Twitter: @ (followed by 0 philosophers)
Site: samharris.org
332 episodes
2013 to present
Average episode: 49 minutes
Open in Apple Podcasts • RSS
Categories: Interview-Style • Philosophy+/Philosophyish/Ideas/Etc.
Podcaster's summary: Join neuroscientist, philosopher, and five-time New York Times best-selling author Sam Harris as he explores important and controversial questions about the mind, society, current events, moral philosophy, religion, and rationality—with an overarching focus on how a growing understanding of ourselves and the world is changing our sense of how we should live. | | Sam is also the creator of the Waking Up app. Combining Sam’s decades of mindfulness practice, profound wisdom from varied philosophical and contemplative traditions, and a commitment to a secular, scientific worldview, Waking Up is a resource for anyone interested in living a more examined, fulfilling life—and a new operating system for the mind. | | Waking Up offers free subscriptions to anyone who can’t afford one, and donates a minimum of 10% of profits to the most effective charities around the world. To learn more, please go to WakingUp.com. | | Sam Harris received a degree in philosophy from Stanford University and a Ph.D. in neuroscience from UCLA.
| Episodes |
| 2023-Mar-15 • 63 minutes Making Sense of Belief and Unbelief | Episode 6 of The Essential Sam Harris In this episode, we examine a series of Sam’s conversations centered around religion, atheism, and the power of belief. First, we hear the stories of three guests who have fled their respective oppressive religious organizations. We begin with... |
| 2023-Mar-07 • 87 minutes #312 — The Trouble with AI Sam Harris speaks with Stuart Russell and Gary Marcus about recent developments in artificial intelligence and the long-term risks of producing artificial general intelligence (AGI). They discuss the limitations of Deep Learning, the surprising power... |
| 2023-Feb-20 • 58 minutes #311 — Did SARS-CoV-2 Escape from a Lab? Sam Harris speaks with Matt Ridley and Alina Chan about the origins of the COVID pandemic. They discuss the evidence of a lab leak from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, media and academic censorship of this topic, the history of collaboration between... |
| 2023-Feb-14 • 44 minutes Making Sense of Free Will | Episode 5 of The Essential Sam Harris In this episode, we examine the timeless question of “free will”: what constitutes it, what is meant by it, what ought to be meant by it, and, of course, whether we have it at all. We start with the neuroscientist Robert Sapolsky who begins to... |
| 2023-Feb-01 • 69 minutes #310 — Social Media & Public Trust Sam Harris speaks with Bari Weiss, Michael Shellenberger, and Renee DiResta about the release of “the Twitter files” and the loss of trust in the institutions of media and government. They discuss Bari and Michael’s experience of participating... |
| 2023-Jan-26 • 36 minutes Making Sense of Encounters With Violence | Episode 4 of The Essential Sam Harris This episode centers around the specter of violence and surfaces some of Sam’s most controversial positions and difficult conversations. We begin with author and former FBI hostage negotiator Chris Voss, who delivers some potentially life-saving... |
| 2023-Jan-20 • 45 minutes #309 — Vulnerability, Politics, and Moral Worth Sam Harris speaks with Martha C. Nussbaum about her philosophical work. They discuss the relevance of philosophy to personal and political problems, the influence of religion, the problem of dogmatism, the importance of Greek and Roman philosophy for... |
| 2023-Jan-11 • 34 minutes #308 — The Long Game Sam Harris speaks with Robert Waldinger about the Harvard Study of Adult Development. They discuss the limitations of relying on self-report to assess a person’s well-being; Daniel Kahneman’s remembering and experiencing selves; why it can be hard... |
| 2023-Jan-05 • 45 minutes Making Sense of Foundations of Morality | Episode 3 of The Essential Sam Harris In this episode, we try to trace morality to its elusive foundations. Throughout the compilation we take a look at Sam’s “Moral Landscape” and his effort to defend an objective path towards moral evaluation. We begin with the moral philosopher... |
| 2022-Dec-30 • 28 minutes #307 — Twitter, Elon, & Free Speech Sam Harris discusses Elon Musk's behavior on Twitter and the illusion of "free-speech absolutism." If the Making Sense podcast logo in your player is BLACK, you can SUBSCRIBE to gain access to all full-length episodes at . Learning how to train your... |
| 2022-Dec-15 • 35 minutes Making Sense of Consciousness | Episode 2 of The Essential Sam Harris Filmmaker Jay Shapiro has produced a new series of audio documentaries, exploring the major topics that Sam has focused on over the course of his career. Each episode weaves together original analysis, critical perspective, and novel thought... |
| 2022-Dec-13 • 105 minutes #306 — Psychedelics & Mortality Sam Harris speaks with Roland Griffiths about psychedelics and mortality. They discuss the current state of psychedelic research, the timeline for FDA approvals, the risks to mental health posed by psychedelics in vulnerable populations, the use of... |
| 2022-Dec-08 • 67 minutes #305 — Moral Knowledge Sam Harris speaks with Erik Hoel about the nature of moral truth. They discuss the connection between consequentialism and Effective Altruism, the problems with implementing academic moral philosophy, bad arguments against consequentialism, the... |
| 2022-Nov-28 • 70 minutes #304 — Why I Left Twitter Only the first 1 hour and 9 minutes of this episode are available on the paywalled podcast version (the BLACK podcast logo). If you’d like to hear the full 2 hours and 34 minutes of this episode and gain access to all full-length episodes of the... |
| 2022-Nov-22 • 68 minutes Making Sense of Artificial Intelligence | Episode 1 of The Essential Sam Harris Filmmaker Jay Shapiro has produced a new series of audio documentaries, exploring the major topics that Sam has focused on over the course of his career. Each episode weaves together original analysis, critical perspective, and novel thought... |
| 2022-Nov-15 • 21 minutes #303 — The Fall of Sam Bankman-Fried To gain access to ALL full-length episodes, you'll need to subscribe. If you’re already subscribed and on the private RSS feed, the podcast logo should appear RED. If the Making Sense podcast logo in your player is BLACK, you can SUBSCRIBE to gain... |
| 2022-Nov-11 • 50 minutes #302 — Science & Civilization Only the first 49 minutes of this episode are available on the paywalled podcast version (the BLACK podcast logo). If you’d like to hear the full 1 hour and 39 minutes of this episode and gain access to all full-length episodes of the podcast,... |
| 2022-Oct-25 • 61 minutes #301 — The Politics of Unreality: Ukraine and Nuclear Risk Only the first hour of this episode is available on the paywalled podcast version (the BLACK podcast logo). If you’d like to hear the full 1 hour and 39 minutes of this episode and gain access to all full-length episodes of the podcast, you’ll... |
| 2022-Oct-12 • 188 minutes #300 — A Tale of Cancellation To gain access to ALL full-length episodes, you'll need to subscribe. If you’re already subscribed and on the private RSS feed, the podcast logo should appear RED. If the Making Sense podcast logo in your player is BLACK, you can SUBSCRIBE to gain... |
| 2022-Oct-03 • 40 minutes #299 — Steps in the Right Direction Only the first 40 minutes of this episode are available on the paywalled podcast version (the BLACK podcast logo). If you’d like to hear the full 2 hours and 3 minutes of this episode and gain access to all full-length episodes of the podcast,... |
| 2022-Sep-29 • 81 minutes #298 — Leaving the Faith (Rebroadcast) To gain access to ALL full-length episodes, you'll need to subscribe. If you’re already subscribed and on the private RSS feed, the podcast logo should appear RED. If the Making Sense podcast logo in your player is BLACK, you can SUBSCRIBE to gain... |
| 2022-Sep-23 • 65 minutes #297 — Preparing for the End Only the first 1 hour and 4 minutes of this episode are available on the paywalled podcast version (the BLACK podcast logo). If you’d like to hear the full 2 hours and 13 minutes of this episode and gain access to all full-length episodes of the... |
| 2022-Sep-13 • 43 minutes #296 — Repairing Our Country Only the first 42 minutes of this episode are available on the paywalled podcast version (the black podcast logo). If you’d like to hear the full 1 hour 42 minutes of this episode and gain access to all full-length episodes of the podcast, you’ll... |
| 2022-Sep-09 • 44 minutes #295 — Philosophy and the Good Life Only the first 44 minutes of this episode are available on the paywalled podcast version (the black podcast logo). If you’d like to hear the full 1 hour 56 minutes of this episode and gain access to all full-length episodes of the podcast, you’ll... |
| 2022-Aug-31 • 40 minutes #294 — Status Games Only the first 40 minutes of this episode are available on the paywalled podcast version (the black podcast logo). If you’d like to hear the full 1 hour 25 minutes of this episode and gain access to all full-length episodes of the podcast, you’ll... |
| 2022-Aug-25 • 44 minutes #293 — What I Really Think About Trump and Media Bias To gain access to ALL full-length episodes, you'll need to subscribe. If you’re already subscribed and on the private RSS feed, the podcast logo should appear RED. If the Making Sense podcast logo in your player is BLACK, you can SUBSCRIBE to gain... |
| 2022-Aug-14 • 120 minutes #292 — How Much Does the Future Matter? A Conversation with William MacAskill |
| 2022-Jul-28 • 64 minutes #291 — Where is Happiness? Only the first 1 hour and 4 minutes of this episode are available on the paywalled podcast version (the BLACK podcast logo). If you’d like to hear the full 1 hour and 43 minutes of this episode and gain access to all full-length episodes of the... |
| 2022-Jul-21 • 48 minutes #290 — What Went Wrong? A Conversation with Marc Andreessen |
| 2022-Jul-18 • 39 minutes #289 — Time Management for Mortals A Conversation with Oliver Burkeman |
