Zuck's Masculine Energy, Bannon vs. Musk, and Wildfires Misinformation  ## Metadata - Author: [[Pivot]] - Full Title: Zuck's Masculine Energy, Bannon vs. Musk, and Wildfires Misinformation - Category: #podcasts - URL: https://share.snipd.com/episode/5ce150ea-852f-4ddd-a42d-4b9333daedc8 ## Document Notes ## Highlights - **TikTok Ban Likely** - The Supreme Court seems likely to uphold the TikTok ban, focusing on national security concerns over free speech. - This could lead to a sale or even a total ban, impacting millions of users and creators. Transcript: Kara Swisher They heard oral arguments on Friday, with justices seeming more skeptical of TikTok's arguments that the First Amendment banned Congress from enacting the law. Some takeaways. The justices pointed out that ByteDance, a Chinese company, does not have First Amendment rights. Justice Brown-Jackson said she saw the law as less about speech than association. I thought this was really smart. She's so smart. Like barring Americans from associating with foreign terrorist groups for national security reasons, Justices Kagan and Gorsuch together suggest that everyone knows China is Behind TikTok and expressed interest in less heavy-handed approach, like a warning label, which was interesting. But it seemed like it was all over the place. This was not a partisan thing in any way, which is exactly what the issue is in Congress, too. It's surprising. People are for it and against it. I think they're supposed to rule on Wednesday, I understand. So any prediction? Scott Galloway It's definitely, they're definitely not getting a hall pass here. Something's going to happen. It's just a question of what, whether they've fully uphold the divestiture. In my opinion, a warning label is almost ridiculous. It's like those things that ask if you accept cookies or whatever. I just don't think that's going to happen. I wonder if there's some kind of back dealings around some sort of investment or governance or American investors invest just enough such that there's enough governance that would Satisfy the White House. There's been some conjecture that Trump wouldn't necessarily need to enforce it. Kara Swisher Well, here's the thing. I've heard of this thing. I don't remember the answer in that case, but he could not enforce it. But that doesn't mean Apple and Google won't do it anyway, because I think over Trump, they would take the Supreme Court side. I don't think they need to be instructed by it. If Trump says don't do it, he can't say that, right? He has more limited things than you think. This is a law passed by Congress. And I think the Supreme Court tends to respect those, especially around national security issues. And so I'm going with, they're going to say do it, and they're not going to delay it. They're not going to let Trump get his dirty mitts around it, even though he will have his dirty mitts around it because it's the question of where it sells to. And that could be, and his administration through all kinds of different organizations that look at these things. And they've been, and he's been through this before the previous time he was doing the executive order and was trying to do that Microsoft Walmart. Do you remember that deal? It's Microsoft Walmart, Ellison. There was a whole really odd group of people. But I, you know, I think he's going to try to advantage Musk and Ellison. But then you see Mark Zuckerberg coming in because he doesn't particularly want Musk to have an advantage here. This is good for Facebook if TikTok suffers. Like there's all kinds of stuff. And he was just down in Palm Beach. Mark went again. We'll talk about him in a second. But so I think it'll be interesting. And And then there's a couple of the bidders I've talked to. And one of them who I consider one of the smarter ones are among the different names. There's about six different names. They were like, you're not, there's no sale here. There's nothing going to happen. The Chinese won't let it happen. Then there's the whole Chinese reaction to it when it's finally passing what the Chinese will do. Because most people feel without the algorithm, it's just a brand. Scott Galloway That's the secret sauce. Yeah. The data that I ran across that kind of gave me a different view on this or, I don't know, enhanced my view is that, so TikTok has 170 million American users. That's staggering, right? And the people not using it don't matter in the sense that it's probably seniors or people without phones that just don't buy shit. Advertisers don't care about those people. But the thing that was also equally surprising is what percentage of TikTok's global revenue would you, is generated in the U.S.? Kara Swisher Probably a small amount? Scott Galloway It's very good. You have very good instincts. It's one-fifth. I would have guessed it was like 30 to 50%. It's 20%. So while that is significant, I'm not sure. I think their attitude is, yeah, we love this market. It may be our biggest market, but we're fine without it because TikTok is growing 23% a year, meaning if they lose it, and they won't lose all of it because young people will find workarounds. I