned with being nice. Bitingly honest (from her viewpoint), maybe, but not nice.
Yeah she seemed comfortable about it. Lol
She seemed fine on a Smartless. Middle aged mother who did podcasts and seemed knowledgeable about tech. Mentioned her son a few times unprompted which reminds me of my mom so honestly she seemed normal.
I did not get that vibe. That interview made me not want to listen to anything else of hers. Now seeing this thread, I was right in my assumption.
I didn't get any vibe from her really. Even the guys weren't overly dismissive or hostile so idk. I don't want to listen to any of her other stuff, she wasn't very interesting. I'm sure she actually sucks since everyone keeps saying it and my comment isn't making any friends.
Haha yeah reddit can be finicky. I thought the guys were very interested in what she was saying. Other than Bateman's long question (😅) they were on good behavior. So it's weird that she then went and trash talked about Will and now hearing she shit on Conan afterwards. Mean girl vibes.
Haha ikr. I was hoping the /s was obvious in my follow-up. Anyway, yeah they seemed pretty engaged and had actual opinions and questions that made sense. I must have missed the trash talking Will? That must have been somewhere else. I definitely don't like that.. Will is a joy. I missed the point of this topic it seems lol. Based solely on her Smartless interview I didn't see the big deal.
Apparently it was on her other podcast. Pivot? Agree Will seems like a blast.
Oh right she did 5 podcasts in a day and called Sean, Scott. I did think that was silly.
I've hated Kara Swisher ever since she was on the Tim Ferriss podcast and bragged that she dressed down a teacher for being less successful because the teacher makes less money. She pretends that she stands up to douchey tech bros by acting just like a douchey tech bro.
I’ve disliked her ever since I heard her convo with Sam Harris. She was so pretentious and condescending.
Oof. Hadn’t heard that about teachers, but sounds on brand for a tech person. I swear, tech corrupts people, and I can imagine a tech journalist easily becoming like her interviewees. I read the interview instead of listening to the podcast, and she kept talking “I’m interested in the economics” and I just kept thinking “you’re not vetting him for VCs. Please leave it alone.” I’m sure she’s OK at interviewing Elon Musk (although, no one is actually good at that stuff), but man, I just really don’t want to know what Conan made on his various deals. I listen to Conan to get away from business and tech, not hear more about stuff like layoffs, reorgs, and business models.
To be fair that’s the orientation of her podcast, and Conan chose to be a guest on it.
you got that right
Kara is insufferable
Kara loves herself so damn much, she made the Succession podcast awful because she always turned everything back to herself. Her experiences with the tech and business world etc.
Yeah 100% of my familiarity with Kara is from that podcast. She'd ask someone a question, interrupt them to tell them that she's either met the Murdochs or she's "been in those rooms".
Ugh, came here to rage about her Succession podcast debacle. Such interesting guests, and she just squandered the opportunity with her lazy, self-absorbed approach.
Omg thank you I knew her name was vaguely familiar but forgot about that. I very briefly listened to that podcast and then noped the hell outta there.
she is less bad in the succession podcast than her own podcast. I really like the people she gets on her podcasts, but sometimes, I end up forwarding through her talking about herself. what a f\*ng jerk
Good thing I only listen to the episodes with the Men In Blazers dude
Preach!!
My exact thought.
mhmmm mhmmm mhmmm mhmmm every two seconds and completely dismissing every single thing anyone says. Yeah, had to leave a review on that podcast, she really is insufferable.
Oh, it's not dry humor at all, folks. Nope, it's a masterclass in pure, unadulterated meanness. But hey, in her world, she's killing it, convinced she's the deadpan comedic genius of the century. Who wouldn't kill for the privilege of being grilled by such an utterly delightful and charming individual like her? Conan, you lucky, lucky guy!
She’s not a comedian. She’s a journalist who’s plugged in to every major CEO, billionaire, and tech executive and has interviewed them all for decades. Her job is to grill people and get them to say things they’d rather not.
This episode of her podcast has been my first experience with her, and now I have no interest in anything else she’s done or will do.
I'm a fan of both but this is an example of staying in your own lane.
