# CEO Shooting, Bitcoin Surge, and Bezos’s Trump Optimism  ## Episode metadata - Episode title: CEO Shooting, Bitcoin Surge, and Bezos’s Trump Optimism - Show: Pivot - Owner / Host: New York Magazine - Episode publish date: 2024-12-06 - Episode AI description: In a lively discussion, the aftermath of CEO Brian Thompson's murder sparks social media reactions. Jeff Bezos expresses optimism about a second Trump term, while Sam Altman seeks harmony with Elon Musk. Additionally, Trump's SEC pick boosts Bitcoin's value amid political turbulence in South Korea and France. The conversation touches on media ethics, healthcare challenges, and the influence of social media on political discontent, all wrapped in engaging banter and insightful analysis. - Duration: 01:02:02 - Episode URL: [Open in Snipd](https://share.snipd.com/episode/cac53578-329d-4d56-9802-09a5a59f3d97) - Show URL: [Open in Snipd](https://share.snipd.com/show/7408c280-67c6-47d1-9abc-b35a8ba5029e) - Export date: 2026-02-17T23:34:03 ## Snips ### [Media Ownership for Billionaires](https://share.snipd.com/snip/1c775c47-b2d2-4dc9-8b5d-8a6ed1ddf6ef) 🎧 10:21 - 12:30 (02:08) <iframe src="https://share.snipd.com/embed/obsidian-player/snip/58bbb30f-3fa3-4cef-844f-dab5748f70bb" width="100%" height="100" style="border: none; border-radius: 12px;" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-forms allow-popups allow-clipboard-write" ></iframe> - Billionaires should avoid owning influential media outlets due to potential conflicts of interest. - Their involvement can compromise journalistic integrity and public trust. #### 💬 Quote > If you're going to take over a national treasure like the Washington Post, [...] it really does play an important role. And [...] Bezos [...] generally was thought of it as [...] a goodwill gesture towards the community. > — Scott Galloway Scott Galloway on Jeff Bezos' ownership of the Washington Post #### 📚 Transcript **Kara Swisher:** I don't know. I just think he wants space contracts. That's really pretty much what I took away from that one. Thoughts? **Scott Galloway:** There's a couple of things. One, I agree with you. If you're going to take over a national treasure like the Washington Post, which plays an outsized role relative to its actual business in the policing, in the truth to power, neither fear nor favor, it really does play an important role. And I do think that, oh, no, excuse me, I do think that Bezos saw that and bought it for a song, $250 million, you said? Yeah. Bought it for a song and generally was thought of it as, I don't know, a goodwill gesture towards the community. At least that's how he positioned and framed it. **Kara Swisher:** He did. And **Scott Galloway:** a lot billionaires buy media companies or control them because they're thinking, if anyone comes after me, I can defend it with this heat shield called my own media network, or I can evangelize my own political views. Media is just so goddamn powerful. Eventually, almost every billionaire either has an interest in or decides to control a media company, recognizing that's the ultimate prophylactic and the ultimate offensive weapon. So when he gets involved, when he makes editorial decisions, choosing to not endorse anyone was an endorsement of Trump. **Kara Swisher:** Right, of course. At the last minute, too. At the last minute. **Scott Galloway:** Yeah, it was an endorsement of Trump. And that is terrible for the culture. It was a really low, what I'll call management EQ move. You're creating dissent across a group of talented people where there's already strain because the business is strained. So you're adding chaos where there doesn't need to be. So you're right. He's the wrong owner. He should put it in a trust such that he can say, guys, I have no influence. Mr. President, I have no influence over this thing. I know that article they wrote about you saying that you've been, that you're a felon, that you've been found guilty by jury of your peers of rape, that you actually coordinated and inspired an insurrection. owner because he has a conflict. And that is the right thing for him to do as a fiduciary for Amazon shareholders is to unnaturally kiss Donald Trump's ass because it works. --- ### [Impact of Endorsements](https://share.snipd.com/snip/5cc65d55-f9cb-44ea-b96c-80324ac6f609) 🎧 14:05 - 14:31 (00:25) <iframe src="https://share.snipd.com/embed/obsidian-player/snip/62d2dcc8-449e-4e8e-bd7c-8a5a5174f50e" width="100%" height="100" style="border: none; border-radius: 12px;" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-forms allow-popups allow-clipboard-write" ></iframe> - Presidential endorsements from media owners create a perception of bias. - Bezos' actions confirm this, undermining the