Trump vs. Canada, Paramount Settlement Saga, and Melania's Return

21:15Kara Swisher:Right, right. You have a big staff at Have I Got News for you. Yeah, it's very similar to Daily Show. It's almost it's almost 100. I think we're at like probably 70 because we're not a day. We're not on every day. But I know a Daily Show, it was over 100 people that work in a building and you're trying to decide what to do next. And then you get a job offer, God forbid, to go join another show. And then you don't know when that show, whether or not you go do that show, this show isn't going to happen. What would be your solution to this? I mean, besides not merger after merger, because everyone has to, you know, pee on everything.

21:51Kara Swisher:Like I said, cancel all the shows, even if they're good. Cancel them if they're doing well. It doesn't really it has no rhyme or reason is what you're saying. Yeah, it definitely has no rhyme or reason. I think that a lot of this is if you want me to. And I guess I kind of am like Scott, I'm a bit of a fatalist in a way, and that the world is rotten and these corporations run most everything. And even if you have a hit show, they're not going to let you go past three seasons, maybe five because they have to pay you more. And it's easier to just start a new show for this. I personally would rather see this resolved sooner than later.

22:32If the merger does not happen and we are at the same spot next June, I think it gets stripped down and sold for parts, you know, piecemeal, you know, all over the sphere. But you're still going to be sold into the hands of people that are being counted and cutting corners and trying to do as much as possible with as much less as possible. I think that's true.

22:54Kara Swisher:I think that's their threat, of course. We'll move out of California. They have all these sort of boneheaded threats. But that's the inevitability. Okay, you're going to move it to, we're going to move Paramount to Nashville. Okay, and then you're still going to make 20 % less shows. I forget what the number is. What are we, 50 % less scripted content than eight years ago or something? So it's not like you're guaranteeing jobs on the other side of this. You're just punishing people who you already, half of whom you are already going to be trying to figure out a way to fire even if you didn't leave the state.

23:29Kara Swisher:That's right. That's right. Yeah. Yeah. So it's easier to be independent, hence why I'm independent, Roy. But it's really, you know, I'm not loving these boneheaded moves and threats. I think, you know, when billionaires threaten you, it's sort of, it's not the most attractive. They look villainous, actually, in that regard. And it's not going to get any better because when you look at what YouTube has done, and I haven't had a chance to look at the exact specifics of it, but I know that they're changing the terms of service with their creators in terms of what the bar to achieve monetization at YouTube is shot up to something.

24:07I'm not going to say astronomically, but you're going to have to be really all in to try and go independent now. So a lot of these networks are going to move the bar when it comes to monetization and making money. The same thing with analytics on Facebook and Instagram and Reels or whatever. So you're eventually going to be in a space where there's just going to be a chasm between like this mid-major media, the Vice and the Voxes of the world. Like you're going to see, Complex has had a lot of shrinkage as well. And those were the companies where you used to be able to go if Huffington Post didn't hire you or CNN didn't run with you this year.

24:47And I think that the idea of even being self-made is going to get even more competitive. Yeah.

24:55Kara Swisher:It is. No question. No question. I mean, I think the issue is that they, the way they're playing this seems so juvenile. I just am like, there's ways to fix this. You know, it's interesting that Bonta just dumped it after leaking because everybody, at least I will say, Paramount leaks a lot. Bonta does not. having tried to get leaks out of Bonta. But I, and I'm good at getting leaks out of people. Paramount doesn't stop different people who represent them, who purport to represent them are very easy. They're big leakers and they think they're very clever about it. And so I don't know if dumping a settlement talks over this is, you know, it's interesting.

25:35Kara Swisher:It's definitely a power play by Bonta, who I think is probably, you know, he's doing the meta trial, he's doing this, and he's winning here in this case at least because he got the trial moved so why should he put up with this shit i guess i think the leak shows that paramount is for sure concerned and they definitely you don't make a play like that if you're if you're winning yeah you don't you keep your mouth shut if you think you're in control of the board what do you think about like the different different unions the wga is against it certain writers against it the directors were for it with a certain amount of demands that were pretty heavy.