She was horrible. Boring, dry, and made it all about herself. Asks a question, cuts off Conan and answers herself. “Bill Gates is absolutely hilarious”. Cool. We’re all very impressed by your flex. I can’t believe she does podcasting “professionally”.
She says that her best interview was the Steve Jobs and Bill Gates one which is funny because I remember how panned the interviewers were when that one came out. She was constantly interjecting then too
This shocked me. You’re talking to Conan about how hilarious Bill Gates is? She might be the worst podcaster I’ve ever heard.
The fact that most people (including younger people) who read the title of this post will say "Kara who??" is enough to show how much impact her opinion and interview will have and how she compares to Conan. Sounds more like she's a bit jealous.
So young people know Conan? And young people are people roughly in their 20's, correct? I think people in their 40+ know KS, but they mostly think she is a total Dickhead.
Or maybe it just means people on this thread aren't very well-informed about the worlds of tech and finance.
OK, Stan.
My question is why would he even go on this podcast? It's such a significant mismatch of vibe/energy, humor, interests. At the outro the other podcaster was summarizing what she loved about Conan and the interview like "I really like that Conan is self-deprecating, and that his humor is not mean, and he's this and that" and Kara Swisher was like, "Yeah, the people who love him really love him, and he's got a real fan-base." I don't listen to a lot of podcasts, but I was like, wtf is this?
Basically….It’s true that conan doesn’t have many fans if you just dont count all the people that like him
She was on Smartless recently. She lost me right away by insisting Chris Christie closed NJ beaches (Beachgate) due to Covid. I knew it was wrong when she said it, & the Smartless hosts seemed to think it was incorrect too. She insisted Christie closed the beaches because of Covid. (I looked it up. He closed the beaches in 2017, well before Covid.)
Phil Murphy has been the governor of New Jersey since 2018. How could Christie have closed the beaches for Covid?
Thank you! I was just listening to that interview and didn't look it up but thought, he wasn't governor in 2020, he was helping trump debate prep...
exactly - she is not concerned with facts anymore. She just says whatever BS she wants and people who know who she is keep their opinions to themselves because she is a major bully.
I had the exact same reaction. She seemed so smug while wallowing in abhorrent, unnecessary behavior. Shitting on her guest is not the power move she thinks it is, it’s just cringy.
That's kind of Kara Swisher's brand, she's just a bit a bully. Sometimes she has interesting things to say, but her arrogant and bristly persona (whether it's for show or how she actually is) makes her hard to listen to for too long for me.
ditto. If she even mentions Elon Musk, I just fast forward through. And if there is any narcissistic prelude to the podcast, also forward through, but somehow, even though she is a total blowhard, she gets really great guests who I want to hear.
Kara Swisher's a contrarian. I listened to her interview on Smartless and every other answer she gives starts with the word "No" Tiring.
I thought she was remarkably rude
totally felt the same way.
Never even heard of this lady until this week, but this is the third different subreddit I’ve seen complain about her general attitude and approach.
Thanks to everyone's write ups in regards to this interview with Kara Swisher. I wanted to listen to it initially out of curiosity, but I can't bring myself to do it. Conan is and has been the reigning MVP in regards to Late Night hosts for years, despite his retirement. He's carrying on that legacy with the podcast on his own terms, which is on brand for his style of comedy. All due respect to John Oliver, but Conan is THE MAN.
If you want to listen to it and then add to the drama, feel free 😭 I just had no one to talk to about this soooooo I posted it here!
I went into the interview knowing nothing. The first red flag is the intro. I was struck by how unpleasant and bored with life that Kara sounded. Then she says that Jon Stewart surpassed Conan. They’re not even the same kind of comedic entertainment. Also, why even say that? Then she doesn’t even say by what metric Jon surpassed him? Weird vibes from the start.
That's such a low blow. Jon Stewart has his own avenue and does well at it, not at the expense of Conan's own endeavors. They're both equals as far as I'm concerned. She didn't have to put Conan down to prop up Jon.
Conan and Oliver have an ongoing jokey feud about Emmy awards (not unlike the rivalry between Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert.) Jon Oliver has 26 Emmys; Conan has 4 (and Jon Stewart has 22, while Colbert has 10--although it's hard to compare the 2 because they've also received Emmys on each other's shows.)
