The System is Down with Dan Smotz

The question of the day is, should people get married young? I personally got married as young as I possibly could and it's had many a rocky season, but I have a plethora of friends who seem to all have the same story as each other... they got married young, it lasted for a few years and fell apart. What is the cause of this trend or epidemic? Should you be making such life changing commitmen...

Divorce is never not messy, but custody wars are hell. Today’s episode is my conversation with Alex Jones’ (Infowars) ex-wife Kelly Jones, who is smack dab in the middle of an ugly uphill custody battle with a man of great wealth, influence, and power. You might think Alex Jones is maverick, an info warrior, or just a funny meme about gay frogs, but today you’ll hear the dark reality of who Alex J...

What do you do when your mom finds out that you dig into and believe some crazy things... things that might go against how she raised you to think?... Whereas some might try to avoid bringing it up, as the host of the uncomfortable conversations podcast, it would be pretty hypocritical of me to not just invite her on the show to have a one on one uncomfortable conversation about it. So, that'...

Do you just love your daily 9-5 job and working for the weekend? What if you didn't have to clock-in and clock-out of the system every day? What if you didn't have to wear pants to work? What if you were able to get paid handsomely for something that you're actually passionate about? Today's episode is my conversation with the great Jason Stapleton of The Jason Stapleton Progra...

On today’s episode, we celebrate the first full year of The System is Down, by going back to square one. Way back in episode one, Craig, Cole, Nathan, and I just had a good round table discussion about where we each personally stood on our three main uncomfortable topics, Conspiracies, Politics, and Religion. Now, one year later, we took the time to catch up and see how we’ve progressed. Did anyon...

In today's bonus episode, I am joined by Jon (Jonye West) Schweppe to cover the latest breaking news on Kanye West and his recent potential career suicide tweets.  https://twitter.com/kanyewest http://tsidpod.com The Downers Club:  https://patron.podbean.com/thesystemisdown   Open Discussion:  http://tsidpod.com/forum Buy Some SWAG:  http://tsidpod.com/shop   Downer Church:  http://tsidpod.co...

Is the truth stranger than fiction? You be the judge.   A few months back I was contacted by Ole Dammegard with a request that I get his friend Cody Snodgres on the show. Cody is a former CIA Black Ops Contractor who has been silent for decades and has now decided to come forward and blow the whistle on all of the corruption that he has witnessed within our government and beyond. During his many y...

The Christian entertainment industry is a strange beast. Is it a ministry, is it a business, is it just preaching to the choir, is it a fast pass to moderate monetary success? To answer some of these questions I went to someone who has been a personal creative influence of mine for almost half of my life and who has been (not entirely intentionally) a part of the Christian entertainment biz that w...

TSID is here to prove otherwise. The person you disagree with is not your enemy. They’re just someone who thinks that they too know what’s best. If anything, the person who tells you that the person you disagree with is your enemy, is in fact, your enemy. Don’t listen. Way back in episodes 19 and 20 I did an experiment in having a Republican, a Democrat, and a Libertarian on to discuss some hot-bu...

Anarchy! It’s defined by riots, chaos, and Hot Topic fashion, right? Wrong! On today’s episode I had an extremely fun and laid back conversation with anarchist podcaster, Rodger Paxton (of Pax Libertas Productions) about the true definition of “anarchy”. I had a great time picking his brain on the extents and functionality and what exactly a truly anarchist utopia would look like. This one is cert...

Today’s episode is the conclusion of our series on Waco. Last week’s episode was my conversation with Gary Noesner who was the FBI negotiator on the case, so if you missed that, you definitely need to go check it out. On this episode, I had the absolute pleasure of getting the other side of the story from Branch Dividian and one of the few Waco survivors, David Thibodeau. 25 years ago today, David...

Ok weirdos, here's a little bonus episode for you. If you're already a member of The Downers Club, you know that we do movie and TV reviews called Rotten Potatoes. This long overdue round table discussion about The Last Jedi, ended up going for much longer than intended (as Star Wars discussions always do), so I decided to give the first half of the conversation to you for free, so you c...