mean, try and take TikTok off your kid's phone and then find out how many ways there is to get TikTok without you knowing it. Right, they can get it over the top. VPN and all kinds of shit, right? Kara Swisher I do think Apple and Google will go with whatever the Supreme Court says. And so that will hinder a lot of people, like the regular, like not everybody. And of course, there's the creators who are up in arms because they make some good living off of TikTok. And if you recall, TikTok did those ads. Scott Galloway There is no doubt that I would not have found the success that I have today without TikTok. TikTok has made me a better teacher. It's helped me to connect with people far beyond my classroom. Think ([Time 0:06:40](https://share.snipd.com/snip/d6e32418-ddef-4c92-a635-ca2fe32bb976)) - **Bannon vs. Musk** - Steve Bannon's attacks on Elon Musk highlight the divisions within MAGA circles. - Bannon opposes Musk's stance on H-1B visas and has called him "truly evil." Transcript: Kara Swisher He didn't get any time, guys. You mean ex-con, Steve Bannon? Yes, yes, ex-con. And now felon, Donald Trump, FOTUS is the word. Scott Galloway But it's great if they're both on Air Force One, we get to call it Con Air One. Kara Swisher Yes, that's right, exactly. Con Air. But see, Bannon is interestingly fighting, has upped his fight with Elon Musk. And he said he'll have Elon Musk, quote, run out by Inauguration day. I don't know what that means. That's like next week, Steve, so get on it. The contempt stems from the division in MAGA circles. It's quite profound. Last month over H-1B visas, which Musk has been for, Bannon said he will do anything to keep Musk out and said he should go back to South Africa. He named David Sachs and Peter Thiel all from South Africa as problematic and racist. He was accusing them of being racist. It was sort of weird. It was such a weird thing. Populism versus racism. Thiel and Sachs are from South Africa? Yeah. I feel like there's a conspiracy theory. I'm with Bannon on this one. No, I'm not. I'm never with Bannon. They were born there? Scott Galloway Those guys have been here for a while. I know, I know. Kara Swisher They're Americans. They're Americans. Scott Galloway I was just in South Africa, and it did not strike me as the most racist place on Earth. Kara Swisher I understand. It used to be, for sure. So, in any case, he is attacking them. So, you know, there's a Team Steve or Team Elon. How about none of the above? But it's a really interesting fight. And he doesn't want him to have privileges to get onto the campus, the White House campus, to get this blue pass, it's called. Thoughts? I mean, who's going to win this fight? Probably Elon. Scott Galloway Well, this is like when Iran and Iraq were at war. I was praying for the bullets. This is... Kara Swisher Oh my God, that's funny. Yeah. Scott Galloway Wrong, but funny. Yeah. I think it's fantastic. I want to funnel ammunition to whatever side is losing in the short run and just keep that conflict going as long as possible. So I don't, you know, I don't, I think Steve Bannon is in many ways. I mean, here's the problem. I don't think Elon Musk is as fucked up in the head as Steve Bannon, but Elon Musk is more powerful. So I think this is Steve Bannon trying to be relevant. And he sees, he recognizes, my understanding of people who know Steve Bannon say the guy is brilliant. I would agree. Say that he's one of the most well- people that they have ever met. Not a dummy. And I think he recognizes it doesn't matter why you're in the news as long as you're in the news. And he's picked the highest profile person in the world and is going after him. And I'm just here for it. It's like the Tyson fight if Tyson had been 20 years younger. I think it's going to be a great battle and really interesting. And at the end of the day, I just think Elon Musk wins here. I think that he has such adulation, idolatry, and he has more money than Bannon. And I think that generally speaking, in a capitalist society that's gone full oligarch, full kleptocracy, the good money in a political campaign on an issue is just who has the most Money. And Musk has more money, and he'll start weaponizing Twitter and his 220 million followers against Bannon. What are your thoughts? Kara Swisher He hasn't gone after Bannon that much. He goes after any one person on any day at any time, like ridiculously with hammer and tongs. He hasn't really attacked Steve Bannon. It's more than Bannon. There's Charlie Kirk. All the MAGA crowd is sort of anti-Elon, which is interesting. And I wouldn't wonder what J.D. Vance thinks right about now. He said something counter to Trump on Sunday. Scott Galloway Well, J.D. Vance, I mean, come on. He's like the wife that got shoved aside, right? Kara Swisher Yeah. Scott Galloway I remember my best friend, not my best friend, but one of my close friends when I was young, he was married and for important events, he used to show up with his mistress. What? Yeah. He used to bring his mistress to important events with his wife. Yeah. And that's how J.D. Vance must feel right now. I mean, J.D. Vance is, for