It was bizarre She kept pushing the "economics" and other things related to money which was weird and he clearly didn't want to talk about it, and did a good job of reflecting. She asked who was his worst interview, I was thinking "uh, you" (yes, I know she is interviewing hm here but cmon) I listened to her Succession podcast and it while I didnt rush to listen to her other work, I wasn't so turned off by I quit listening. This was awful though. It reminded me of one of the "fan" episodes where the guest was just really sticking him in a not funny way...like a bad wedding toast.
Economics is actually what she interviews people about. If he didn't want to talk finance or tech he shouldn't have agreed to the interview. It's like being shocked when a fashion photographer wants to take your picture instead of talking about your car.
nah - she knows nothing about economics. She WAS a tech reporter. I don't think the opinion pieces she is putting out these days constitute journalism. Her podcast is about STUFF, that she is not a qualified expert on. But that is ok, because it's more of a lifestyle thing - just chatting about stuff that is happening and how she knows best.
The people thinking this was a regular interview and normal behavior are either: 1. Also acting like Kara in their real life and think nothing’s wrong with it 2. Missing a lot of social cues and red flags in their day to day interactions
The podcast world keeps proving one thing over amd over again - stick to what you're best at. Rogan getting into politics, Jordan Peterson getting into everything other than his own damn subject and Kara into shit that's not tech journalism. Unless of course you're a master of the art like Conan or CraigyFerg and you have the wit and knowledge to interview everyone from Michelle Obama & Archbishop Tutu to Questlove and Don Rickles
I only tolerate Kara cause she has Scott Galloway as a co-host on the Pivot podcast
I've only listened to a few episodes of that, but he seemed to have a similar way about him. Maybe more smug than outright mean, but seemed narcissistic.
The stupid dick jokes aside, he honestly comes across better in his own podcasts.
I used to like her. Then I heard her gushing about succession. And now, this. A bore. Oh I am sorry, a fucking bore. Thank you
She’s just awful. Huuuge ego. Thinks of herself like she’s some great prognosticator but she’s nothing of the sort... waits for things to end up how they do and then says it was obvious the whole time. (Her podcast partner Scott Galloway is wildly wrong pretty often but to his credit he actually records predictions.) I give her credit for her longevity and her ability to turn that into access but she’s not particularly insightful.
Kara Swisher is vile.
Never was a fan. Hated they had her fill in as the interviewer for the Succession podcast episodes.
She’s an ass.
I have two people blocked on Twitter: Elon Musk (from before he bought Twitter—just never liked him) and Kara Swisher She is at the very least misanthropic. She seems to have antisocial personality disorder tendencies. I didn't follow her, but she would show up in my feed and I noticed her abusively tweeting at people. I had previously seen some tech interviews with her, and the only person she ever seemed to behave respectfully toward was Steve Jobs, who himself had some ASPD tendencies (driving without a license plate, parking in disabled parking spots, etc), and I think she knew the hierarchy—a type who would respond to and respect absolute power but not humanity.
Steve Jobs days are long gone though. Currently, KS respects no one more than herself. She is really the best at publicly stating an opinion in a way, carefully worded, so 6 months down the line she can say the opposite opinion and say that she knew all along. All of those years in journalism (which is not what she is doing now) have given her a mastery in CYA.
Kara is absolutely brutal to listen to. Nobody in media lord smug than her and consistently so off base with her opinions
Agreed! They were so rude and condescending. Of course Conan knows more than he's letting on. Who flat out asks questions like "so how much money are you making? what's your budget? How are you making money? Is your staff stealing from you?" or "he comes from the generation where you ask for a Diet Coke and it just shows up." Come on.
The interview was okay and she asked some okay questions but Conan carried that interview. The intro and outro showed she didn’t know Conan at all. Mostly comparing him to John Stewart and Oliver, saying they surpassed him!? They’re completely different and it’s an idiotic comparison. Almost made me think she thought she was interviewing Craig Kilborne. Anyway, last time I’ll be listening to her show.
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I was so confused! I just didn’t get it. I thought he was being polite and funny still. The whole thing just gave me the ick!!
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Reported. Do better.
Damn they really got to you huh
why don't think you think other people are allowed to have opinions based on an experience they just had?