Washington Post's independence. #### 💬 Quote > Presidential endorsements actually do is create a perception of bias, a perception of non-independence. This is exactly what happened by his clodest decision at the wrong time, and then his effusive praise. > — Kara Swisher Kara Swisher on the impact of Bezos' actions #### 📚 Transcript **Kara Swisher:** She never was public in any way. She's got an extra responsibility. Something Bezos said, what presidential endorsements actually do is create a perception of bias, a perception of non-independence. This is exactly what happened by his clodest decision at the wrong time, and then his effusive praise. That's exactly, like every accusation, as I say, is a confession with these people. Anyway, we'll see, Jeff, good luck. But I have to tell you, most people there thought you seemed like an arrogant twit. --- ### [Musk's Use of Power](https://share.snipd.com/snip/9c677dd6-8b18-443b-8ff4-0dc8d0a69a37) 🎧 14:31 - 15:37 (01:05) <iframe src="https://share.snipd.com/embed/obsidian-player/snip/69e204f9-3cf9-43c5-8f15-b4067ea51b23" width="100%" height="100" style="border: none; border-radius: 12px;" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-forms allow-popups allow-clipboard-write" ></iframe> - Sam Altman believes Elon Musk won't abuse political power to harm competitors. - Scott Galloway disagrees, citing Musk's history of using various tactics for advantage. #### 💬 Quote > Elon will do the right thing and that Americans, it'd be profoundly un-American to use political power to the degree that Elon has it to hurt your competitors and advantage your own businesses. > — Sam Altman Sam Altman on Elon Musk's potential misuse of power #### 📚 Transcript **Kara Swisher:** Sam also had some interesting things to say at the summit. Sam Altman, he noted that there have been misalignments and challenges in the open AI-Microsoft relationship. No shit, but insisted the two companies were not disentangling. He played down AI threats that artificial general intelligence will arrive soon, and discussed OpenAI's transition to a for-profit model. He was asked, obviously, about Elon Musk's relationship with Trump because Elon's back to suing him again, as we discussed last week, and possible misuse of power. Let's listen. **Scott Galloway:** I believe that pretty strongly, I mean, it may turn out to be wrong, but I believe pretty strongly that Elon will do the right thing and that Americans, it'd be profoundly un-American to use political power to the degree that Elon has it to hurt your competitors and advantage your own businesses. And I don't think people would tolerate that. I don't think Elon would do it. It would go, again, lots of things not to like about him, but it would go so deeply against the values I believe he holds very dear to himself that I'm not that worried about it. --- ### [Reactions to CEO Murder](https://share.snipd.com/snip/0e5ba8c1-e6a1-485e-83e6-1c165b56a9cc) 🎧 19:10 - 20:46 (01:35) <iframe src="https://share.snipd.com/embed/obsidian-player/snip/63948774-7489-48b8-8da3-6615a64d3f20" width="100%" height="100" style="border: none; border-radius: 12px;" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-forms allow-popups allow-clipboard-write" ></iframe> - The murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson sparked appalling online reactions. - Many blamed the healthcare system, while others condemned the ghoulish behavior. #### 💬 Quote > The shocking murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson [...] has prompted [...] a wave of social media reactions, including incredibly tasteless jokes. > — Kara Swisher Kara Swisher on the reactions to Brian Thompson's murder #### 📚 Transcript **Kara Swisher:** Nothing to do with me, but the shocking murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in Midtown Manhattan on Wednesday has prompted that the killing in itself was targeted. They don't know by whom, but it's prompted a wave of social media reactions, including incredibly tasteless jokes. Users took jabs at UnitedHealthcare, health insurance in general. Thompson's company is the largest private health insurer in the U.S. and many in the industry. It's been targeted with lawsuits and criticism over allegedly denying claims to maximize profits. Thompson's wife said her husband in getting threats that seemed to be tied to lack of coverage. But the behavior of people online was just appalling. Clara Jeffrey from Mother Jones, who I think is quite a good journalist, we can all hate insurance companies without cheering the murder of someone or worse, trying to monetize content about that murder, really gross day on the internet today. And I agreed. I said, you're ghouls to do this. And I have to tell you, I