| 2022-Jul-14 • 54 minutes #288 — The End of Global Order A Conversation with Peter Zeihan and Ian Bremmer |
| 2022-Jul-05 • 50 minutes #287 — Why Wealth Matters A Conversation with Morgan Housel |
| 2022-Jun-28 • 42 minutes #286 — The Paradox of Psychedelics Sam Harris shares an audio essay exploring how psychedelics are, for many, the only way to glimpse "the vast firmament beyond the prison walls” of the “conceptual mind”—and often serve as the gateway to meditation. He also discusses how the... |
| 2022-Jun-24 • 47 minutes #285 — American Division A Conversation with David French |
| 2022-Jun-07 • 40 minutes #284 — The Funny Business A Conversation with Judd Apatow |
| 2022-May-30 • 95 minutes #283 — Gun Violence in America A Conversation with Graeme Wood |
| 2022-May-23 • 54 minutes #282 — Do You Really Have a Self? A Conversation with Jay Garfield |
| 2022-May-02 • 72 minutes #281 — Western Culture and Its Discontents A Conversation with Douglas Murray |
| 2022-Apr-22 • 38 minutes #280 — The Future of Artificial Intelligence A Conversation with Eric Schmidt |
| 2022-Apr-18 • 35 minutes #279 — The Rules of the Stage A Conversation with Ricky Gervais |
| 2022-Apr-13 • 38 minutes #278 — The Man Who Will Be King A Conversation with Graeme Wood |
| 2022-Apr-03 • 38 minutes #277 — How Does the War in Ukraine End? A Conversation with Ian Bremmer |
| 2022-Mar-22 • 36 minutes #276 — Defending the Global Order A Conversation with Yuval Noah Harari |
| 2022-Mar-10 • 37 minutes #275 — The Russian War in Ukraine A Conversation with Garry Kasparov |
| 2022-Mar-02 • 49 minutes Absolutely Mental Season 3 Sam Harris and Ricky Gervais |
| 2022-Feb-28 • 118 minutes Special Episode: Recipes for Future Plagues A Conversation with Rob Reid and Kevin Esvelt |
| 2022-Feb-11 • 140 minutes #274 — The Future of American Democracy A Conversation with Anne Applebaum, David Frum, Barton Gellman, and George Packer |
| 2022-Feb-07 • 20 minutes #273 — Joe Rogan and the Ethics of Apology In this episode of the podcast, Sam responds to the controversy over his friend Joe Rogan's use of the N-word and his subsequent public apology. SUBSCRIBE to gain access to all full-length episodes at . |
| 2022-Jan-31 • 29 minutes Vaccine Mandates, transgender athletes, billionaires… (AMA #19) Questions: What is your position on vaccine mandates, school closures, etc.? Do you think painful memories remain painful because there is something left unresolved? How can you forgive a consequential lie? Can you clarify your plans to support... |
| 2022-Jan-11 • 47 minutes #272 — On Disappointing My Audience In this episode, Sam discusses some of the topics he has and hasn't covered, to the disappointment of many Making Sense listeners. SUBSCRIBE to gain access to all full-length episodes at . Learning how to train your mind is the single greatest... |
| 2021-Dec-24 • 76 minutes #271 — Earning to Give A Conversation with Sam Bankman-Fried |
| 2021-Dec-14 • 171 minutes #270 — What Have We Learned from the Pandemic? A Conversation with Nicholas Christakis |
| 2021-Dec-03 • 40 minutes #269 — Deep Time A Conversation with Oliver Burkeman |
| 2021-Nov-24 • 36 minutes #268 — The Limits of Self-Knowledge A Conversation with Stephen Fleming |
| 2021-Nov-10 • 50 minutes #267 — The Kingdom of Sleep A Conversation with Matthew Walker |
| 2021-Nov-02 • 47 minutes #266 — The Limits of Pleasure A Conversation with Paul Bloom |
| 2021-Oct-27 • 35 minutes #265 — The Religion of Anti-Racism A Conversation with John McWhorter |
| 2021-Oct-21 • 48 minutes #264 — Consciousness and Self (Rebroadcast) A Conversation with Anil Seth |
| 2021-Oct-18 • 18 minutes #263 — The Paradox of Death In this episode of the podcast, Sam Harris reflects on the subjective continuity of consciousness, the nature of identity, and the possibility that death isn’t the end of experience. SUBSCRIBE to listen to the rest of this episode and gain access to... |
| 2021-Oct-05 • 33 minutes #262 — The Future of American Democracy A Conversation with Andrew Yang |
| 2021-Sep-30 • 40 minutes #261 — Belief & Identity A Conversation with Jonas Kaplan |
| 2021-Sep-24 • 17 minutes Absolutely Mental Season Two In this episode, Sam shares a clip from the second season of Absolutely Mental, his audio series with Ricky Gervais. All 10 episodes have been released today (Friday September 24th, 2021) and are available for purchase at . SUBSCRIBE to gain access to... |
| 2021-Sep-20 • 28 minutes Ask Me Anything #18 Questions answered: Why won’t you discuss COVID vaccines and Ivermectin with Bret Weinstein on the podcast? What do you think about the recent prosecution of a 100-year-old Nazi in Germany? How can we understand voluntary behavior without free will?... |
| 2021-Sep-09 • 16 minutes #260 — The Second Plane Reflections on the 20th Anniversary of 9/11 |
| 2021-Sep-01 • 73 minutes #259 — The Reckoning to Come A Conversation with Balaji Srinivasan |
| 2021-Aug-23 • 47 minutes #258 — The Fall of Afghanistan A Conversation with Peter Bergen |
| 2021-Aug-13 • 61 minutes #257 — The State of the World A Conversation with Dambisa Moyo |
| 2021-Aug-08 • 24 minutes Ask Me Anything #17 In this episode of the podcast, Sam takes your questions. He begins by addressing the blowback that followed his previous podcast on “vaccine hesitancy” with Eric Topol. And then he answers the following questions: How can I inoculate my biracial... |
| 2021-Jul-23 • 87 minutes #256 — A Contagion of Bad Ideas A Conversation with Eric Topol |
| 2021-Jul-09 • 58 minutes #255 — The Future of Intelligence A Conversation with Jeff Hawkins |
| 2021-Jun-25 • 49 minutes #254 — The Mating Strategies of Earthlings A Conversation with David Buss |
| 2021-Jun-17 • 45 minutes #253 — Corporate Courage A Conversation with Jason Fried |
| 2021-Jun-10 • 52 minutes #252 — Are We Alone in the Universe? A Conversation with Neil deGrasse Tyson |
| 2021-May-26 • 39 minutes #251 — Corporate Cowardice A Conversation with Antonio García-Martínez |
| 2021-May-21 • 45 minutes #250 — Broken Conversations A Conversation with Jesse Singal |
| 2021-May-14 • 33 minutes #249 — Distance & Arrival A Conversation with David Whyte |
| 2021-Apr-30 • 39 minutes #248 — Order & Freedom A Conversation with Michele Gelfand |
| 2021-Apr-24 • 221 minutes Special Episode: Engineering the Apocalypse By Rob Reid and Sam Harris |
| 2021-Apr-22 • 68 minutes #247 — Constructing Minds A Conversation with Lisa Feldman Barrett |
| 2021-Apr-16 • 102 minutes #246 — Police Training & Police Misconduct A Conversation with Rener Gracie |
| 2021-Apr-12 • 43 minutes #245 — Can We Talk About Scary Ideas? A Conversation with Peter Singer, Francesca Minerva, and Jeff McMahan |
| 2021-Apr-06 • 73 minutes #244 — Food, Climate, and Pandemic Risk A Conversation with Bruce Friedrich and Liz Specht |
| 2021-Mar-28 • 10 minutes #243 — A Few Points of Confusion SUBSCRIBE to gain access to all full-length episodes at . |
| 2021-Mar-23 • 64 minutes #242 — Psychedelics and the Self A Conversation with James Fadiman |
| 2021-Mar-12 • 44 minutes #241 — Final Thoughts on Free Will In this episode of the podcast, Sam Harris presents his full argument on the illusoriness of free will—and explores its ethical and psychological implications. SUBSCRIBE to listen to the rest of this episode and gain access to all full-length... |
| 2021-Mar-07 • 44 minutes #240 — The Boundaries of Self A Conversation with David Whyte |
| 2021-Feb-24 • 22 minutes #239 — Yet Another Call from Ricky Gervais Ricky Gervais calls Sam to ask if AI will replace comedians. They also discuss the implications of not having free will and if a chimp has ever asked, "what does it all mean?" They agree that bears are dangerous. SUBSCRIBE to gain access to all... |
| 2021-Feb-23 • 59 minutes #238 — How to Build a Universe A Conversation with Frank Wilczek |
| 2021-Feb-16 • 42 minutes #237 — Another Call from Ricky Gervais Ricky Gervais calls to discuss Sam's monster joke from their last conversation and then other things happen... SUBSCRIBE to gain access to all full-length episodes at . |
| 2021-Feb-11 • 48 minutes #236 — Rebooting New York City A Conversation with Andrew Yang |
| 2021-Feb-10 • 29 minutes #235 — A Call from Ricky Gervais Ricky Gervais calls Sam to ask why we dream? They discuss why puns are terrible and breakdown some of the mechanics of comedy. SUBSCRIBE to gain access to all full-length episodes at . |
| 2021-Feb-05 • 55 minutes #234 — The Divided Mind A Conversation with Iain McGilchrist |
| 2021-Feb-02 • 51 minutes #233 — The Groves of Misinformation A Conversation with Zeynep Tufekci |
| 2021-Jan-27 • 42 minutes #232 — Inequality and Revolution A Conversation with Jack Goldstone |
| 2021-Jan-17 • 74 minutes #231 — Crossing the Abyss A Conversation with Stanley McChrystal and Chris Fussell |
| 2021-Jan-11 • 41 minutes #230 — An Insurrection of Lies In this episode of the podcast, Sam Harris discusses two dangerous misconceptions about the siege of the Capitol. SUBSCRIBE to gain access to all full-length episodes at . |
| 2021-Jan-06 • 30 minutes #229 — A Few Thoughts for a New Year In this episode of the podcast, Sam Harris analyzes a few disturbing trends and shares his hopes for 2021. SUBSCRIBE to gain access to all full-length episodes at . |
| 2020-Dec-14 • 135 minutes #228 — Doing Good A Conversation with William MacAskill |
| 2020-Dec-07 • 47 minutes #227 — Knowing the Mind A Conversation with Steven Laureys |
| 2020-Dec-07 • 2 minutes Making Sense with Sam Harris Join Sam Harris as he explores some of the most important questions about the human mind, society, and current events. SUBSCRIBE to gain access to all full-length episodes at . |
| 2020-Nov-27 • 44 minutes #226 — The Price of Distraction A Conversation with Adam Gazzaley |
| 2020-Nov-18 • 32 minutes #225 — Republic of Lies In this episode of the podcast, Sam Harris discusses President Trump's failure to concede the 2020 presidential election. SUBSCRIBE to gain access to all content on |
| 2020-Nov-03 • 8 minutes #224 — The Key to Trump's Appeal In this episode of the podcast, Sam Harris describes his new understanding of why people support President Trump. SUBSCRIBE to gain access to all content on |
