More than 25 years after his tragic death, John F. Kennedy Jr. remains one of the most captivating figures in American public life. He was handsome, charming, and born into political royalty — and when he died in a plane crash in 1999, he was fighting to save George, his glossy political magazine, and weighing a run for New York governor.

Ryan Murphy is producing American Love Story, a new series about John and his wife Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy; some QAnon conspiracy theorists believe JFK Jr. is still alive; and CNN has just released the first episode of a three-part documentary series called American Prince: JFK. Jr. 

So why can’t we look away? Why are John and Carolyn still objects of fascination, speculation, and even conspiracy? What does our continued obsession say about us — and about American political culture?

Kara talks to two close friends of John and Carolyn, Gary Ginsberg and Carole Radziwill, who are featured in American Prince. Together with Kara, they reflect how myth and reality collided in the story of John and Carolyn, what George got right (and wrong) about modern politics, and how the media scrutiny that continues to shape John and Carolyn's legacy.

Ginsberg met John at Brown University, and he was the senior editor and legal counsel at George magazine. He went on to become an assistant counsel to President Clinton and a senior executive at News Corp and Time Warner. He was also a consulting producer on American Prince and the author of First Friends: The Powerful, Unsung (And Unelected) People Who Shaped Our Presidents.

Radziwill is a former journalist. Her work at ABC News won a Peabody and multiple Emmys. She’s also a former cast member of the Real Housewives of New York, and her late husband, Anthony Radziwill, was JFK Jr.’s cousin and best friend. Radziwill is the author of three books, including the bestselling memoir, What Remains, and she recently launched a newsletter on Substack, Life with Carole Radziwill. 

Questions? Comments? Email us at [email protected] or find us on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, and Bluesky @onwithkaraswisher.

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According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, in 2022, more than one in three U.S. adolescents between the ages of 18 and 25 had some form of mental health disorder, including anxiety and depression. There’s also a loneliness epidemic: Teens and adults are more connected than ever, yet, somehow, more alone.

Kara and three panelists  explore how much blame should be placed on technology like smartphones, the impact of social media, whether the adolescent brain is inherently vulnerable, how artificial intelligence might shift the paradigm, and how parents and society at large could mitigate the problem. In this episode:

Lauren Greenfield, artist, documentary photographer and filmmaker, who has been chronicling the lives of American adolescents for decades. Most recently, she created and directed Social Studies, an Emmy-nominated five-part docuseries for FX.

Matt Richtel, a health and science reporter for the New York Times, who has long covered the social impact of the tech industry. His latest book, How We Grow Up: Understanding Adolescence, draws on neuroscience and personal narratives to explore the changing complexities of the teen brain and the role technology plays.

Jack Thorne, playwright and screenwriter, whose recent Emmy-nominated Netflix hit Adolescence, co-created with Stephen Graham, examines the psychological toll of toxic masculinity, bullying and social media radicalization after a teenage boy kills his female classmate.

Questions? Comments? Email us at [email protected] or find us on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok and Bluesky @onwithkaraswisher.

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Democrats have abandoned the working class, according to former Labor Secretary Robert Reich, leading working people to fall for President Trump’s hollow and hateful cultural populism. But he argues that an economic populist message that exposes how corporations and wealthy people abuse their power could turn the tide.

Kara and Reich discuss how that would work in practice, why Democrats have repeatedly sided with Wall Street, how Americans should fight back against Trump’s fascist tendencies, and other questions drawn from his upcoming memoir, Coming Up Short: A Memoir of My America. Plus, Reich answers an “expert question” from his longtime debate partner, former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers.

Questions? Comments? Email us at [email protected] or find us on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, and Bluesky @onwithkaraswisher.

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Legacy media isn’t dead, but journalists are leaving traditional outlets in swarms to launch their own newsletters, podcasts and social media ventures, and they may be forcing a reboot. As one of the early media entrepreneurs (and a trusted advisor to many of those who aspire to follow in her footsteps), Kara sits down to discuss the current landscape with Oliver Darcy, founder of the “must-read” media newsletter “Status”; Katie Drummond, Wired’s global editorial director; and Dave Jorgenson, The Washington Post's former “TikTok Guy”, who has recently launched his own site, Local News International. In a freewheeling conversation, they unpack the challenges of audience capture, the looming shadow of AI, and the surprising (financial) realities of being an independent journalist.

Questions? Comments? Email us at [email protected] or find us on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok and Bluesky @onwithkaraswisher.

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Ever since Trump was re-elected in 2024, his MAGA base has been eagerly awaiting the release of the Epstein files. So it came as a shock when, in July, a Justice Department memo said they had reviewed the matter and determined that there was “no basis to revisit the disclosure of those materials,” that the rumored “client list” did not exist, and that there was no evidence Epstein “blackmailed prominent individuals as part of his actions.” Suddenly, key pillars of the conspiracy theory were knocked down, by the very administration that promised to get to the bottom of the Epstein saga. 

Since then, MAGA has split into two factions: those who are siding with the administration and ready to move on, and those who still want the Epstein files released. To make matters worse for President Trump, recent stories in the Wall Street Journal have reminded the public that, for over a decade, Trump and Epstein were actually friends. And while it’s not evidence of a crime, recent reporting has also revealed that Trump’s name is, indeed, in the Epstein files. 