all intents and purposes, not the vice president. Right. Elon Musk is. Right. And he must think, fuck, I had to go debate walls, and I had to put up with all these people, you know, and this guy's now vice president? Talking ([Time 0:14:03](https://share.snipd.com/snip/6cab8b4a-532a-4a38-a282-72bfd27c5981)) - **Wildfire Misinformation** - Misinformation about the LA wildfires, including conspiracy theories, is exacerbating the crisis. - This highlights the challenge of combating false narratives on social media during emergencies. Transcript: Kara Swisher Firefighters continue to battle Los Angeles wildfires, which have killed at least 24 people and destroyed entire neighborhoods. High winds are expected to pick up again through the middle of the week, which won't help containment efforts, although they're getting a handle on quite a bit of it. Also not helping the onslaught of misinformation about the fires, including false claims that Governor Gavin Newsom's policies, Alex Jones' conspiracy theories, and a circulation Of so much AI crap. It still is a government disaster in terms of fire management. It always is. But this is a decades-long problem in California around overbuilding, around climate issues, about not building the right stuff there. They're very stringent on earthquake building. I did that myself, not so much with wildfires. I didn't have to do anything when I was doing a renovation around wildfires. But I certainly had to do a lot around earthquakes. I just, you know, X was accessible. Meta just got rid of fact checkers. These, everyone's having to, like, even the head of HHS said you cannot beat social media outrage and falsehoods anymore. And so it's one of the things they're worried about. And of course, at the very top is Donald Trump. There's been threats about withholding aid from California unless they get in line, which I honestly, California gives more than it takes from this country. It's repulsive. You don't do that to any part of this country when there's a crisis. Thoughts? Top line thoughts, Scott Galloway? Scott Galloway There used to be. It seems like the time to blame has gotten shorter and shorter. And I thought the most repugnant one was, and there's been more repugnant statements, but Greg Gutfield on The Five and Jess Tarloff got back in his face, called the head of the fire department A DEI hire. And then Musk weighed in and said DEI equals die. The only thing that this fire captain would say about DEI or indicate is this woman is so infinitely qualified that the question is, why did it take so long for someone like that to ascend To a position of power? And to immediately kind of politicize this and to force the governor to have to put up a website and take time away from actually saving property and lives, to create a site to dispel and Push back on misinformation in the midst of this crisis. Kara Swisher And then he got attacked for that. He went on Pod Saves America and a couple of things to talk about that, to dispel things. And then like, how dare he be on podcast? I was like, he's dispelling misinformation you started. Like it was nuts. Scott Galloway And the mayor deservedly or not, she's out. It just was really unfortunate timing for her to be in Ghana. It just, and she didn't handle herself well. She's out. But the governor and the people there, I think 13,000 firefighters, something unbelievable. And I always feel like we're outgunned because on the left, there's been some people saying, well, it's clearly climate change. But they've been a little bit more measured because they're like, we don't know. And the thing about L.A. Is like, okay, so we don't know. We're more measured. And the Reich just goes fucking crazy and dominates the media cycle with saying DEI is die. Kara Swisher Right. Or all kinds of manners of conspiracy theories. There's like 90 of them. It's really crazy. And some people are people who are right now emotionally bereft are buying some of it. Right. They're getting to people at their worst. And when they're houses, they're vulnerable. And then filling them full of bile and anger does nothing to help the situation. It's really, I've had some friends who said this and this. I was like, no, that's not true. I mean, one thing that seems true is these power lines were not shut off quickly enough during what was terrible. And they don't have the newest power lines that don't bend and break. These are something we can now go and say, we need to fix this. We need to fix this. But to be, you know, one of the other things is that the reason it took so long is because California is more stringent on certain plants and things. And so it takes longer. Maybe we need to fix that, right? But you can't blame it for nature, which these winds are a stop. Friends of mine say it's just they were the strongest winds they've ever seen. However they got there, climate change, historically, those winds, if you've ever been in them, are insane. There's been a lot more wind in San Francisco lately. Like, by the way, disturbing amounts of winds. A tree fell on my house. Never in 25 years has that happened. And it wasn't even a Santa