got a spate of, and a reporter who's covering this said, Mike Hixenbaugh said, you're about to be sworn by bad faith replies from people who want to believe that not celebrating murder makes you a bootlicking apologist for our broken healthcare system. And I have to tell you, he was 100% right. I got all these terrible. I had to turn off the comments on Blue Sky, which I never have had to do. But they were all really unpleasant. Like, it's okay to murder this guy because he murders people. And I've gunned them down in cold blood in the street of New York. It was shocking. I don't know how you felt. And again, I get it. People are mad at the healthcare industry. But to celebrate this guy's death is a heinous. And the people who did it are really ghouls as far as I'm concerned. --- ### [Medical Debt Crisis](https://share.snipd.com/snip/a744aa9f-25a9-4687-87c4-35e17af5d5bf) 🎧 20:46 - 24:21 (03:35) <iframe src="https://share.snipd.com/embed/obsidian-player/snip/3ed62ea1-eb49-4f89-86b0-f8dc009ed0c5" width="100%" height="100" style="border: none; border-radius: 12px;" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-forms allow-popups allow-clipboard-write" ></iframe> - Medical debt is a major problem, with 41% of U.S. adults burdened by it. - High healthcare costs and denials contribute to societal despair, exemplified by Thompson's murder. #### 💬 Quote > The people who empathize with this [...] are the 41% of U.S. adults that currently have some form of debt caused by their own or a family member's medical or dental bills. > — Scott Galloway Scott Galloway on medical debt in the U.S. #### 📚 Transcript **Scott Galloway:** I think it's all reverse engineers to the same place as most of our problems, and that is massive income inequality. And the people, let me be clear right up front, this is murder, and I hope they find this person, pursue him to the four corners of the earth, and bring him to justice. And my heart really does go out to the the family. The people who empathize with this or can not empathize with it, can understand why it happened are the 41% of U.S. that currently have some form of debt caused by their own or a family member's medical or dental bills. Absolutely. Healthcare expenditures in the U.S. are $12,500 per person, about $4,000 more than any other high-income nation with worse outcomes. The number one cause of bankruptcy is medical debt. So what you have is a massive regulatory capture. You have a health care system. You and I get the best health care in the world because we're wealthy. But that top 10%, the bottom 90 has been optimized for regulatory capture and shareholder value across the medical industrial complex. And the people who've done the worst are the bottom 90 and also, quite frankly, frontline medical workers. But when you find out your wife has lung cancer, that's the bad news. The worst news is it probably means there's a decent chance your family might go bankrupt. And so there is so much despair. And one of the charts circulated. And again, this in no way justifies murder. But one of the charts being circulated shows that the greatest number of claim denials is from, you guessed it, UnitedHealthcare. And if you look at the bullets, when I first heard we do an editorial call to talk about what issues we're going to talk about at Prof G, and I said, let's not talk about this because we don't know. As far as we know, this is just an insane person. We just don't know what happened here. Let's not connect it to a broader theme. The thing that made me change my mind and feel like you can connect it to societal issues is the following. The casings on the bullets had inscribed in them, deny, deflect, and delay. That's the name of a book, the title of a book that's about how insurance companies deny claims. This was clearly, that's not to say this person isn't mentally ill, but this was clearly rooted or inspired by some weird notion of restoration of societal injustice. You **Kara Swisher:** know, I completely get it. I there's two different things going on here. Anger over healthcare. And you can either be, not positive, you can either take positive steps, like Mark Cuban is doing with Cost Plus or trying to bring down health care costs or attacking these companies in legislatively and with lawsuits and everything else. And I understand this is not the solution. I this **Scott Galloway:** is not the solution. **Kara Swisher:** And by the way, these aren't the people who are denied health care, but those people are not on the Twitter and they don't get to go on here and do this. And I just think it brings down, there's no solutions in doing this. And I don't think it makes change. If it made change, I'd be like, ah, like the people in