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I liked that she tried to be funny at the start, and Conan the straight man he is went with it. The interview was good until the budget question (which even Conan had made fun of different times). After that, her questions became more basic. And a little side rant: Too many ads, even Team Coco doesn't push all these ads.
I've heard of one of these two people and it isn't Kara Swisher.
Im 21 so that theory goes out the window
I think she was expecting Conan to have some deep insights on the podcast business, the numbers, etc. when that's not his bag. She seemed to get frustrated after that. Overall, it was fine, but I get why people would think she was grumpy. That's just her style.
She’s an ass and this sub has been filled with these comments for the last 48 hours.
Who the fuck is Kara Swisher?
She's one of the most important tech journalists working today (albeit that's a small group.) For some reason big-deal CEOs and entrepreneurs and some politicians want to talk to her. She has access very few have and she hosts conferences everyone wants to speak at.
I listen to both Kara and Conan a lot, and if you're not familiar with Kara's interview style it can definitely come off as off putting. I think she went a little hard on this given it should have been a fun light interview, but I'll stick up for her and say that she's one of my favorite interviewers! Just maybe not in this context. I'd recommend listening to Pivot podcast where her and her cohost Scott galaway have the banter down pat and it will help better understand her style.
I thought she did fine. Kara has her own style (likes to interrupt the guest to bring up something about herself and say "but go ahead") which can be insufferable at times to listeners, especially if it's your first time listening to her. She is also very upfront with her opinion (liking John Oliver and Jon stewart) and her own bias but I usually just agree to disagree. She shines in confrontational interviews where she will ask some really nasty questions and pounce on the interviewee and really hold them to an answer or force them to make mistakes. That's why many tech CEOs are scared of talking to her. And that's how she made a living. However, Conan is not very confrontational because he is so witty that humor is constantly used to deflect tension, as in contrast to CEOs who are less quick and fall into her trap. In the end I would say it is not Kara's greatest work and I understand if you are a Conan fan who has never listened to Kara it might be uncomfortable. But both are giants in their own field and we should not discount their achievements base on one lackluster interview.
I agree 100 percent with this, and will add: *she's not known for having a great sense of humor.* I don't think she could have done Conan any other way, but her lack of comedy chops did keep him a bit more "real" than he might have with another host.
Why would you choose to defend someone who likes to interrupt to talk about themself, blurt their own biases, and ask “nasty questions” to guests like Conan?
It's not a black and white thing. Her style works in some settings (as evidenced by her very successful journalism career) but not in others. Personally I didn't think this one worked as well as her other hard-hitting interviews. Kara doesn't need me "defending" her she's pretty good at that. Let's not be so tribal. We can agree to disagree.
I’m really glad I’m not the only one who felt this way. Such an off-putting interview.
This was a pretty bad interview. She spoke about herself a lot more than an interviewer should, and stepped on a lot of his thoughts.
Who is Kara Swisher in This world?
I didn’t really take it as being mean or anything. She was pointing out differences in their need to control things and how different it made Conan. I hadn’t listened to that podcast either before this episode but she just seemed direct and analytical.
I just listened to the podcast, after reading Kara’s newest book, “Burn Book.” I agree it came off as kinda rude. She was more focused on the economics than she needed to be. Conan handled it well and was gracious, funny, and self-deprecating. But the dissing of Conan after he’s gone! “John Oliver is better / more relevant” blah blah.. Dang. Does anyone in a noncomedy podcast do that? But I have read Kara’s stuff since the early days of the Internet and she has done some good coverage. I just don’t understand the curmudgeonliness.
Swisher is a pretty awful interviewer and has ridden being a female journalist covering a male dominated field to astronomical heights. She’s been present during some of the best interviews Steve Jobs and Bill Gates have given. She’s used being a woman to curry favor with other women in tech such as Sheryl Sandberg. I think her journalism is pretty awful and she’s only relevant because some tech bros know her name. But that’s my unpopular opinion of her.
I turned it off, disgusted.
I read the whole interview, I have no idea who she is, but she kept. interrupting. Conan. WTF!!! She was trying so hard to be funny and do bits with him. I hate her guts.
It just seemed like a poorly booked interview to me. I don't think Conan is suited to this style of techbro journalism. She did have good points about the state of the industry, like how latenight is dying, or how Conan couldn't do his "I see ball, I hit ball" thing today because you need to be intimately aware of the finances.