Ana wind, which are really kind of, you know, whipsawing. ([Time 0:19:59](https://share.snipd.com/snip/747d795a-a31b-41b2-afe1-15a92b05a897)) - **Essentials in a Crisis** - In a crisis like a wildfire, prioritize saving essential items. - Focus on irreplaceable things like photos and important digital data. Transcript: Kara Swisher Can I ask a question? One of the things that is so much wonder, and by some of it's been like this reel in that I used to go take the kids to all the time is gone. All these burned down, all these amazing places have burned down. And let me just tell you, for those who'd never been to Pacific Palte's and parts of Pasadena, they're Altadena, they're such beautiful places. They're some of these houses, it makes the Will, the Will Rogers estate, as I said, is so beautiful. What would you take, Scott? I was asking this to Amanda and everyone at the brunch this weekend. What would you take if you had two hours or an hour? Scott Galloway It's funny you said that. I've always said the same thing. Photos and my computer. That's it. I don't know what else. I'm actually pretty healthy that way. I'm not very attracted attached to things. ([Time 0:27:17](https://share.snipd.com/snip/e1b414b5-bcd3-4f02-bec9-d169f49130f7)) - **Insurance Crisis** - Insurance companies are pulling back from high-risk areas like California due to increasing wildfire risk. - This creates challenges for homeowners and may lead to government intervention or changes in building practices. Transcript: Scott Galloway Yeah, obviously get the hounds out. But what I've been doing is I've been calling, I want to move to a couple of things around solutions. I mean, one of the things that we're going to have the opportunity to rethink is quite frankly, a lot of these homes are tinderboxes. On the East Coast, we build with cement or we build with different materials. They build with wood and other things that quite frankly are just probably don't make sense. The insurance industry and the relationship between insurance and home values. Kara Swisher Can I put these facts in for you before you get to that? Sure. Because another crisis involves insurance. J.P. Morgan estimates the total L.A. County losses could be close to $50 billion, while losses insurers will have to pay could top $20 billion. California has seen major insurers pull back on coverage in recent years due to what one company called rapidly growing catastrophe exposure that's happening in many states, including Florida, too. Many of these people, their houses are their savings, their equity. So talk a little bit about insurance here. Scott Galloway Well, okay. So you've heard my rant on insurance. I think insurance is a transfer of wealth from the poor to the rich. So if you're wealthy and you can absorb a hit, I have a bunch of rental properties in Florida. I don't insure them because I could afford to lose them. Now, what's happened in California is the insurance companies, which are private companies and their job is to return profits to their shareholders, did the math. They're very smart. Basically, an insurance company does nothing but try and predict the future. And now with AI, I think they can predict it and calibrate it to a much greater confidence interval. And about two, three years ago, they said, this makes no fucking sense. This place is a tinderbox. And California, and you could argue this is overregulation, has put in place in certain areas with certain types of insurance, price caps saying you can't escalate faster than this. So the insurance company said, okay, girlfriend, we're out. And you had a massive number, like hundreds of thousands of homes that got a letter saying, we've canceled your insurance. This no longer makes any sense for us on a risk adjusted basis, given you live in a high propensity fire zone, so we're out. So California had to institute a program where they would back certain insurance policies. Now, effectively what that is, it's a transfer of wealth from California taxpayers to homeowners. Because as someone who lives near the beach in Florida and is subject to climate change, whatever you want to call it, the reality is I should either pay for those risks or I should move Or my home prices should go down. ([Time 0:28:16](https://share.snipd.com/snip/b4e1778a-b0ce-445a-81c9-e96f36123d31)) - **Zuckerberg's Masculinity** - Mark Zuckerberg expressed a need for more "masculine energy" in corporate culture. - He believes a renewed focus on aggression and risk-taking is positive. Transcript: Kara Swisher Scott, we're back. Mark Zuckerberg's MAGA makeover continues with a return visit to Mar-a last week and an appearance on Joe Rogan's podcast, possibly the most embarrassing one I've ever seen. Over the course of a three-hour chat with Rogan, Zuckerberg bashed his own company's fact-checking process, the Biden administration's push for content moderation in Apple for Lack of innovation. Amidst the news that Meta ended its DEI efforts, Zuckerberg lamented the rise of culturally neutered companies. Let's listen to him explain why masculine energy is so important. You know, I grew up, I have three