26:10Kara Swisher:Karen Bass went for it or just went for a settlement. She's worried about Los Angeles. Gavin Newsom always plays the metal, essentially. Do you, where do you, where would you like this to end up as a, as someone who's a writer and a performer? In a perfect world, no merger with production staying in Los Angeles to some degree. I do think that Los Angeles has just infrastructure and weather advantages with production. And I say that as someone who fought to shoot a sitcom in Atlanta and Alabama, like having known what the challenges are, you know, in some other places, I do think that if Hollywood is strong, I think entertainment across the board is strong, which then spills out to all of these other markets, be it your Louisiana with their incentives, which are starting to, they're starting to tweak theirs as well.

27:01You know, I think that's always been the dangerous thing about tax incentives in other states outside of Los Angeles. I feel like L.A. has always had the most consistent relationship with the entertainment industry. When you look at what Detroit had 20 years ago, where they were making television and movies in Detroit, left and right, left and right. Detroit called a new governor and he was like, yeah, no, no more incentive. Sorry. And that happens often. Same thing happened in North Carolina. So this idea of decentralizing television production, I think, would just make it just blobulous. Blobulous.

27:40Every 10 years. Is it amalgam? I don't know. No, I like blobulous. It works for me. It's blobulous where every 10 years, this region's going to be the hot region. I'm old enough and been in entertainment long enough to remember when North Carolina was the place to shoot in the late night was the Dawson's Creek and a couple of Martin Lawrence movies. So it moves around. Atlanta has seen a regression in production because the big dog Marvel took everything to Europe. So there's just not as much stuff happening. And that's where I do think the indie market is going to be able to help some of the smaller cities outside of L.A.

28:18But in a perfect world for me, I think L.A. and New York carrying a ton of production is ultimately healthier for the entertainment industry coast to coast. I think you're 100 percent right. And it's not me hating on Texas and New Mexico. It's all great stuff. But those are all states that are very like which way the wind blows this election. You might lose your incentive.

28:48Kara Swisher:Or they're there because the governors are friendly to them, and that's not always good. You're right. It switches. Also, just go look at some of the state laws in Tennessee, everybody who's thinking of moving to Nashville. It's not great for women. It's not thrilling for people of color. As an Alabamian, I will abstain from these criticisms. Okay. All right. In any case. No, you're right, though. You're right. It's just like California should get it together, and they should settle this thing. But I'm not so sure this deal is going to happen. We'll see. Hopefully, hopefully they'll figure something out that's fair.

29:20Kara Swisher:And the Ellison's, the only thing that drives me crazy, the Ellison's complaining about politics when they use politics to get where they are so far with the government, with the federal government. It's like, stop, stop, stop, stop. Anyway, let's go on a quick break. When we come back, Trump's stock trading grift.

29:40Hey, what's up, guys? It's Babish, host of In the Booth with Babish. On this week's episode, I sit down with Dominic Sessa, who plays Anthony Bourdain in the new A24 film Tony. We talk about getting into character as one of food's greatest icons, and of course, which castmates he'd fuck, marry, or kill. Watch the full episode on YouTube or listen wherever you get your podcasts.

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32:21Kara Swisher:Roy, we're back. Griftwatch alert. Donald Trump made more than 1 ,000 stock trades in June with transactions totaling between$78 million and$263 million, according to his latest financial disclosure. Notably, Trump bought between$15 ,000 and$50 ,000 worth of SpaceX stock just 11 days after the company's IPO. And the Iran war continues. Trump is buying and selling shares of defense contractor Palantir. But nothing to worry about here. The White House says there's no conflicts of interest because Trump's investments are independently managed. Now, he has other graphs like cryptocurrency, as you know.

32:55Kara Swisher:So this is the second shoe to drop in that regard. He made billions in cryptocurrency already. So how do you rank them among his grips? Well, the interesting thing about this whole stock thing was that the White House said that, oh, it's a computer algorithm that runs the trading based on the traditional trading trends and data, data, data. but they can't tell you who greenlit the particular trades. They go, oh, it's a computer, but somebody has to go, yes, computer, I approve, do that. Did that person have insider information? I think that's the thing that at this point, nothing would surprise me.

33:39And they were so beaten down with political scandals that the scandals just feel like, yeah, all right.

