Technology writer and podcaster Kara Swisher will join the Ford School for the Fall 2025 semester as a Harry A. and Margaret D. Towsley Foundation Policymaker in Residence.
Swisher is an editor-at-large of New York Media, host of the On With Kara Swisher podcast and co-host of its Pivot podcast. She is also a contributing writer for New York Magazine and a regular CNN contributor. Her latest book, “Burn Book: A Tech Love Story,” is a memoir of her years covering Silicon Valley and was published in February of 2024. The updated paperback version was released in March of 2025.
Swisher was previously the host of the Sway podcast for The New York Times and was a contributing columnist for its Opinion section. She was also the host and executive producer of Vox Media’s Code conference, which has been the top gathering of tech and media luminaries.
An incisive, prescient observer of emerging technologies and their adaptation, at the Ford School Swisher will teach a seminar for undergraduate and graduate policy students called, The Information Environment & the Wired World: Media, Technology, and Public Policy.
Swisher will record her “On with Kara Swisher” podcast live at Weill Hall on April 2, in conversation with Jeff Lawson, owner of The Onion and ex-CEO and cofounder of Twilio. For more information, please see the event listing.
Former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot will return in Fall 2025 for her second visit as a Towsley Policymaker in Residence. Lightfoot, a 1984 U-M graduate, will co-teach with associate dean Jeff Morenoff a graduate course called Strategic Public Policy Consulting. Lightfoot has long been involved in civic service in Chicago, culminating as Chicago's mayor from 2019 to 2023 as the second woman, first Black female and first openly gay person in that role. Previously she has been an assistant U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and president of the Chicago Police Board, among many other positions.
Ford School Dean Celeste Watkins-Hayes commented, "Policymakers in residence enrich the Ford School community, giving students the opportunity to learn from practitioners in an academic setting, offering mentoring, and participating in public events that reach beyond Weill Hall. We are thrilled that Kara Swisher will be giving her unique take on technology and public policy at this important time of rapid change. And we are happy to welcome Lori Lightfoot back to her alma mater, once again providing practical insight into what makes local government work."
The Towsley Foundation Policymaker in Residence Program was established at the Ford School in 2002 to bring individuals with significant national and international policymaking experience to campus to interact with students and faculty. The program enhances the curriculum and strengthens ties to the policy community. Past Towsley visitors include Governor Gretchen Whitmer, Mayor Bill deBlasio, Judge Laurel Beatty-Blunt, and U.S. Rep. Sandy Levin.
For more about the Swisher’s undergraduate and graduate course click here and here, and for Lightfoot’s course click here.