sisters, no brothers. I have three daughters, no sons. So I'm like surrounded by girls and women like my whole life. And it's like, I think, I don't know, there's something the kind of masculine energy I think is good. And obviously, you know, society has plenty of that. But I think corporate culture was really like trying to get away from it. And I do think that there's just something, it's like, I don't know, all these forms of energy are good. And I think having a culture that celebrates the aggression a bit more has its own merits that are really positive. It sounds like this guy has divorce vibes to me. I don't know if that's all over the end. Like, what is, you just, look how he juxtaposed them. I have three sisters, no brothers, three daughters, no sons. And then he doesn't say, this is great. He says, and you know, we kind of need masculine energy again. It sounds like he feels like a fucking Ken doll or something's happened here. And that makes no sense. I had forgotten what a bad thinker he was until I listened to this interview. I've interviewed him many times. As I'm interviewing him most of the time, I'm thinking, this guy has no intellectual heft in any way or an ability to think through a clear thought. And he certainly doesn't anymore. So this was one big, I don't know, you know, puss ball of, you need some therapy, dude. That's all I kept thinking when I was listening to it. But Scott, have you been talking to Mark about masculine energy? ([Time 0:38:37](https://share.snipd.com/snip/d02659d4-0b0c-4220-a570-69f04acb4c51)) - **Galloway on Masculinity** - Scott Galloway argues that true masculinity involves protection, provision, and procreation. - He believes it stems from a desire to protect loved ones, often influenced by strong feminine figures. Transcript: Scott Galloway First off, anyone who's seen Mark Zuckerberg's new wardrobe realized he's not bringing masculine energy. He's bringing Chechen Molly dealer energy. Yeah, that's Jimmy Kimmel. Yeah. And that's the best description of his look and feel. For the most part, I think masculinity and femininity are wonderful things. They're societal constructs that can help be great guideposts and aspirational behaviors for both men and women, not sequestered to either sex. But I'm not sure that it plays a role. I don't think companies should be gendered. I don't think it's a productive conversation. Oh, but Scott, they're neutered. Kara Swisher Oh, my God. Fuck you, Mark. Go ahead. Sorry. Scott Galloway Here's on a very basic level. Masculinity means you're a protector, a provider, and a procreator, in my view. And let's just go to protection. You add surplus value. You register complaints. You give notice to people's lives. You attempt to help people more than the help you're getting. Without credit, you're willing to take risks. You're willing to be aggressive. Your operating system, your default system is that you protect people. Favorably the most favorable thing you could say about him is he's bringing kind of pragmatic billionaire energy to his company. He's being very pragmatic around kissing the ass of Donald Trump, figuring out a way to spin moderation is censorship so he can get rid of it, take $5 billion that he was spending on moderation, Put it all to the bottom line, which will increase his net worth by 15 to $20 billion. It has nothing to do with masculinity or femininity. Masculine energy, if you want to see masculine energy, look at the aerial firefighters who are former military, former civilian pilots or civilian pilots. They get in retrofitted DC-10s. They risk their lives. They bring incredible skill, risk, aggressiveness in the service of others. Yeah, he misses that part. Without the expectation of economic gain or recognition. We don't know who these guys are. Or women. Kara Swisher Let's just say that. Scott Galloway It's probably a lot of women. I'm going to go out on a limb here. It's probably a lot of women handling a lot of the infrastructure and navigation. I'm not so sure. Kara Swisher Look, Lauren Sanchez can fly a mean helicopter, right? Okay, but let's just talk about reality. Scott Galloway I bet it's 98% plus male pilots because here's the bottom line. The majority of men, the majority of aerial flight training in the military has been sequestered to men, unfairly or fairly. Probably true. And quite frankly, and I'll go out on a limb here, such a Twitter can get mad at me, men are more risk-aggressive. And in military situations, that masculine energy, that big dick energy really pays off because men are more risk-aggressive. Kara Swisher But you're talking about the service of others. I want you to take apart how he said it, the way he put together the women in his life without any praise, and then sort of had this sort of, you know, this like shitty little stew of other Things around companies with jet. Where do you use neutered? Like everything is about the dick for this guy. And I kept thinking, small dick. That's what I kept thinking the whole time. Who would talk like this who has girl daughters? Women can be aggressive. Welcome to me. Mark Zuckerberg, just for everyone