Pivot Extra: Inside “Musk”: Power, Family and the Making of a Tech Demagogue

You get an extra, and you get an extra! Today, we're dropping ⁠On with Kara Swisher⁠ into the feed. In his new documentary, ‘⁠Musk⁠,’ filmmaker Alex Gibney set out to answer two big questions about the world’s first trillionaire: How has Elon Musk assumed so much power, and why have we given it to him so willingly? Over nearly four hours, the film connects the dots between Musk’s various ventures — SpaceX, Tesla, Starlink, X, xAI, and Neurolink — to tell a bigger story of the unique threat he poses to democracy. The film also includes revealing interviews from people who know Musk personally, including his first wife, the writer Justine Musk, who hasn’t spoken publicly in years. Kara sits down with Alex and Justine to talk about making the film, Musk’s obsession with being seen as an “engineer,” and Alex’s use of a computer-generated Elon as a stand-in for an interview with him (Musk declined to participate in Gibney’s film and declined to comment on this interview). They also talk about Musk’s hard shift toward right-wing politics and what it means for the midterms and future U.S. elections. Questions? Comments? Email the On with Kara Swisher team at [email protected] or find us on ⁠YouTube⁠, ⁠Instagram⁠, ⁠TikTok⁠,⁠ Threads⁠, and ⁠Bluesky⁠ @onwithkaraswisher. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices