Making Sense with Sam Harris #492 — The Second Plane, 25 Years Later
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Sep 9, 2026 Sam reflects on how the second plane revealed the intentional, religious nature of 9/11 and shaped his writing of The End of Faith. He examines the costs and failures of the war on terror, the abandonment of Afghan allies, and the connection between 9/11 and October 7. The conversation also explores jihadism, Islamo-leftism, free speech, immigration, and the challenge of protecting liberal democracy.
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How 9/11 Changed Sam Harris’s Career
- The attacks redirected Sam Harris’s career from neuroscience research toward writing about religious belief and ethical living.<br>- His initial post-9/11 reflections became the opening chapter of The End of Faith and eventually led to his podcast and Waking Up app.
Why Religious Motivation Was Ignored
- Harris says both religious conservatives and secular liberals misunderstood 9/11 by avoiding the attackers’ stated religious motivation.<br>- The hijackers’ education, writings, instructions, and pursuit of martyrdom contradicted explanations centered mainly on poverty or despair.
Foreign Policy Failures Do Not Explain Jihadism
- Harris acknowledges that America’s response caused enormous additional suffering through war, civil conflict, and nation-building failures.<br>- He still distinguishes those mistakes from the independent reality of jihadist ideology, which cannot be explained away as foreign-policy blowback.