knows, ran away from me at most encounters we've had. Run. Physically runs away from me. Like, he has no masculine, what he's talking about, but whatever. I mean, I am aggressive, but that's another story. Scott Galloway The base, you can't have true, in my opinion, masculine energy without having a great deal of femininity surrounding yourself. I thought Wall's best line in the debate was his advice to young men when men was to surround yourself with smart women and listen to them. Because the things that make up masculinity, surplus value, you create more tax revenue than you absorb. You listen to people complain more than you complain. You're in amazing fucking physical shape. Why? So you can protect people. It all stems from wanting to protect people in your life. And also the thing that complements it, the thing that makes it true masculinity is being around, surrounded by smart people who create nuance, who create concern, who create care, And who create nurturing, usually women. The most masculine men in the world had very strong feminine influence. The most masculine men in the world have really wonderful relationships with their mother. ([Time 0:40:40](https://share.snipd.com/snip/1465b087-22c6-4043-a697-c0f93ed1854d)) - **Meta's Hateful Conduct Policy** - Meta's new hateful conduct policy allows harmful statements towards LGBTQ+ individuals. - This decision has caused internal dissent and raises concerns about platform safety. Transcript: Kara Swisher Can I put a little note in here? I think feminine energy is protective, too. Like, I can't think of a stronger energy than a mother's energy, for example. I would kill people. I'd fucking kill them. Scott Galloway When you're an ass man, if you approach a bear, you're just like, make sure it doesn't have cubs around you. Kara Swisher Right, exactly. So, the fact that he's defining this by masculine and female, I don't even know what he's talking about. It has no role. It's like, are you a good person and a strong protector of people, male or female, Mark? There's no such thing. It sounds like he just literally has been such a beta his whole life. And let me tell you, Mark Zuckerberg is a beta, no matter how you slice it, who wants to be an alpha. I'm an alpha, Mark. You're a beta, just so you know. That's how it's going for you. But you have to clothe yourself, and you have to do your fighting, and you have to shoot, you know, buffalo, and you got to cook meat. This is all such bullshit cosplaying about what a man is. It's now become, what's interesting is someone said, I'm so glad we're back to hating Mark Zuckerberg. I do not hate him. I find him pathetic. That's absolutely true. But it's just, I don't even understand how someone could just, it feels like the midlife crisis of, like I thought Jeff Bezos was having one. This guy is in the middle of something that's personal and has nothing to do with it. But it has implications that are larger. And let me go into this. We're learning about some of the new guidelines or lack thereof. Thank you, Joel Kaplan. I'm not going to call you a piece of shit, but that's what I'm thinking. With this hateful conduct policy, statements that are permitted, including saying gays aren't normal and trans people aren't real. They're mentally ill, calling trans people it. Meta employees are voicing their concerns about these moderation changes. One employee described it as total chaos internally. Dozens of people, one of whom I'm going to have on on, said they're incandescently angry about what the need to do this is. I don't think Mark will change. He's gotten permission from his new Igor, Joel Kaplan, do so. They're not only getting rid of DEI, that is a debate to have. Amazon, McDonald's, and others are pulling back. But at the same time, Apple's board, however, is recommending that voters vote no on the shareholder proposal to eliminate companies' DEI programs. They've said this is an important part of our culture. Costco is also pushing back against anti-DEI efforts. I just, I'm going to play something that I did in an interview with Laverne Cox, activist and actor. Scott Galloway I've been advising that, I know I have very close friends who have trans kids. If your child can be stealth, I would say be stealth. Oh, wow. I would say that because it's just too unsafe. I don't want, I don't want us to be killed. I don't want us to to be murdered. I don't want parents to be taken away from their kids. If you can live stealth, it's safety. Stealth has always been about safety. Kara Swisher That was highly depressing to me because I used to live in stealth, and it's a terrible place to be. But I'd love your thoughts on what's happening here within this company in particular in that. And then, of course, attacking Apple. No, at Facebook, all of them at once moving in all these areas that are not welcomed by a lot of people and is the minimum they can do to have some safety on their platform without letting People not be people. ([Time 0:45:20](https://share.snipd.com/snip/6b482225-36e3-4ad6-b023-eb14555e9cb3)) - **Billionaires and Conspiracies** - Kara Swisher observes a concerning trend among