(Bloomberg) — Kara Swisher, the prominent tech reporter, commentator and Recode co-founder, is leaving her role as columnist and podcaster at the New York Times to return to Vox Media.
Swisher will host a new interview show at the Vox Media Podcast Network that will serve as a companion to “Pivot,” a business and technology program she’s co-hosted with New York University professor Scott Galloway for nearly four years. The new show is slated to launch in the fall and will be introduced at Vox Media’s upfront event Vox Media Now on June 9.
Swisher said she’s become “very interested” in owning intellectual property and sharing in the benefits of building a business alongside a partner. That interest, along with wanting to try new formats and create new things, spurred her move.
“I’m 60 years old this year, I’ve made a lot of stuff for a lot of people,” Swisher said in an interview. “I want to do what I want to do. I want to make whatever I want to make, and I think that’s a great thing.”
Swisher’s relationship with Vox Media goes back years. She and her business partner Walt Mossberg sold their technology website and business, Recode, to Vox Media in 2015. As part of that deal, Vox also acquired the brand’s various podcasts, including her show “Recode Decode.”
Swisher left that show in 2020 to join the Times as a podcaster, with Vox Media later rebranding the program “Decoder” and Verge Editor-in-Chief Nilay Patel now hosting. Swisher became a Times opinion contributor in 2018, but never completely severed her Vox Media ties, continuing to host “Pivot” in addition to her Times work.
Although Swisher “loved” working for the Times, she was the “most entrepreneurial” during her years at Vox. Swisher said she wants to move away from regular writing and focus more on podcasting and events, like the invite-only Code conference she puts on with the company.
“One good thing about working with a company like Vox is they’re very open to entrepreneurial ways,” she said. “Every media company should be thinking about talent.”
Swisher declined to provide specifics of her new deal, but said she wants to share in the success of new businesses and hopes to use this three-year agreement to highlight different voices and experiment with the interview format.
Her new show, she said, will be more topical and sassy, similar to “Pivot.” That show now has “millions” of monthly listeners, according to a Vox spokesperson, and Swisher said she wants to build on its strong community.
The Times is “incredibly proud” of its work with Swisher, according to Jordan Cohen, a spokesperson. Cohen also said Swisher’s interview podcast “Sway” had a “fantastic run” and will release its final episode in late July.
(Updates with Swisher comments starting in seventh paragraph, Times comment at end.)
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