The James Smith Show
The Problem With… isn't here to give easy answers - it's here to ask the uncomfortable questions behind today's biggest trends and taboos. Each week, host James Smith digs into what's really going on - from AI to wellness culture - through unfiltered chats with experts and insiders to uncover the truth behind the noise.
Episodes
Unfortunately, Growing On YouTube Just Changed FOREVER (Olly Staniland)
Olly Staniland joins James Smith to break down what actually makes a YouTube video work. Olly works on James's YouTube channel and, like James, studied under Ed Lawrence. They go through real thumbnails and analytics from James's channel, why one video with 80,000 views made nothing while another with 60,000 made thousands, how Matt Armstrong and Carwow built huge channels by repeating one format,
Ross Edgley: How To Become DANGEROUSLY Self-Motivated
Ross Edgley joins James Smith for a reunion years in the making. Ross is the ultramarathon sea swimmer who swam around Great Britain and then the whole coast of Iceland.
Ahead of his new book How To Hero, he opens up about losing his dad, waking up in hospital after failed swims, and being told doctors had never seen blood work like his on a living person. He also explains the brain science of w
$1b Founder: The Truth About Building A 10 Figure Business (Alan Barratt)
Alan Barratt on entrepreneurship, business ownership, and the reality of building a brand from the ground up.
Everyone wants the freedom of being an entrepreneur, but few are ready for the weight of total responsibility. Alan Barrett, the founder of Grenade, joins me to discuss what it actually takes to succeed in the protein bar market. He shares the unfiltered truth about being unemployable,
The Truth About GLP-1s, Menopause, And Female Founders (Rebecca Oliver-Mooney)
Rebecca Oliver-Mooney joins James Smith for a conversation that starts with a left-handed can and ends up somewhere far more uncomfortable. Founder of the Raising The Glass network and a drinks industry buyer who has sat on the other side of the table from hundreds of challenger brands, Rebecca explains why most founders put half their message where the shelf will hide it, why GLP-1s are about to
The Truth About Balding, Booze, And Being A Dad At 50 (Jason Fox)
Jason 'Foxy' Fox joins James Smith, on his wife's birthday no less, for an unfiltered and very funny conversation that swaps the usual topics for a proper sit-down with the boys. A former UK Special Forces operator and the longest-serving member of the SAS: Who Dares Wins directing staff, Foxy opens up about becoming a dad again at 50 after seven years of IVF, missing his son's birth over a WhatsA
What Actually Happens To Your Taxes? : Frank Greeff
Frank Greeff joins James Smith fresh off a $180 million exit for a raw conversation about tax, talent and why the game never really ends. Frank breaks down the $6.2M tax bill from selling his last business, the proposed Australian capital gains changes that would have doubled it, and why, hand on heart, he isn't sure he'd have started his last company if those rules had existed first.
Check out
Traitors Star Andrew Jenkins: The Problem With Mental Health
Andrew Jenkins, the Traitors star, joins James Smith for a raw conversation about resilience, identity, and rebuilding a life after everything is taken away. At 21, Andrew was pronounced dead at the scene of a catastrophic car accident, lost half his skull and over half his blood, and was told he'd never walk, talk, or recognise anyone again. He walked out of that hospital and then spent 15 years
Why The Aussie Economy is F*cked
Tom Hawley joins James Smith to expose the deliberate machinery behind a cost-of-living crisis most people don't even know is happening to them. The co-founder of Azura Financial, one of Australia's top 10 brokerages and a three-time Residential Broker of the Year, Hawley argues that inflation isn't a natural force but a policy choice, a quiet tax on your purchasing power that hits lower and middl
The Problem With Running A Small Business: Diren Kartal
Diren Kartal joins James Smith for an honest, often hilarious conversation about what running a small business actually does to you once the money is coming in but the freedom isn't. Diren is a personal trainer and Turkey's number one fitness coach with over 1.2 million followers, and despite bringing in hundreds of thousands a year he can't shake the feeling that none of it sticks. Together they
The Problem With Splitting The Difference: Chris Voss
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Chris Voss joins Ja
The Problem With Training After 30: Sonny Webster
Sonny Webster joins James Smith for an honest conversation about what training, money and ambition actually look like once you hit your 30s. A British Olympic weightlifter who competed at Rio 2016, Sonny is now a fitness entrepreneur building global training platforms, and he doesn't hold back on the realities of optimisation culture, the TRT debate.