| 2020-Oct-30 • 96 minutes #223 — A Conversation with Andrew Sullivan In this episode of the podcast, Sam Harris and Andrew Sullivan sing the praises of President Trump. SUBSCRIBE to gain access to all full-length episodes at . |
| 2020-Oct-28 • 65 minutes #222 — A Pandemic of Incompetence A Conversation with Nicholas Christakis |
| 2020-Oct-22 • 47 minutes #221 — Success, Failure, & the Common Good A Conversation with Michael Sandel |
| 2020-Oct-17 • 48 minutes #220 - The Information Apocalypse A Conversation with Nina Schick |
| 2020-Oct-08 • 48 minutes #219 — The Power of Compassion A Conversation with James R. Doty |
| 2020-Sep-24 • 47 minutes #218 — Welcome to the Cult Factory A Conversation with Tristan Harris |
| 2020-Sep-17 • 72 minutes #217 — The New Religion of Anti-Racism A Conversation with John McWhorter |
| 2020-Sep-03 • 51 minutes #216 — A Conversation with Graeme Wood In this episode of the podcast, Sam Harris speaks with Graeme Wood about the breakdown of social order in the U.S. They discuss the recent eruptions of violence, the loss of trust in the media, the cases of Jacob Blake and Kyle Rittenhouse, how to... |
| 2020-Aug-21 • 49 minutes #215 — A Conversation with David Miliband In this episode the podcast, Sam Harris speaks with David Miliband about his work with the International Rescue Committee. They discuss the crisis of internally displaced peoples and refugees, the problem with open borders, the vetting of refugees,... |
| 2020-Aug-13 • 46 minutes #214 — A Conversation with Siddhartha Mukherjee In this episode of the podcast, Sam Harris speaks with Siddhartha Mukherjee about our ongoing failure to adequately respond to the Covid-19 pandemic. They discuss the significance of asymptomatic spread, the lack of Chinese cooperation, the failures... |
| 2020-Aug-04 • 134 minutes #213 — The Worst Epidemic A Conversation with Gabriel J.X. Dance |
| 2020-Jul-29 • 49 minutes #212 — A Conversation with Kathryn Paige Harden In this episode of the podcast, Sam Harris speaks with Kathryn Paige Harden about public controversy over group differences in traits like intelligence and ongoing research in behavioral genetics. They discuss Harden’s criticism of the Making Sense... |
| 2020-Jul-17 • 72 minutes #211 — The Nature of Human Nature A Conversation with Robert Plomin |
| 2020-Jul-09 • 106 minutes #210 — The Logic of Doomsday A Conversation with William J. Perry |
| 2020-Jul-03 • 58 minutes #209 — A Good Life A Conversation with Scott Barry Kaufman |
| 2020-Jun-23 • 65 minutes #208 — Existential Risk A Conversation with Toby Ord |
| 2020-Jun-13 • 113 minutes #207 — Can We Pull Back From The Brink? In this episode of the podcast, Sam discusses the recent social protests and civil unrest, in light of what we know about racism and police violence in America. SUBSCRIBE to gain access to all full-length episodes at . |
| 2020-May-26 • 45 minutes #206 — A Conversation with David Frum In this episode of the podcast, Sam Harris speaks with David Frum about the shifting political landscape. They discuss the secularization of politics, distrust of the media and other institutions, voter suppression, the 2020 elections, what happens if... |
| 2020-May-22 • 59 minutes #205 — The Failure of Meritocracy A Conversation with Daniel Markovits |
| 2020-May-18 • 66 minutes #204 — A Conversation with Jonathan Haidt In this episode of the podcast, Sam Harris speaks with Jonathan Haidt about the maintenance of a healthy society. They discuss the problem of orthodoxy, the history of political polarization in the US, the breakdown of public conversation, remaining... |
| 2020-May-13 • 68 minutes #203 — A Conversation with Caitlin Flanagan In this episode of the podcast, Sam Harris speaks with Caitlin Flanagan about her cancer recurrence and the response to her recent article in The Atlantic discussing it. They discuss the dynamics of apologies and forgiveness, the #MeToo movement and... |
| 2020-May-11 • 38 minutes #202 — A Conversation with Andrew Yang In this episode of the podcast, Sam Harris speaks with Andrew Yang about the Covid-19 pandemic. They discuss the future of the middle class, Andrew’s experience campaigning for President, the need to build new digital infrastructure, universal basic... |
| 2020-May-01 • 69 minutes #201 — A Conversation with Yuval Noah Harari In this episode of the podcast, Sam Harris speaks with Yuval Noah Harari about the Covid-19 pandemic and its future implications. They discuss the failures of global leadership, the widespread distrust of institutions, the benefits of nationalism and... |
| 2020-Apr-29 • 33 minutes #200 — Creatures of Habit A Conversation with James Clear |
| 2020-Apr-24 • 38 minutes #199 — A Conversation with Caitlin Flanagan In this episode of the podcast, Sam Harris and Caitlin Flanagan discuss the ethics of abortion, the fact that universities with immense endowments are laying off staff during the Covid-19 pandemic, the Woody Allen autobiography, the moral hypocrisy of... |
| 2020-Apr-16 • 59 minutes #198 — A Conversation with Paul Bloom In this episode of the podcast, Sam Harris and Paul Bloom discuss the false tradeoff between the economy and public health, putting a price on human life, framing effects for moral questions, how Covid-19 may change human behavior, "turn-key... |
| 2020-Apr-12 • 31 minutes #197 — A Conversation with Caitlin Flanagan In this episode of the podcast, Sam Harris speaks with Caitlin Flanagan. They discuss the different sorts of experiences people are having during the Covid-19 pandemic, what it has exposed about our education system, the 2020 election and the many... |
| 2020-Apr-10 • 60 minutes #196 — The Science of Happiness A Conversation with Laurie Santos |
| 2020-Apr-06 • 68 minutes #195 — Social Cohesion is Everything A Conversation with Stanley McChrystal and Chris Fussell |
| 2020-Mar-25 • 105 minutes #194 — The New Future of Work A Conversation with Matt Mullenweg |
| 2020-Mar-20 • 22 minutes #193 — Meditation in an Emergency In this episode of the podcast, Sam Harris speaks about social contagion and about the importance of understanding one's own mind in an emergency. SUBSCRIBE to gain access to all full-length episodes at . |
| 2020-Mar-17 • 38 minutes #192 — A Conversation with Paul Bloom In this episode of the podcast, Sam Harris and Paul Bloom speak about the psychology of adapting to the coronavirus pandemic, the disastrous analogy between coronavirus and flu, the political siloing of information, true and false concerns over... |
| 2020-Mar-11 • 66 minutes #191 — Early Thoughts on a Pandemic A Conversation with Amesh Adalja |
| 2020-Mar-10 • 79 minutes #190 — How Should We Respond to Coronavirus? A Conversation with Nicholas Christakis |
| 2020-Mar-02 • 71 minutes #189 — Wealth & Happiness A Conversation with Scott Galloway |
| 2020-Feb-28 • 32 minutes #188 — A Conversation with Paul Bloom In this episode of the podcast, Sam Harris and Paul Bloom speak about the virtues of President Trump, the campaign prospects of Bloomberg and Sanders, the asymmetrical norms of the Democratic and Republican parties, the marginal role that parents play... |
| 2020-Feb-21 • 28 minutes #187 — A Conversation with Paul Bloom In this episode of the podcast, Sam Harris and Paul Bloom speak about the epidemic of child sexual abuse, the ethics of loyalty, eugenics, existential risk, the Bloomberg and Sanders campaigns, and other topics. SUBSCRIBE to listen to the rest of this... |
| 2020-Feb-18 • 80 minutes #186 — The Bomb A Conversation with Fred Kaplan |
| 2020-Feb-07 • 30 minutes #185 — A Conversation with Paul Bloom In this episode of the podcast, Sam Harris and Paul Bloom speak about "Trump Derangement Syndrome," inequality, the relationship between wealth and happiness, the downside of fame, psychological impediments to noticing progress, and other topics.... |
| 2020-Feb-03 • 29 minutes #184 — The Conversational Nature of Reality A Conversation with David Whyte |
| 2020-Jan-28 • 28 minutes #183 — A Conversation with Paul Bloom In this episode of the Making Sense podcast, Sam Harris and Paul Bloom discuss topics in the news including the tragic death of Kobe Bryant. They also explore the paradoxes of moral responsibility. SUBSCRIBE to listen to the rest of this episode and... |
| 2020-Jan-23 • 40 minutes #182 — Unlearning Race A Conversation with Thomas Chatterton Williams |
| 2020-Jan-13 • 92 minutes #181 — The Illusory Self A Conversation with Richard Lang |
| 2019-Dec-30 • 48 minutes #180 — Sex & Power A Conversation with Meghan Daum |
| 2019-Dec-17 • 34 minutes #179 — The Unquiet Mind A Conversation with Judson Brewer |
| 2019-Dec-11 • 67 minutes #178 — The Reality Illusion A Conversation with Donald Hoffman and Annaka Harris |
| 2019-Dec-02 • 87 minutes #177 — Psychedelic Science A Conversation with Roland Griffiths |
| 2019-Nov-23 • 64 minutes #176 — Knowledge & Redemption A Conversation with Lynn Novick and Jule Hall |
| 2019-Nov-11 • 37 minutes #175 — Leaving the Faith A Conversation with Yasmine Mohammed |
| 2019-Nov-04 • 49 minutes #174 — Life & Mind A Conversation with Richard Dawkins |
| 2019-Oct-28 • 28 minutes #173 — Anti-Semitism and Its Discontents A Conversation with Bari Weiss |
| 2019-Oct-21 • 52 minutes #172 — Among the Deplorables A Conversation with Andrew Marantz |
| 2019-Oct-08 • 42 minutes #171 — Escaping a Christian Cult A Conversation with Megan Phelps-Roper |
| 2019-Oct-02 • 48 minutes #170 — The Great Uncoupling Sam Harris speaks with Andrew McAfee about the history of human progress and the modern uncoupling of our prosperity from resource consumption. They discuss the pitfalls and hidden virtues of capitalism, technological progress, environmental policy,... |
| 2019-Sep-20 • 44 minutes #169 — Omens of a Race War Sam Harris speaks with Kathleen Belew about the white power movement in the United States. They discuss white supremacy, white nationalism, white separatism, the militia movement, “The Turner Diaries,” the connection between the white power... |
| 2019-Sep-11 • 37 minutes #168 — Mind, Space, & Motion Sam Harris speaks with Barbara Tversky about how our senses of space and motion underlie our capacity for thought. They discuss the evolution of mind prior to language, the importance of imitation and gesture, the sensory and motor homunculi, the... |
