Now is a time of uncertainty across the globe. Venezuela’s former dictator has been captured, a war between Russia and Ukraine is pushing on, and most recently, the U.S. and Israel have waged war with Iran. The Straits of Hormuz are closed, oil and food prices are increasing, and as we try to make sense of it all here in the United States, there was nobody better to call than Ian Bremmer.

Ian Bremmer is the founder and president of Eurasia Group; the founder of GZERO Media; and the author of eleven books, including New York Times bestsellers Us Vs. Them and The Power of Crisis. He currently teaches global politics at the Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs, and, importantly, is a friend of the podcast.

We touch on several things in this conversation, from what happens in the midterm elections, to how drones are rewriting the rules of war. Below are some highlights. —Shane

Shane: “Give us your two-cents on how Iran happened.”

Ian Bremmer: “It happened slowly, and then quickly. Trump had been given scenarios months in advance. He did not believe that negotiations were going well, or were likely to go well. So Trump decided he wanted to go big. That was a couple of months before the war started, but the Americans did not have adequate military assets in the region to defend their bases and defend the Israelis. Presuming that when the Americans went big, Iran would actually respond significantly themselves.”

Shane: “Right.”

Bremmer: “So the plan was in place. This was not surprising. They were talking about it a fair amount, certainly with the Israelis, but also inside the administration. Then once those aircraft carrier strike groups were in place, and once the air force assets were in place, it was off to the races.

“Militarily, the Americans and the Israelis (together) launched massive strikes that were greater than what we saw with the Twelve-Day War last year. These were both to destroy Iran’s military capabilities (air, land, and sea) and also to destroy their military leadership and kill their supreme leader.”

Bremmer (cont.): “The antecedent, in Trump’s mind, was that he was extremely confident on the back of success in Venezuela and wanted to run that plan a second time. He knew that this was bigger and more consequential, but thought he could do it. He had experiences with military operations against Iran twice before as president. Once, when he ordered the assassination of Qasem Soleimani (the head of the Quds force), and second, the Twelve-Day War, which the Israelis started but the Americans joined.

“In both cases, the Iranians talked very big, but they didn’t not hit the Americans back in any meaningful way. So the combination of Venezuela’s success and Iranian experience made Trump believe this is easy.”

The Economic Risk of Drones, and Why Things are Different This Time:

Bremmer: “What I do know is that the Iranians have the ability to continue to use drones to strike at tankers for months. They’ve got tends of thousands of drones. Ukraine has been manufacturing in wartime four- to five-million drones a year. The Iranians have the materials and the industrial complex. And, these [drones] are not that technologically sophisticated to make.

“It doesn’t take many drones being used to make the shippers say “I’m not doing that. I’m not going through.” If the straits are impassable, then you’ve got a massive global economic challenge. If you’ve created an existential risk to Iran, their willingness and ability to cause trouble for you is major. I think that is wildly under appreciated at this point by Americans. But I suspect we will learn to appreciate it.”

What does the future hold?

Bremmer: “I fear that we don’t yet understand the costs and the consequences. Because it’s oil, but it’s also natural gas. All of the refined petroleum.”

Shane: “Fertilizer…”

Bremmer: “Yes. Fertilizer, in the middle of growing season. Those costs are going to be significant and substantial, globally. Take synthetic fabric in Asia. You wear anything polyester, anything that isn’t cotton, it’s coming through the Middle East. That’s if you’re able to reopen the Straits soon. I don’t know how they’re going to do it.”

For more of this conversation with Ian Bremmer:

• Watch the full interview on YouTube.

• Follow and rate SSHQ on Spotify.

• Follow and review SSHQ on Apple Podcasts.

Scott Galloway is a professor of marketing at N.Y.U., a New York Times bestselling author, and the host of “The Prof G Show.” Among other ventures, he’s the initiator of an economic protest called “Resist and Unsubscribe,” which targets major tech companies (e.g., Amazon, Apple, Google, Meta, Netflix) that allegedly enable ICE operations through technology, data, or services.

