Folks, the hacks are off this week preparing in our own ways for our slam-bang New Year's Eve celebrations.

Mine will probably involve banana grams with my wife and maybe an old movie, but be that as it may.

We're proud to turn over our space to our buddy Kara Swisher on her show on with Kara Swisher from the Vox Media Podcasting Network. Her episode this week is called

Tech Billionaires and Rural Poor, the two sides of Trump's Maga populism. You know, the tech

billionaires of Silicon Valley and the Midwest and rural poor, you wouldn't think they'd have

much in common, but somehow many of them have united under the MAGA umbrella. Kara explores how and why

with two reporters who have written extensively about the opposite size of the MAGA coined.

And she's going to talk about the role social media has played in fueling enragement and why

tech billionaires and poor Americans are coalescing around issues like education,

the press, and more. The real question is how to bridge that political divide. And she's going to talk

about that with Beth Macy, a newspaper reporter for three decades and the author of five

nonfiction books, bestselling books, including Doapsick and her most recent paper girl,

a memoir of home and family in a fractured America. It's really a fine book as all hers are.

We had her on the Axfiles podcast when I used to do it, and she's really a remarkable journalist

and a remarkable person. Kara also has Jacob Silverman, an independent journalist,

with a focus on tech, political corruption, and illicit finance.

He's written three books, including the most recent, Gilded Rage, Elon Musk,

and the radicalization of Silicon Valley.

So look forward to a great conversation.

I hope all of you have a happy New Year.

Look forward to being back with you on the other side.

I said you're either going to have to do something about income inequality.

...