33:48Kara Swisher:Yeah, he made more money. All right. Oddly, the one trade that he made, President Trump, that I was curious about was Home Depot. I'm like, what do you know? You know, like, okay, grifting SpaceX and AI. All right. What's going on with Home Depot, man? What do you know? Home Depot. Well, you know, the guy who was the chairman was super conservative. That might just be it. It's a conservative company. Yeah, you're right. What's going on? What do you think is happening with Home Depot? I don't know. And where are we building these houses? Or would there be some destruction that you're planning? Like, I don't know.

34:30I don't want to get into my conspiracy land with you. Oh, I like it. But that was the one that was a bigger red flag than most of the other companies.

34:38Kara Swisher:Do you think he's ever been in a Home Depot? No. No. Because he would have told you. If Trump ever built some shit in his life, he would have said it nonstop. He builds everything. Right. He was a builder. He just said that. Do you, are you offended by a script or just exhausted by them? I'm past offended. Like it doesn't, like I feel bad that I am not, that I'm desensitized in a way that speaks to just how exhausting so much of the scandals are. That is a really good point. Would there be a grift you could do that you'd be like, okay, that's the end of it. That is it. That is it. I think sports betting would be one that would lose him favor with his base, which sounds crazy.

35:28But there's something about the understood purity and sanctity of sport that if you found out that he knew the lineup card for a particular and this guy wasn't going to start. And, you know, like fan like the weird fantasy football. Black Sox. Yeah. Black Sox type throw the games. Please strike out like the scandals that MLB is dealing with right now where the pitchers are betting on themselves to not throw a strike on the first pitch. and then they deliberately don't throw a strike. Like if Trump was in on something like that, maybe that would be one because sports is so American and it's pure and you're supposed to be honest and you're supposed to do it the right way.

36:15And that maybe, maybe.

36:18Kara Swisher:Now you're giving him an idea of where to go next. That's the thing. Go buy some stock in FanDuel right now. I go Home Depot, go to Home Depot. So speaking of things that they're doing that exhaust me as a journalist, Pentagon has fired three top staffers at Stars and Stripes, a government-funded news outlet, the reports in the U.S. military. The Pentagon cited insubordination as the reason for the firings. Two of the staffers had recently spoken publicly about protecting the paper's editorial independence, which it has had forever, pointing to the legal right to be free from news management and censorship.

36:51Kara Swisher:The third has already announced his retirement, citing fundamental disagreements over the paper's values and mission. And the variants come as Defense Secretary Pete Hegsess pushes to reshape the paper with more focus on warfighting and less on woke distractions. If Hegsess is making editorial decisions here, what kind of stories will we see now? I don't know what we're going to see. What war, what propaganda do you want? Like, they won't print what we need to print the right way. And good for those journalists for having a little bit of backbone and some teeth about themselves. Yeah, Southern Stripes has a pretty good reputation among the military.

37:24Kara Swisher:I have a lot of family in the military. And it actually is considered not, I mean, no Defense Department official has tried to do this. Like, it is run relatively independently. Obviously, it's funded by the Pentagon, but they've never tried to meddle in it before. I mean, and what they were writing about was the conditions on the USS Lincoln. And they didn't like that. They didn't like the Stars and Stripes pointing out that it's a mess. Which it is. The carrier's been out way too long. They're undersupplied. everything's backing up and expect it to. So yeah, you have, it's probably one of the best ways you could ever honor the military.

38:03I think the problem now is for the journalists that are going to be hired and put in there now, like this is, this is one of those cases where you almost support AI reporting. Like just, just print up, just, just, just print up what you want, bro. So just print up what you want.

38:21Kara Swisher:Oh, just have AI report. Just conjure up whatever it is. Don't involve me and my integrity in this. I think that the Stars and Stripes issue is, that one is a little more effed up to me simply because this is a piece of journalism that goes to the people who serve this country. And so when you're telling them what is going on within their world, like that and, you know, like the, what's the AFM, like the Armed Forces Network, where you're showing them, and, you know, here's the content we have decided to expose you to. How much of that then becomes mental manipulation? Or they don't believe it, or they don't trust it.