To help us separate the facts of the case from the thorny conspiracies that surround it, we’ve brought on Julie K. Brown and Donie O’Sullivan. Brown is an investigative reporter at The Miami Herald who began digging into the Epstein case in 2018, leading to his second arrest. O’Sullivan is a CNN senior correspondent who covers online misinformation and conspiracy theories. 

When reached for comment regarding allegations that it passed on the Epstein story, New York Times spokesperson Charlie Stadtlander responded with the following statement: The Times's coverage of Jeffrey Epstein has been hard-hitting and thorough, starting with the first legal charges against him in 2006. Since then, we've covered every step of the story involving Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell, the powerful people in their orbit and the shadowy aftermath of Epstein's arrest and death in custody. We can't speak to whatever Julie K. Brown is saying the victims' lawyers told her -- neither of them has actually identified a New York Times journalist in this matter, and we have yet to find any record of such conversations. Times reporters continue to do tough and deep work to uncover and verify the facts about Epstein and those around him.

Questions? Comments? Email us at [email protected] or find us on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, and Bluesky @onwithkaraswisher.

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What happens when artificial intelligence collides with family, morality and the need for justice? Author and University of Virginia professor Bruce Holsinger joins Kara to talk about his new novel, Culpability, a family drama that examines how AI is reshaping our lives and our sense of accountability. 

Who is responsible when AI technology causes harm? How do we define culpability in the age of algorithms? And how is generative AI impacting academia, students and creative literature? 

Our expert question comes from Dr. Kurt Gray, a professor of psychology and the director of the Collaborative on the Science of Polarization and Misinformation at The Ohio State University.

Questions? Comments? Email us at [email protected] or find us on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, and Bluesky @onwithkaraswisher.

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Social media algorithms are leading to the creation of new words, new accents, and even new identities. And while using the apps may seem like a fun, trivial way to waste time, they’re actually having a profound impact on how we communicate — and on our our democracy.

To find out more, Kara talks to Adam Aleksic, a 24-year-old Harvard-educated linguist and social media influencer, and the author of Algospeak: How Social Media Is Transforming the Future of Language. They discuss the way new words, communities, and identities develop on social media apps; the financial motives and incentive structures underlying the algorithms; the mechanisms through which they shape user behavior; and how they ends up impacting our culture and politics. 

Questions? Comments? Email us at [email protected] or find us on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, and Bluesky @onwithkaraswisher.

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“Not my type” is what President Donald Trump said about writer and former advice columnist E. Jean Carroll after she accused him of sexually assaulting her in a dressing room at Bergdorf Goodman. Despite his denials, in 2023, a jury found Trump liable for assault and defamation and awarded Carroll $5 million. After he continued to defame her — leading his supporters to launch an avalanche of threats against her — a second jury in 2024 awarded Carroll $83.3 million in damages.  

Kara talks to Carroll and her lead attorney, civil rights lawyer Roberta Kaplan, about the two civil lawsuits Carroll details in her new memoir, “Not My Type: One Woman vs. a President.”  They discuss potential evidence left out of the trial, including connections to Jeffrey Epstein, where Trump’s appeals stand, what chance he might have of bringing the cases to the Supreme Court and what impact his attempts to silence lawyers could have on our legal system.

Questions? Comments? Email us at [email protected] or find us on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, and Bluesky @onwithkaraswisher.

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How skeptical should we be about the bill of goods (often marketed as needs) sold to us by Silicon Valley? Very, says Adam Becker, an astrophysicist and author of the new book, More Everything Forever: AI Overlords, Space Empires, and Silicon Valley's Crusade to Control the Fate of Humanity. From colonizing Mars to building god-like AIs, Becker argues that the fantasies propagated by tech billionaires like Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, Sam Altman, Jeff Bezos and Marc Andreessen aren’t just far-fetched – they’re a convenient cover for a racist, authoritarian power grab.

In this conversation, Kara sits down with her “soulmate” to dissect and debunk the narratives that undergird the less-than-benevolent Big Tech agenda and uphold the status quo. They also discuss why some ideas, like Musk’s dream of colonizing Mars, are scientifically impossible; the fallacy of effective altruism; the probability of existential threats against humanity; and how all of these factors add up to more power and more control for the techno-oligarchy.

Questions? Comments? Email us at [email protected] or find us on Instagram, TikTok, and Bluesky @onwithkaraswisher.

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Rep. Robert Garcia was recently elected as the ranking member of the powerful House Oversight Committee by his fellow House Democrats. He won a top job that usually goes to a senior lawmaker who has spent many years (sometimes decades) in line, dutifully waiting for a turn. And his win might be a sign that the unofficial seniority system of congress is eroding under the weight of young Democrats itching for a bigger seat at the table. 

This is only his second term in Congress, but Rep. Garcia, who came to the U.S. from Peru as an undocumented immigrant when he was a child, has already shown that he’s a skilled communicator who can find an audience online. He and Kara discuss the power of the Oversight Committee, the future of the Democratic Party, the strategy behind investigating Trump family scandals, the Big Beautiful Bill’s impact on ICE, and more. 

Questions? Comments? Email us at [email protected] or find us on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, and Bluesky @onwithkaraswisher.

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