Sen. Tillis Unfiltered: Trump, Iran & What’s Next For the GOP
Since announcing his decision to retire last year, North Carolina Republican Sen. Thom Tillis has become a kind of thorn in MAGA’s side, holding up appointments and voicing criticisms about legislation favored by President Trump. But his resistance raises a perennial question about Republicans in the Trump era: Why do lawmakers only push back when they’re on the way out?
Kara and Sen. Tillis talk about his concerns over the Trump administration’s handling of the war in Iran; why he thinks newly confirmed Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin will be an improvement over his predecessor, Kristi Noem; and why Tillis aims his criticisms at Trump’s advisers rather than Trump himself. They also talk about his worries about the upcoming midterms and where he thinks the party is headed after Trump leaves office.
Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Threads, and Bluesky @onwithkaraswisher.
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Senator Mark Warner: Nobody’s Ready for What AI Could Do To Us
U.S. Senator Mark Warner is a three-term Virginia senator and vice chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee. Senator Warner joins Big Technology to discuss whether Washington is prepared for the economic and societal disruptions of rapidly advancing AI. Tune in to hear why Warner believes recent college graduate unemployment could surge from 9% to 30% and why he's more frightened than reassured about Congress's ability to respond at speed. We also cover the Anthropic-Pentagon relationship, AI romantic relationships, data center opposition polling, and the ongoing battle over congressional stock trading. Hit play for a rare conversation with one of the few senators who actually understands what's at stake.
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Sen. Mark Warner On What Trump Is Risking With War in Iran
As the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee and a member of the Gang of Eight, Virginia Sen. Mark Warner is among the select few members of Congress who get to sit in on top intelligence briefings. But with the war in Iran now in its third week, Warner says the administration still hasn’t presented any plans to meet President Trump’s demands for the regime’s “unconditional surrender.”
Kara and Sen. Warner talk about what he’s hearing from the administration about its timeline for the war, why the regime is unlikely to fall anytime soon, and why he thinks an unstable Iran could pose more of a risk to U.S. interests. They also talk about the risks the already unpopular war could pose if it drags on longer than the administration anticipates.
Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Threads, and Bluesky @onwithkaraswisher.
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Bernie Sanders on Beating Authoritarianism, Billionaires & AOC
In the wake of President Trump’s return to the White House, independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders spent months crisscrossing the nation rallying huge crowds in red and blue states during his Fighting Oligarchy tour. His new book, “Fight Oligarchy,” is an extension of those rallies and also serves as a blueprint for how everyday Americans can push back against the deep-pocketed forces shaping politics today. But at 84 years old, the two-time presidential candidate is also looking to the future of the progressive movement he helped build.
Kara and Sen. Sanders talk about his headline speech at this weekend’s No King’s rally in Washington, D.C.; the corrosive effects he thinks billionaire donors have on the Democratic Party; and the ongoing government shutdown. They also chat about how he’s getting involved early in next year’s midterm elections to help boost progressive candidates — both Democrats and independents like him — in races across the country.
Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Threads, and Bluesky @onwithkaraswisher.
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Sen. Smith on the Shutdown, Democrats’ Future, and Retiring Early
At age 67, Sen. Tina Smith (D, MN) is doing something that’s still rather rare for senators: retiring at a relatively young age, after just one full term in office. Smith’s open Senate seat is one of five Democrats will have to defend in next year’s midterm elections, in what’s shaping up to be a tough cycle. But with a little more than a year left in office, she still has to work on the big problems facing the Democratic Party, and the nation more broadly, including a rise in political violence and this week’s looming government shutdown.
In a live conversation recorded Saturday at the annual MinnPost Festival in downtown Minneapolis, Kara and Smith talk about why she thinks Democrats shouldn’t cave to Republican demands to keep the government open; how more of her colleagues should opt to retire instead of run for re-election; and what Democrats need to do to come out ahead in next year’s midterm elections. Smith also reflects on the recent spate of political violence, including the assasination of her friend and fellow Minnesota Democrat, Melissa Hortman, in June. (The gunman reportedly included the senator on his hit list.)
Thank you to MinnPost for hosting this conversation.
Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Threads, and Bluesky @onwithkaraswisher.