39:14Kara Swisher:I mean, that's, I think, the point is to hollow out trust, right? If it's done a pretty good job covering your life. And it's not like, it's not going to do like Washington Post-like investigative pieces necessarily, but it's accurate about your life and not able to talk about a ship that is in trouble. And you would think the rank and file aren't going to realize that, Hexel? They do not. At some point, then you start having morale issues. Yeah. Well, I think he's having them. I think he's having them. Yeah. It's terrible. You know, I understand lying to the American people, but lying to the people that protect the American people that's just even more egregious.

39:50Kara Swisher:Don't you want more war fighting, right? More war fighting and not woke distractions. Because, you know, wars win elections, they say, right? No, not this one. Not this one. All right, let's go on a quick break. When we come back, we'll check on Trump's personal relationships.

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40:58Kara Swisher:Roy, we're back with more news. Now is the time to talk about some updates in Trump's personal relationships. Admits ongoing speculation about Trump and his aide, Natalie Hart, Melania Trump made her first public appearance in more than a month. Let's listen to the entrance she made. Good afternoon. I heard you missed me. Here I am. Roy, did you miss Melania? No. And then moving on, let me just say the president and his former fixer, Michael Cohen, have publicly reconciled sitting down for their first interview together since Cohen became a key witness in Trump's hush money trial. The reunion is quite a reversal after years of public attacks.

41:38Kara Swisher:Cohen has called Trump a con man and a predator, and Trump called Cohen a rat. In definitely totally unrelated news, Cohen has submitted a pardon application to the Trump administration. And of course, amid questions about his health, from bruising his hands to the troubles, staying awake, doctors are also raising concern about his weight since he gained about 20 pounds. This is his relationship with himself. Since the 2024 campaign, doctors told the Washington Post that Trump's weight is a strong risk factor for premature disability and death. So, so many things. And then, of course, Natalie Harp, who more and more comes out, the more and more disturbing it seems to be, including old tweets.

42:13Kara Swisher:She seems to have a real strange obsession on them. A lot of the right is trying to argue that she's the true feminist, but I don't think that's the definition of a feminist. So, any of these things you'd like to weigh in on, Roy? First off, first and foremost, just to everybody, just stop getting excited about bad Trump health news. Yeah. It's just not. I had this evil ass teacher in the fifth grade. She's still alive. Yeah. Like you don't you don't understand. Like when you make move when you make all the wrong moves in life, it like it gives you vibrance. Yeah. Yeah. You can just defy sickness and death and bad luck because you just got to put you just got to put bad Bad decisions on top of bad decisions.

43:00And that's what the president has shown an ability to do.

43:03Kara Swisher:My grandmother used to say, let me tell you, when she was, when someone who was bad wouldn't die, she'd always go, God doesn't want them.

43:12Well, check with the devil.

43:15Kara Swisher:Yeah, devil. Why? Is it all about God? I just the hand pictures are just funny to me because just the camera the quality of cameras now you can get in and see the literal makeup line around right and deliver spots yeah okay all right the Cohen interview is very funny tell me about that it's very funny and it's it's um it's softcore porn level of glazing. I will just leave it at that. That Cohen is juggling him. Just juggling him. Yeah, yeah. And he calls him, we don't have to get into any specific thing that they talked about because it's all just lobbing softballs for Trump to say. Like the first two minutes is, why won't the left media report on how good you're doing.

44:12And then he goes, dash the left. And polls still, why are they still, now actually I did agree with Cohen on this. Why are we still focusing on presidential approval ratings for a man who cannot run again? I understand approval ratings being common chit chat or whatever, but just in a bigger scheme of what I need to know today, I don't need to know how many people love or hate him to people who love him.

44:35Kara Swisher:Well, it could be because how Republicans are going to fare because he's a drag on them, possibly. Oh, that's fair. Okay. So then if you use them polls as, you know, to prognosticate for November, okay, cool. But there's a matter of fact, I marked it. It's at 1230 for the people who want to go check out the interview at 1230 Cohen says along the lines. And I, and I loosely quote, Hey boss, do you remember that time we were working together and I was sitting alongside you? and like just that sentence it just sounds like a child reconnecting with his father and he just wants to be liked and approved by this man so bad that he does not care that he called him a rat like yeah i'll do a rat that's like that's up there yeah yeah a rat is a big move The whole interview is like 15, 20 minutes of just kiss ass and Trump just hitting softballs out the park like he always does.

