Shane Smith Has Questions

Can one lawsuit change the future of American elections?

Why almost everyone misunderstands Citizens United

The legal mistake Lessig says created Super PACs

Elon Musk's reported $270 million in political donations—and why it matters to this case

Whether billionaires are effectively buying political influence

Why this case is likely headed to the U.S. Supreme Court if the current ruling stands

What American elections could look like if Super PACs were fundamentally changed

Harvard Law professor Lawrence Lessig believes it can.Most Americans blame Citizens United for the rise of Super PACs—but Lessig argues that's not actually what happened. Now, after years of litigation, a new court case could finally give the Supreme Court a chance to decide whether unlimited donations to Super PACs are constitutional at all. If the courts rule in his favor, the decision could dramatically reshape campaign finance before the 2028 presidential election by allowing limits on massive contributions to Super PACs once again. In this conversation, Shane Smith and Lawrence Lessig discuss:Whether you agree or disagree with the current campaign finance system, this is one of the most consequential legal challenges to election law.
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When did politics stop being about solving problems and start becoming a team sport?

Former Republican strategist and The Bulwark host Tim Miller joins Shane Smith for a conversation about the forces that reshaped American politics—from the collapse of the Republican establishment to Donald Trump's takeover, the rise of partisan media, and why our information ecosystem rewards outrage over understanding.

Rather than asking who is winning, Shane and Tim explore why politics increasingly feels like entertainment, why Washington failed to understand its own voters, and whether America's institutions can still solve modern problems.

Topics include:

Why the Republican establishment misread Trump

The rise of partisan media and algorithm-driven news

Why politics now feels like sports

Can America ever become less polarized?

Is the political center disappearing?

What's actually broken in Washington?

Could another political outsider change everything?

If you enjoy long-form conversations about politics, media, culture and the future of democracy, subscribe for new episodes every week.

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Sean Penn has spent much of his life going places most people only experience through headlines — wartime Kyiv with Zelenskyy, Chávez's Venezuela, Castro's Cuba, Iran before the Green Movement, and deep inside cartel country in Mexico with El Chapo.

In this conversation with Shane Smith, Penn reflects on meeting Volodymyr Zelenskyy in wartime Kyiv, traveling through Iran before the Ahmadinejad era, spending time with Hugo Chávez and Fidel Castro, and the infamous journey that led to his meeting with El Chapo while the cartel leader was still on the run.

Along the way, they talk about propaganda, journalism, war, political mythmaking, and why the story almost always changes when you go there yourself.

Penn explains why he skipped the Oscars after winning his third Academy Award, what Americans misunderstand about Ukraine, why he was drawn to Chávez and Cuba, and what decades spent around power and conflict have taught him about human nature.

This isn't a conversation about politics as much as it is about proximity — to history, to power, and to the people we are told to fear.

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For more than a decade, Gelareh Kiazand reported from some of the world's most complicated and misunderstood places.

From covering life under the Taliban in Afghanistan to documenting everyday life inside Iran, her work focused on telling stories from the ground — often in places where politics, war, and international headlines rarely capture the full picture.

In this conversation, Shane Smith sits down with Gelareh to reflect on years of reporting across Iran and Afghanistan, the realities of covering conflict, and what journalists can learn by spending time with the people who actually live through these events.

Featuring archival VICE reporting and footage from recent reporting in Tehran, they discuss war, sanctions, media narratives, daily life, and the challenge of understanding countries that are often reduced to headlines and geopolitics.

After decades covering the region, one thing remains true:Showing up still matters.

In this episode:

• Reporting from Afghanistan during the war
• Life under the Taliban and what changed after the withdrawal
• What everyday life in Iran looks like beyond the headlines
• The challenges of reporting from conflict zones
• Journalism, propaganda, and competing narratives
• Sanctions, politics, and ordinary people
• How VICE reported from places few Western outlets could access
• Why being there still matters

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Ken Burns has spent more than five decades telling America's story. From The Civil War and The Vietnam War to Baseball, Jazz, and The U.S. and the Holocaust, his films have shaped how generations of Americans understand their country.

In this conversation, Shane Smith sits down with the legendary filmmaker to talk about much more than documentaries. Together they explore why America feels so divided, whether we're living through another turning point in history, the collapse of shared facts, the changing media landscape, and why Burns believes understanding our past is essential to navigating our future.

Burns also reflects on his early films Brooklyn Bridge and The Statue of Liberty, the making of The Civil War and The Vietnam War, the importance of PBS, and why documentary filmmaking still matters in an age of algorithms, clips, and social media.

After a lifetime studying America's greatest triumphs and deepest failures, Ken Burns keeps coming back to one simple idea:

"There's only us.”

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In this episode:

• The story behind Brooklyn Bridge and Burns' first documentary

• Why The Civil War became a cultural phenomenon

• The making of The Vietnam War

• Why PBS has been essential to documentary filmmaking

• Journalism vs. history

• The collapse of shared reality

• Social media, AI, and the future of truth

• Political polarization and America's recurring cycles

• What history says about our future

• Why Ken Burns still believes there's reason for hope

Subscribe to Shane Smith Has Questions for new conversations with the people shaping politics, culture, technology, and the world around us.
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