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The Problem With Work-Life Balance: Paul Mort
Paul Mort joins James Smith for a no-holds-barred conversation on work-life balance, building a business you don't want to escape, and why most people are chasing a version of freedom they haven't earned yet. A two-time Master Coach of the Year, bestselling author, and podcast host, Paul Mort makes the case that work-life balance isn't a time problem or a workload problem; it's a clarity problem,
The Problem With Not Understanding The Economy: Tom Bilyeu
Tom Bilyeu joins James Smith to discuss how broken the modern economy really is. The host of Impact Theory and co-founder of Quest Nutrition argues that inflation is theft, that you cannot save your way to success anymore, and that elites are quietly funneling wealth from the working class.
He explains:
◼️ Why a balanced budget changes every policy argument
◼️ How property markets get fixed b
The Problem With Linkedin: Lara Acosta
Lara Acosta joins James Smith for a no-holds-barred conversation about LinkedIn, the corporate world, and what it really takes to build a personal brand that actually moves the needle. A LinkedIn growth expert and founder who's helped thousands of professionals turn themselves into trusted authorities, Lara breaks down why most people are doing LinkedIn wrong — and why the platform isn't the probl
The Problem With Being Soft: Ali Maclean
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Ali Maclean joins James Smith for a no-holds-barred
The Problem With Bad Luck: Paul Sloane
Paul Sloane joins James Smith to dismantle the myth of bad luck and reveal why the most successful innovations in history happened entirely by accident. A Cambridge engineer, former IBM marketer, and bestselling author, Sloane argues that what most people write off as misfortune is actually a hidden opportunity, and the people who notice it are the ones who change industries.
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The Problem With Air Fryers: Lucy Lord
Lucy Lord joins James Smith for a wide-ranging conversation that starts with the air fryer sitting unused on 70% of UK kitchen counters and ends up tearing apart everything from protein marketing scams to the slow death of the British night out. A best-selling cookbook author and the woman behind Supper Club, Lucy is back with her third book, Love Your Air Fryer, and makes the case that cooking yo
The Problem With Tribalism: Michael Morris
Michael Morris joins James Smith to dismantle the popular myth that tribalism is humanity's curse. A renowned cultural psychologist and Columbia Business School professor, Morris argues that our tribal instincts aren't hardwired hatred for outsiders, they're the very adaptations that allowed humans to outcompete Neanderthals, build civilisations, and cooperate at scales no other species can match.
The Problem With Comfort: Anthony (Staz) Stazicker CGC
Anthony "Staz" Stasziker, a former special forces officer, shares essential life advice on the importance of hard work, discipline, and the problem with living a comfortable life. Staz highlights that true success, much like military training in special ops, is not easily achieved but requires dedication. It's about putting in the effort, not just romanticizing the idea.
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The Problem With Being Honest: Ian Leslie
Ian Leslie joins James Smith to unpack the uncomfortable truth about honesty: we can't actually handle it. A bestselling author and host of the Where Shall We Meet podcast, Ian argues that lying isn't a bug in human nature but an evolutionary feature — the very thing responsible for our big brains, our creativity, and our capacity for art.