| 2019-Aug-26 • 16 minutes #167 — A Few Thoughts on White Supremacy In this episode of the Making Sense podcast, Sam Harris addresses listener concerns that he uses a "double standard" to evaluate the relative threats of white supremacy and jihadism. SUBSCRIBE to listen to the rest of this episode and gain access to... |
| 2019-Aug-21 • 26 minutes #166 — The Plague Years Sam Harris speaks with Matt McCarthy about his book "Superbugs: The Race to Stop an Epidemic." They discuss the problem of drug resistant bacteria, fungi, parasites, and viruses, and the failure of the pharmaceutical industry to keep pace with... |
| 2019-Aug-14 • 62 minutes #165 — Journey into Wokeness Sam Harris speaks with Caitlin Flanagan about her work as a writer. They discuss controversies on social media, the contradictions within feminism, media bias, #MeToo, the new norms of sexuality, the wokeness of academia, affirmative action, college... |
| 2019-Aug-05 • 50 minutes #164 — Cause & Effect Sam Harris speaks with Judea Pearl about his work on the mathematics of causality and artificial intelligence. They discuss how science has generally failed to understand causation, different levels of causal inference, counterfactuals, the... |
| 2019-Jul-12 • 56 minutes #163 — Ricky Gervais In this episode of the podcast, Sam Harris speaks with Ricky Gervais. They discuss fame, the effect of social media, the changing state of comedy, offensive jokes, Louis CK, political hypocrisy, Brexit and Trump, the state of journalism, and other... |
| 2019-Jul-03 • 36 minutes #162 — Medical Intelligence Sam Harris speaks with Eric Topol about the way artificial intelligence can improve medicine. They talk about soaring medical costs and declining health outcomes in the U.S., the problems of too little and too much medicine, the culture of medicine,... |
| 2019-Jun-24 • 43 minutes #161 — Rise & Fall Sam Harris speaks with Jared Diamond about the rise and fall of civilizations. They discuss political polarization, disparities in civilizational progress, the prospect that there may be biological differences between populations, the precariousness... |
| 2019-Jun-17 • 58 minutes #160 — The Revenge of History Sam Harris speaks with Michael Weiss and Yascha Mounk about the state of global politics. They discuss the rise of right-wing populism in Europe, the prospect that democracy could fail in the US, Trump’s political instincts, the political liability... |
| 2019-Jun-06 • 31 minutes #159 — Conscious Sam Harris speaks with his wife, Annaka Harris, about her new book, "Conscious: A Brief Guide to the Fundamental Mystery of the Mind." SUBSCRIBE to listen to the rest of this episode and gain access to all full-length episodes of the podcast at . |
| 2019-May-30 • 59 minutes #158 — Understanding Humans in the Wild Sam Harris speaks with Adam Grant about the social science of the workplace. They discuss how teams work effectively, the nature of power, personality types and fundamental styles of interaction, the critical skill of saying “no,” creativity,... |
| 2019-May-20 • 35 minutes #157 — What Does the Mueller Report Really Say? Sam Harris speaks with Benjamin Wittes about both volumes of the Mueller Report. SUBSCRIBE to listen to the rest of this episode and gain access to all full-length episodes of the podcast at . |
| 2019-May-13 • 41 minutes #156 — The Evolution of Culture Sam Harris speaks with Nicholas Christakis about his new book, "Blueprint: The Evolutionary Origins of a Good Society." SUBSCRIBE to listen to the rest of this episode and gain access to all full-length episodes of the podcast at . |
| 2019-Apr-29 • 49 minutes #155 — Mental Models Sam Harris speaks with Shane Parrish about some of the mental models that should guide our thinking and behavior. SUBSCRIBE to listen to the rest of this episode and gain access to all full-length episodes of the podcast at . |
| 2019-Apr-25 • 22 minutes #154 — What Do Jihadists Really Want? (2019) Sam Harris reads from an issue of Dabiq, the magazine of ISIS, and discusses the beliefs and goals of jihadists worldwide. SUBSCRIBE to listen to the rest of this episode and gain access to all full-length episodes of the podcast at . |
| 2019-Apr-15 • 99 minutes #153 — Possible Minds Sam Harris introduces John Brockman's new anthology, "," in conversation with three of its authors: George Dyson, Alison Gopnik, and Stuart Russell. SUBSCRIBE to listen to the rest of this episode and gain access to all full-length episodes of the... |
| 2019-Mar-27 • 50 minutes #152 — The Trouble with Facebook Sam Harris speaks with Roger McNamee about his book Zucked: Waking Up to the Facebook Catastrophe. SUBSCRIBE to listen to the rest of this episode and gain access to all full-length episodes of the podcast at . |
| 2019-Mar-18 • 33 minutes #151 — Will We Destroy the Future? Sam Harris speaks with Nick Bostrom about the problem of existential risk. They discuss public goods, moral illusions, the asymmetry between happiness and suffering, utilitarianism, "the vulnerable world hypothesis," the history of nuclear deterrence,... |
| 2019-Mar-12 • 50 minutes #150 — The Map of Misunderstanding Sam Harris speaks with Daniel Kahneman at the Beacon Theatre in NYC. They discuss the replication crisis in science, System 1 and System 2, where intuitions reliably fail, expert intuitions, the power of framing, moral illusions, anticipated regret,... |
| 2019-Mar-04 • 41 minutes #149 — The Problem of Addiction Sam Harris speaks with Sally Satel about addiction. They discuss whether addiction should be considered a disease, the opiate epidemic in the U.S., the unique danger of fentanyl, the politicization of medicine, PTSD, and other topics. SUBSCRIBE to... |
| 2019-Feb-05 • 34 minutes #148 — Jack Dorsey Sam Harris speaks with Jack Dorsey about how he manages his dual CEO roles at Square and Twitter, the role that Twitter plays in journalism, how it’s different from other social media, what makes a conversation healthy, the logic by which Twitter... |
| 2019-Jan-28 • 46 minutes #147 — Stephen Fry Sam Harris speaks with Stephen Fry about comedy, atheism, political correctness, meditation, ambition, empathy, psychedelics, Christopher Hitchens, Stephen's experience of manic depression, and much else. SUBSCRIBE to listen to the rest of this... |
| 2019-Jan-16 • 45 minutes #146 — Digital Capitalism Sam Harris speaks with Douglas Rushkoff about the state of the digital economy. SUBSCRIBE to listen to the rest of this episode and gain access to all full-length episodes of the podcast at . |
| 2019-Jan-02 • 32 minutes #145 — The Information War Sam Harris speaks with Renee Diresta about Russia's "Internet Research Agency" and its efforts to amplify conspiracy thinking and partisan conflict in the United States. SUBSCRIBE to listen to the rest of this episode and gain access to all... |
| 2018-Dec-20 • 174 minutes The Drive Interview with Peter Attia In this episode of the podcast, Sam Harris speaks with Peter Attia about meditation and the nature of mind. They discuss types of meditation, the difference between pain and suffering, the difference between joy and wellbeing, the half-life of... |
| 2018-Dec-07 • 69 minutes #144 — Conquering Hate Sam Harris speaks with Deeyah Khan about her groundbreaking films "Jihad" and "White Right." They discuss her history as a target of religious intolerance, her adventures with neo-Nazis and other white supremacists, the similarities between extremist... |
| 2018-Nov-21 • 42 minutes #143 — The Keys to the Mind Sam Harris speaks with Derren Brown about his work as a "psychological illusionist." They discuss the power of hypnosis, the power of expectations, the usefulness of Stoic philosophy, and other topics. SUBSCRIBE to listen to the rest of this episode... |
| 2018-Nov-13 • 48 minutes #142 — Addiction, Depression, and a Meaningful Life Sam Harris speaks with Johann Hari about his books "Chasing the Scream" and "Lost Connections." SUBSCRIBE to listen to the rest of this episode and gain access to all full-length episodes of the podcast at . |
| 2018-Nov-05 • 40 minutes #141— Is #MeToo Going Too Far? Sam Harris speaks with Rebecca Traister about her new book "Good and Mad: The Revolutionary Power of Women's Anger." SUBSCRIBE to listen to the rest of this episode and gain access to all full-length episodes of the podcast at . |
| 2018-Oct-30 • 67 minutes The TED Interview Sam talks to the head of TED, Chris Anderson, about using reason to build our morality. Sam makes the case that reason can indeed answer moral questions, and then explores the many controversies that emerge from that claim. Moral superiority? Cultural... |
| 2018-Oct-17 • 46 minutes #140 — Burning Down the Fourth Estate Sam Harris speaks with Matt Taibbi about the state journalism and the polarization of our politics. They discuss the controversy over Steve Bannon at the New Yorker Festival, monetizing the Trump phenomenon, the Jamal Kashoggi murder, the Kavanaugh... |
| 2018-Oct-03 • 43 minutes #139 — Sacred & Profane Sam Harris gets together with Bill Maher and Larry Charles to celebrate the 10th anniversary of their film "Religulous." They discuss religion, politics, comedy, and other dangerous topics. SUBSCRIBE to listen to the rest of this episode and gain... |
| 2018-Sep-25 • 10 minutes Introducing Waking Up In this episode of the podcast, Sam Harris introduces Waking Up. More information can be found at . You can support the Making Sense podcast and receive subscriber-only content at samharris.org/subscribe. |
| 2018-Sep-20 • 50 minutes #138 — The Edge of Humanity Sam Harris speaks with Yuval Noah Harari about his new book “21 Lessons for the 21st Century.” They discuss the importance of meditation for his intellectual life, the primacy of stories, the need to revise our fundamental assumptions about human... |
| 2018-Sep-10 • 40 minutes #137 — Safe Space Sam Harris speaks with Jonathan Haidt about his new book "The Coddling of the American Mind." They discuss the hostility to free speech that has grown more common among young adults, recent moral panics on campus, the role of intentions in ethical... |
