Explain to Shane

Hosted by AEI Podcasts

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153

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Oct 2026

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About the show

Technology has become increasingly important to policy debates, but these debates won’t be productive without an understanding of how the technology in question works. AEI Visiting Fellow Shane Tews interviews tech industry experts to explain how the apps, services, and structures of today's information technology systems work, and how they shape our social and economic life.

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October 8, 202625 min

Can Broadband Policy Keep Up with Competition? (with Sam Love)

Cable companies are now offering mobile service, wireless carriers are competing for home broadband customers, and satellite providers are even expanding their offerings. As these historically distinct markets converge, policymakers face new questions about competition and connectivity. What regulatory reforms would help bring broadband to unserved communities while keeping service affordable? Why does access to unlicensed spectrum matter for the future of Wi-Fi? And how could China’s efforts to shape global spectrum policy affect American technology companies? To discuss this, Shane is joined by Sam Love, chief policy and strategy officer at NCTA—The Internet & Television Association. Previously, he co-chaired Invariant’s technology and competition government relations practice and served as a senior policy advisor to then-Senator Cory Gardner, managing the senator’s work on the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee.

September 24, 202627 min

What Could America Build by 2035? (with David Ulevitch)

“American Dynamism” is the idea that by retooling workers, rebuilding our country’s industrial backbone can take a decade rather than generations. In this episode, we explore what the practical requirements of this work would be. How can commercialized nuclear energy help meet rising energy demand across critical industries? What’s the most pressing issue in the American regulatory environment? And if American Dynamism works, what will America look like in 2035? To discuss this, Shane is joined by David Ulevitch, general partner at Andreessen Horowitz, where he leads the firm’s American Dynamism team. Previously, he founded OpenDNS, which he sold to Cisco, and has since backed companies like Anduril, Flock Safety, and Radiant. His technical and policy background makes for an engaging episode.

September 10, 202630 min

How Do We Keep Kids Safe Online? (with Josh Tabish)

On a global scale, we have seen a rise in the development and enactment of legislation that bans minors from using social media to keep them safe. But what does early evidence of these bills tell us about whether they are working as intended? What's the case for age-appropriate spaces and content instead? And should chatbots be regulated similarly? To discuss this, Shane is joined by Josh Tabish, senior director for Canada at the Chamber of Progress. Previously, he served as the director of policy and advocacy at the Canadian Internet Registration Authority as well as a Ford Foundation / Media Democracy Fund Technology Exchange Fellow for Fight for the Future. His extensive portfolio covers domestic and international technology policy issues.

August 27, 202649 min

Data-Driven Decisions in the Courtroom (with Benjamin Alarie)

Artificial intelligence is transforming the legal and tax sectors of business. However, neither the legal nor the tax establishments may be ready for what’s coming. There's a real tension here. On one side, lawyers are using AI to draft filings and manage their work, and some firms are building their own AI systems. On the other hand, the legal world remains slow to adopt this new tool. What does that look like in practice? Would more consistent, data-driven outcomes make justice fairer, or merely more uniform? And when an AI system contributes to a legal decision, who is accountable if it gets something wrong? To discuss this and more, Benjamin Alarie joins Shane. Benjamin is a leading voice in this debate and the coauthor, with Samuel Becher, of a new book, Superjustice: Law in the Age of Artificial Intelligence . He originated the concept of the “legal singularity,” the idea that advances in artificial intelligence could eventually make the outcomes of legal disputes almost perfectly predictable and perhaps even automate much of the practice of law. Ben is also the cofounder and CEO of Blue J, which uses the latest large language models and a vast database of authoritative tax content to deliver high-quality, source-driven answers to challenging tax questions.

August 13, 202646 min

AI Governance and Open Models: Who Controls the Pace of Innovation? (with Milton Mueller and Thierer)

Employees at several leading AI companies are asking the US government and international bodies to slow the development of frontier models. Doing so would put governments in the position of deciding when new models are safe enough to release. Yet policymakers also warn that the United States must move faster than China and that prerelease reviews could stifle innovation. Are these two goals in tension with one another? Can existing laws and liability rules address AI harms without giving governments control over which models reach the market? And can any international institution realistically govern a technology spread across the entire digital economy? To discuss this, Shane is joined by Milton Mueller and Adam Thierer. Milton is a professor and director of the master of science in cybersecurity program at Georgia Tech University’s Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter School of Public Policy. He is also the cofounder and director of the Internet Governance Project at Georgia Tech. Adam is a resident senior fellow with the technology and innovation team at the R Street Institute and a visiting senior fellow at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression.

