Podcast power is 2028's new political battlefield

Kara Swisher has politicians lining up for a talk in exchange for digital credibility.

- BY STEVEN SLOAN

MANUEL BALCE CENETA Associated Press KARA SWISHER hosts her own, "On with Kara Swisher," and co-hosts "Pivot."

Kara Swisher is everywhere.

She's filling in for Joy Behar on ABC's "The View." Appearing alongside Meryl Streep in "The Devil Wears Prada 2." Starring in a CNN documentary. Preparing a national tour. And churning out four podcasts most weeks featuring long-form interviews and commentary.

It's a ubiquity born of more than three decades chronicling the technology industry with a professed indifference to power that vaulted her into a rare echelon of journalism celebrity.

She harnessed that reputation to persuade rivals Steve Jobs and Bill Gates to appear onstage together and make Mark Zuckerberg so uncomfortable under questioning that he broke out into a sweat. She had Elon Musk's cellphone number the two aren't currently speaking- and often texts tech and business leaders.

She's betting the influence that made her a Silicon Valley force will translate into politics as podcasts supplant traditional media as a destination for candidates seeking attention.

During President Trump's second Republican term, potential Democratic presidential candidates ranging from California Gov.

Gavin Newsom and former Vice President Kamala Harris to onetime Transportation Secretary Pete candidates," Buttigieg and former White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel have appeared on Swisher's shows. She expects that roster to grow.

"We get called by all the presidential the 63-year-old Swisher said in an interview at her home in a leafy corner of Washington, where her trademark high self-regard was on display. "We're going to get to all of them." Swisher is hardly the only podcaster talking politics.