Resist and Unsubscribe has had an impact of over $284 million in loss in market cap, and has even drawn attention from celebrities, such as Chelsea Handler (who declared she, too, is resisting and unsubscribing.) It’s an especially timely protest, not only with big tech’s role in the Trump Administration, but also with the recent ruling that found Meta and YouTube liable in social media addiction.

In this episode, I sat down with Scott to ask him about this protest effort, but more specifically about the socioeconomic impacts of big tech, how we can fight economic inequality, and what it will take to preserve America’s much-needed middle class. You won’t want to miss it.

—Shane

ICE and Resist and Subscribe

“When you perpetuate violence against a government because of ideological reasons and for reasons to resist and perpetuate violence, that is the definition of domestic terrorism.” This was former Secretary of State Kristi Noem’s response to the death of Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care nurse who was killed by ICE.

“It felt like she was desecrating his grave,” Galloway said. “I just thought, ‘God, we have hit a new low.’ I think a lot of people have had a moment like this, saying, ‘This is not the America I know. What do I do?’” Which led me to ask Scott about Resist and Subscribe.

Scott Galloway: “I’ve always been able to disassociate from politics, and over the past year I’ve had trouble doing that. Dan Harris has a great saying that ‘action absorbs anxiety,’ and I want to do more than just bark into a mic. So I thought: ‘Alright, the Tump Administration has backed away from policies when the markets decline.’”

“I questioned: ‘How do you send a message to CEOs who control the S&P?’ These companies, they’re highly sensitive to subscriptions. For example, if Netflix misses subscriptions by 0.1%, it loses $40Bn in market cap.

“If you could take 10% of the subscription cancellations of these top ten companies, you would probably see an 8-10% decline in their stock price. That’s a 3% decline in the S&P, which t probably takes G.D.P. growth from 2.5% to 1.5%. The moment Trump’s analysts register that, they change policies.”

Galloway (cont.): “So we built a site that makes it simple to unsubscribe to all the big tech platforms. It’s the easiest way to send a message without having to go out and protest all day, which I hugely admire and don’t want to discourage. But, the biggest impact you can have is to unsubscribe from one or more big tech platforms.

“The most radical act in society is non participation. People don’t realize how powerful their wallet is. The greatest government intervention in the last century was six years ago. Trillions of dollars, new rules, new laws. Not because tens of thousands of people were dying during COVID. But because GDP crashed. That’s what moves the government.”

Economic Inequality

It’s no secret America struggles with wealth inequality. But it’s become much more apparent in the age of social media and A.I., where algorithms capitalize on users being angrier and less productive.

Shane: “How do we stop hurdling towards a revolution?

Galloway: “A lot of them [tech CEOs, billionaires at-large]… their response to a revolutionary threat is building a bunker in New Zealand. I know someone doing this. He calls it a ‘farm,’ and I asked ‘By chance, are you building a facility underground [at this farm] that can survive nuclear attacks?’

“The response was: ‘Yeah, if you have the money, why not?’

“My response was: Wouldn’t you be better off trying to make this place a little more habitable?”

Galloway (cont.): “We need to talk about solutions. The tax code has gone from 400 pages to 4,000. The incremental 3,600 pages are there to hurt the middle class. Rich people don’t start out with this goal. They just find reasons why they should [save money], but it ends up hurting the middle class.

“What we need are consumers who can actually afford to buy our products. And people who can actually afford to have children. So that we have something resembling a populous where more than 10% of young people like their government and don’t start blaming each other because social media creates an incentive to rage.”

Shane: “Why haven’t we changed the system, and how do we change it?”

Galloway: “A lot of it comes to boring solutions around getting kids off phones, better K-12 education in poor and rural areas (not just resources, but accountability for teachers unions, and people who have managed to skirt the system.)

“A key component of capitalism is innovation and healthy tax rates. But let me also use the “r-word”: redistribution. You have to redistribute wealth to the middle class. When you just let the market have at it, a group of very powerful, smart, and lucky people will slowly but surely garner more resources, weaponize government, and people rise up. Then, there’s a revolution.