| 2018-Aug-30 • 28 minutes #136 — Digital Humanism Sam Harris speaks with Jaron Lanier about the economics, politics, and psychology of our digital lives. They discuss the insidious idea that information should be free, what we should want from an advanced economy, the role of advertising,... |
| 2018-Aug-20 • 37 minutes #135 — Navigating Sex and Gender Sam Harris speaks with Martie Haselton about sex and gender, the role of hormones in human psychology, “Darwinian feminism,” the unique hormonal experience of women, transgenderism, the Google Memo, and other topics. SUBSCRIBE to listen to the... |
| 2018-Jul-29 • 51 minutes #134 — Beyond the Politics of Race Sam Harris speaks with Coleman Hughes about race, racism, and identity politics. SUBSCRIBE to listen to the rest of this episode and gain access to all full-length episodes of the podcast at . |
| 2018-Jul-18 • 24 minutes #133 — Globalism on the Brink Sam Harris speaks with Ian Bremmer about the failure of globalism and rise of populism. They discuss immigration, trade, automation, wealth inequality, Trump, identity politics and other topics. SUBSCRIBE to listen to the rest of this episode and gain... |
| 2018-Jul-09 • 27 minutes #132 — Freeing the Hostages Sam Harris speaks with Chris Voss about his experience as a hostage negotiator for the FBI. They discuss different types of hostage crises, along with many of the lessons that apply to negotiating in normal life. SUBSCRIBE to listen to the rest of... |
| 2018-Jul-03 • 37 minutes #131 — Dictators, Immigration, #MeToo, and Other Imponderables Sam Harris speaks with Masha Gessen about Vladimir Putin, the problem of gauging public opinion in Russia, Trump's fondness for dictators, the challenges of immigration, comparisons between Christian and Muslim intolerance, "fake news" and the health... |
| 2018-Jun-19 • 25 minutes #130 — Universal Basic Income Sam Harris speaks with presidential candidate Andrew Yang about "universal basic income" (UBI). They discuss the state of the economy, the rise of automation and AI, the arguments for and against UBI, and other topics. SUBSCRIBE to listen to the rest... |
| 2018-Jun-12 • 29 minutes #129 — An Insider’s View of Medicine Sam Harris speaks with Dr. Nina Shapiro about the practice of medicine. They discuss the unique resiliency of children, the importance of second opinions, bad doctors, how medical training has changed in recent years, medical uncertainty, risk... |
| 2018-Jun-04 • 69 minutes #128 — Transformations of Mind Sam Harris speaks with Geoffrey Miller about evolutionary psychology. They discuss sexual selection, virtue signaling, social media, public shaming, monogamy and polyamory, taboo topics in science, genetic engineering, gender differences and the... |
| 2018-May-28 • 39 minutes #127 — Freedom from the Known Sam Harris speaks with Michael Pollan about his new book “How to Change Your Mind.” They cover the the resurgence of interest in psychedelics in clinical practice and end-of-life care, the “betterment of well people,” the relationship between... |
| 2018-May-08 • 50 minutes #126 — In Defense of Honor Sam Harris speaks with Tamler Sommers about cultures of honor. They discuss the difference between honor and dignity, “justice porn,” honor killings, honor and interpersonal violence, prison and gang culture, collective responsibility and... |
| 2018-May-01 • 50 minutes #125 — What Is Christianity? Sam Harris speaks to Bart Ehrman about his experience of being a born-again Christian, his academic training in New Testament scholarship, his loss of faith, the most convincing argument in defense of Christianity, the status of miracles, the... |
| 2018-Apr-21 • 47 minutes #124 — In Search of Reality Sam Harris speaks with Sean Carroll about our understanding of reality. They discuss consciousness, the many worlds view of quantum mechanics, the arrow of time, free will, facts and values, and other topics. SUBSCRIBE to listen to the rest of this... |
| 2018-Apr-09 • 53 minutes #123 — Identity & Honesty Sam Harris speaks with Ezra Klein, Editor-at-Large for Vox Media, about racism, identity politics, intellectual honesty, and the controversy over his podcast with Charles Murray (Making Sense #73). SUBSCRIBE to listen to the rest of this episode... |
| 2018-Apr-03 • 18 minutes #122 — Extreme Housekeeping Edition Sam Harris responds to the ongoing controversy over his interview with Charles Murray and discusses his upcoming conversation with Ezra Klein. He also announces a change he will be making to the format of the podcast. SUBSCRIBE to gain access to all... |
| 2018-Mar-25 • 61 minutes #121 — White Power Sam Harris speaks with Christian Picciolini about his experience as a neo-Nazi skinhead. They discuss how Christian got out of the movement, the limits of shame and forgiveness, the cult-like dynamics of white supremacy, the alt-Right, Russian support... |
| 2018-Mar-19 • 51 minutes #120 — What Is and What Matters Sam Harris speaks with Rebecca Goldstein and Max Tegmark about the foundations of human knowledge and morality. SUBSCRIBE to listen to the rest of this episode and gain access to all full-length episodes of the podcast at . |
| 2018-Mar-12 • 59 minutes #119 — Hidden Motives Sam Harris speaks with Robin Hanson about our hidden motives in everyday life. They discuss selfishness, hypocrisy, norms and meta-norms, cheating, deception, self-deception, education, the evolutionary logic of conversation, social status,... |
| 2018-Feb-27 • 28 minutes # 118 — The View from Trumpistan Sam Harris speaks with Preet Bharara about President Trump and the Russia investigation. SUBSCRIBE to listen to the rest of this episode and gain access to all full-length episodes of the podcast at . |
| 2018-Feb-19 • 41 minutes #117 — Networks, Power, and Chaos Sam Harris speaks with Niall Ferguson about his new book "The Square and the Tower." They discuss his career as a writer, networks and hierarchies, how history gets written, the similarity between the 16th century and the 21st, the role of social... |
| 2018-Feb-09 • 121 minutes The Russell Brand Interview This episode of the Making Sense podcast features an interview that Sam did with Russell Brand on the Under the Skin podcast. They speak about religion, terrorism, politics, meditation, psychedelics, and other topics. SUBSCRIBE to gain access to all... |
| 2018-Feb-06 • 55 minutes #116 — AI: Racing Toward the Brink Sam Harris speaks with Eliezer Yudkowsky about the nature of intelligence, different types of AI, the "alignment problem," IS vs OUGHT, the possibility that future AI might deceive us, the AI arms race, conscious AI, coordination problems, and other... |
| 2018-Jan-29 • 39 minutes #115 — Sam Harris, Lawrence Krauss, and Matt Dillahunty (1) Sam Harris speaks with Lawrence Krauss and Matt Dillahunty about the threat of nuclear war, Christian support for Trump, science and a universal conception of morality, the role of intuition in science, the primacy of consciousness, the nature of... |
| 2018-Jan-22 • 50 minutes #114 — Politics and Sanity Sam Harris speaks with David Frum and Andrew Sullivan about the Trump presidency, hyper-partisanship, how democracies fail, immigration, the lowering life expectancy in the U.S., racism, social media, the opioid crisis, marijuana legalization,... |
| 2018-Jan-09 • 103 minutes #113 — Consciousness and the Self Sam Harris speaks with Anil Seth about the scientific study of consciousness, where consciousness emerges in nature, levels of consciousness, perception as a “controlled hallucination,” emotion, the experience of “pure consciousness,”... |
| 2018-Jan-02 • 55 minutes #112 — The Intellectual Dark Web Sam Harris speaks with Eric Weinstein and Ben Shapiro about the breakdown of shared values, the problem with identity politics, religion, free will, the primacy of reason, and many other topics. SUBSCRIBE to listen to the rest of this episode and gain... |
| 2017-Dec-28 • 41 minutes #111 — The Science of Meditation Sam Harris speaks with Daniel Goleman and Richard J. Davidson about the current scientific understanding of meditation practice. They speak about the original stigma associated with meditation, the history of introspection in eastern and western... |
| 2017-Dec-23 • 46 minutes #110 — The Change Artist Sam Harris speaks with AJ Jacobs about religion, gossip, polyamory, health advice, our past and future selves, “radical honesty,” human genealogy, tribalism, and other topics. SUBSCRIBE to listen to the rest of this episode and gain access to all... |
| 2017-Dec-19 • 56 minutes #109— Biology and Culture Sam Harris speaks with Bret Weinstein about the moral panic at Evergreen State College, the concept of race, genetic differences between human populations, intersectionality, sex and gender, “metaphorical truth,” religion and “group... |
| 2017-Dec-14 • 43 minutes #108 — Defending the Experts Sam Harris speaks with Tom Nichols about his book The Death of Expertise. They discuss the “Dunning-Kruger Effect,” the growth of knowledge and reliance on authority, when experts fail, the repudiation of expertise in politics, conspiracy... |
| 2017-Dec-06 • 49 minutes #107 — Is Life Actually Worth Living? Sam Harris speaks with David Benatar about his philosophy of “anti-natalism." They discuss the asymmetry between the good and bad things in life, the ethics of existential risk, the moral landscape, the limits and paradoxes of introspection, the... |
| 2017-Nov-29 • 19 minutes #106 — Humanity 2.0 Sam Harris speaks with Jennifer Doudna about the gene-editing technology CRISPR/cas9. They talk about the biology of gene editing, how specific tissues in the body can be targeted, the ethical implications of changing the human genome, the importance... |
| 2017-Nov-20 • 38 minutes #105 — Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, and Matt Dillahunty The following conversation between Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, and Matt Dillahunty was recorded at the Orpheum Theatre in Vancouver on November 2, 2017. SUBSCRIBE to listen to the rest of this episode and gain access to all full-length episodes of... |
| 2017-Nov-15 • 28 minutes #104 — The Lessons of Death Sam Harris speaks with Frank Ostaseski about death and dying—and about how the awareness of death can improve our lives in each moment. SUBSCRIBE to listen to the rest of this episode and gain access to all full-length episodes of the podcast at . |