45:36Didn't even have the decency to turn the camera on.

45:39Kara Swisher:Yeah, I didn't have, you know, Cohen was on a lot of cable and I was always like, I think he's a rat. Like, I don't know why we're listening to him insult him. So I thought he was lying then. I think he's lying now. I think ultimately he was the person you saw in that interview, a obsequious toady who is desperate to get a pardon. That kind of fills it up for me. May I ask you a question? Sure. About Melania? Mm-hmm. Who do you think misses her more or draws attention to her absence? Who do you think cares more about her absence, liberals or conservatives? Liberals. I wonder what are the expectations?

46:20And we have the expectations of a first lady to be active and working in conjunction with the president's agenda. You know, they're the more forward facing customer service arm of the White House to go out and touch the people on a regular basis. Does anybody want Melania showing up? No, I don't really care. I agree with you. That's what I mean. She's a strange mannequin.

46:47Kara Swisher:I find her to be mannequin-like, you know, high fashion kind of, that sort of sharp mannequin-like look. But high fashion's not Americana. No, it's not. Barbara Bush looked like she baked cookies. So you're like, yeah. And she did not. Yeah, she did not. Come on by the house, Barbara. Yeah, I think the first lady thing, like people are all mad she's not there. I don't think we should be paying for her. I don't really care if we have a first lady or not. I think that's an anachronism, honestly, in this day and age. like ultimately. So I don't really care that she's not there. I think she's charmless.

47:19Kara Swisher:I think she's unpleasant for the most part. And the more you see of her, the less you want to see of her, right? So I'm glad she's gone kind of stuff. Charmless. Charmless. You know what I mean? She's charmless. She's charmless. I had a conversation with Trevor Noah years ago about how we always felt like Melania missed the mark in that she could have played the being absent to be on some pro-feminism tip where you just go, I don't, that's his job. It's not my job to do stuff that helps his job. As a woman, I am allowed to be woman over here. Why do I have to be woman right here? Yeah. But she just never played it like that.

47:59Yeah, she didn't play it like that. She also doesn't really have a job, does she?

48:02Kara Swisher:Like, I don't really feel a plus with her. And I think it's a minus for her to be around. So in Melania's defense, Melania didn't want none of this shit? She doesn't. Melania thought she was going to marry a rich dude who was sitting in the corner and eat McDonald's while she go spends his money and bang yacht bros in Monaco on the side. And then you come home and he's talking about, I'm going to be president because Seth Meyers pissed me off. What? Yeah. That wasn't the deal, Donald. No, Donald. I just find her to be charmless. I just don't I'm like happy she's gone. I do think this I think she gets paid every time she shows up.

48:41Kara Swisher:It looks like it because she pops up. I think she's not unfunny and everything. And the less see of her, the better. That's me. That's my feeling. But this Natalie Harp thing adds an entirely interesting wrinkle to it. And I think it's completely appropriate to talk about that. I think a lot of people don't think that, but I do because she's right next to the president doing his tweets all night long. So to me, she's completely fine to talk about. I don't know how you feel about her. Have you never written a long ass apology to your boss? You've never apologized to your boss? Oh my God, I hope I didn't embarrass you by walking around too much on the golf course while you were walking because you were the greatest.

49:25And I, you know.

49:26Kara Swisher:I can't imagine Roy Wood Jr. has ever done that. There are some women in media who if I worked for, Well, I would absolutely be like, I am so sorry, please. But it would not be from some trying to holler. Can I ask a nasty question? Sure, please. Go ahead. When are you even going to bang him? He sleeps all the time. I don't think they're doing that. I know, but like. It's something else. It's something else. It's like a daddy thing. I think it's a daddy thing. It's odd. It's vaguely sexual, but it's not. It's something else. I don't know. It all eventually turns sexual. probably true but here's what i feel like you know years ago elon musk was insisting we live in a simulation you know this idea that this isn't none of this you and i aren't real everything is fake i think we're in a simulation at this point after the natalie harp thing i'm after i read that letter i'm like there is a teen alien teenager playing this fucking video game of earth earth is the video game some advanced civilization and they just inserted natalie harp into it I just decided now I agree with Elon Musk.

