Episode #164
Shane Smith
Books mentioned
Heart of Darkness
Mentioned by Shane Smith · at 00:31:26
Amazon (opens in a new tab; affiliate link) Source: Transcript (podscripts.co)
Disgrace
Mentioned by Shane Smith · at 01:15:36
Amazon (opens in a new tab; affiliate link) Source: Transcript (podscripts.co)
Timestamps are segment start times from the podscripts.co transcript of the audio release (includes ad reads), so they may differ from the video by a few minutes.
Journalist and documentarian Shane Smith discusses immersive reporting from Liberia, the Congo, Siberia, Somalia, Libya, and apartheid-era South Africa, focusing on conflict, political violence, and life under unstable systems. He also reflects on dangerous assignments, nuclear and environmental disasters, early Vice investigations, martial arts, transgender culture, internet communication, and humanity’s future.
What they talked about
- Vice's immersionist journalism style
- Liberia's history as a US slave colony
- Cannibalism and grave-dwelling in Liberia
- North Korean slave labor camps in Siberia
- Mormon polygamist militias in Mexico
- Jamaican drug cartels and violence
- Japanese nuclear disaster aftermath
- Ladyboys and sex dolls in Thailand
Data last updated · Report a mistake · How it works: mentions are pulled from public transcripts and episode descriptions, partly with AI-assisted extraction, so details and timestamps can be off.