July 30, 202649 min

Breakthrough Models and New Cyber Threats (with Evan Swarztrauber)

Until recently, concerns about AI agents conducting autonomous cyber operations were largely theoretical. The OpenAI–Hugging Face incident in July changed that, while Anthropic’s Mythos exposed software vulnerabilities buried for decades. Together, these incidents have forced policymakers to reconsider how governments and companies prepare for AI-enabled cyber threats. Can the federal government and private sector keep pace with increasingly capable models? Will open-source AI strengthen cyber defenses or make dangerous capabilities harder to contain? And can policymakers encourage companies to share threat information while holding them accountable for insecure systems? Shane joins Evan Swarztrauber in a crossover episode with The Center Edge. Evan is the founder of CorePoint Strategies and a senior fellow at the Digital Progress Institute. He previously served at the Federal Communications Commission as a policy adviser to then-Chairman Ajit Pai and Commissioner Brendan Carr.

July 16, 202628 min

Can Markets Modernize Spectrum? (with Roslyn Layton)

Americans rely on wireless connections for nearly every part of modern life, and demand for the airwaves that make those connections possible is only growing. But much of the nation’s spectrum remains accessible by federal agencies under a system approaching its 100th anniversary. How can the United States free up more spectrum for commercial use? Can the military rely more heavily on commercial networks without compromising national security? And could market-based incentives help federal agencies use this valuable resource more efficiently? To discuss this, Shane is joined by Roslyn Layton, executive vice president at Strand Consult. She is also a digital policy fellow at Michigan State University’s Quello Center and a senior fellow at the National Security Institute at George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia Law School. She previously served as a visiting fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and on the president-elect’s transition team for the Federal Communications Commission.

July 2, 202647 min

Frontier AI and the Cybersecurity Challenges (with Kevin Frazier)

New frontier AI models are changing the cybersecurity landscape. As advanced systems become more capable of finding and exploiting software vulnerabilities, the federal government is trying to determine how to protect critical infrastructure and maintain national security. The administration’s June executive order on AI and cybersecurity offers one answer, but it also raises several harder questions. Can the government keep up with rapidly developing models? If officials want to review every model before release, is that process really voluntary? And how can policymakers keep American networks safe without sacrificing innovation? To unpack what comes next, Shane is joined by Kevin Frazier in a crossover episode with Scaling Laws . Kevin is the director of the AI Innovation and Law Program at the University of Texas at Austin School of Law and a senior fellow at the Abundance Institute. He has testified before Congress on artificial intelligence and emerging technology issues and is a regular contributor to Lawfare .

May 28, 202629 min

Congressional Use of Artificial Intelligence (with Aubrey Wilson)

Artificial intelligence is being integrated into nearly every industry, but how is Congress using AI? As policymakers and their staff work to serve their constituents, can AI be used as a tool to modernize legislative operations, better equip staff, and strengthen our democratic processes? Congress has a unique opportunity to embrace this emerging technology, and failing to do so may leave it behind. To discuss this, Shane is joined by Aubrey Wilson, managing director of POPVOX Foundation. She has extensive experience on Capitol Hill as a former House legislative assistant, legislative correspondent, and deputy staff director for the Committee on House Administration in the 118th Congress. She was also a member of the R Street Institute’s governance policy and federal affairs team. Her work on the Hill and in academia provides a creative foundation for discussing how Congress is using AI.

May 14, 202656 min

Unlocking the Airwaves: Spectrum Allocation and Regulation (with Thomas Hazlett)

There is an invisible resource that powers our smartphones and connects our devices: spectrum airwaves. But regulations governing these airwaves were set decades ago, long before the age of smartphones and autonomous vehicles. With technology changing at a rapid pace, are these regulations for this finite resource outdated? What is the growing importance of airwave spectrum in an economy that is increasingly wireless? And what does a property-rights regime for spectrum look like in practice? Shane is joined by Professor Thomas Hazlett, author of the best-selling book T he Political Spectrum: The Tumultuous Liberation of Wireless Technology, from Herbert Hoover to the Smartphone (2017) and a leading voice in telecommunications, media, and the internet. He is currently the H. H. Macaulay Endowed Professor of Economics and director of the Information Economy Project at Clemson University. He previously served as chief economist at the Federal Communications Commission. His extensive knowledge makes for an excellent conversation.