tech billionaires, including Zuckerberg and Musk, embracing conspiracy theories. - She questions their motivations and criticizes their harmful rhetoric. Transcript: Kara Swisher Can I get away just from shareholder? What do you think is happening to these men? They're not just shareholder. There's something else happening. I can't fucking figure it out. They, like, I can tell you a dozen people who were utterly normal, who send me crazy shit about trans people, about vaccines, about all these people were completely normal. And now it's beyond shareholder. It's something else. Scott Galloway Should the Democrats, should the first executive action of President Biden be around trans athletes and wait three years for any policy on immigration? No. The Democrats have invited this bullshit, but being hyper-focused on niche issues that don't affect that many people, instead of just saying we have laws to protect them or we're going To force the laws. At the same time, the far right deciding to find this small group of people and demonize them and terrorize them. I mean, one is stupid. What the far left has done has been tone deaf and politically stupid. What the far right has done is just inhuman. It's just not, you don't treat people that way. Kara Swisher But why have all these, all tech, all tech, like except if they work for W, the worldwide wrestling organization or something like that, something has happened to so many of them and Their love of conspiracy theories. ([Time 0:52:13](https://share.snipd.com/snip/03a0ece3-68fe-4fde-b8f0-57ba00b2e44f)) - **Advice for Zuckerberg** - Kara Swisher criticizes Mark Zuckerberg's recent behavior and statements. - She advises him to focus on philanthropy and family rather than public pronouncements. Transcript: Kara Swisher Masculine energy is about crying too. My win is the Justice Department has released a report correcting the flawed record on the Tulsa race massacre of 1921. I am so thrilled they did it before Trump got in office that he would have quashed it, confirming it was not just mob violence, but a coordinated military-style attack to ruin what was One of the wealthiest Black communities in the U.S. I read the whole report. This is a topic. This incident was so hidden for so long, and it's gotten a lot of press in the recent years. And there's been some cases about reparations and everything else. But what happened here was heinous. This was a thriving, economically smart, fast-forward, wealthiest black communities in the U.S. That they decimated. And I'll tell you, the pictures look, they burnt it down. They burnt it down. And it was over an unclear situation between a black man and a white woman. And obviously, which is all these things start like that. But I recommend reading it. And I commend the Justice Department for releasing the report, especially now before that. So that's, you know, my win. I think my fail is these billionaires, and they're, you know what? You have the most money of anyone in the history of the planet, and you're miserable people, and you don't bring anything but misery on people. You do not help people. Stop, you know, peacocking around. You are tiny, small men right now, and you couldn't be smaller. And you have the opportunity. When Elon Musk attacked Mackenzie Scott, Jeff Bezos' ex-wife, for being a danger, or Melinda Gates for being a danger, that's what they do. You know what Mackenzie Scott did? She doubled her giving. She gabbled. That's what masculine energy is, or whatever they want to call it. Scott Galloway And by the way, that is masculine energy. Kara Swisher Yeah, that's correct. Scott Galloway And I always feel as if I need an asterisk here. A lot of men, including myself and my closest friends, demonstrate wonderful femininity, nurturing, more thoughtful, more measured, more protected. And a lot of women demonstrate fantastic masculine energy. The only kind of caveat I would put to what you're saying is there are a lot of billionaires in LA and in tech who are trying to do the right thing. Right away, Brian Chesky came out with a program that said, if you need a place to live, go on our platform or a place to stay and we're going to help you. Yep. Kara Swisher For free. He did it before. He did that before in many other cases. Scott Galloway It's the opportunists and opportunists go up and down the income stack. But when you start saying DEI is a die or asking the governor to resign because he's a threat to your vice president in 2028 and creating conspiracy theory and letting conspiracy run Amok. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to weaponize or take over your fail. Kara Swisher You can take it. Let me just say, you know what you should do, Mark? Get off fucking Joe Rogan and write a check. Just write a check. A hundred percent. Just write a check. Shut up. We don't need any more of your outfits or your chains. Write a check. Keep your mouth shut and stop being such an endless pathetic, whatever you happen to be. Write a check. That's what we want from you. And that's all we want. ([Time 1:02:58](https://share.snipd.com/snip/3458e7ff-c04b-48fc-b643-51fa1245f5bd))