“This is what Central America has gone through every 20 or 30 years for the last 200 years. So unless you put more money in the pockets of the middle class and redistribute income from the most lucky amongst us and corporations, capitalism implodes on itself. A key component of capitalism is that you need to invent in the greatest innovation in the history. Which isn’t vaccines, or the GPS; it’s the middle class.”

The War Against Iran

Shane: “What is happening in Iran and what will be the implications for us?”

Galloway: “I think there was real justification for a military operation to neuter the [Iranian] navy, get rid of munitions capability while their defenses are down, and ensure that they don’t have launch capability. I think there are a series of objectives that we could have gotten some European nations and a majority of the moderate gulf nations on board with and made it a limited-combat operation to take advantage of this moment of weakness to make the Gulf more peaceful.

“Instead, we went in with no objectives and we were reckless. We, for a moment, had an enormous advantage where it seemed like we were going to create an alliance of moderate Gulf States, Israel, and the U.S. which would have payed dividends for a long time.

“We must ask: what are the boxes we’re looking to check such that, quite frankly, there is an ability to leave?”

For more of this conversation with Scott Galloway:

• Watch the full interview on YouTube.

• Follow and rate SSHQ on Spotify.

• Follow and review SSHQ on Apple Podcasts.

Last week, Senator Bernie Sanders (VT - Independent) came on the show to discuss all things A.I.: the ruling-class techies pushing it forward, the jobs crisis, and what he plans to do about it.

Here are some highlights from our conversation:

Without hesitation, Senator Sanders laid out his take on A.I. for me: “Bottom line, we are looking at a revolutionary technology far more consequential than anything we have ever seen in the history of humanity. We are not prepared to deal with it. What happens to the millions of workers who lose their jobs. If we don’t have work, what do we do with our lives?”

Shane: “A.I. is fueled by data centers. They take up a lot of resources… water, energy. What are you trying to push for A.I. and data centers?”

Sen. Sanders: “I think the United States Congress really do not have a clue of the enormity of what we’re dealing with. There are very smart people saying A.I. and robotics will have an impact on our society one-hundred times what the industrial revolution did. What’s happening now will happen in a much more rapid way and much more significant way. It’s going to impact people a lot quicker.”

Shane: “There’s no way to stop AI…”

Sen. Sanders: “The industrial revolution took us from an agricultural to industrial society. What’s happening now is going to happen in a much more rapid and significant way. There are some people who are suggesting coming up with an A.I. that (according to some very smart people) will be able to do almost every task better than a human being can.”

Sen. Sanders (cont.): “Elon Musk is saying that work will become optional. How are you going to survive? You get a check? Who’s paying the government if nobody is working? What are you going to do? Sit around and watch Elon Musk videos?”

Shane: “You’re saying we haven’t even began the discussion yet…”

Sen. Sanders: “Bottom line is that we are looking at a revolutionary technology far more consequential than anything that we’ve ever seen. We are not prepared to deal with it. If we do not have work, what do we do with our lives? If we do not have work, who pays taxes? You tell me, but I am not seeing discussions about these matters.”

On the Ruling Class

Sen. Sanders: “This revolution is being pushed by a small number of the wealthiest people on the planet: Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, Larry Ellison, Peter Thiel…Our friend, Zuckerberg, too. What are their goals? Unprecedented investments in A.I. and data centers. Their goal is that, despite having immense wealth, they want even more.”

Shane: “You’re proposing some tax reforms on the billionaire classes. What are those reforms?”

Sen. Sanders: “Today we have more income wealth inequality than we’ve ever had in the United States. We studied the gilded age: the Carnegies; the Rockefellers. It is much more significant today.”

Sen. Sanders (cont.): “Today in America, you’re looking at the top one-percent owning more wealth than the bottom 93%. Elon Musk owns more wealth than the bottom 53% of American households. You would think the country would be going nuts.

