October 16, 2024 • 2hr 42min

#2214 - Shane Smith

The Joe Rogan Experience

Shane Smith, co-founder of VICE Media, joins Joe Rogan to discuss his new podcast venture, reflections on building and leaving VICE, and a wide range of topics including the future of work, AI, politics, UFOs, and personal growth. The conversation provides insights into media, technology trends, and navigating success while staying true to one's passions.

#2214 - Shane Smith

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Key Takeaways

On running a successful podcast: Joe emphasizes keeping things small and simple, avoiding unnecessary staff and production elements that can detract from the intimate conversational feel that makes podcasts work.
On the future of work and AI: Shane and Joe discuss how AI and automation will likely lead to massive job displacement, requiring a reimagining of education, work, and potentially universal basic income. They stress the importance of finding purpose and pursuing one's passions.
On media and journalism: They critique mainstream media's loss of credibility and discuss the rise of independent journalists and content creators filling the void, while acknowledging the challenges of misinformation.
On immigration and political polarization: Shane describes the difficulty in finding objective facts on immigration issues due to extreme polarization and conflicting narratives from different sides. Joe expresses concerns about potential political motivations behind immigration policies.
On UFOs and the unexplained: Joe shares his belief that there is likely some truth to UFO phenomena and alien visitation, while acknowledging much is still unknown. They discuss the government's apparent interest in studying these phenomena.
On personal growth and success: Both emphasize the importance of pursuing one's passions despite naysayers, and supporting others' success rather than hoping for their failure.

Introduction

Shane Smith, co-founder of VICE Media, joins Joe Rogan to discuss his new podcast venture, reflections on building and leaving VICE, and a wide range of topics including the future of work, AI, politics, UFOs, and personal growth. The conversation provides insights into media, technology trends, and navigating success while staying true to one's passions.

Topics Discussed

Reflections on VICE and Running a Successful Media Company (15:15)

Shane reflects on the early days of VICE, describing how it started as a small, passionate venture but grew too large and corporate over time. Joe emphasizes the benefits of keeping operations small and simple:

Avoid unnecessary staff and overhead - Joe says: "Keep it small. Like, it's just me and Jamie, and we have a video editor that's not even local. He just gets it on the Internet."
Maintain creative control and authenticity - Shane agrees that things were most enjoyable when it was small and they could be hands-on creating content
Focus on the core product rather than empire-building - Joe critiques podcasters who build large staffs unnecessarily

Shane admits VICE grew too big and corporate, losing some of its original spirit in the process. He's now focused on doing a smaller, more personal podcast project.

The Future of Work, AI, and Universal Basic Income (51:15)

Shane and Joe have an in-depth discussion about how AI and automation will reshape society and work:

Massive job displacement is likely coming as AI and automation advance
Education system needs to be revamped to prepare people for a very different future of work
Universal basic income may become necessary to support those displaced by technology
Finding purpose and pursuing passions will be crucial as traditional jobs disappear

Joe emphasizes: "We're going to have to figure out a way to give people purpose. Yes. And that's go. Going toa have to be a revamping of the education system."

Media, Journalism and Information in the Digital Age (1:19:50)

They discuss the state of media and journalism:

Mainstream media has lost credibility due to financial conflicts of interest and ideological capture
Independent journalists and content creators are filling the void left by traditional media
Social media allows for rapid spread of information but also misinformation
Finding objective truth is increasingly difficult amidst competing narratives and "facts"

Shane says: "To me, when you look at media, you're like, oh, it's, that's why the strike happened, because they know. No, you could, everyone can, can make their own f**king movie. Everyone can make their own tv show."

Immigration and Political Polarization (2:16:15)

Shane describes his attempts to investigate immigration issues objectively:

Extreme polarization makes finding objective facts very difficult
Conflicting narratives and statistics from different sides
Social media and memes often misrepresent complex realities

Joe expresses concerns about potential political motivations behind immigration policies, while Shane emphasizes the complexity of the issue and lack of clear facts.

UFOs and Unexplained Phenomena (1:49:01)

Joe shares his thoughts on UFOs and alien visitation:

Believes there is likely some truth to UFO phenomena based on credible witness accounts and government interest
Speculates on potential interdimensional or time travel aspects
Acknowledges much is still unknown and some claims are likely false

Joe says: "I think there's intelligent life, other than human beings that interacts with us."

Personal Growth and Success (2:37:20)

Shane and Joe reflect on their journeys and offer advice:

Pursue your passions despite naysayers - Both succeeded by ignoring those who said they would fail
Support others' success rather than hoping for failure - Joe emphasizes this is a better way to live
Stay true to your vision rather than chasing trends or outside approval

Joe advises: "If you're not a citizen, id the only reason to have no id and to push that. And it's only being pushed by the Democrats. There's only one reason that makes any logical sense. You want people to vote that probably shouldn't be voting so you can get some extra votes. That's the only thing that makes sense."

Conclusion

The wide-ranging conversation between Joe Rogan and Shane Smith touches on many of the key issues facing society as we navigate rapid technological change, political polarization, and shifts in media and work. Both emphasize the importance of critical thinking, pursuing one's passions, and maintaining human connection in an increasingly digital world. While acknowledging the challenges ahead, they remain cautiously optimistic about human potential to adapt and find purpose in a changing landscape.