{"podcast":{"title":"Shane Smith Has Questions","slug":"shane-smith-has-questions-7035837","podcast_index_feed_id":7035837,"rss_url":"https://feeds.megaphone.fm/LILLL9002079998","website_url":"https://www.studio71.com/us/podcasts/","image_url":"https://megaphone.imgix.net/podcasts/e2a67bd0-80e0-11ef-af92-cf5cf2f9800c/image/35c0ff6b5d41685a7edf81b0d7342176.jpg?ixlib=rails-4.3.1&max-w=3000&max-h=3000&fit=crop&auto=format,compress","author":"VICE News & Studio71","episode_count":55,"summary":"Shane Smith Has Questions is a dynamic, apolitical podcast hosted by Shane Smith dedicated to getting to the bottom of prominent instances of misinformation and disinformation while revealing the fascinating fundamental truths (if there are any?) of the most interesting and convoluted social and political issues of our time. For advertising opportunities please email PodcastPartnerships@Studio71us.com We want to make the podcast even better, help us learn how we can: https://bit.ly/2EcYbu4 Privacy Policy: https://www.studio71.com/terms-and-conditions-use/#Privacy%20Policy","last_synced_at":"2026-06-19T10:22:58.372394+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/shane-smith-has-questions-7035837"},"episode":{"title":"The Spiritual Crisis of Modern Intelligence ft. Sam Harris | Shane Smith Has Questions","slug":"the-spiritual-crisis-of-modern-intelligence-ft-sam-harris-shane-smith-has-questions","published_at":"2025-10-16T16:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/shane-smith-has-questions-7035837/the-spiritual-crisis-of-modern-intelligence-ft-sam-harris-shane-smith-has-questions","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/shane-smith-has-questions-7035837","url":"https://pdst.fm/e/mgln.ai/e/135/verifi.podscribe.com/rss/p/tracking.swap.fm/track/i7NUCPwi3tJP053nG6mP/pdrl.fm/1bfae6/traffic.megaphone.fm/STU1379291440.mp3?updated=1760575793","audio_url":"https://pdst.fm/e/mgln.ai/e/135/verifi.podscribe.com/rss/p/tracking.swap.fm/track/i7NUCPwi3tJP053nG6mP/pdrl.fm/1bfae6/traffic.megaphone.fm/STU1379291440.mp3?updated=1760575793","summary":"Shane Smith sits down with Sam Harris, philosopher, neuroscientist, and bestselling author for a deep conversation about artificial intelligence, consciousness, and the fragile future of humanity. They begin with Sam’s early life and unlikely path, from studying English at Stanford to dropping out after a transformative MDMA experience that led him to India and Nepal, where he meditated and even served briefly on the Dalai Lama’s security detail. What follows is a wide-ranging exploration of how psychedelics, meditation, and neuroscience all shape our understanding of the mind and what happens when machines start thinking faster than we ever could. From the quantum weirdness of parallel universes to the moral peril of unaligned AI, Sam warns that humanity isn’t in an arms race with China or Google—but with its own ignorance. The two dive into 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. Funny, philosophical, and fearlessly honest, this episode tackles everything from Elon Musk and Bill Gates to psychedelics and the illusion of the self, weaving science and spirituality into a single, provocative conversation about where we go next. Subscribe to VICE News here: ⁠http://bit.ly/Subscribe-to-VICE-News Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices","meta_description":"Shane Smith sits down with Sam Harris, philosopher, neuroscientist, and bestselling author for a deep conversation about artificial intelligence, consciou…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":9162,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/shane-smith-has-questions-7035837/episodes/the-spiritual-crisis-of-modern-intelligence-ft-sam-harris-shane-smith-has-questions/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/shane-smith-has-questions-7035837/the-spiritual-crisis-of-modern-intelligence-ft-sam-harris-shane-smith-has-questions.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}