50:32Kara Swisher:Just a random fool character. Yeah, just like this person. I'm like, it has to be. Come on. Come on. You couldn't write this. Would you be able to write this? Yeah, it's weird. It's weird. I mean, there's tropes from Fatal Attraction. There's tropes from none of them end well. None of these stalkery tropes end well for the man usually. Well, or his adjacent people around him. I mean, but at least Trump's got Secret Service. He can just get her out of here. Yeah, yeah. No, he seems to like her a lot. I like, there was one part of, they had the cars on the mall down in Washington. Again, I didn't mind the car thing.

51:12Kara Swisher:Fine, if he wants to have a race course. But Melania was there for four seconds, gets up. And the minute Melania moved out of the picture, Natalie came in the back. It was really interesting. And a real first lady would have cared. That's how you know that marriage is vapid. because Melania would have been like, y 'all better get her the hell out of here. She'd have been down on the track changing tires, messing around with a real first lady. So I... Hillary would have taken her apart. Hillary.

51:42She would be an aide for a city council person in Paducah, Kentucky. And that's with respect to Paducah. I swear you're right. She would have been gone. She would be gone. I think keep going further. She would get her a job. Guam.

51:56Kara Swisher:She'd have been in Guam. Yo, I'm not going to say the show, but there are a couple of your favorite shows that you watch where there's an employee that they don't like. They give them a glowing recommendation to another show, usually in another city. And then they get the job offer and they go, hey, I got to quit. And you go, man, I'm happy for you, though. We don't hate to see you go. I have done that. I have done that. I haven't done that exactly. I've done a version of that. I had someone who I really wanted to fire. And he goes, he comes in and he goes on and he goes, what I really think I need is a raise.

52:38Kara Swisher:And I said, oh, God, see, I wanted to fire you. So it's kind of interesting that I, well, I think I deserve a raise. And I said, I think you deserve to be fired. It's so hard for me to decide which one of these things to do. and uh and i've done a version of that with many different employees like said when they have job offers i'm like you should that's fantastic that what a good good good excellent excellent yeah i actually when anyone ever leaves my employer i'm happy that they're doing something if people want to go they should go if they don't that's always been my problem i never get mad uh or anything else i don't know i just i'm fine with the indie cars too i was fine with the ufc just take the cage down.

53:20I hear it's still up. Is it? No, I don't think so. It's just sitting there. No, I'm not sure.

53:26Kara Swisher:I think they put the helipad there now. Oh, thank goodness. This really ugly helipad that he signed. I know, he's putting his name on it. There's also the gold horses, which I have to see every time I come back from the airport. Anyway, we'll see what happens. Alright, Roy, one more quick break. We'll be back for Wins and Fails.

53:50Kara Swisher:Okay, Roy, let's hear some wins and fails. You go first. Shout out to Karen Atiyah, the Washington Post. That was going to be one of mine, but I have several. Go ahead. Say why. That's my only one. This woman unjustly fired for giving her opinion about part of, it wasn't even about what happened to Charlie Kirk. It was about whether or not we should honor Charlie Kirk and was fired immediately from the Washington. But, you know, the whole op ed section there, they've been trying to kind of, hey, everybody, quiet down those opinions. You're making Bezos. And she fought. She fought. She took it to arbitration.

54:37And this week they gave her her job back. The arbitrator decided, hey, you were not. That's not how you fire. go back to work immediately, and here's your back pay.

54:49Kara Swisher:I love Karen. I think Karen's a badass. She also does, like, I love all her photos. I love how she puts it. What's really fantastic and ironic, the guy who fired her is gone. That young moron they hired in her place. I love Karen. You're right, 100%. I don't know if she'll stay, but good for her. You're right, 100%. I personally, and this is speaking to someone who does not know her, based on the readings of her work, she strikes me as someone who would stay, just if nothing else, to throw a last couple of real ass articles in that publication that's suppressing a lot of the type of work that she does so well.

55:30Kara Swisher:Yeah, I would agree. Yeah, I'm going to talk to her today. I'll find out. I was going to reach out to her because I'm sure she's celebrating. She's been doing actually interesting courses herself. She's a bit of an entrepreneur and has been doing sort of a bunch of interesting things. But that was just ridiculous. And I love that she fought. She almost took the buyout and then didn't, which was interesting. And she's like, no, I'm going to stay here. I'm going to stay here and do my work. And they immediately, and I said, Garen, I think they're going to fire you then. And that's what they did.