“60% of the American people are living paycheck to paycheck. “People are struggling to put food on the table, to pay their escalating healthcare costs, housing is off the roof. Send your kid to college? Forget about it. Childcare? Very expensive.”

A Proposed Billionaire Tax

Sen. Sanders: “I’m going to introduce a tax on wealth like the one they proposed in California, nationally. Billionaires pay an effective tax rate lower than a truck driver. They have manipulated the tax system. Look: billionaires [should] pay a little more, so the people who have lost their health insurance can stay alive.”

Shane: I think if you went to the billionaires and said, “Hey, we want to take some more money from you guys and make it into healthcare.” I would say the majority would say yes. The problem [with taxes] is that things get mismanaged…”

This question (and many more) answered on this episode of Shane Smith Has Questions.

• Watch the full interview on YouTube.

• Follow and rate SSHQ on Spotify.

• Follow and review SSHQ on Apple Podcasts.

I spent the past week in Denmark and Greenland covering the ongoing crisis over Greenland, which the U.S. is threatening to annex. A number of European countries are promising to defend Greenland, if necessary, under Article Five of the North Atlantic Treaty. Canada is weighing whether to send a small number of troops.

In Copenhagen, I met with Per Stig Møller, former Foreign Minister of Denmark and one of the main players in U.S.-Greenland-Denmark relations in recent years.

In fact, Møller signed off the most recent version of a Defense Agreement between the countries in Igaliku, Greenland back in 2004.

I started out by asking about this defense agreement.

Shane: “What I find interesting is that it basically allows America to do whatever it wants.”

“You just have to consult us,” said Møller.

“[America] wanted to upgrade the Thule radar,” Møller said, “Which was part of the system where you shoot down missiles. Greenland and Denmark said ‘Yes’ to this upgrade. But Greenland wanted also to change or modernize the agreement from 1951. (In 1951, Greenland was not a signatory because it was a colony.) So, Greenland wanted a new text where they could sign it with Denmark and the United States.”

The White House, however, believes this agreement is insufficient. Vice President J.D. Vance recently said in a press conference:

“Our message to Denmark is very simple: you have not done a good job by the people of Greenland. You have under-invested in the people of Greenland and you have under-invested in the security architecture of this incredible, beautiful landmass filled with incredible people. That has to change, and because it hasn’t changed, this is why President Trump’s policy in Greenland is what it is.”

Shane: “Let’s get into America’s standing in Greenland. America had bases there, and America still has bases there.”

“Yes, they had 18,000-20,000 troops there,” Møller said. “Now there are one-hundred-fifty American soldiers.”

Shane: “Did America take the troops away?”

“I didn’t throw them out,” said Møller. “America had eighteen bases. Now America has one.”

Shane: “Did America explain why they did that?”

“No, it was what everybody did at that time,” Møller said. “Because it was the ‘90s, where you had peace and peace dividends.”

“Denmark did the same,” said Møller. “We also made a declaration to keep the Arctic as a low-tension area. When you make a low-tension area, you don’t upgrade the military. You downgrade the military. Which happened for Denmark and the United States.”

Shane: “A lot of people are saying there’s a hole in the security wall. Has Russia or China ever impinged on the sovereignty of Greenland?”

“No, they have not,” Møller said. “They know that it’s part of the Danish Kingdom. They also know there would be problems with the United States if they tried.”

“I had a talk with the Founding Father of Greenland, Jonathon Motzfeldt,” Møller said.

“He talked about independence in a new agreement,” Møller continued. “And I asked, ‘Do you want to be independent?’”

“No,” Møller recounts Motzfeldt saying. “They will not let us live alone on the ice. They will not leave us alone on the ice. And, things have shown, [Motzfeldt] was right.”

Shane: “What if America goes to the people of Greenland and says, ‘Okay, secede from Denmark. Sign a treaty with us, and we’ll give you a lot of money’?”

“I think Greenland will be very angry,” said Møller. “That’s one of the most stupid things you could do.”

