Episodes

  • A Different Kind of Democrat on Fixing Government ft. Matt Mahan | Shane Smith Has Questions

    A Different Kind of Democrat on Fixing Government ft. Matt Mahan | Shane Smith Has Questions
    Apr 16 2026
    San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan joins Shane Smith for a raw conversation about why California feels broken and what it would actually take to fix it. They discuss the reality behind homelessness, why housing is so expensive, and how bureaucracy and bad incentives have made it nearly impossible to build. Mahan explains how corporate power, regulation, and political complacency have created a system that continually becomes more expensive without delivering better results. Mahan lays out why he believes California is at an inflection point and what a more pragmatic, results-driven approach could look like if anyone is willing to take it on. Get your starter bundle at https://www.drinkag1.com/shanesmith Subscribe to VICE News here: http://bit.ly/Subscribe-to-VICE-News Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    43 mins
  • The System Is Rigged And Everyone Knows It ft. Scott Galloway | Shane Smith Has Questions

    The System Is Rigged And Everyone Knows It ft. Scott Galloway | Shane Smith Has Questions
    Mar 26 2026
    Scott Galloway sits down with Shane Smith to talk through why the system feels off right now and why more people are starting to notice. They get into how wealth keeps concentrating at the top, why the middle class isn’t growing the way it used to, and how big tech and corporate power quietly shape the rules. Galloway lays out why capitalism only works when the middle class is strong and what happens when it isn’t. The conversation moves through monopolies, tax policy, and the incentives driving both business and politics, all pointing to the same question: what actually changes this trajectory? They also touch on global instability, market fragility, and how close we might be to a real economic reset. It’s a blunt look at where things stand and what could come next if nothing shifts. Learn more at https://www.resistandunsubscribe.com/ Sign up for your $1 per month trial period at https://www.shopify.com/shane Go to https://www.surfshark.com/shanesmith and use code shanesmith at checkout to get 4 extra months of Surfshark VPN! Subscribe to VICE News here: http://bit.ly/Subscribe-to-VICE-News Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    1 hr and 11 mins
  • Iran, Oil, and the Crisis Coming Next ft. Ian Bremmer | Shane Smith Has Questions

    Iran, Oil, and the Crisis Coming Next ft. Ian Bremmer | Shane Smith Has Questions
    Mar 19 2026
    Ian Bremmer, one of the most connected geopolitical minds on the planet, sits down to explain the Iran crisis in brutally honest terms: why regime change was a fantasy, how Iran is somehow making more money since the war started, and why the real pain at the pump, at the grocery store, in your portfolio hasn't even hit yet. This isn't cable news spin. This is the unfiltered truth from someone who actually talks to world leaders. From Venezuela to Greenland to Lebanon to Cuba. Bremmer maps out a world unraveling in real time, where drone swarms are rewriting the rules of war, disinformation is making reality optional, and one miscalculation in the Strait of Hormuz could tip the global economy into freefall. If you've been watching the headlines and feeling like something massive is being missed you're right. Watch this. Take your personal data back with Incogni! Use code shane at the link below and get 60% off an annual plan: https://incogni.com/shane Subscribe to VICE News here: http://bit.ly/Subscribe-to-VICE-News Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    54 mins
  • Oil, War, and Global Power ft. Amos Hochstein | Shane Smith Has Questions

    Oil, War, and Global Power ft. Amos Hochstein | Shane Smith Has Questions
    Mar 12 2026
    The Strait of Hormuz is effectively closed, and energy expert Amos Hochstein is calling this the single greatest energy crisis in global history bigger than the 1973 OPEC embargo. With roughly 10 million barrels of oil per day missing from global markets, prices have surged from $60 to nearly $100 a barrel, gas is climbing toward $4 a gallon, and major producers like Kuwait, Iraq, and Qatar have already slashed production. According to Hochstein, if the Strait remains closed for just 10 more days, the economic damage could become permanent and very difficult to reverse. The ripple effects are already being felt everywhere food prices, shipping, airline tickets, and everyday goods are all taking a hit. Meanwhile, Republican senators are privately warning the White House that if this continues, they risk losing both the House and the Senate. Hochstein breaks down the best case, worst case, and most likely scenario for how this war ends and what it means for everyday Americans already feeling the squeeze at the pump and the grocery store. The conversation also goes beyond oil, connecting the dots between energy, AI, and the new geopolitical battleground. The real competition isn't just over oil fields and shipping lanes anymore it's over data centers, chips, and who controls the future of artificial intelligence. With China closing the gap fast, the stakes for America's global dominance have never been higher. Subscribe to VICE News here: http://bit.ly/Subscribe-to-VICE-News Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    1 hr
  • Congress Isn’t Ready for AI ft. Senator Bernie Sanders I Shane Smith Has Questions

