Squawk Pod

Mary Barra, Chair and CEO of General Motors, an engineer-turned-CEO steering GM through electrification and autonomy. She discusses factory-floor roots, handling major recalls with transparency, pandemic-era manufacturing pivots, chip shortage strategies, flexible EV production, recruiting software talent, robotics in factories, and de-risking long-term bets like autonomy.

Neal Mohan, YouTube CEO and long-time product leader, talks creator-first thinking and flexible leadership. He covers how YouTube listens to creators and iterates products, the strategic bets on subscriptions, Shorts, and TV, and how AI tools are reshaping creation and safety. Short, candid conversations about risk, scale, and building for billions.

Rick Wurster, Charles Schwab CEO, talks investing trends, Gen Z saving habits, and shifts in trading and wealth management. Sen. Thom Tillis, retiring U.S. senator from North Carolina, blasts the DOJ probe of the Fed, discusses Fed testimony and immigration policy execution. Short, lively conversations on markets, oversight, and policy tensions.

Julia Boorstin, CNBC media reporter covering Hollywood and corporate leadership. Robert Kraft, Kraft Group chair and New England Patriots owner promoting the Blue Square Alliance. They discuss Disney’s parks-focused leadership shift and why experiences matter. They also cover Kraft’s Super Bowl ad and community campaign against antisemitism, plus the NFL and team outlook.

Jay Clayton, former SEC chair and current U.S. Attorney for SDNY, offers a legal and regulatory lens on the Fed pick, high-profile investigations, and DOJ transparency. Conversations touch on market reaction to Kevin Warsh, handling of sensitive files like Epstein’s, and ethics questions around political and financial disclosures.

Markets react to a historic sell-off in gold and silver, leaving metals on edge. Oil retreats after signals of talks with Iran, shifting energy sentiment. A career government economist is tapped to lead the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Plans surface to close the Kennedy Center for two years of renovations. A new Amazon documentary opens to stronger-than-expected box office returns.

Darren Woods, ExxonMobil CEO, on production gains, costs, Venezuela and the oil market. Wes Moore, Maryland governor and former nonprofit leader, on affordability, housing supply, wages and targeted taxes. They discuss energy, inflation, labor trends, pragmatic policy and how markets and government choices shape outcomes.

Dr. Stanley Crooke, founder of n-Lorem and pioneer of antisense oligonucleotide therapy, and Luke Rosen, parent-advocate who founded KIF1A.org after his daughter’s diagnosis. They discuss ultra-rare KIF1A disease, how personalized ASO treatments are developed and delivered, the emotional and logistical journey of seeking care, and barriers families face accessing research and therapies.

Amos Hochstein, former Biden energy adviser now TWG Global partner, weighs Iran’s military risks and energy market fallout. Paul Atkins, ex-SEC chair now focused on securities and crypto policy, discusses regulation, retirement access to digital assets, and coordinating lawmakers. They cover U.S. force posture, targeting implications, and how crypto rules could reshape markets and retirement options.

CNBC Leaders Playbook features candid conversations with the world’s top CEOs and business leaders about how they think, decide, and lead, hosted by CNBC Senior Media & Tech Correspondent Julia Boorstin.In this episode, Lowe’s CEO Marvin Ellison and Executive Vice President of Human Resources Janice Dupré discuss bringing new life to the home improvement brand and how they delivered a multibillion-dollar upgrade, from the sales floor to the supply chain. All-new episodes air Wednesdays at 10PM ET/PT on CNBC. Visit CNBC.com/LeadersPlaybook for more. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.