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BONUS INTERVIEW: Senator Mark Warner on Signalgate, Volt Typhoon and tariffs
In this extended interview the Vice Chair of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Senator Mark Warner, joins Risky Business host Patrick Gray to talk about:
The latest developments in the Signalgate scandal
Why America needs to be more aggressive in responding to Volt Typhoon
How tariffs are affecting American alliances
Why the Five Eyes alliance is sacrosanct
This episode is available on Youtube
Show notes
U.S. Strategic BTC Reserve - The BITCOIN Act | Senator Cynthia Lummis
U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis is a leading Bitcoin advocate in Congress who recently introduced her proposal, "the Bitcoin Act," which seeks to create a strategic Bitcoin reserve for the United States of America. In today's episode, we explore how the bill could address the $35 trillion debt, the conversion of gold certificates to Bitcoin, and its economic implications.
------ 🎬 DEBRIEF | Ryan & David unpacking the episode: https://www.bankless.com/debrief-the-cynthia-lummis-interview
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------ ✨ Mint the episode on Zora ✨ https://zora.co/manage/1155/zora:0x0c294913a7596b427add7dcbd6d7bbfc7338d53f/56
------ TIMESTAMPS
0:00 Intro 6:40 The Bitcoin Act 10:01 Gold to Digital Gold 15:01 U.S. Strategic Reserves 18:00 U.S. Discretion in Selling Forfeited Bitcoin 20:44 Is Bitcoin Ready for Federal Reserve Backing? 23:24 Bitcoin Adoption to Tackle U.S. Debt 28:17 Bitcoin's Potential Impact 33:15 Being First in Bitcoin Strategic Reserves 39:22 Pros vs. Cons of Bitcoin Strategic Reserves 49:08 Bipartisan Prospects and Democratic Silence 53:52 Conservative Support vs. Liberal Adoption 56:30 Trump vs. Harris on Crypto Legislation
------ RESOURCES
Senator Cynthia Lummis https://x.com/SenLummis
The Bitcoin Act https://www.lummis.senate.gov/press-releases/lummis-introduces-strategic-bitcoin-reserve-legislation/ https://www.lummis.senate.gov/wp-content/uploads/BITCOIN-Act-FINAL.pdf
------ Not financial or tax advice. See our investment disclosures here: https://www.bankless.com/disclosures
Why Sen. Brian Schatz thinks child safety bills can trump the First Amendment
Today, I’m talking with Senator Brian Schatz, of Hawaii. We joke that Decoder is ultimately a show about org charts, but there’s a lot of truth to it. We talked about the separate offices he has to balance against each other, and the concessions he has to make to work within the Senate structure.
We also talked a lot about two of the biggest issues in tech regulation today. One is Europe, which is doing a lot of regulation while the US does almost none. How does a senator think about the U.S. all but abdicating that space? The other is one of the few places the US is trying to take action right now: children’s online safety. Schatz is involved with two pieces of child safety legislation, the Kids Online Safety Act and the Protecting Kids on Social Media Act, that could fundamentally reshape online life for teens and children across the country. But the big stumbling block for passing any laws about content moderation is, of course, the First Amendment.
Links:
Strict Scrutiny — LII / Legal Information Institute
The Uniquely American Future of US Authoritarianism — WIRED
How the EU’s DMA is changing Big Tech: all of the news and updates — The Verge
AI Labeling Act of 2023 (S. 2691) — GovTrack.us
Mark Zuckerberg testimony: senators seem really confused about Facebook — Vox
Big Tech and the Online Child Sexual Exploitation Crisis — Senate Judiciary Committee
AI tools will make it easy to create fake porn of just about anybody — The Verge
They thought loved ones were calling for help. It was an AI scam — The Washington Post.
Protecting Kids on Social Media Act (S, 1291) — GovTrack.us
Kids Online Safety Act (S. 1409) — GovTrack.us
Kids Online Safety Shouldn’t Require Massive Online Censorship and Surveillance — EFF
TikTok ban: all the news on attempts to ban the video platform — The Verge
Transcript: https://www.theverge.com/e/23818699
Credits:
Decoder is a production of The Verge and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.
Today’s episode was produced by Kate Cox and Nick Statt and was edited by Callie Wright.
The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Our Executive Producer is Eleanor Donovan.
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Elon's Meet-and-Tweet, Microsoft's Union Deal, and Senator Michael Bennet
Netflix plays a Squid Game in real life, but the Fed may have already launched its own. The January 6 Committee gives tech a break, Microsoft reaches a deal with a union, and Elon Musk meets with Twitter staffers to sing WeChat's praises. Also, Senator Michael Bennet drops in to discuss his plan for regulating Big Tech.
Send us your Listener Mail questions by calling 855-51-PIVOT, or via Yappa at nymag.com/pivot.
