Kara Swisher

If 2023 has taught us anything, it’s that the motives of tech billionaires and conservative pundits are hard to comprehend. For three decades, Kara Swisher has been interviewing, reporting on, and often calling out some of the most powerful people in the world who run tech and media empires. As she’s one of the most trusted, popular, and reputable journalists of our time, the public turns to Swisher for real answers, particularly because she’s not afraid of asking the real questions.

“The largest obstacle I’ve faced is my dad dying when I was 5 — that’s the only one I can think of as being significant,” she says. “Otherwise, I don’t tend to look at things as obstacles. I’m not easily pushed back. I’m not easily scared by challenges.”

Currently, Swisher hosts two podcasts, Pivot and On With Kara Swisher, and is working on a memoir titled Burn Book — the first in a two-book deal with Simon & Schuster. “I’m hoping to take a vacation at some point before I die,” she says. In her personal life, Swisher’s biggest achievement has been getting all her kids off to school: “Getting my oldest to Argentina, my second to college, and my two little ones starting preschool again.”

As a lesbian, a mother, and a journalist, Swisher is hyper-aware of the challenges that the LGBTQ+ community is still facing. “Unfortunately, we have to remain vigilant as people in our community,” she says. “They’ve never gotten used to gay marriage or gay people having children. The forces of retrograde will always push back on rights that are ours to have. We can’t assume that everything we have now is going to stay in place. There’s a huge amount of hate out there fueled by online discourse and misinformation, and we really have to make sure we protect our families and our lives.” @karaswisher