| 2017-Nov-09 • 26 minutes #103 — American Fantasies Sam Harris speaks with Kurt Andersen about the American aptitude for unfounded belief, the religious lunacy of the Puritans, populist mistrust of authority, the link between postmodernism and religious fundamentalism, the unique history of American... |
| 2017-Oct-30 • 56 minutes #102 — Is Buddhism True? Sam Harris speaks with Robert Wright about his book Why Buddhism is True: The Science and Philosophy of Meditation and Enlightenment. SUBSCRIBE to listen to the rest of this episode and gain access to all full-length episodes of the podcast at . |
| 2017-Oct-17 • 33 minutes #101 — Defending the Republic Sam Harris speaks with Cass Sunstein about the polarization and fragmentation of American society, “choice architecture,” the importance of face-to-face interactions for problem solving, group polarization and identity politics, virtuous... |
| 2017-Oct-09 • 40 minutes #100 — Facing the Crowd Sam Harris speaks with Nicholas Christakis about mob behavior, moral panics, and current threats to free speech. SUBSCRIBE to listen to the rest of this episode and gain access to all full-length episodes of the podcast at . |
| 2017-Oct-06 • 108 minutes The "After On" Interview A Conversation with Rob Reid |
| 2017-Sep-28 • 32 minutes #99 — What Happened to Liberalism? Sam Harris speaks with Mark Lilla about the fate of political liberalism in the United States, the emergence of a new identity politics, the role of class in American society, wealth inequality, and other topics. SUBSCRIBE to listen to the rest of... |
| 2017-Sep-21 • 30 minutes #98 — Into the Dark Land Sam Harris speaks with Siddhartha Mukherjee about his Pulitzer Prize-winning book, The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer. SUBSCRIBE to listen to the rest of this episode and gain access to all full-length episodes of the podcast at . |
| 2017-Sep-15 • 27 minutes #97 — The Impossible War Sam Harris speaks with Ken Burns and Lynn Novick about their latest film, The Vietnam War. SUBSCRIBE to listen to the rest of this episode and gain access to all full-length episodes of the podcast at . |
| 2017-Sep-10 • 51 minutes #96 — The Nature of Consciousness Sam Harris speaks with Thomas Metzinger about the scientific and experiential understanding of consciousness. They also talk about the significance of WWII for the history of ideas, the role of intuition in science, the ethics of building conscious... |
| 2017-Sep-05 • 47 minutes #95 — What You Need to Know About Climate Change Sam Harris speaks with Joseph Romm about how the climate is changing and how we know that human behavior is the primary cause. They discuss why small changes in temperature matter so much, the threats of sea-level rise and desertification, the best... |
| 2017-Aug-29 • 37 minutes #94 — Frontiers of Intelligence Sam Harris speaks with Max Tegmark about his new book Life 3.0: Being Human in the Age of Artificial Intelligence. They talk about the nature of intelligence, the risks of superhuman AI, a nonbiological definition of life, the substrate independence... |
| 2017-Aug-21 • 40 minutes #93 — Identity & Terror Sam Harris speaks with Douglas Murray about identity politics, the rise of white nationalism, the events in Charlottesville, guilt by association, the sources of western values, the problem of finding meaning in a secular world, and other topics.... |
| 2017-Aug-16 • 60 minutes #92 — The Limits of Persuasion Sam Harris speaks with David Pizarro and Tamler Sommers about free speech on campus, the Scott Adams podcast, the failings of the mainstream media, moral persuasion, moral certainty, the ethics of abortion, Buddhism, the illusion of the self, and... |
| 2017-Aug-09 • 43 minutes #91 — The Biology of Good and Evil Sam Harris speaks with Robert Sapolsky about his work with baboons, the opposition between reason and emotion, doubt, the evolution of the brain, the civilizing role of the frontal cortex, the illusion of free will, justice and vengeance,... |
| 2017-Aug-06 • 61 minutes #90 — Living With Violence Sam Harris speaks with Gavin de Becker about the primacy of human intuition in the prediction and prevention of violence. SUBSCRIBE to listen to the rest of this episode and gain access to all full-length episodes of the podcast at . |
| 2017-Jul-25 • 22 minutes #89 — On Becoming a Better Person Sam Harris speaks with David Brooks about his book The Road to Character, the importance of words like “sin” and "virtue," self-esteem vs. self-overcoming, the significance of keeping promises, honesty, President Trump, and other topics. SUBSCRIBE... |
| 2017-Jul-21 • 27 minutes #88 — Must We Accept a Nuclear North Korea? Sam Harris speaks with Mark Bowden about the problem of a nuclear-armed North Korea. SUBSCRIBE to listen to the rest of this episode and gain access to all full-length episodes of the podcast at . |
| 2017-Jul-19 • 53 minutes #87 — Triggered Sam Harris and Scott Adams debate the character and competence of President Trump. SUBSCRIBE to listen to the rest of this episode and gain access to all full-length episodes of the podcast at . |
| 2017-Jul-14 • 50 minutes #86 — From Cells to Cities Sam Harris speaks with Geoffrey West about how biological and social systems scale, the significance of fractals, the prospects of radically extending human life, the concept of “emergence” in complex systems, the importance of cities, the... |
| 2017-Jul-07 • 40 minutes #85 — Is this the End of Europe? Sam Harris speaks with Douglas Murray about his book The Strange Death of Europe: Immigration, Identity, Islam. SUBSCRIBE to listen to the rest of this episode and gain access to all full-length episodes of the podcast at . |
| 2017-Jul-01 • 46 minutes #84 — Landscapes of Mind Sam Harris speaks with Kevin Kelly about why it’s so hard to predict future technology, the nature of intelligence, the “singularity,” artificial consciousness, and other topics. SUBSCRIBE to listen to the rest of this episode and gain access to... |
| 2017-Jun-23 • 39 minutes #83 — The Politics of Emergency Sam Harris speaks with Fareed Zakaria about his career as a journalist, Samuel Huntington's "clash of civilizations," political partisanship, Trump, the health of the news media, the connection between Islam and intolerance, and other topics.... |
| 2017-Jun-15 • 43 minutes #82 — The End of the World According to ISIS Sam Harris speaks with Graeme Wood about his experience reporting on ISIS, the myth of online recruitment, the theology of ISIS, the quality of their propaganda, the most important American recruit to the organization, the roles of Jesus and the... |
| 2017-Jun-09 • 50 minutes #81 — Leaving Islam Sam Harris speaks with Sarah Haider about her organization Ex-Muslims of North America, how the political Left is confused about Islam, "rape culture" under Islam, honesty without bigotry, stealth theocracy, immigration, the prospects of reforming... |
| 2017-Jun-04 • 25 minutes #80 — The Unraveling Sam Harris speaks with David Frum about political partisanship, recent security leaks, Trump's foreign policy, the Russia investigation, Kathy Griffin's joke, and other topics. SUBSCRIBE to listen to the rest of this episode and gain access to all... |
| 2017-May-29 • 31 minutes #79 — The Road to Tyranny Sam Harris speaks with Timothy Snyder about his book On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century. SUBSCRIBE to listen to the rest of this episode and gain access to all full-length episodes of the podcast at . |
| 2017-May-26 • 41 minutes #78 — Persuasion and Control Sam Harris speaks with Zeynep Tufekci about "surveillance capitalism," the Trump campaign's use of Facebook, AI-enabled marketing, the health of the press, Wikileaks, ransomware attacks, and other topics. SUBSCRIBE to listen to the rest of this... |
| 2017-May-22 • 44 minutes #77 — The Moral Complexity of Genetics Sam Harris speaks with Siddhartha Mukherjee about the human desire to understand and manipulate heredity, the genius of Gregor Mendel, the ethics of altering our genes, the future of genetic medicine, patent issues in genetic research, controversies... |
| 2017-May-18 • 40 minutes #76 — The Path to Impeachment Sam Harris speaks with Anne Applebaum and Juliette Kayyem about the unfolding Russia scandal in the White House. SUBSCRIBE to listen to the rest of this episode and gain access to all full-length episodes of the podcast at . |
| 2017-May-12 • 29 minutes #75 — Ask Me Anything 7 In this episode of the Making Sense podcast, Sam Harris answers questions from listeners about the illusion of the self, his podcast with Charles Murray, the future of brain-machine interfaces, his BJJ practice, reasoning with the extreme Left,... |
| 2017-May-06 • 47 minutes #74 — What Should We Eat? Sam Harris speaks with Gary Taubes about his career as a science journalist, the difficulty of studying nutrition and public health scientifically, the growing epidemics of obesity and diabetes, the role of hormones in weight gain, the controversies... |
| 2017-Apr-23 • 51 minutes #73 — Forbidden Knowledge Sam Harris speaks with Charles Murray about the controversy over his book "The Bell Curve," the validity and significance of IQ as a measure of intelligence, the problem of social stratification, the rise of Trump, universal basic income, and other... |
| 2017-Apr-17 • 14 minutes #72 — Privacy and Security Sam Harris speaks with General Michael V. Hayden about the reality of spying, the difference between the NSA and the CIA, the ethics of secrecy, Edward Snowden, the Russian Hacking of the 2016 US Presidential election, and other topics. ... |
| 2017-Apr-14 • 46 minutes #71 — What Is Technology Doing to Us? Sam Harris speaks with Tristan Harris about the arms race for human attention, the ethics of persuasion, the consequences of having an ad-based economy, the dynamics of regret, and other topics. SUBSCRIBE to listen to the rest of this episode and gain... |
| 2017-Apr-10 • 50 minutes #70 — Beauty and Terror Sam Harris speaks with physicist Lawrence Krauss about the utility of public debates, the progress of science, confusion about the role of consciousness in quantum mechanics, the present danger of nuclear war, the Trump administration, the relative... |