Korea, they went, they scaled the fence and things happened, right? I get all that stuff. This is just, it's a really ugly part of humanity. And you're right, we have to solve, we absolutely have to solve this healthcare problem that is continuing because this is where it goes. This is exactly where it goes to a murder on the street of New York. And in any case, it's a sick symptom of our society because we don't keep people healthy and we treat them only with shareholder value. You're 100% right. All right, Scott, let's go on a quick break. --- ### [Global Political Upheaval](https://share.snipd.com/snip/9dfa4549-6b4a-4ad2-8b8c-92ebe564a86d) 🎧 27:56 - 32:39 (04:43) <iframe src="https://share.snipd.com/embed/obsidian-player/snip/2b6ac706-77f2-423c-8b48-96ced72d1665" width="100%" height="100" style="border: none; border-radius: 12px;" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-forms allow-popups allow-clipboard-write" ></iframe> - The French government collapsed after a no-confidence vote over budget proposals. - South Korea's president faced impeachment after declaring martial law, then revoking it. #### 💬 Quote > The French government collapsed [...] after Parliament voted out to oust Prime Minister Michel Barnier and his cabinet. > — Kara Swisher Kara Swisher on global political instability #### 📚 Transcript **Kara Swisher:** Scott, we're back with more headlines. In international news, the French government collapsed on Wednesday after Parliament voted out to oust Prime Minister Michel Barnier and his cabinet. The vote was called after Barnier pushed an unpopular budget proposal without parliamentary approval. Marine Le Pen of France's far right led the opposition against the budget. President Macron will have to appoint a new prime minister. And also, at the same time, South Korea's president is facing impeachment vote after declaring martial law that turned rather quickly and after revoking the motion due to political pressure and a lot of people coming down there and climbing the fences. It was really interesting how quickly South Korea turned that around, the people of South Korea. But it's really, there's so much chaos happening across the world. Any thoughts? I **Scott Galloway:** think it's linked to the vile messages you're getting. And I know this sounds paranoid, but it doesn't mean I'm wrong. But if I were the head of the GRU or the CCP or the security services in the Islamic regime, I would think, okay, we can't defeat them economically. We can't defeat them militarily. Let's leverage their CapEx, their hunger for shareholder value over everything, their inability to regulate these platforms. And let's use AI to create millions of bots that get people fighting with one another. a powerful yet controversial figure who's a journalist who weighs in with an issue, let's just automatically try and start fights and get people hating each other and get people depressed and upset. That's what I would do if I were the head of the GRU. Now **Kara Swisher:** to France. Now to France. **Scott Galloway:** Well, okay. So what you have across the world is every incumbent party is being kicked out because everybody hates every, no is satisfied. Everybody is. And it goes back to the same thing. Get every democracy arguing and believing that their country is doing really poorly. If you just read the media, if you just went on social media, you would think that America is just a fucking mess right now. No, it's not. I mean, we have issues, no doubt about it. But show me almost any special interest group, maybe at the exception of pregnant women and trans people, I would argue gay people, non-whites, the poor, almost everybody is doing markedly better than they were 10, 20, 40, 50 years ago. you would believe that there needs to, every spark here turns into a five car alarm because they are smarter than us. And our superpowers are optimism, but the externality of the Achilles heel of that is that we're easier to fool than convinced we've been fooled. Kara, I think in 20 years, we're going to look back and see the information war of Goebbels, of Nazi Germany, of whether GRU did. And I think they're going to look at America and how these platforms were weaponized to get us hating each other such that we no longer talk to our neighbors. We no longer went on dates. We hated every incumbent person in power thinking that they were the problem. And almost every Western nation has seen turnover in their leadership. Does that mean they're all bad or is something else going on? And it's the same thing. **Kara Swisher:** was heartened by South Korea, how quickly they turned that around. Yeah, but he's **Scott Galloway:** out. He's out. **Kara Swisher:** He's out. That's right. He's