“Why?”

“Because they’re not cattle,” said Møller. “You cannot buy them as you can buy cattle.”

Shane: “The other theory is that there are rare earth metals, which because the ice is melting, mining is now possible. What’s happening with that?”

“ I know there are eighty licenses, including one for America. Only one American has asked for it in the past. So if America wanted [to mine in] Greenland, Greenland’s intention is to help America. But you just have to follow the rules,” said Møller.

Shane: “So then why is there this push to have Greenland?”

“ There are rational arguments and irrational arguments,” said Møller. “The security: that’s nonsense. Rare earth: that’s nonsense, and can be solved. All of that.”

“ I can see no rational reason,” said Møller. “Unless, it is the Monroe Doctrine: that this area is part of America’s hemisphere. Which means Canada, which was too close to the British, must be American; Greenland, which is too close to Denmark, must be American. Then you also have to go down and throw our Great Britain from the Falkland Islands. I wish you luck.”

Shane: “What’s this doing to our relationship?”

“I think [America] has destroyed it,” Møller said.

“You are very unpopular, Møller continued. “The Ugly American has returned for the first time since the 1950s.”

“Since I was a little boy, America was an ideal for all Danes,” said Møller. “There’s this question of loyalty: we want you to come and help us as we need it. We expect you to come. Conversely, when the United States asks us to come, then we have to come. This loyalty is broken when you take 98% of Greenland.”

Shane: “Denmark and Greenland are part of NATO. So, theoretically, if there was any incursion into Greenland, there would be a trigger for Article Five. Which is: all members of NATO have to go help.”

“ NATO will have to come the fight Americans,” Møller said.

However, Møller doesn’t believe that President Trump has interest in being part of NATO at all: “He lets Russia take Ukraine, then he lets NATO fall apart. Then Russia can take Estonia, Latvia, Finland, and get to the Baltic Sea.”

Shane: “If you were foreign minister now, what would you say to America?”

“Well, if I was foreign minister now, and Colin Powell or Condoleezza Rice were foreign ministers, we would never have that problem,” Møller said.

“I would say, ‘Get them forward. Get them out of the bush. We cannot accept that you just want Greenland because you feel that you need to own Greenland,’” Møller said.

“Sure, you can go and see some palace and say, ‘I want this palace,’” Møller added. “But can you go in there and throw the man out of the Palace because you feel you need that palace? Perhaps you can rent it someday, but you cannot just take it over. If you think there’s a hole in the security wall, we will fix that together. But show us.”

Shane: “So if there’s no rational reason behind security or the rare earth metals, why does America need Greenland?”

“It is vanity,” said Møller. “Vanity fair.”

“If Trump takes Greenland,” Møller said, “Then he will enlarge America’s area more than Polk in 1845 and Thomas Jefferson in 1903. Trump becomes the greatest president in American history.”

“This is not our flag,” Møller said. “You want us to attack your flag? We will not have your flag. You want something? Don’t behave like that.”

“Stephen Miller also said something violent,” Møller continued, “That ‘The U.S. has the right to take Greenland.’  I think Americans should be aware that perhaps one morning you wake up and you have got a fascist society.”

As for what Per Stig Møller hopes for? Deescalation, and an apology.

“There must be a rereading of the treaty,” said Møller. “We should be seeing if there’s something to be done with security. Then, we move on as friends and loyal partners again.”

Shane: “Do you think that happens?”

“It’s your decision,” said Møller. “Whether you give what you get.”

Together, we unpacked the collapse of public trust in mainstream media, the rise of social platforms as new journalism hubs, and how Gen Z’s relationship to truth and power differs from every generation before.

Parnas opened up about growing up amid political scandal, as the son of Lev Parnas, an associate of Rudy Giuliani, and how personal trauma forged his drive to bring clarity and speed to today’s chaotic information ecosystem.

He explained how he built a platform reaching more than 80 million Americans on TikTok by reporting in real time using court filings, direct government sources, and social feeds instead of corporate newsrooms.