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Tech Regulation's Crucial Year — With Sen. Mark Warner
Senator Mark Warner takes us inside the battle to regulate Big Tech. Elected in 2008 and serving his third term in the U.S. Senate, Sen. Warner joins Big Technology Podcast to discuss whether we should regulate Big Tech and how the companies are fighting back — overtly and covertly. Ahead of the midterm elections, this year is crucial. In the second half, we also discuss whether members of Congress should trade individual stocks.
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Bitcoin in the Senate: The Infrastructure Bill | Cynthia Lummis
Cynthia Lummis is a US Senator from Wyoming. On this episode of Empire, Senator Lummis speaks with Jason about the proposed Infrastructure Bill and the negative effects this could have for Bitcoin, digital assets and innovation. Cynthia also discusses the negative effects of inflation on the American population and the ever increasing national debt. This is a shorter episode than usual as Senator Lummis had less than 30 minutes to record between votes.
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Bonus: Senator Amy Klobuchar On How Congress Will Take On Big Tech
Senator Amy Klobuchar will be leading the charge in Congress as the legislature interrogates the power of big tech, and potentially takes action to restrain it. She's the new Chairwoman of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Competition Policy, Antitrust, and Consumer Rights, so it's in her hands now.
Klobuchar and I spoke this past week ahead of the first hearing she held to kick the off process. And rather than simply writing the conversation up, which I did on the Big Technology newsletter this week, I wanted to make it available for you to listen to, in full.
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Recode Decode: Senator Mark Warner
Mark Warner, the senior US Senator from Virginia, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about several interconnected policy issues affecting the 2020 elections, including the security of voter registries, the expectation of social media manipulation by Russia and other hostile foreign powers, and the newly announced impeachment inquiry into President Trump's phone call with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky. Sen. Warner also talks about the potential of regulators breaking up tech giants and how the US government's relationship with those companies has improved since 2016, yet still calls for more oversight of their unprecedented power. Plus: Why he's "cautiously optimistic" about Republicans in the Senate embracing election reform and new privacy laws, his proposal for incentivizing companies to invest in their workers, and how Warner thinks Congress might be able to fix Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act without repealing it wholesale.
Editor's note: This interview was recorded the morning of Wednesday, September 25, before the release of the White House memo with a "transcript" of Trump's call with Zelensky.
Featuring:
Mark Warner (@MarkWarner), US Senator from Virginia
Hosts:
Kara Swisher (@karaswisher), Recode co-founder and editor-at-large
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Subscribe for free to Pivot, Kara’s podcast with NYU Professor Scott Galloway that offer sharp, unfiltered insights into the biggest stories in tech, business, and politics.
If you haven't already, check out Kara's past interviews with Rep. Adam Schiff and Whistleblower Aid CEO John Napier Tye.
About Recode by Vox:
Recode by Vox helps you understand how tech is changing the world — and changing us.
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Recode Decode: Senator Michael Bennet
Michael Bennet, the senior U.S. Senator from Colorado, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about the intersection of social media and politics, and running for president in 2020.
In this episode: Denver schools and the racial education gap; Bennet’s assessment of his past 10 years in the Senate; why people voted for Trump; the changes in Washington; why Frederick Douglass (and you) are founders of America; why Bennet believes he can win; politicians who over-index on Twitter and the "downward spiral" of social media; "the Russians, for Christ's sake"; should tech companies be broken up?; Facebook’s regulation of speech; keeping America innovative; fixing education; the 90 percent of Americans not benefiting from economic growth; universal health care; why a Democrat can win in 2020; and Kamala Harris in the first Democratic debates.
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Kara Swisher (@karaswisher), host
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Listen to Vox's Ezra Klein interviewing Bennet on The Ezra Klein Show
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Recode Decode: Senator Amy Klobuchar
Amy Klobuchar, the senior U.S. Senator from Minnesota who is running for the Democratic Party's nomination in the 2020 presidential race, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher in front of a live audience at South by Southwest.
In this episode: The infamous comb incident; why Klobuchar thinks she can win; big pharma and big tech; why Klobuchar is aiming for the center while her fellow Democrats are pulling left; what she learned from studying Hillary Clinton's 2016 loss; the crowded Democratic field; the need for urgent action on climate change; Elizabeth Warren's proposal to break up the tech companies and Klobuchar's own agenda for tech; should Facebook and Google be broken up?; the prospects of a federal data privacy bill; does Klobuchar trust tech companies?; do they like her?; Paul Manafort's initial prison sentence; the Mueller Report; President's Trump's coziness with Vladimir Putin and his attacks on the press; impeachment; Rep. Ilhan Omar's comments on Israel; and what politicians Klobuchar looks up to.
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