“Smart people like to be challenged and they like smart people challenging them.”
– Kara Swisher
Kara Swisher (@karaswisher) has been called “Silicon Valley’s most feared and well-liked journalist” by New York Magazine. Here’s just one example: you can graph the impact on Yahoo’s stock price by various posts by Kara. That’s just the tip of the iceberg.
She attended Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service prior to changing course to journalism. It turns out many of the skills that would make a good spy are those that make a good journalist: developing sources, asking good questions, scenario planning, and much more. She forged her reputation at the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal, and now she spends the majority of her time as Executive Editor of Recode and the host of the Recode Decode podcast.
Over the last 11 years and alongside Walt Mossberg, she has also co-produced D: All Things Digital, a major high-tech conference with interviewees such as Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and many other leading players in the tech and media industries.
In this podcast episode, she and I cover a lot of subjects, enjoy quite a few laughs, and dig into details you can readily apply and test yourself. Topics include:
- The art and craft of good questions
- Lessons learned and favorite moments from interviewing Steve Jobs
- What separates good from great journalists
- War stories, missed opportunities, and “optimistic pessimism”
I hope that you enjoy this episode with Kara Swisher!
- Listen to it on iTunes.
- Stream by clicking here.
- Download as an MP3 by right-clicking here and choosing “save as.”
Want to hear a podcast with another influential journalist? — Listen to my conversation with Ezra Klein. In this episode, we discuss influencing the rules of the game by which this country is run (overall politics — not partisan), how Ezra lost 60 pounds, and his ascension into the ranks of the most respected media companies in the world (stream below or right-click here to download):
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QUESTION(S) OF THE DAY: What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.
Scroll below for links and show notes…
Selected Links from the Episode
- Connect with Kara Swisher:
Twitter | Recode | Recode Decode podcast | All podcasts under the Recode umbrella | Instagram
- Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT)
- Aol.com: How Steve Case Beat Bill Gates, Nailed the Netheads, and Made Millions in the War for the Web by Kara Swisher
- Tools of Titans: The Tactics, Routines, and Habits of Billionaires, Icons, and World-Class Performers by Timothy Ferriss
- As Trumplethinskin lets down his hair for tech, shame on Silicon Valley for climbing the Tower in silence by Kara Swisher, Recode
- Tip: don’t do downward-facing dog when you’re in the middle of a public conversation with Kara Swisher
- Stanford Prison Experiment
- Logan | Official Trailer
- Kara Swisher Is Silicon Valley’s Most Feared and Well-Liked Journalist. How Does That Work? by Benjamin Wallace, New York Magazine
- Stockholm syndrome
- Yahoo has confirmed a data breach with 500 million accounts stolen, as questions about disclosure to Verizon and users grow by Kara Swisher and Kurt Wagner, Recode
- Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson
- Peter Thiel defends Donald Trump, saying we should stop taking the GOP nominee so literally by Kara Swisher, Recode
- Father-Son Struggle Splinters Dynasty by Kara Swisher, The Washington Post
- King Lear by William Shakespeare
- The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr. and E. B. White
- Slouching Towards Bethlehem by Joan Didion
- The White Album by Joan Didion
- Kara loves almost all Broadway shows — like Angels in America and Hamilton.
- Apple CEO Steve Jobs at D8: The Full, Uncut Interview, All Things D
- Writer Has Mini Stroke on Long-Haul Flight, ABC News
- How to Get Away with Murder
- Mark Zuckerberg Reverses His Position on “Fake News” by Maya Kosoff, Vanity Fair
- The Problem of God at Georgetown University
- Markings by Dag Hammarskjold and Leif Sjoberg
- The Trial by Franz Kafka
- Memento mori: “Remember that you must die.”