We compared notes on their own careers in war zones and misinformation battlegrounds, exploring how social media has “democratized” journalism but also created echo chambers, rage cycles, and conspiratorial feedback loops.

Enjoy!

-Shane

From his mailroom days at William Morris to creating the “Movie of the Week” at ABC, Diller

recounted how failure, luck, and relentless curiosity shaped his path to becoming one of the most powerful figures in media. He opened up about his nervous breakdown at 19, the creative chaos of running Paramount during Grease, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and Beverly Hills Cop, and how he embraced technology early, spotting the potential of interactivity decades before the internet boom.

Barry and I dove into the lost art of creative confrontation, the decline of instinct in

Hollywood, and the tectonic shift from storytelling to data-driven content. Diller shared

deeply personal reflections on his relationship with Diane von Furstenberg, his sexuality, and

how a lifetime of contradictions -- the shy kid who became a global powerbroker -- has defined him.

Along the way, there are stories of Beverly Hills scandals, the Munich Olympics tragedy, near-misses with Amazon stock worth billions, and why Barry still believes his greatest bet was always on curiosity itself.

We started on the topic of Sam’s early life and his unlikely career path, from studying English at Stanford to dropping out after a transformative MDMA experience. We talked about his travels in India and Nepal, his discovery of meditation, and his brief service as a member of the Dalai Lama’s security team.

We got into the quantum weirdness of parallel universes, the moral peril of “unaligned” AI, and what Sam says is humanity’s arms race with its own ignorance. We covered the ethics of wealth and power, the danger of tech billionaires acting like Bond villains and how meditation might be the only antidote to an accelerating world we no longer understand.

Sam is an incredible thinker: funny, fearlessly honest and infinitely curious.

I hope you enjoy listening as much as I enjoyed speaking with him.

-Shane

Chuck opened up on his decision to leave legacy media behind and reinvent political journalism for the long-form podcast era, how Meet the Press became “an aircraft carrier that couldn’t turn,” and how he rediscovered his voice in independent media. Together, we dissected how the Democrats misread Obama’s 2012 victory, how identity politics replaced class politics, and why Gen X got “screwed” out of ever having a president of its own.

We talked about the decline of institutional trust, the collapse of local journalism, and a “cold civil war” fueled by redistricting and algorithmic polarization. Todd argued that saving democracy begins at the local level by rebuilding trust through community storytelling, youth sports, and bottom-up journalism. Then we got into Obama, Trump, Reagan and Ross Perot, Moneyball politics, AOC’s rise, the Walter myth of and the reality of TikTok today.

Chuck’s one-line explainers (“A man named Craig made classifieds free, and yada yada yada, Trump became president”) are amazing. And I pushed him for his thoughts on civil war, secession, and whether democracy itself can survive the age of social media.

Enjoy!

-Shane

We talked about the rise of digital platforms, a deepening wealth divide, and the decline of traditional work structures, all of which are fuelling a wave of anxiety and frustration. Galloway broke down how the evolution of capitalism and the collapse of old systems are leaving many so many feeling powerless and left behind.

Enjoy!

-Shane

Enjoy!

-Shane

Drone warfare is changing the battlefield fast. Cheap swarms can overwhelm defenses, strike deep, and create new security threats—from war zones to stadiums. Add cyber attacks and grid probes, and the “gray zone” keeps expanding with no clear rules or deterrents.

Global power dynamics are shifting. Trump’s tough talk on Xi, Putin, and Kim clashes with stalled diplomacy and a rising China filling global gaps. With India tensions growing and Europe carrying more of Ukraine, globalization looks more fractured than ever.

The tech race is also splitting. The U.S. leads in AI—for now—but China is sprinting ahead in clean energy. Climate risks are real, but so is the chance to build a cheaper, cleaner future—if politics doesn't block the way.

Enjoy!

-Shane

Our conversation covered his collaborations with our mutual friend Spike Jonze, the shift from MTV to feature films, and the political backlash that ultimately forced the show off the air. Knoxville spoke openly about his mental health struggles after repeated head trauma and how he found stability through therapy.