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The Problem With Being Your Business: James Haskell
James Haskell joins James Smith for a brutally honest conversation about life after professional sport, the chaos of building multiple businesses, and what it actually takes to stay relevant when the game is over. A former England rugby star, Sunday Times bestselling author, and DJ, Haskell pulls no punches on the mental cost of reinvention — and why his obsession with performing has never really
The Problem With Trying to Feel Better: Dr Julie Smith
Dr Julie Smith joins James Smith for a wide-ranging conversation on the psychology of emotion, mental health, and what it really means to feel better. A clinical psychologist and international bestselling author, Dr Smith dismantles the idea that difficult emotions are problems to be solved and challenges James on everything from catastrophising and shame-based motivation to the surprising emotion
The Problem With Self Sabotage: Connor Beaton (ManTalks)
Connor Beaton joins James Smith to reveal the uncomfortable truth about self-sabotage. Far from being a simple lack of discipline, self-sabotage is a sophisticated survival strategy your brain uses to maintain control. Beaton explains why your psyche would rather choose a familiar disaster over an unfamiliar victory, keeping you locked in a cycle of destructive behavior to protect a fragile sense
The Problem With Perfectionism: Jonny Wilkinson
Rugby legend Johnny Wilkinson joins James Smith to reveal the uncomfortable truth about the problem with perfectionism, why the pursuit of "perfect" is a quiet crisis that creates a dangerous lie of future salvation while destroying your current reality. Wilkinson explains how living in a constant state of survival and impending doom reshapes our biology and threatens the very essence of human pot
The Problem With Finance Gurus: Michael Taylor
Michael Taylor, a professional trader and author, joins James to break down why most finance gurus are full of it. They discuss the red flags of get-rich-quick trading schemes, how brokers make money when you lose, and why Forex attracts scammers. Michael explains the difference between real investing and fake lifestyles, the dangers of blindly following trading signals, and why most people fail a
The Problem With Net Zero: Konstantin Kisin
Konstantin Kisin joins James Smith to discuss the problem with Net Zero, a quiet crisis where ideological virtue signaling is actively making the West poor, weak, and strategically irrelevant.
Kisin explains how our obsession with carbon metrics functions as a dangerous accounting trick that exports British industry to China while gaslighting citizens into accepting a lower standard of living.
The Problem With Women in BJJ: Ffion Davies
Ffion Davies joins James Smith to reveal the problem with women in jiu-jitsu, a sport often gatekept by a "sausage fest" mentality and dangerous myths about self-defense. Davies, a six-time world champion, exposes why the current narrative is failing women and how the lack of equal pay is a quiet crisis threatening the sport's growth. They confront the reality of the "big strong dude" syndrome, th
The Problem With Following Your Passion: Max Olesker
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Max Olesker joins James Smith to discuss the problem with following your passion. Why an unstructured life can lead to an intellectual and spiritual vacuum if you aren't prepared for
The Problem With Housing Affordability: Ravi Sharma
Property expert and investment strategist Ravi Sharma joins James Smith to reveal the problem with the global housing market.
This is no longer just a hurdle for first time buyers; it is a systemic time bomb that is stripping away financial agency and threatening the future of social mobility. The quiet crisis of skyrocketing prices is not an accident of the market, but the result of a rigged sy
The Problem With Men's Mental Health: George from TheTinMen
In this episode, George Horne (known online as @thetinmen) joins James Smith to confront the uncomfortable reality of The Problem with Men’s Mental Health. Beyond the surface-level "men need to talk" slogans, George reveals a quiet crisis of structural failings that range from biased family courts to a suicide rate that continues to climb despite increased awareness.
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The Problem With Hydration: Adam Mcdonald
Adam McDonald joins James Smith to reveal the uncomfortable truth about the problem with hydration, electrolytes and why the $100 million hydration industry is selling a dangerous lie that is creating a quiet crisis in cardiovascular health. McDonald explains how modern marketing has convinced healthy individuals to consume toxic levels of sodium under the guise of "optimisation" while ignoring th
The Problem With Personal Branding: Lara Acosta
Lara Acosta joins James Smith to discuss the problem with personal branding. While millions of entrepreneurs chase the "influencer" dream, a quiet crisis of ego and AI-generated slop is destroying genuine market value. This obsession with being interesting rather than useful is a dangerous lie that is threatening the future of human agency and business growth in 2026.
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The Problem With Gen Z: Elliot Bewick
Elliot Bewick joins James Smith to reveal the problem with Gen Z. This generation is currently trapped in a quiet crisis where skyrocketing anxiety rates and plummeting fertility are threatening the future of social stability. Bewick explains why modern connectivity has become a dangerous trap that trades genuine competence for manufactured authenticity.
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The Problem With Saving For Retirement: Damien Talks Money
In this episode of The Problem With Podcast, James Smith sits down with Damien Jordan, the voice behind the hugely popular YouTube channel Damien Talks Money, for a no-nonsense conversation about money, taxes, investing, and the uncomfortable truths most people ignore.
Damien breaks down why the average person feels poorer despite “doing everything right,” how inflation and fiscal drag quietly
The Problem With Not Having Kids: Paul Morland
Demographer and author Paul Morland joins James Smith to reveal the uncomfortable truth about the problem with population collapse - why falling birth rates are creating aging societies, economic decline and a quiet crisis at the heart of the modern world. Morland explains how a lack of children is reshaping nations, destroying communities and threatening the future of humanity itself.