| 2017-Mar-24 • 37 minutes #69 — The Russia Connection Sam Harris speaks with Anne Applebaum about Russia's meddling in the U.S. Presidential election and Trump's troubling affinity for Vladimir Putin. SUBSCRIBE to listen to the rest of this episode and gain access to all full-length episodes of the... |
| 2017-Mar-19 • 39 minutes #68 — Reality and the Imagination Sam Harris speaks with Yuval Noah Harari about meditation, the need for stories, the power of technology to erase the boundary between fact and fiction, wealth inequality, the problem of finding meaning in a world without work, religion as a virtual... |
| 2017-Mar-13 • 45 minutes #67 — Meaning and Chaos Sam Harris and Jordan Peterson discuss science, religion, archetypes, mythology, and the perennial problem of finding meaning in life. SUBSCRIBE to listen to the rest of this episode and gain access to all full-length episodes of the podcast at . |
| 2017-Mar-01 • 25 minutes #66 — Living with Robots Sam Harris speaks with Kate Darling about the ethical concerns surrounding our increasing use of robots and other autonomous systems. Kate Darling is a leading expert in robot ethics. She’s a researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology... |
| 2017-Feb-20 • 26 minutes #65 — We're All Cucks Now Sam Harris speaks with David Frum about the presidency of Donald Trump. SUBSCRIBE to listen to the rest of this episode and gain access to all full-length episodes of the podcast at . |
| 2017-Feb-16 • 43 minutes #64 — Ask Me Anything 6 Sam Harris answers questions from listeners about his conversation with Jordan Peterson, the reaction to Milo Yiannopoulos at U.C. Berkeley, the “Muslim ban,” the echo chamber of social media, Trump’s lies, the value of the humanities, the... |
| 2017-Jan-31 • 48 minutes #63 — Why Meditate? Sam Harris and Joseph Goldstein answer questions about the practice of mindfulness. They discuss the nature negative emotions, the importance of ethics, the concept of enlightenment, and other topics. SUBSCRIBE to listen to the rest of this episode... |
| 2017-Jan-21 • 55 minutes #62 — What is True? Sam Harris speaks with psychologist Jordan B. Peterson about freedom of speech and the nature of truth. SUBSCRIBE to listen to the rest of this episode and gain access to all full-length episodes of the podcast at . |
| 2017-Jan-15 • 49 minutes #61 — The Power of Belief Sam Harris speaks with author Lawrence Wright about al-Qaeda & ISIS, Arab culture, 9/11 conspiracy theories, the migrant crisis in Europe, Scientology, parallels between L. Ron Hubbard and Donald Trump, the Satanic cult panic, and other topics.... |
| 2017-Jan-10 • 37 minutes #60 — An Evening with Richard Dawkins and Sam Harris (2) Sam Harris speaks with Richard Dawkins at a live event in Los Angeles (second of two). They discuss Richard’s experience of having a stroke, the genetic future of humanity, the analogy between genes and memes, the “extended phenotype,” Islam and... |
| 2017-Jan-05 • 49 minutes #59 — Friend & Foe Sam Harris speaks with Maajid Nawaz about the Southern Poverty Law Center, Robert Spencer, Keith Ellison, moderate Muslims, Shadi Hamid’s notion of “Islamic exceptionalism," the migrant crisis in Europe, foreign interventions, Trump, Putin,... |
| 2016-Dec-27 • 42 minutes #58 — The Putin Question Sam Harris speaks with Garry Kasparov about the problem of waning American power, the rise of Putin, the coming presidency of Donald Trump, computer chess, the future of artificial intelligence, and other topics. SUBSCRIBE to listen to the rest of... |
| 2016-Dec-19 • 43 minutes #57 — An Evening with Richard Dawkins and Sam Harris (1) Sam Harris speaks with Richard Dawkins at a live event in Los Angeles (first of two). They cover religion, Jurassic Park, artificial intelligence, elitism, continuing human evolution, and other topics. SUBSCRIBE to listen to the rest of this episode... |
| 2016-Dec-12 • 69 minutes #56 — Abusing Dolores Sam Harris speaks with Paul Bloom about empathy, meditation studies, morality, AI, Westworld, Donald Trump, free will, rationality, conspiracy thinking, and other topics. SUBSCRIBE to listen to the rest of this episode and gain access to all... |
| 2016-Dec-06 • 75 minutes #55 — Islamism vs Secularism Sam Harris speaks with Shadi Hamid about the power of religious belief, the failure of the Left, Islamist democracy, free speech, profiling, white nationalism, Obama’s foreign policy and other topics. SUBSCRIBE to listen to the rest of this episode... |
| 2016-Dec-01 • 36 minutes #54 — Trumping The World Sam Harris speaks with journalist James Kirchick about the coming Trump presidency, liberalism vs illiberalism, fake news, Russia, Syria, Iran, and the future of American power. SUBSCRIBE to listen to the rest of this episode and gain access to all... |
| 2016-Nov-24 • 37 minutes #53 — The Dawn of Artificial Intelligence Sam Harris speaks with computer scientist Stuart Russell about the challenge of building artificial intelligence that is compatible with human well-being. SUBSCRIBE to listen to the rest of this episode and gain access to all full-length episodes of... |
| 2016-Nov-16 • 45 minutes #52 — Finding Our Way in the Cosmos Sam Harris speaks with physicist David Deutsch about the foundations of knowledge, the moral landscape, possible futures for conscious beings, and other topics. SUBSCRIBE to listen to the rest of this episode and gain access to all full-length... |
| 2016-Nov-10 • 12 minutes #51 — The Most Powerful Clown Sam Harris talks about the results of the 2016 presidential election and the prospects of a President Trump. SUBSCRIBE to listen to the rest of this episode and gain access to all full-length episodes of the podcast at . |
| 2016-Nov-02 • 25 minutes #50 — The Borders of Tolerance Sam Harris speaks with Ayaan Hirsi Ali about Islamism, the migrant crisis in Europe, and other topics. SUBSCRIBE to listen to the rest of this episode and gain access to all full-length episodes of the podcast at . |
| 2016-Oct-26 • 65 minutes #49 — The Lesser Evil Sam Harris speaks with Andrew Sullivan about the 2016 presidential election. SUBSCRIBE to listen to the rest of this episode and gain access to all full-length episodes of the podcast at . |
| 2016-Oct-21 • 48 minutes #48 — What Is Moral Progress? Sam Harris speaks with philosopher Peter Singer about the foundations of morality, expanding the circle of our moral concern, politics, free speech, conspiracy thinking, Edward Snowden, the importance of intentions, WWII, euthanasia, eating “happy... |
| 2016-Oct-06 • 49 minutes #47 — The Frontiers of Political Correctness Sam Harris speaks with Gad Saad about political correctness, academic taboos, Islam, immigration, Donald Trump, and other topics. SUBSCRIBE to listen to the rest of this episode and gain access to all full-length episodes of the podcast at . |
| 2016-Sep-28 • 27 minutes #46 — The End of Faith Sessions 3 Sam Harris reads and discusses the third chapter of "The End of Faith." Topics covered: Christianity, Judaism, the Inquisition, witchcraft, anti-Semitism, and the Holocaust. SUBSCRIBE to listen to the rest of this episode and gain access to all... |
| 2016-Sep-13 • 47 minutes #45 — Ask Me Anything 5 Sam Harris answers questions from listeners about how 9/11 changed his life, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, free will, why he podcasts, Milo and the alt-Right, identity politics, Clinton vs. Trump, vegetarianism, and the Hannibal Buress episode. SUBSCRIBE to... |
| 2016-Aug-29 • 56 minutes #44 — Being Good and Doing Good Sam Harris speaks with Oxford philosopher William MacAskill about effective altruism, moral illusions, existential risk, and other topics. SUBSCRIBE to listen to the rest of this episode and gain access to all full-length episodes of the podcast at . |
| 2016-Aug-17 • 21 minutes #43 — What Do Jihadists Really Want? Sam Harris reads from the latest issue of "Dabiq," the magazine of ISIS, and discusses the beliefs and goals of jihadists worldwide. SUBSCRIBE to listen to the rest of this episode and gain access to all full-length episodes of the podcast at . |
| 2016-Aug-09 • 56 minutes #42 — Racism and Violence in America Sam Harris talks to economist Glenn C. Loury about racism, police violence, the Black Lives Matter movement, and related topics. SUBSCRIBE to listen to the rest of this episode and gain access to all full-length episodes of the podcast at . |
| 2016-Aug-01 • 64 minutes #41 — Faith in Reason Sam Harris speaks with Eric Weinstein about the relationship between faith and reason and about some of the factors that make conversations on important topics so difficult. SUBSCRIBE to listen to the rest of this episode and gain access to all... |
| 2016-Jul-12 • 47 minutes #40 — Complexity & Stupidity Sam Harris talks to biologist David Krakauer about information, complex systems, and the future of humanity. SUBSCRIBE to listen to the rest of this episode and gain access to all full-length episodes of the podcast at . |
| 2016-Jul-04 • 45 minutes #39 — Free Will Revisited Sam Harris speaks with philosopher Daniel Dennett about free will. SUBSCRIBE to listen to the rest of this episode and gain access to all full-length episodes of the podcast at . |
| 2016-Jun-15 • 40 minutes #38 — The End of Faith Sessions 2 Sam Harris reads and discusses the second chapter of "The End of Faith." However, the first hour of this podcast focuses on Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, and the political implications of the recent terrorist attack in Orlando. Discussion of The End... |
| 2016-May-31 • 47 minutes #37 — Thinking in Public Sam Harris speaks with astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson about the public understanding of science, his career as an educator, political atheism, racism, artificial intelligence, alien life, and other topics. SUBSCRIBE to listen to the rest of this... |
| 2016-May-02 • 38 minutes #36 — What Makes Us Safer? Sam Harris speaks with Juliette Kayyem, a leading expert on homeland security, about the war on terror, profiling, Islamism, and other topics. SUBSCRIBE to listen to the rest of this episode and gain access to all full-length episodes of the podcast at . |