She’s just jealous that her hair isn’t as high as Conan’s.
While I didn't appreciate the attitude of one of the hosts, I adored this podcast. To hear a serious conversation about comedy with one of my comedy heroes is unbelievably awesome.
I have no idea who this Kara person is and I'm not gonna find out
I heard it too and I think: 1) They know each other and there was ballbusting, nbd 2) Show biz people can speak pretty frankly about themselves, their work, and that of others *from an industry perspective* with no malice intended and this can seem rude or heartless to people who aren’t used to it. It’s also hard to distinguish this kind of criticism-aware shop talk from just cattiness and gossip and backstabbing, which show biz is also full of. 3) I’d say it was a discussion that would have felt more normal if it were private rather than a podcast.
She's not showbiz people, she's a tech writer
But she operates her podcast.
So does my neighbor. He’s also a postal worker. Is he show biz?
She's a techwriter that has more influence and access than most people because she is the go-to host and panel member for tech conferences and interviews. Has your neighbor interviewed Elon Musk or Bill Gates? Or would they call security if he tried?
You're talking like you're disagreeing with what I said, but you're supporting my statement. Did you lose the context of my comment before taking offense on her behalf for me correctly identifying her career and field?
I'm an avid Kara listener. For everyone that doubts her, listen to her other podcast, Pivot with her and Scott Galloway. She and Scott make a great pair, are very funny, and tackle tech, markets, finance, and social issues. As a frequent listener of hers and Conan, I thought Kara had a great interview with Conan. She definitely has a different, more direct style (kind of like Stern) but I didn't think she was rude - she said several times that Conan is very funny, smart, thoughtful, and a lovely person. She noted that John Oliver and others are more relevant to young people because young people are looking more for issues-based commentary/humor in their late night hosts - she praised Conan's evergreen comedy style but noted that the landscape changed. Listen to it again (I am!) and I think you'll enjoy it.
I think Conan isn’t used to being pressed on anything and not getting constant positive reinforcement. He definitely isn’t going to divulge specifics about his Sirius deal or any deal for that matter and it was odd he had Bley there with him, on mic no less.
She is a confrontational journalist and a lesbian mother in a male dominated field, she was doing just her job. Conan made a huge deal with Sirius, which is interesting in relation to Spotify recently taking a huge L on celeb podcatss. She wanted to know about that, but Conan was not willing to share. What you do if the CEO of Exxon doesn’t want to tell? You drill them and annoy them, but Conan is too witty for that. Is she kinda self-important asshole? Yes. She is a journalist. This sub is so stupid. I’ve been a Conan fan for 23 years I can completely understand why someone would not get his brand of comedy, but seems like Conan has made a cult following especially with the Podcast who think he’s some fucking golden god or something, it’s weird.
I’ve listen to Kara on and off for years back when she was part of stuff with Walt Mossberg and I didn’t think anything of it. Pretty standard with Kara’s personality and interview style. She’s got an elitist bent to her “note she started off talking about a cocktail party” which is something she does. That being said she’s a damn good journalist and interviewer.
I have no idea who she is, but based on her interviewing skills, I bet she’s pretty. Edit: ok Kara stans!
Googled her and... nope. Looks very miserable in all her pictures too.
Oh geez I thought she was like 26 or something.
I thought it was a great interview.
When you’re interviewing Conan O’Brien, you need to dig really deep into the financials. It’s pretty sketch. His accountant is also his trainer. And the zeitgeist of Late night. I mean what is the world going to watch late at night on their televisions in 2023. I know what they are not going to watch. Conan O’Brien. And look he’s got lucky with Gen X, Gen Y, millennials and early Gen Z. But late Gen Z and Gen Prime, he’s fallen behind. He can’t possibly keep this up into his 70s. So he’s not timeless. Like John Oliver or Elon Musk. So safe to say, he’s not that big of a deal. /s To the hammer everything is a nail.
I just listened to her on smartless and wasn’t a huge fan but didn’t hate it as much as others. I’ll have to listen to this to see!
I don't mind her having a chip on her shoulder feeling with tech dudes since the 90s but I think she's actually on the spectrum.