Trump's Latest Crackdown on the Press Is Straight Out of "The Autocrat's Handbook"

Kara and Scott unpack the Paramount–Warner Bros. Discovery settlement, the White House’s escalating fight with the press, and Amazon blocking Meta’s AI assistant. Then, they break down Trump's plans for an AI Force, whether Anthropic can pull off a $2 trillion IPO, and the stakes of Trump’s upcoming summit with Xi Jinping. Kara and Scott are going on tour! Get your tickets at https://www.PivotTour.com Subscribe to Pivot! https://www.youtube.com/@pivot?sub_confirmation=1 00:00 Intro 00:27 Paramount–Warner Settlement 11:26 White House Press Ban 27:19 Amazon Blocks Meta’s AI Agent 37:19 AI Slowdown Lawsuit 37:49 Trump’s AI Push 45:18 Anthropic’s IPO 54:35 Trump–Xi Summit 1:04:03 Wins and Fails #pivot #pivotpodcast #karaswisher #scottgalloway #paramount #warnerbros #warnerbrosentertainment #warnerbrosdiscovery #paramountmerger #whitehouse #freepress #1stamendment #cnn #msnow #presspool #amazon #meta #muse #aiforce #anthropic #ipo #xijinping #trump #nytimes Producers: Lara Naaman Zoë Marcus Taylor Griffin Todd Wiseman Vox Media's Executive Producer of Podcasts: Nishat Kurwa Subscribe to Pivot on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/pivot/id1073226719 Subscribe to Pivot on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4MU3RFGELZxPT9XHVwTNPR Follow us on Instagram and Threads at: https://www.instagram.com/pivotpodcastofficial/ Follow us on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@PIVOTPODCAST Send us your questions by calling us at 855-51-PIVOT, or email pivot@voxmedia.com About Pivot With great power, comes great scrutiny. Every Tuesday and Friday, journalist Kara Swisher and NYU Professor Scott Galloway offer sharp, unfiltered insights into the biggest stories in tech, business, and politics. They make bold predictions, pick winners and losers, and bicker and banter like no one else. Episodes blend breaking news analysis with bold predictions, sharp debate, and the occasional argument between the two hosts. From New York Magazine and the Vox Media Podcast Network.

Scott GallowayhostKara Swisherhost

Sep 22, 20261h 13mWatch on YouTube ↗

EPISODE INFO

Released: September 22, 2026
Duration: 1h 13m
Channel: Pivot
Watch on YouTube: ▶ Open ↗

EPISODE DESCRIPTION

Kara and Scott unpack the Paramount–Warner Bros. Discovery settlement, the White House’s escalating fight with the press, and Amazon blocking Meta’s AI assistant. Then, they break down Trump's plans for an AI Force, whether Anthropic can pull off a $2 trillion IPO, and the stakes of Trump’s upcoming summit with Xi Jinping. Kara and Scott are going on tour! Get your tickets at https://www.PivotTour.com Subscribe to Pivot! https://www.youtube.com/@pivot?sub_confirmation=1 00:00 Intro 00:27 Paramount–Warner Settlement 11:26 White House Press Ban 27:19 Amazon Blocks Meta’s AI Agent 37:19 AI Slowdown Lawsuit 37:49 Trump’s AI Push 45:18 Anthropic’s IPO 54:35 Trump–Xi Summit 1:04:03 Wins and Fails #pivot #pivotpodcast #karaswisher #scottgalloway #paramount #warnerbros #warnerbrosentertainment #warnerbrosdiscovery #paramountmerger #whitehouse #freepress #1stamendment #cnn #msnow #presspool #amazon #meta #muse #aiforce #anthropic #ipo #xijinping #trump #nytimes Producers: Lara Naaman Zoë Marcus Taylor Griffin Todd Wiseman Vox Media's Executive Producer of Podcasts: Nishat Kurwa Subscribe to Pivot on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/pivot/id1073226719 Subscribe to Pivot on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4MU3RFGELZxPT9XHVwTNPR Follow us on Instagram and Threads at: https://www.instagram.com/pivotpodcastofficial/ Follow us on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@PIVOTPODCAST Send us your questions by calling us at 855-51-PIVOT, or email pivot@voxmedia.com About Pivot With great power, comes great scrutiny. Every Tuesday and Friday, journalist Kara Swisher and NYU Professor Scott Galloway offer sharp, unfiltered insights into the biggest stories in tech, business, and politics. They make bold predictions, pick winners and losers, and bicker and banter like no one else. Episodes blend breaking news analysis with bold predictions, sharp debate, and the occasional argument between the two hosts. From New York Magazine and the Vox Media Podcast Network.

SPEAKERS

Scott Galloway
host
Business professor and commentator; co-host of the Pivot podcast.
Kara Swisher
host
Technology journalist and commentator; co-host of the Pivot podcast.

EPISODE SUMMARY

In this episode of Pivot, featuring Scott Galloway and Kara Swisher, Trump's Latest Crackdown on the Press Is Straight Out of "The Autocrat's Handbook" explores media mergers, press bans, and AI agent wars collide with IPO hype Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway argue the Paramount–Warner settlement reveals antitrust posturing, with remedies that won’t meaningfully protect newsroom independence under new ownership.

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