Making Sense with Sam Harris
Sam Harris
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.
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
Mentioned books
Aug 9, 2017 • 43min
#91 — The Biology of Good and Evil
Neuroscientist Robert Sapolsky discusses baboon behavior, brain evolution, free will illusion, justice, and religion with Sam Harris. They explore the impact of stress on the brain, frontal cortex function, and the intertwining of reason and emotion in decision-making.
Aug 6, 2017 • 1h 1min
#90 — Living With Violence
Sam Harris delves into the primacy of human intuition in predicting violence with guest Gavin de Becker. They discuss the importance of trusting intuition, various types of violence in society, and the power of avoidance over combat skills for self-defense.
Jul 25, 2017 • 22min
#89 — On Becoming a Better Person
Sam Harris discusses with David Brooks themes of self-gratification, sin, and ethics of honesty. They explore moral development and humility with examples of individuals transforming into better people. The complexities of balancing virtues, developing character through weaknesses, and the significance of moral concepts like sin and virtue are also highlighted.
Jul 21, 2017 • 27min
#88 — Must We Accept a Nuclear North Korea?
Sam Harris discusses the threat of a nuclear-armed North Korea with expert Mark Bowden. They touch on the complexities and challenges of the North Korea crisis, Bowden's career journey, the Vietnam War, ethical dilemmas in foreign policy, and the risks of dealing with North Korea's nuclear capability.
Jul 19, 2017 • 53min
#87 — Triggered
Neuroscientist and author Sam Harris engages in a debate with Scott Adams on President Trump's character and competence, delving into topics like persuasion, Trump's political strategy, societal values, and the impact of public opinion shifts. They explore Trump's persuasive abilities, his shifting stance on immigration, and the ethical implications of extreme negotiation tactics, questioning whether his success stems from deception or genuine tactics.
Jul 14, 2017 • 50min
#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 necessity for continuous innovation, and other topics. If the Making Sense podcast logo in your player is BLACK, you can SUBSCRIBE to gain access to all full-length episodes at samharris.org/subscribe.
Jul 7, 2017 • 40min
#85 — Is this the End of Europe?
Sam Harris speaks with Douglas Murray about his book The Strange Death of Europe: Immigration, Identity, Islam. If the Making Sense podcast logo in your player is BLACK, you can SUBSCRIBE to gain access to all full-length episodes at samharris.org/subscribe.
Jul 1, 2017 • 46min
#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. If the Making Sense podcast logo in your player is BLACK, you can SUBSCRIBE to gain access to all full-length episodes at samharris.org/subscribe.
Jun 23, 2017 • 39min
#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. If the Making Sense podcast logo in your player is BLACK, you can SUBSCRIBE to gain access to all full-length episodes at samharris.org/subscribe.
Jun 15, 2017 • 43min
#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 Anti-Christ in Islamic prophecy, free speech and the ongoing threat of jihadism, and other topics. If the Making Sense podcast logo in your player is BLACK, you can SUBSCRIBE to gain access to all full-length episodes at samharris.org/subscribe.