56:02Kara Swisher:And the way they did it was so fucking ridiculous. But she stood her ground. You're right. All right. What is your fail? My fail is me. No one told me that you needed a friend to take you home for a colonoscopy. And I scheduled a colonoscopy and I'm trying to be all reverent about my health and the heart and the blood sugar. And I set the date and then they call me two weeks before and they go, yeah, you need a friend. And I don't like you start thinking about like now we're getting into emergency contact level friendship. And I just and I realize with the people that I have with the the the alliances and the associates that I've made in 11 years in New York City.

56:53I don't really have anyone to the level. Few comedians. Yeah. I don't have colonoscopy. Will you take me home after a camera? Probe level friends. And I had to reschedule my colonoscopy. I found a person, but I have to reschedule the colonoscopy. There's no other availability until November.

57:18Kara Swisher:Oh no. So I got to wait two months to go back because I just, I don't know. I was in a big health kick. I go through like, I call it like health week, like every August or September, I do everything. Yeah. And schedule the first colonoscopy. You never had one? No, you never had one. And I'm sure I should have had it sooner. I'm 47. So I probably is overdue. I don't know. I've done the prostate and apparently that's now blood. It is. Okay. Well, I was in there demanding the finger. Got odd. Well, you'll enjoy the colonoscopy. I can tell you, I've had many. I love them. I just say I enjoy them. Katie Couric, who is the big colonoscopy pusher among people I know, because her husband did die of colon cancer.

58:11Kara Swisher:I love it because one, it cleans you out. You feel great. Like you take, you used to have to drink all these milkshakes, but now you don't. Water, there's like water, kind of jelly water. Now it's just a pill. Now it's just a pill. And it's, that's great because the drinking stuff is awful. But I feel great. That was the other thing that made me scared. They were like, yeah, you've got to take a dump for a day and a half. It is. Stay home. Stay close to home. This is all I have to say to you. It's shocking. You're like, how bad could it be? And then you're like, wow, I have a lot of shit in there, so to speak.

58:44Kara Swisher:Yeah. Yeah. So I feel myself trying to take care of my health and realize I need better friends. But you need a better. I will come to pick you up at your colonoscopy anytime. Thank you. Thank you. I will come to New York to pick you up. because I'll get Kirk to do it. Katie Kirk will do it. She'll pick you up. She loves people getting colonoscopies. Well, good for you. Well, that's good for you to admit. All right, I'm going to do mine. I have to, you know, you're a comic. Rosie O'Donnell guest hosting Jimmy Come Alive. She did a fantastic job. I know you've done different guest hosting things, but I thought she has come back in a really nice way and obviously was always right about Trump.

59:22Kara Swisher:But the fact that she underplayed Trump quite a bit, except that last bit, was fantastic. She did a whole different kind of show than Kimmel, which I thought was a good idea. She did the show that fit her. It wasn't really a late night show. It was sort of more of an afternoon show. But I really appreciated that she landed and did very well. The ratings did really well. I've always had a lot of respect for Rosie O'Donnell. You know, and people forget that, you know, she was a beast of a standup and actress and improv and, you know, did daytime, did the view. So she literally has the duality of the chops needed to do exactly everything that you just said and still just damn likable likable she really has she's i think going to ireland's been good for she's a great great singer she said i had an interview with her she sang on my show i thought it was just what people needed um in terms of of feeling um and again uh i would i would say she she deserved all the kudos she's gotten the negative is the this this guy i forget i don't even the tall guy who like has to call attention to himself about about uh with the dildos and everything else, all these men that do this.

1:00:25Kara Swisher:The problem with women's basketball is asshole straight men just can't just stop attacking these women. I think it's misogynist. I think it's racist for sure. I think it's, you know, I don't really care if Sophie Cunningham says things about trans people. Fine. Like, fine. She has her opinions. But the fact that these men are coming in there and ruining the game for everybody, just they should be tossed out of the stadiums and that's the end of it well it's not i think it's more important to say specifically it's it's right wing men in the media yes exactly doing it to bring attention and it's not just the person that i don't feel like naming there's a couple of them and it's and it's one of the same ones that like declare themselves eligible for the wnba draft yes that's ns right ns yeah yeah Yeah, Cantor, yeah.