- The Life and Death of Richard the Second by William Shakespeare
- La La Land Official Trailer — ‘Dreamers’
- A Sound of Thunder and Other Stories by Ray Bradbury
- Sliding Doors
- Steve Jobs Stanford Commencement Speech 2005
- The Gettysburg Address, Virtual Gettysburg
- The Lincoln Memorial, Washington, DC
- The Address — A Film by Ken Burns
Show Notes
- What separates a good journalist from a great journalist? [05:46]
- The skills someone should have if they’re striving to be a great journalist. [06:16]
- Why didn’t Kara pursue her original ambition of being a spy? [07:37]
- Kara is both offended and fascinated by propaganda. [08:44]
- How does Kara discern fact from fiction and cultivate her sources? [10:10]
- No matter who you are, Kara has no problem calling you out on what everyone else is afraid to tell you. [14:38]
- How has Kara avoided the trap of worrying about what people think of her? [16:46]
- On false dichotomies and not just accepting whatever’s being offered. [18:12]
- Kara talks about epiphanies that led her to leave comfortable jobs in pursuit of something more. [19:55]
- Can someone be taught not to care too much about what others think? [21:06]
- Resist conformity — lessons from Cato to Philip Zimbardo to Kara Swisher to Wolverine. [23:26]
- “Smart people like to be challenged, and they like smart people challenging them.” [27:10]
- Who does Kara rely on to tell her when she’s wrong? [30:45]
- A time when Kara regrets not challenging someone’s statement. [32:52]
- Kara’s take on reality distortion fields and Steve Jobs’s “aggressive” charisma [34:27]
- Has Kara ever regretted hitting someone too hard in print? [41:04]
- When did Kara first believe she could make it as a journalist? [43:03]
- Kara says she’s a terrible teacher, so she recommends these books to aspiring writers and journalists. [45:00]
- What makes a great event? Kara relates it to her love of theater. [49:23]
- An unsatisfying habit. [53:02]
- How does Kara choose which projects to take on and which projects to reject? [54:57]
- Kara says a lot of her high-functioning behavior probably stems from one tragedy in her early life. [57:45]
- Kara talks about her stroke five years ago. [1:00:17]
- How does Kara want to be remembered? [1:03:55]
- The keys to good parenting. [1:07:14]
- If Kara had to give a TED Talk about something for which she’s not well known, what would the topic be? [1:15:54]
- Who comes to mind when Kara hears the word “successful?” [1:16:39]
- What would Kara’s billboard say? [1:19:57]
- Favorite failure? [1:24:05]
- What advice would Kara give to a younger version of herself? [1:30:00]
- In a world of chaos with cynicism seemingly on the upswing, Kara considers herself an optimistic pessimist. [1:35:12]
- Kara talks about her patriotism and the famous speech she carries with her everywhere. [1:37:02]
- These days, Kara enjoys baiting “sore winners.” [1:40:48]
People Mentioned
- Walt Mossberg
- Bill Gates
- Steve Jobs
- Carrie Mathison
- Donald Trump
- Steve Case
- Chris Sacca
- Matt Mullenweg
- Philip Zimbardo
- Cato the Younger
- Wolverine
- Hugh Jackman
- Marc Andreessen
- Marissa Mayer
- Sheryl Sandberg
- Peter Thiel
- Nick Denton
- Megan Smith
- Larry Ellison
- Ben Bradlee
- John Hendricks
- John C. Malone
- Gregg Pascal Zachary
- Jerry Yang
- Joe Kraus
- Oprah Winfrey
- Heather Locklear
- Michelangelo
- Viola Davis
- Laurence Olivier
- Pierre Omidyar
- Mark Zuckerberg
- Owen Van Natta
- Jean-Paul Sartre
- Albert Camus
- Franz Kafka
- Paul Cioffi
- William Shakespeare
- Thomas Edison
- Nikola Tesla
- Abraham Lincoln
- Cheryl Strayed
- Ray Bradbury
- Gwyneth Paltrow
- W. H. Auden
- Ken Burns
- James Corden