They dis
The Problem With Aging: Andrew Steele
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Scientist and author Dr. Andrew Steele joins James Smith to tackle the problem with aging and why dying of “old age” might one day be
The Problem With The AI Apocalypse: Connor Leahy
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AI researcher and ControlAI founder Connor Leahy joins James Smith to confront the problem with artificial intelligence - from misinfor
The Problem With Being Single: Sadia Khan
Welcome to "The Problem With" where each week we look into a problem to get a better understanding of it. This podcast has no sponsors, only my businesses and investments, please check out the links below.
📍I'm on a mission to help men check their levels of Testosterone, more info here: https://www.manual.co/smith
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The Problem With Dopamine: TJ Power
Welcome to "The Problem With" where each week we look into a problem to get a better understanding of it. This podcast has no sponsors, only my businesses and investments. Please check out the links below.
📍I'm on a mission to help men check their levels of Testosterone, more info here: https://www.manual.co/smith
👁Please check out and try Neutonic here: https://www.neutonic.com/jamessmith
💪
The Problem With Making Money Online: Ed Lawrence
Ed Lawrence joins James Smith for a brutally honest conversation about the problem with making money online, the illusion of quick success and the hidden grind behind overnight wins.
From starting 12 years ago with terrible videos to generating $300,000 from a single YouTube upload, Ed reveals how the "make money online" promise is sold as easy… but requires years of eating shit instead.
They di
The Problem With Agency: George Mack
George Mack joins James Smith for an unfiltered conversation that will change how you think about ambition, success, and the hidden traps of productivity.
They dive deep into the concept of agency (why some people take control of their lives while others stay stuck) and how it shows up across business, relationships, happiness, and identity.
From the “busy trap” to the myth of hustle culture, Ge
The Problem With Fame: Professor Green
Rapper Professor Green joins James Smith for an unfiltered conversation about the problem with fame, the illusion of success and the hidden loneliness behind recognition.
From growing up in Hackney to playing Glastonbury, Professor Green reveals how fame promised to fix everything… and nearly broke him instead.
They dive into the darker side of success, the pressure to perform, the loss of priv
The Problem With The Internet: Jacob Hawley & Jake Farrell
Comedians Jacob Hawley and Jake Farrell, hosts of the hit podcast Screen Rot, join James Smith to dissect the madness of the modern internet - where everyone’s a brand, outrage is currency, and idiots become superstars overnight.
From online fame to fake authenticity, steroids to OnlyFans, they unpack the comedy and chaos of living in a world that never logs out.
Jacob and Jake, two of the UK’s
The Problem With Hormone Therapy: Dr Louise Newson
Dr. Louise Newson, world-leading menopause specialist and hormone health expert, joins James Smith to expose the truth about hormones, testosterone, and modern medicine’s biggest blind spot.
From the history of contraception to the stigma around testosterone and the rise of synthetic hormones, Dr. Newson argues that hormonal health isn’t a “women’s issue”, it’s a foundation of human health we’ve
The Problem With Buddhism: Will Storr
Will Storr, award-winning author and science writer, reveals why the Buddhist rejection of ego and ambition completely misunderstands human nature, and how status is the hidden force driving everything we do.
In this episode of The Problem With… James and Will unpack the uncomfortable truth: without wanting, striving, and competing for recognition, civilisation itself would collapse.
Will Stor
The Problem With Not Using AI: Daniel Priestley
Daniel Priestley, bestselling author and leading entrepreneur, explains why AI is the most disruptive force of our lifetime - bigger than social media, mobile phones, or even the internet itself.
He reveals why businesses that fail to adapt by 2027 will be left behind, how personal brands and communities will survive the AI wave, and why now is not the time to rest.
Daniel Priestley is an inter
Why I’m Bringing Back My Podcast…
The Problem With… isn’t here to give easy answers - it’s here to ask the uncomfortable questions behind today’s biggest trends and taboos.
Each week, host James Smith digs into what’s really going on - from AI to wellness culture - through unfiltered chats with experts and insiders to uncover the truth behind the noise.
New episodes every Tuesday 6PM BST.
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