out. But he really made a rather... **Scott Galloway:** Well, that was stupid. That was like one of the most biggest self-inflicted, declaring law in a democracy. But I just hope Trump isn't taking notes. I **Kara Swisher:** don't think he is. I think he's taking notes like what happened in South Korea could happen to him, right? He have... Good By the way, there was another Democrat that won a seat in California. Oh, 200 votes. It just 200 votes. It crazy. A Democrat won in California and it flipped the seat. So now Congress is so close. It's crazy. And because Trump has appointed several Congress people, they don't have they have like almost one or two scooch rooms. So you know, any single congressman can overturn anything on the Republican side. So it's really, we have to get along. We literally, no one's going to get anything done if we don't get along in some fashion or find compromise. So I would agree with you. It's really- National **Scott Galloway:** service, final five voting, ranked choice voting. All of us have a personal obligation to take the heat down. I mean, there's just a lot. And also, wake up. Our platforms, our media, Americans, two thirds of Americans get their news from social media. It has been weaponized. This is no different than if the Kremlin had controlled CBS, ABC and NBC in the 60s. And yet we've decided to let it happen. --- ### [Trump's Cabinet Picks](https://share.snipd.com/snip/09fd3188-85a8-416e-b212-87dccca202ea) 🎧 33:08 - 36:36 (03:28) <iframe src="https://share.snipd.com/embed/obsidian-player/snip/d4e2b86c-25ad-46e5-aa06-4a7f6a25a15e" width="100%" height="100" style="border: none; border-radius: 12px;" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-forms allow-popups allow-clipboard-write" ></iframe> - Trump's potential cabinet picks include controversial figures like Pete Hegseth. - Other nominees, like Paul Atkins for SEC and Gail Slater for antitrust, seem more qualified. #### 💬 Quote > Pete Hegseth is campaigning to keep his spot as Pickford Defense Secretary when a Trump report he considers replacing with Ron DeSantis, who seems very qualified in comparison. > — Kara Swisher Kara Swisher on Trump's cabinet picks #### 📚 Transcript **Kara Swisher:** I know. Don't insult them. I'm not to you back in. Pete Hegseth is campaigning to keep his spot as Pickford Defense Secretary when a Trump report he considers replacing with Ron DeSantis, who seems very qualified in comparison. Isn't that funny? I know. And let me just add some more. Over at the SEC, Trump has nominated Paul Adkins as chairman. I think people feel pretty good about that. Adkins was an SEC commissioner under President George Bush and his favorite of a crypto community. The price of Bitcoin hit $100,000 for the first time Wednesday. And lastly, the Justice Department. Trump nominated Gail Slater as the head of the antitrust division. Slater was policy advisor for vice president like J.D. Vance and served as a tech policy advisor at National Economic Council during Trump's first term. I'm not hearing bad things about her. I think she's quite anti-tech, actually, although she's worked for some tech companies, I think. They all have. So, look, these other ones seem fine, and there's several fines. And then you have, they throw out Peter Navarro. You know, crazy, fine, fine, fine, crazy, fine, fine, fine. Pete Hegseth, wow, what a media story. He's out. This **Scott Galloway:** has just gotten too far. When his mom goes on Fox to say she didn't mean it, and he had a nonprofit that he was bilking for his own personal expenses. When he showed up, he was drunk, hitting on people. I mean, he's toast. There are already five Republican senators that have said they're concerned, which means basically don't make me vote no, resign. I bet he's out in the next. I **Kara Swisher:** think Lindsey Graham has flip-flopped again. He was negative and now he's, but you know. **Scott Galloway:** Yeah, because Trump called him and said, I'll tell you when to be negative. He's out in the next 24, 40 hours. The good news is with respect to the SEC pick, I do think something rational comes over, washes over Trump when it comes to these picks. And then you can't say that about Peter Navarro. Peter Navarro struck me as a total fucking nut. But anyways, the SEC, I think, is it's an important position. This guy seems very credible to me. Also, you know, Governor DeSantis, I'm a resident of Florida. I don't like his policies. **Kara Swisher:** run things. He's **Scott Galloway:** a competent individual. And also the people I know who work with Governor DeSantis have always said he's very data-driven. He was a lawyer for the Navy. He's qualified. And- **Kara Swisher:** No, he handled the hurricane. I'm