There are many sides to every story, so just when you think you’ve got it all figured out, you better keep digging. We’ve talked about and speculated the Waco incident at length recently here on The System is Down (Episodes 40 &43) but our research and speculation is only as good as our sources and presentation and we thankfully weren’t present during this tragedy. So, I went directly to the s...

Alright! We're doing it! We're gonna talk about Flat Earth again because I know you guys secretly love it deep down, even though you pretend like it makes you seethe with anger. I personally find this theory to be a lot of fun and at the very least, a fascinating thought experiment. I'm still not 100% convinced, but there really is some compelling stuff behind this theory. So just c...

When most people hear the name Bill Clinton, they tend to have this picture in their heads of a suave southern charm funny guy who you feel like you could have a beer with and who just happened to receive the world's most famous oral satisfaction, right? Well, on today's episode you will hear Juanita Broaddrick's story of her much more sinister experience with the Clintons and how s...

Our country seems to be under the impression that people who have made bad choices are lesser humans; that if you’ve committed a crime on any level, you should be branded for life… That is, of course, until you listen to their stories and hear their humanity. On today’s episode, I had the pleasure of chatting with John Odermatt, host of Felony Friday, which is part of the Lions of Liberty Podcast....

Why are atrocities in our history so easy to overlook? When did we get so calloused and un-empathetic? It’s as though we look at our country’s history as if it’s a work of fiction. If we honestly didn’t, I would imagine we would look at a case like Waco with much more concern and discomfort. Regardless of who you think is at fault, men, women, and children were slaughtered or burned alive. If ther...

If you’ve ever heard someone talking about Bitcoin or Cryptocurrency and found yourself wondering “What the **** is Bitcoin?”, but were maybe afraid to ask, for fear of looking stupid,… fear not, I am here as the representative for all who are ignorant to the topic. I had three knowledgable guests on, Jon Schweppe, Brad Moran, and David Hemphill, to educate me, hear out all my dumb questions, and...

Happy Birthday to me. It's my big 30 today, but more importantly the big 41 for the show. If you had told me 5 years ago, on my 30th birthday, I'd be hosting a podcast about sports, I would first say "what's a podcast?" and then laugh in your face. As most of you know, I'm the furthest thing from a "sports guy" you're going to find and the rest of you w...

On today's episode Craig, Justin, and I tackle the seig at Waco. It's a story that many have heard of, but few dig deep enough to understand what really went on and who was at fault for the slaughter of 76 American citizens. Was it a cult mass suicide or something far more sinister? Find out now on Waco: An American Tragedy (Pt. 1) Questions Everything and Stay Uncomfortable!      http:/...

Life is strange. Sometimes you find yourself in a random stoke of luck where you get to work on a project with someone you admire. Other times that person you admire changes their mind and sues you in attempt to shut down the project you’ve poured a large chunk of your life and money into. On today’s episode, I had the great pleasure of talking with Room Full of Spoons director, Rick Harper about...

Today's episode is the continuation of my discussion with Craig on the topic of #Pizzagate. The first half of this discussion was back in episode #32, so check that out first. This is an uncomfortable theory and topic and some of the content can get graphic in nature, so if you're a decent parent, you may want to listen to this one without the kids, just fair warning.  At the end of the...

On today's episode I had the great pleasure of chatting with podcaster, artist, and esoteric hip hop artist TruthSeekah about third eye awakening spirituality within Christianity and a whole bunch of other things that I previously knew borderline nothing about. Some may say he's crazy, some may say he's a shill of the devil,... I say he's a really nice guy with a lot of knowled...

Welcome back to the 2017 Downie Awards! Today's episode is the grand finale of a two parter where Craig, Nathan, and I have a round-table discussion about our favorite bits of entertainment from this year. It's a fun little departure from our usual discomfort for those of you who still find the time to tune in during the holiday season. Will your favorite, movies, shows, albums, and podc...

Welcome to the 2017 Downie Awards! Today's episode is the first of a two parter where Craig, Nathan, and I have a round-table discussion about our favorite bits of entertainment from this year. It's a fun little departure from our usual discomfort for those of you who still find the time to tune in during the holiday season. Will your favorite, movies, shows, albums, and podcasts make ou...