Direct questions, real answers. On with Kara Swisher is where “Silicon Valley’s most feared and well-liked journalist” gets to the heart of what makes powerful people tick. Kara makes sense of tech, business and politics through tough conversations with the newsmakers who matter. So why do they show up? “Smart people,” says Kara, “like difficult questions.” Plus, it’s fun. Every Monday and Thursday. From New York Magazine and the Vox Media Podcast Network.

Chris Licht faces an uphill battle at CNN. He got the CEO gig in the midst of a prickly merger between Warner Bros. and Discovery and right after the shocking exit of beloved long-time boss Jeff Zucker. In his first six months he’s shut down CNN+ ousted Brian Stelter and shuffled anchors around including Don Lemon and Jake Tapper. This week the network chief held an internal town hall meeting where he faced a staff of thousands and discussed upcoming layoffs. Shortly afterwards he sat down with Kara — who grilled him of course.  She asks Licht whether he has any real actual power or if he’s simply executing orders from Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav — who is in search of cuts as the company stares down the barrel at $50 billion in debt — and billionaire board member John Malone who has said he’d like to see more “centrist” programming from CNN. They discuss Licht’s vision for the newsroom his plan to build trust with journalists who fear losing jobs and how CNN will cover Donald Trump during the 2024 election.   Before the interview Kara and Nayeema discuss the challenges facing journalism in an era of disinformation. Stay tuned for Kara’s closing rant on “citizen journalism” and Elon’s latest broadside against the press. You can find Kara and Nayeema on Twitter @karaswisher and @nayeema. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Can Chris Licht Turn CNN Around?

On with Kara Swisher