not a favorite. The fingers is not my favorite, but he handled the hurricane fine. And I mean, comparison, the comparison to this guy, that's, it's like the lowest of bars, this guy. He's qualified. He's qualified. **Scott Galloway:** He's certainly qualified. What do you think of Senator Ernst? I don't know much about her. I **Kara Swisher:** think she's great. I think she's really interesting. I don't agree with her on tons of stuff. But I think she's trying very hard because she doesn't want to get primary necessarily. And at the same time, I don't think anyone blames her for being like, Pete says, get the fuck out of my office and don't grab my boobs, right? You know, that kind of thing. She served, and of course, she had issues with sexual harassment in the military, served in combat. Really, you know, deserves to be heard on this one. And whatever she wants is what should happen. I know her name was bandied about for that job, but I think it's DeSantis is the one. Because he turns out, and then he's got, there's not really a lot. He could run for office to try to take over for Trump from the Defense Department. I don't know. My favorite, I have to say, it has unleashed an incredible series of, also, Pete has said, letting your mommy, after insulting and sexually arousing women, letting your mommy fix your problem is really something else. --- ### [Dream Cabinet](https://share.snipd.com/snip/537fc5da-e2d8-43c4-a854-e829e9a11674) 🎧 44:04 - 47:40 (03:35) <iframe src="https://share.snipd.com/embed/obsidian-player/snip/96c73924-c966-461a-b73a-dfcdbf7fe297" width="100%" height="100" style="border: none; border-radius: 12px;" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-forms allow-popups allow-clipboard-write" ></iframe> - Key cabinet positions include Defense, Attorney General, and Treasury. - Consider experienced, non-partisan individuals like Jamie Dimon or Michael Bennett. #### 💬 Quote > Which positions do each of you consider the most important positions and why? And second, if you were president, who would you nominate for the most important positions in your administration and why? > — David Listener question about dream cabinet #### 📚 Transcript **Kara Swisher:** The question comes from David. Let's listen. I've listened to the last few podcasts **Scott Galloway:** in which both of you discussed the various nominees Trump has put forward for cabinet and other important administration positions. My question for each of you has two parts. Which positions do each of you consider the most important positions and why? And second, if you were president, who would you nominate for the most important positions in your administration and why? Thanks. My name is David. **Kara Swisher:** Oh, that's interesting. That's a great question. I'll start. I think the Secretary of Defense is critically important. The Attorney General is critically important. And obviously, the Treasury Secretary. So if I was President Trump, or if I'm if I'm me, I probably would have picked Jamie Dimon for the Treasury job. For the head of the Defense Department, that would be interesting. I'd have to think maybe, oh God, I wouldn't say Pete Buttigieg, but someone who served who understands how to run big systems. There's lots of people like that. Certainly not Pete Hegseth by any means. I could run it better than him. And then the third, Attorney General, someone not quite as partisan and who didn't deny the election like Pam Bondi. I do think she actually has qualifications. There's no question she ran a big, important state's HSAG. She knows her way around a courtroom, as they say. But I think those are the most important. But I, one of the ones, as we were just talking about this United Healthcare thing is the Health and Human Services Director. I would make that Mark Cuban, you know, or someone like that. You need to facilitate change in how healthcare goes in this country very drastically and how we eat and the chemicals that are in our system. I completely agree with that. But this friggin' nut job, RFK Jr., who now looks good next to these other people, is a disaster, especially around vaccines and everything else. So someone who respects science, I would say Mark Cuban for that job. Your turn, Scott? **Scott Galloway:** I would go. I like the whole cable news as a cabinet strategy. I'd have Dana Bash, except I'd go another cable network. I think the people at CNN are so impressive. I think it should be President Dana Bash. Her vice president is Anderson Cooper. And we laugh, but these people would be a hell of a lot more competent than some of the people he's proposing now. Peter Hegseth and Peter Navarro, give me a fucking break. Or Kash Patel. Michael Smirconish, I'd like to be Secretary