1:01:18And who's the same one who was escorted out of a game the other night for jaw jacking with a Chicago Sky player during the game.

1:01:26Kara Swisher:I thought she could have killed him. I thought she could have killed him if she had a chance myself. There's something wild to showing up to a game to deliberately get kicked, to start mess so that you can then go talk about it so you can then monetize the clicks. Yep, agreed. That's what it's all. I would agree. He's grotesque. He's a grotesque, and he's a washed-up player at this point from what I can tell. This is all he's got. Even if you feel that way about this issue in the WNBA, go to the commissioner's office. Yeah, exactly. That's where you really want to change the policy. Go there. Yeah, I agree.

1:02:04Kara Swisher:Anyway, we want to hear from you. Send us your questions about business, tech, or whatever's on your mind. Go to nymag.com slash pivot to submit a question for the show or call 855-51-PIVOT. And elsewhere in the Karen Scott universe, this week on On with Kara Swisher, I'm talking to one of the newest members of the Vox Media Podcast Network family, Ina Garten. Her show, Happy Hour with Ina Garten, launches next month. Let's listen to a clip. When I think about my brand, I always think the first thing is fun. If it's fun, people will be really attracted to it. From the store, like when you walked into the store, all of your senses were engaged.

1:02:38Kara Swisher:And I love that when people walked in, they felt good. And they would say, I just came in to see what was going on. And then they'd walk out with three bags of groceries. And I would think, yeah, did my job today. And I feel that way about the television. If it's fun, people will really be attracted to it. So that's kind of where I'm always looking. Anyway, I love Ina. I think she's great. She does a great job. You should go on that show and have cocktails with her. I'm happy to. Would love it. That would be a really interesting conversation. Anyway, she's great. Okay, that's the show. Thanks so much, Roy.

1:03:13Kara Swisher:You've been amazing. And I'm very excited to come on your show. Season five of Have I Got News for You premieres on September 12th on CNN. I forget which one, but I'm pretty early in the season. Put me on with whoever you want. I'm happy to spark with them. Where else can people find you, Roy? What else are you up to? I'm going to get you online. I'm going to get you on there with Mom Donnie. Mom Donnie. Perfect. All right. So where else can people find you? What else are you up to? My name is Roy Wood Jr. Put a dot com behind it. Put an at symbol in front. That's everywhere. Uh, outside of CNN, I'll be on a new Amazon sitcom barbershop based on the, um, hit movie, uh, franchise.

1:03:49That's not out until later this year or top of next year. They haven't given us a premiere date yet, but that'll be the next thing after CNN.

1:03:59Kara Swisher:How many are there? There's three or four, right? There's three barbershops and then there's the beauty shop spinoff with Queen. Beauty shop. I love the beauty shop. Oh my God. That is my merger insurance. so you make sure you watch that when it comes out are you kidding i i'm a big barbershop fan i didn't know i had no idea i'm so excited who are you playing it's a good time i play like a younger said the entertainer type if you will not sense character right nobody can do that but i represent the the i'm the most senior person in the shop so it's definitely a more youthful series that just follows the continuation of how Chicago has evolved and how barbershop culture has changed with the modernization and appointment culture and all of that stuff.

1:04:47Kara Swisher:I'm so excited. I love beauty shop, I'll be honest with you. I love it too. I like all the shops. Anyway, thanks for listening to Pivot and be sure to like and subscribe to our YouTube channel. We'll be back on Friday. Again, Roy, thank you very much and I can't wait to see you. Thank you, Fred. Good to see you. Today's show was produced by Lara Naiman, Zoe Marcus, Taylor Griffin, and Todd Wiseman, Ernie Enderdott engineered this episode. Thanks also to Kate Gallagher. Nishat Kerwa is Vox Media's executive producer of podcasts. Make sure to follow Pivot on your favorite podcast platform. Thanks for listening to Pivot from Vox Media.

1:05:18Kara Swisher:We'll be back later this week for another breakdown of all things tech and business.