Beyond the stunts, Knoxville told me about projects he’s proud of, including The Ringer, his outlaw country radio show, and documentaries like The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia. This conversation revealed a rarely seen side of Knoxville—the man behind a daredevil persona that has shaped his life.

Enjoy!

-Shane

Corbell—known for his viral military UFO releases and his documentaries like Bob Lazar: Area 51 & Flying Saucers—walked me through some of the most compelling cases of unexplained aerial phenomena ever captured. From the infamous “Mosul Orb” to naval encounters with pyramid-shaped craft, Corbell shared vetted military footage, insider accounts, and his own work on government transparency.

We dug into the shift from “UFO” to UAP (Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena), testimony before Congress about crash retrieval programs and “biologics,” and the broader philosophical stakes if non-human intelligence is confirmed. Along the way, they debate proof, secrecy, and what disclosure could mean for humanity.

Enjoy!

-Shane

Stutz told me how he developed what he calls “The Tools” after realizing most therapy wasn’t helping patients, and why action—not endless analysis—is the real path to change. He shared how his own experiences with anxiety and depression informed his groundbreaking methods and how gratitude can be a weapon against despair.

It was really an honor.

Please enjoy.

-Shane

Cessario drew parallels between brand-building and political strategy, analyzing figures like Gavin Newsom, AOC, Trump, and Bernie Sanders through a marketer’s lens. And we explored the dangers of brands playing it too safe, the role of advertisers as modern-day censors, and the shifting landscape of media in the age of AI, social virality, and meme culture.

Packed with war stories, from Brandy ventures to high-stakes Super Bowl ads, Mike gave me a masterclass in disruptive marketing, cultural commentary and banter.

Enjoy!

-Shane

Taylor and I got into the past, present, and future of atomic science, how close the Cold War came to getting hot, and today’s aging missile warning systems.

We talked about why accidental nuclear war is scarier than a deliberate attack, why Russia’s hypersonic torpedoes and cheap Ukrainian drones both show us how the math of military deterrence math is being rewritten right now, today.

We got into Taylor’s quest for radiation-proof bacteria, his optimism about compact fusion reactors and geothermal grids that could outcompete fossil fuels, and the data-driven breakthroughs quantum computing may unlock in medicine and materials.

Oh, and moon landing conspiracies, ancient Gabonese natural fission reactors, the search for dark matter and alien microbes in space, and how the 21st century energy race might end in abundance.

It’s a long one, but worth every minute.

Enjoy!

-Shane

He told me how Google’s 100 plus qubit processors now complete benchmark tasks in minutes that would outlive the universe on today’s fastest supercomputers, why error corrected “logical” qubits are the last hurdle to practical machines, and which real world problems will fall first once quantum power comes online. It’s one of the most fascinating episodes so far.

Enjoy!

-Shane

We talked about Andrew’s hitchhiking origins, the Biden interview, the rise and fall of All Gas No Brakes, Channel 5’s “global newsroom,” and why a single bad real estate deal turned a Louisiana lawyer into the Q pilled protagonist of Callaghan’s documentary This Place Rules.

Then, we chopped it up on embedding with warlords, avoiding stomach parasites, and learning to read a room when everyone is armed, Hunter Thompson, Louis Theroux, depersonalization, and the perils of becoming “industry approved.”.

Enjoy!

Shane

Mayor Bass laid out her plan to rebuild, fast, thanks in part to an unexpected assist from the Trump administration’s Army Corps of Engineers. And she revealed a new public-private partnership with developer Rick Caruso (see last week’s episode) and NBA vet JJ Redick to restore a devastated rec center.

Before all that, I met with my friend Keegan Gibbs, volunteer firefighter and Community Brigade co-founder. We relived a truly insane time in LA history.

Enjoy!

Shane

We went deep on the political and organizational failures that turned a preventable disaster into once-in-a-lifetime crisis.