of Commerce. I'd like to see, I would, there's so many outstanding, I'd love to see Michael Bennett as Secretary of Education. I think Vivek Murthy as Head of Health and Human Services. I think he is the most consequential Surgeon General in history, bringing up loneliness and the stress on parents. There's a ton of fantastic. Oh, I would put together the hottest and most competent cabinet in history. And I give AOC a job just because she's ridiculously fucking hot. Good. Also competent. And important to have good looking people. **Kara Swisher:** Okay. **Scott Galloway:** But Ro Khanna would have a spot in there. I think Amy Klobuchar, I put it, the head of the FTC or the DOJ. Is she **Kara Swisher:** a lawyer? DOJ, yes, yes, yes. Yes, she wrote that big, giant antitrust book, remember? She's a good lawyer. She's **Scott Galloway:** a lawyer. Oh, **Kara Swisher:** she'd be a good AG. Oh, yeah, you're right. **Scott Galloway:** a gangster. She's not afraid of anybody. Yeah, I would have a ton of—I could—oh, my God. Give me the chessboard. I will put the pieces in the right place. **Kara Swisher:** What would we be? What would be our job if you had to pick one? We **Scott Galloway:** do exactly what we're doing right now because our lives are really nice. I understand. --- ### [Iran Uprising Prediction](https://share.snipd.com/snip/89fc274b-987e-483f-b18f-0d8a172e2dab) 🎧 57:41 - 01:00:00 (02:19) <iframe src="https://share.snipd.com/embed/obsidian-player/snip/279c8360-c627-4b1f-a3b1-746d85bc5f6f" width="100%" height="100" style="border: none; border-radius: 12px;" sandbox="allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-forms allow-popups allow-clipboard-write" ></iframe> - Potential uprising and revolution are predicted in Iran due to weakened proxies and vulnerable air defenses. - This instability creates an opportunity for internal and external forces. #### 💬 Quote > I think you're going to see an uprising in the beginning of potentially what is a revolution in Iran. > — Scott Galloway Scott Galloway predicting an uprising in Iran #### 📚 Transcript **Kara Swisher:** Scott, don't bring me down. Let's hear a prediction. **Scott Galloway:** I've been taking these ridiculously long walks with my dogs. have weird predictions. The first is sort of a serious one. I think that we're so focused on some of the stuff domestically that the biggest news are usually things we're not thinking about. I think you're going to see an uprising in the beginning of potentially what is a revolution in Iran. Iran's proxies, of which they've invested tens of billions of dollars over the last couple of decades, the Houthis, Hezbollah, Hamas, and now Syria, which is in the of its own uprising, has essentially had their hands cut off. And I think a lot of the people within Iran, you know, you shouldn't say Iran when you're talking about the leadership there, you should talk about the Islamic regime or the Islamic Republic, because the Iranian people, in my view, this is a leadership that is corrupt, incredibly, I think the Ayatollah is sitting on a house of cards right now, or Khomeini, I should say. And I think that Bashar al-Assad's weakness, the second largest city, Aleppo, has been taken by rebels or HTS. I don't know how to pronounce his name. But I think effectively Iran is more vulnerable right now than they have been in a couple decades. And I imagine adversarial parties within the country sense that and will strike soon. So 2025, I think the biggest or one of biggest news stories will be an uprising in Iran based **Kara Swisher:** on... would if an incumbent lost power in that regard. An incumbent Speaking incumbents losing power. Oh, yeah. Yeah, we were talking about incumbents losing power across the globe. Well, **Scott Galloway:** I mean, Hamas has the support of the Palestinian people. The Islamic regime does not in Iran. And I think that all of their proxies being weakened and also all of their buffer states, you know, Iranian air defenses are really vulnerable right now. Israel, it's really weird. The East is being dictated by three non-Arab nations. It's really Iran, Israel, and you could argue Turkey right now, which is kind of filling that vacuum. I mean, and Assad was going to turn to Russia. Russia has its own issues in Ukraine. I think all of the cards, all of the tea leaves are turning up really bad for Iran right now. And I think domestic rebel forces or people who want to overthrow this regime, which I think the West would like to see, probably feel more jonesed up and confident right now than they've been in a while. That's a serious prediction. I have a less serious prediction. --- Created with [Snipd](https://www.snipd.com) | Highlight & Take Notes from Podcasts