Pivot

Economic Protests, Social Media on Trial, and Big Tech Earnings

Hosts: Kara Swisher & Scott Galloway
30 Jan 2026 12 min read 1h 12m
TL;DR

Scott Galloway launched "Resist and Unsubscribe," a strategic economic boycott targeting big tech companies (Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, Netflix, Disney, Uber, OpenAI) that control 40% of the S&P 500, arguing that market pressure—not ideology—is the fastest way to influence the Trump administration. The campaign relies on sustained consumer non-participation over weeks and months rather than one-day strikes, paired with a second tier targeting companies directly working with ICE including AT&T, Comcast, and FedEx.

Key Moments
Scott Galloway
“what you want is the most impact with the least amount of sacrifice from the citizenry to make it easy. make it easy and also maximum impact.”
Explaining the philosophy behind the economic boycott campaign
▶ 4:23
Vivian Tu (financial educator)
“Economic boycotts do not work if a small population stops spending cold turkey for one to two days. What we're actually going to need is a critical mass of people to scale back their consumerism over weeks and months.”
Addressing why sustained participation matters more than one-day strikes
▶ 2:38
Scott Galloway
“Big tech controls 40% of the S&P. They are growth companies that are very very highly valued right now. So any any slowdown in growth could potentially have a disastrous effect on them. So that's kind of the soft tissue of the economy right now”
Explaining why targeting big tech specifically will have maximum market impact
▶ 4:45
Kara Swisher
“the most radical act in a capitalist society, hands down, is nonparticipation.”
Summarizing the core principle of the economic boycott strategy
▶ 9:18
Scott Galloway
“if we're looking for the lowest tax way on citizenry to get the administration to um to pay attention. It's about markets. It's not about ideology. It's about math.”
Defending the economic approach as more pragmatic than other forms of protest
▶ 10:17
About the show
›
Pivot is a weekly podcast from New York Magazine and Vox Media featuring Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway discussing tech, business, politics, and culture. In this episode, they examine economic protest strategies targeting big tech, the implications of social media trials, and major tech earnings, while also introducing Swisher's new CNN longevity series.
Takeaways
1
Target growth stocks, not groceries Galloway's "Resist and Unsubscribe" campaign focuses on big tech (which controls 40% of S&P 500) rather than low-margin industries because growth slowdowns in highly-valued tech stocks have outsized market impact. This is a sophisticated alternative to traditional consumer boycotts that require mass participation to move needle industries with thin margins.
2
Sustained reduction beats symbolic one-day strikes Financial educator Vivian Tu emphasized that economic protests only work if a critical mass scales back spending 70-80% over weeks and months, not in single-day blackouts. This shifts the framework from performative activism to behavioral economics requiring real commitment and coordination infrastructure.
3
Market pressure moves policy faster than protests Swisher and Galloway argue that Trump administration responds rapidly to market signals (tariff reversals after S&P dips) but ignores other branches of government, making strategic market withdrawal the most efficient lever for policy change—especially when targeting companies whose CEOs have been publicly supportive of the administration.