Lincoln Project implosion, Microsoft says Google should pay newspapers, and Friend of Pivot Adam Grant

Episode Summary

Executive Summary: Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway open with banter, then dissect Trump’s acquittal, Republican reactions, and the broader damage to the American brand. The episode’s center is an extended interview with Adam Grant about his book Think Again and the value of intellectual humility, updating beliefs, and resisting dunk culture. They also debate cancel culture, workplace misconduct, social media outrage, and why publishers should be paid by platforms for journalism. The episode ends with Scott’s wins and fails, including a bullish Bitcoin prediction.

Main Topics: Trump acquittal and the American brand (Priority: 5/5): The hosts argue that the acquittal and the broader Trump era reflected poorly on U.S. institutions domestically, while also reinforcing some faith in America internationally after voters rejected Trump. They discuss Republican senators, Nikki Haley, Murkowski, Romney, and accountability. Cancel culture, accountability, and platform power (Priority: 5/5): A long debate covers whether companies and institutions are unfairly punishing offensive speech, with examples including Gina Carano, James Gunn, Roseanne, Kathy Griffin, and Don McNeil. They distinguish between bad takes, patterns of behavior, and truly predatory misconduct. Adam Grant on thinking again (Priority: 5/5): Grant explains his book’s premise: people often act like preachers, prosecutors, or politicians instead of scientists. He advocates humility, updating beliefs, defining conditions for changing one’s mind, and arguing to learn rather than win. Social media incentives and outrage dynamics (Priority: 4/5): The conversation critiques Twitter and other platforms for rewarding dunking, rage, and certainty. Grant suggests algorithms should amplify uncertainty, questions, and evidence rather than immediate outrage or certainty. Publishing, Google/Facebook, and paying for news (Priority: 4/5): Swisher and Galloway strongly support forcing tech platforms to compensate publishers. Galloway describes his New York Times board idea to license premium content and argues algorithms of amplification should be taxed. Virtue signaling, social proof, and social movements (Priority: 3/5): Grant and Swisher debate whether public signaling of values can be productive when it normalizes participation and allies in causes like racial justice, rather than being dismissed as performative. Wins and fails: Bitcoin and Twitter (Priority: 3/5): In the closing segment, Galloway predicts Bitcoin will keep rising and that Twitter could jump on a Bitcoin-related announcement, framing it as a continuation of his thesis that institutions and investors are converging on crypto.

Key Arguments: Trump’s acquittal and the surrounding Republican behavior damaged the American brand internally, though the rejection of Trump also showed the country’s institutional antibodies still work. Republican figures like Nikki Haley can be politically opportunistic by condemning Trump only after the battle is over, while Murkowski and Romney represent more consistent courage. The Lincoln Project scandal shows that misconduct involving minors or grooming should trigger severe institutional consequences, not minimization. Not every offensive statement should end a career; context, pattern, intent, and institutional response matter, especially in cases like Gina Carano, James Gunn, Roseanne, and Don McNeil. Cancel culture and outrage dynamics are amplified by social media systems that reward certainty, dunking, and tribal validation over nuance and evidence. Adam Grant argues people should think like scientists: form hypotheses, define conditions that would change their minds, and value rigor over ego. Grant says universities should prepare students for disagreement and make them psychologically strong, not merely safe, while still rejecting hate speech. Swisher argues that some speech is legitimately harmful and that good-faith debate is often undermined by trolling, bad-faith actors, and ideological games. Grant and Swisher agree that paying publishers for content is overdue because platforms extract value from journalism while contributing too little back. Galloway argues the media and tech ecosystem has created a subsidy for Google/Facebook and that publishers should form licensing alliances or impose charges. Grant says virtue signaling can be useful social proof, especially when it tells marginalized or hesitant people they are allowed to speak up. A healthy intellectual culture requires updating beliefs when data change; consistency alone is not virtue if it means refusing to learn.

Data Points: SoFi refinance APR: as low as 4.24% APR - Advertising read for student loan refinancing Credit impact: No impact to your credit score - SoFi rate-check promotion Member count: over 580,000 members - SoFi refinancing customers cited in ad Refinanced amount: more than $50 billion - SoFi cumulative refinancing volume cited in ad Podcast schedule: every other Tuesday / later this week / Thursday and Friday - Routine show logistics and release timing Trump acquittal votes: 40 Republicans / 43 votes for acquittal - Discussion of Senate impeachment result and Republican defections Google search market share gain estimate: 1 to 3 points of share - Galloway’s argument that premium journalism helps search engines gain users Google crawl value estimate: $20 to $30 million - Galloway’s estimate of the value Google derives from crawling Times content Enterprise value estimate: $500 million to $700 million - Galloway’s boardroom estimate of value created for Google from NYT content Additional revenue estimate to NYT: $3 million to $5 million a year - Galloway contrasted this with publisher revenue gained from Google traffic Twitter prediction: $100 - Galloway predicts Twitter could reach this price on a Bitcoin-related announcement Bitcoin prediction: $100,000 - Galloway revises his Bitcoin outlook upward during wins and fails

Pivotal Quotes: "We spend way too much of our time thinking and talking like preachers, prosecutors, and politicians." — Adam Grant: Grant summarizes the central thesis of Think Again "Freedom of speech doesn't mean freedom of megaphone." — Adam Grant: He proposes a platform design principle for social media amplification and moderation "When the data changes, I change my mind. What do you do?" — Kara Swisher: Used to frame the value of evolving beliefs and intellectual flexibility

Implications: Listeners get a detailed case for more intellectual humility, stronger norms around misconduct, and real compensation for journalism. The episode suggests future public debate will be shaped by platform design, institutional trust, and who can update beliefs without losing status.