| 2016-Apr-25 • 51 minutes #35 — The End Of Faith Sessions 1 Sam Harris reads and discusses the first chapter of "The End of Faith." SUBSCRIBE to listen to the rest of this episode and gain access to all full-length episodes of the podcast at . |
| 2016-Apr-18 • 48 minutes #34 — The Light of the Mind Sam Harris speaks with philosopher David Chalmers about the nature of consciousness, the challenges of understanding it scientifically, and the prospect that we will one day build it into our machines. SUBSCRIBE to listen to the rest of this episode... |
| 2016-Mar-26 • 29 minutes #33 — Ask Me Anything 4 Sam Harris answers questions from listeners about the recent attacks in Brussels, dealing with anxiety, the science of immortality, fame, liberalism, the Golden Age of Islam, and other topics. SUBSCRIBE to gain access to all full-length episodes at . |
| 2016-Mar-12 • 97 minutes #32 — The Best Podcast Ever Sam Harris talks to Omer Aziz about Islam, Islamism, free speech, and related topics. SUBSCRIBE to listen to the rest of this episode and gain access to all full-length episodes of the podcast at . |
| 2016-Mar-09 • 42 minutes #31 — Evolving Minds Sam Harris responds to Omer Aziz and Salon magazine, and then speaks with Jonathan Haidt about the scientific study of morality, the problem of political correctness, and other topics. SUBSCRIBE to listen to the rest of this episode and gain access to... |
| 2016-Mar-06 • 42 minutes #30 — Inside the Crucible Sam Harris briefly revisits the Apple-FBI controversy and then speaks with Michael Weiss about ISIS and the ongoing civil war in Syria. SUBSCRIBE to listen to the rest of this episode and gain access to all full-length episodes of the podcast at . |
| 2016-Feb-24 • 51 minutes #29 — Throw Open the Gates Sam Harris responds to criticism of his views on the Apple-FBI controversy and then speaks with Maryam Namazie about friendly fire among secularists, profiling, the immigration crisis in Europe, and other topics. SUBSCRIBE to listen to the rest of... |
| 2016-Feb-20 • 21 minutes #28 — Meat Without Misery Sam Harris offers a few more thoughts on Clinton vs Sanders, as well as on the ethics of strong encryption. He then speaks with Uma Valeti, cardiologist and CEO of Memphis Meats, about the future of food production. SUBSCRIBE to listen to the... |
| 2016-Feb-13 • 30 minutes #27 — Ask Me Anything 3 Sam Harris answers questions from listeners about free will, meditation, Noam Chomsky, the illusion of the self, Clinton vs. Sanders, the de-platforming of Richard Dawkins, wealth inequality, and other topics. SUBSCRIBE to gain access to all... |
| 2016-Jan-19 • 42 minutes #26 — The Logic of Violence Sam Harris speaks with retired Navy SEAL and author, Jocko Willink. They discuss U.S. foreign policy, war, human evil, and other topics. SUBSCRIBE to listen to the rest of this episode and gain access to all full-length episodes of the podcast at . |
| 2016-Jan-14 • 45 minutes #25 — Behind the Gun Sam Harris speaks with former SWAT operator and lead weapons and tactics instructor for the LAPD Metro Division, Scott Reitz. They discuss guns, gun control, police violence, and related topics. SUBSCRIBE to listen to the rest of this episode and gain... |
| 2016-Jan-04 • 46 minutes #24 — Ask Me Anything 2 Sam Harris answers questions from listeners about Islamism, free will, honesty, vegetarianism, why he doesn’t publish more in academic journals, and other topics. SUBSCRIBE to gain access to all full-length episodes at . |
| 2015-Dec-21 • 38 minutes #23 — Islam and the Future of Tolerance (Audiobook Excerpts) Sam Harris introduces the audio edition of his book with Maajid Nawaz, "Islam and the Future of Tolerance: A Dialogue." SUBSCRIBE to listen to the rest of this episode and gain access to all full-length episodes of the podcast at . |
| 2015-Dec-16 • 49 minutes #22 — Surviving the Cosmos Sam Harris talks to physicist David Deutsch about the reach and power of human knowledge, the future of artificial intelligence, and the survival of civilization. SUBSCRIBE to listen to the rest of this episode and gain access to all full-length... |
| 2015-Nov-22 • 58 minutes #21 — On the Maintenance of Civilization Sam Harris speaks with author Douglas Murray about Islamism, liberalism, civil society, and the migrant crisis in Europe. SUBSCRIBE to listen to the rest of this episode and gain access to all full-length episodes of the podcast at . |
| 2015-Nov-15 • 10 minutes #20 — Still Sleepwalking Toward Armageddon Sam Harris reflects on the recent terrorist attacks in Paris. SUBSCRIBE to listen to the rest of this episode and gain access to all full-length episodes of the podcast at . |
| 2015-Oct-08 • 39 minutes #19 — The Riddle Of The Gun (Revisited) Sam Harris discusses his views about guns and gun control in light of a recent mass shooting. SUBSCRIBE to listen to the rest of this episode and gain access to all full-length episodes of the podcast at . |
| 2015-Sep-23 • 44 minutes #18 — The Multiverse & You (& You & You & You...) Sam Harris speaks with MIT cosmologist Max Tegmark about the foundations of science, our current understanding of the universe, and the risks of future breakthroughs in artificial intelligence. SUBSCRIBE to listen to the rest of this episode and gain... |
| 2015-Sep-16 • 12 minutes #17 — What I Really Think About Profiling In this episode of the Making Sense podcast, Sam Harris responds to misrepresentations of his views (again). SUBSCRIBE to gain access to all full-length episodes at . |
| 2015-Aug-26 • 42 minutes #16 — The Dark Side Sam Harris and Paul Bloom talk about Donald Trump, torture, trophy hunting, and other terrors. SUBSCRIBE to listen to the rest of this episode and gain access to all full-length episodes of the podcast at . |
| 2015-Aug-11 • 46 minutes #15 — Questions Along the Path Sam Harris and Joseph Goldstein discuss the practice of meditation and answer questions that came from listeners in response to their first conversation, "The Path and the Goal." SUBSCRIBE to listen to the rest of this episode and gain access to all... |
| 2015-Jul-29 • 42 minutes #14 — The Virtues of Cold Blood Sam Harris speaks with psychologist Paul Bloom about the limitations of empathy as a guide to moral reasoning. SUBSCRIBE to listen to the rest of this episode and gain access to all full-length episodes of the podcast at . |
| 2015-Jul-21 • 33 minutes #13 — The Moral Gaze Sam Harris speaks with the filmmaker Joshua Oppenheimer about his remarkable documentaries, "The Act of Killing" and "The Look of Silence." SUBSCRIBE to listen to the rest of this episode and gain access to all full-length episodes of the podcast at . |
| 2015-Jul-03 • 31 minutes #12 — Leaving the Church Sam Harris speaks with Megan Phelps-Roper, granddaughter of Fred Phelps of the infamous Westboro Baptist Church. SUBSCRIBE to listen to the rest of this episode and gain access to all full-length episodes of the podcast at . |
| 2015-Jun-27 • 58 minutes #11 — Shouldering the Burden of History Sam Harris and Dan Carlin (host of the Hardcore History and Common Sense podcasts) discuss American interventionism, the war on terror, and related topics. SUBSCRIBE to listen to the rest of this episode and gain access to all full-length episodes of... |
| 2015-May-19 • 25 minutes #10 — Faith vs. Fact Sam Harris interviews biologist Jerry Coyne about his new book, "Faith vs. Fact: Why Science and Religion are Incompatible." SUBSCRIBE to listen to the rest of this episode and gain access to all full-length episodes of the podcast at . |
| 2015-May-15 • 11 minutes #9 — Final Thoughts On Chomsky Sam Harris reflects on his failure to have a productive conversation with Noam Chomsky. SUBSCRIBE to gain access to all full-length episodes at . |
| 2015-Apr-24 • 38 minutes #8 — Ask Me Anything 1 Sam Harris talks about atheism, artificial intelligence, rape, public speaking, meditation, consciousness, free will, intellectual honesty, and other topics. SUBSCRIBE to gain access to all full-length episodes at . |
| 2015-Mar-25 • 12 minutes #7 — Through the Eyes of a Cult Sam Harris discusses the Heaven's Gate suicide cult and argues that we all have something important to learn from them about the power of belief. SUBSCRIBE to listen to the rest of this episode and gain access to all full-length episodes of the... |
| 2015-Feb-18 • 12 minutes #6 — The Chapel Hill Murders and 'Militant' Atheism Sam Harris responds to the charge that "militant" atheism is responsible for the murder of three Muslim students in North Carolina. SUBSCRIBE to listen to the rest of this episode and gain access to all full-length episodes of the podcast at . |
| 2015-Jan-22 • 16 minutes #5 — After Charlie Hebdo and Other Thoughts Sam Harris answers reader questions in the wake of the terrorist attacks in Paris. SUBSCRIBE to listen to the rest of this episode and gain access to all full-length episodes of the podcast at . |
| 2014-Oct-28 • 51 minutes #4 — The Path and the Goal Sam Harris speaks with Joseph Goldstein about the practice of meditation. SUBSCRIBE to listen to the rest of this episode and gain access to all full-length episodes of the podcast at . |
| 2014-Aug-21 • 41 minutes #3 — WAKING UP — Chapter One This is the complete first chapter of Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion by Sam Harris. To purchase the audiobook: To purchase the print edition: SUBSCRIBE to listen to the rest of this episode and gain access to all full-length... |
| 2014-Jul-27 • 16 minutes #2 — Why Don't I Criticize Israel? In the wake of the recent war in Gaza, many readers have asked "Why don't you criticize Israel?" Here is my response. You can read an annotated transcript of this podcast at: SUBSCRIBE to listen to the rest of this episode and gain access to all... |
| 2014-Jun-05 • 21 minutes #1 — Drugs And The Meaning Of Life The full text of this essay can be read here: SUBSCRIBE to listen to the rest of this episode and gain access to all full-length episodes of the podcast at . |
| 2013-Nov-12 • 8 minutes How to talk to a Christian This is an edited excerpt from remarks that Sam H… |