    Congress Isn’t Ready for AI ft. Senator Bernie Sanders I Shane Smith Has Questions
    Mar 9 2026
    Shane Smith sits down with Senator Bernie Sanders for a conversation that cuts straight to the heart of America's biggest crisis artificial intelligence. Bernie warns that a handful of the world's wealthiest men are quietly engineering the most consequential revolution in human history, one that could wipe out millions of jobs overnight and leave ordinary Americans with nothing but unanswered questions. Driverless trucks, automated warehouses, AI lawyers and accountants the future is arriving fast, and Congress isn't even having the conversation. Bernie then unloads on the billionaire class fueling this transformation exposing how wealth and power have never been more dangerously concentrated, how money has corrupted American democracy from Citizens United to Elon Musk's $290 million in campaign spending, and why a federal wealth tax may be the last line of defense for working people. This is Bernie Sanders unfiltered and he's sounding the alarm. Subscribe to VICE News here: http://bit.ly/Subscribe-to-VICE-News Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    43 mins
  • Venezuela After Maduro: Inside the First U.S. Visit with Shane Smith | Shane Has Questions

    Venezuela After Maduro: Inside the First U.S. Visit with Shane Smith | Shane Has Questions
    Feb 26 2026
    Shane Smith travels to Venezuela for a special episode of Shane Smith Has Questions, on the ground for the first meeting between U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright and acting Venezuelan President Delcy Rodríguez — the Trump administration’s first official visit since the regime change.Reporting from Caracas, Shane gets rare access as U.S. officials engage Venezuela’s new leadership and begin shaping what comes next for the country — and its vast oil reserves.He also sits down with Venezuelan journalist María de los Ángeles Graterol and Wall Street Journal South America Bureau Chief Juan Manuel Ferero to unpack the power shift, the stakes for Washington, and whether Venezuela is entering a new chapter — or a new uncertainty. A firsthand look at a country at a turning point. Sign up for your $1 per month trial period at https://www.shopify.com/shane Subscribe to VICE News here: ⁠http://bit.ly/Subscribe-to-VICE-News Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    54 mins
  • Can AI Save America’s Broken Political System? ft. Andrew Yang | Shane Has Questions

    Can AI Save America’s Broken Political System? ft. Andrew Yang | Shane Has Questions
    Nov 20 2025
    Shane sits down with Andrew Yang, entrepreneur, Forward Party founder, and former presidential and mayoral candidate for a wide-open conversation about what happens to America when AI collides with a political system stuck in the 1800s. They start with why anyone even runs for office in the age of opposition-research-as-bloodsport, then rewind to Yang’s 2020 run, when he was dismissed as the “magical Asian man from the future” warning truckers in Iowa that automation and AI would wipe out their jobs. Now that ChatGPT and self-driving tech are here, Shane presses Yang on UBI 2.0, why his original $1,000 “Freedom Dividend” is probably too low, and what a truly human centered economy would look like, one where people are rewarded not just in dollars, but through new forms of value for art, care, health, and community. By the end, Shane issues a call to podcasters and young voters to use their outsized cultural power to help build whatever comes after the two-party era, while Yang predicts that America will elect an independent president in his lifetime. Get 50% off your first box plus free breakfast for 1 year at https://www.factormeals.com/SHANE50OFF and use code SHANE50OFF Subscribe to VICE News here: http://bit.ly/Subscribe-to-VICE-News Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    1 hr and 25 mins
  • The Case That Could Take Down Super PACs & Stop Dark Money ft. Lawrence Lessig | Shane Has Questions

    The Case That Could Take Down Super PACs & Stop Dark Money ft. Lawrence Lessig | Shane Has Questions
    Nov 13 2025
    Harvard Law’s Lawrence Lessig, founder of Creative Commons and Equal Citizens, joins Shane for look at how money captured American politics and what it will take to break its grip. Lessig explains why the real super PAC problem wasn’t created by Citizens United but by a lower-court ruling, and why a new Maine initiative could become the test case that finally reins in unlimited outside spending, potentially nationwide by 2028. They dig into the Supreme Court’s expanding power, how crypto and AI money are rewriting policy in real time, and whether “lawfare” is a buzzword or a genuine threat. Along the way: wage theft vs. our TV-obsession with robberies, why institutions keep settling with extortionists, and what reform has the best odds. In the lightning round, Lessig names dark money as democracy’s bigger danger over disinformation. Subscribe to VICE News here: http://bit.ly/Subscribe-to-VICE-News Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    46 mins