Shane Smith Has Questions

Shane Smith and Andrew Callaghan sit down with the anonymous creator behind Explosive Media, the Iranian team whose AI-generated LEGO videos became one of the most viewed and controversial media phenomena of the recent Iran-Israel conflict. With a team of fewer than ten people, their videos reached hundreds of millions of viewers and sparked debate about propaganda, AI, meme culture, and the future of information warfareIn this rare interview, the creators explain why they chose LEGO animation to depict war, how a team of fewer than ten people reached hundreds of millions of viewers, and why they believe modern conflicts are increasingly fought through algorithms, social media, and information warfare rather than traditional media alone.The conversation explores propaganda, AI-generated content, meme culture, Jean Baudrillard's theory of hyperreality, President Trump's social media strategy, and the future of political storytelling in an age where billions of people experience world events through their phones.The group also responds to questions about their relationship with the Iranian government, whether their work should be considered propaganda, and why they describe themselves as "guerrilla soldiers in the propaganda war.”As AI tools become more powerful and media becomes increasingly decentralized, this conversation offers a glimpse into what the future of information warfare may look like.Subscribe to VICE News for more reporting from around the world.

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What happens when artificial intelligence becomes more powerful than the institutions meant to govern it?Shane Smith sits down with Aza Raskin, co-founder of the Center for Humane Technology, creator of Infinite Scroll, and one of the leading voices on AI ethics, for a wide-ranging conversation about the future of AI, warfare, work, politics, and humanity itself. This conversation is a starting point, not a conclusion. Explore additional perspectives, research, and open questions about the future of AI in our Adobe Acrobat PDF Space: https://adobe.ly/SSHQFresh off a trip with the U.S. Army, Shane shares what he saw: autonomous vehicles, AI-enabled systems, and drones that felt like the beginning of a new era of warfare. Together, he and Aza explore the biggest questions facing society as AI rapidly advances.

They discuss:

Autonomous weapons and the future of war

Why AI has become a global arms race

The race between the U.S. and China

Whether governments understand what's coming

AI's impact on jobs and the economy

Social media, Infinite Scroll, and digital addiction

The future of regulation and governance

Earth Species Project and using AI to understand animal communication

Dark matter, intelligence, and human perception

Is AI humanity's greatest tool—or our greatest challenge?

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How is AI changing modern warfare? And are we already entering the age of autonomous war?

Shane Smith and VICE News travel to Morocco for African Lion 2026 — one of the largest military exercises in the world — to get an inside look at the technologies rapidly transforming the battlefield.

From AI-assisted targeting systems and autonomous combat vehicles to suicide drones, robotics, quantum computing, and next-generation military communications, Shane embeds with U.S. AFRICOM and the young soldiers building the future of warfare in real time.

In this episode of Shane Smith Has Questions, Shane speaks with General Davin R.M. Anderson, Commander of U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) and 1st Lt. Vincent Gasparri, Innovation Team Lead 173rd Airborne Brigade, who leads a new generation of military innovators developing drone systems inspired by lessons from Ukraine, Iran, and modern asymmetric warfare.

The conversations explore:

AI on the battlefield

Autonomous weapons systems

Drone warfare and counter-drone tech

Robotics and future combat

Quantum computing and encryption

The ethics of AI warfare

Terror threats in Africa

How Ukraine changed military strategy

The future of the U.S. military

As wars become increasingly automated, Shane asks the question everyone is thinking:

Are we prepared for a future where AI helps run wars?

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As tensions between the United States, Israel, and Iran continue to escalate, Shane Smith travels to Tehran for a rare interview with Esmail Baghaei, spokesperson for Iran’s Foreign Ministry.Esmail Baghaei has been in the news today, confirming that Iran is examining the U.S. response to Iran’s latest peace proposal, delivered through Pakistan. As a potential deal to end hostilities hangs in the balance, we gave the Iranian government representative the opportunity to respond directly to accusations about its nuclear program, President Trump’s claims that Iran is “begging” for a deal, the Strait of Hormuz crisis, sanctions, regional escalation, and the growing fear of a wider war in the Middle East.The spokesperson argues that Iran has been unfairly targeted by the U.S. and Israel for decades, blames the U.S. and Israel for escalating the conflict, and warns that continued military pressure could destabilize the entire region.

Shane pushes back throughout the interview, asking why Iran continues pursuing nuclear energy despite mounting international pressure, whether peace is realistically possible, and what the Iranian government believes Americans fundamentally misunderstand about Iran.Topics include:

Iran’s response to Trump and U.S. military pressure

Israel’s role in the conflict

The Strait of Hormuz and global energy fears

Nuclear weapons accusations

Sanctions and frozen Iranian assets

Regional escalation and Gulf states

The collapse of diplomacy after the JCPOA

Why Iran says it does not want war

Recorded in Tehran.

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After the latest U.S. government release of UAP/UFO files, filmmaker and investigative journalist Jeremy Corbell returns to Shane Smith Has Questions for a deep dive into what may be the biggest disclosure moment yet.

Jeremy and Shane Smith break down the new government “data dump,” the whistleblowers testifying under oath, military footage from Syria and the famous Tic Tac encounters, alleged reverse-engineering programs, non-human intelligence claims, and why Corbell believes this is only the beginning.

They also discuss:

Corbell’s new documentary Sleeping Dog

The Pentagon’s latest UAP releases

The 46 videos Congress allegedly requested

The Syria 2021 footage

David Fravor and the Tic Tac incident

Government secrecy and “the military industrial complex”

Fear surrounding whistleblowers

Whether real disclosure is finally happening

“This is the biggest story in human history.” — Shane Smith

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