Making Sense with Sam Harris - Subscriber Content

Neuroscientist Robert Sapolsky discusses free will with Sam Harris, covering intuition, complexity, ethics, predictability, criminal justice, meritocracy, and more. They delve into the limits of personal agency, epigenetics, historical attitudes, implications for ethics, punishment, and reward. The conversation explores the interplay between genetics, environment, and causality, challenging traditional notions of free will and its impact on society.

Sam Harris and Cass Sunstein delve into habituation, happiness, misinformation, and societal issues like free speech. They explore the impact of habituation on relationships, midlife crises, and the importance of variety in life. Discussions also cover the power of noticing, combating misinformation, and challenges to free speech on college campuses.

A deep dive into the complexities of the War in Ukraine, exploring Russian miscalculations, Ukrainian military transformation, and public sentiment. Topics include Russian incompetence, propaganda, NATO membership, Zelensky's leadership, Russian war crimes, and the challenges of providing aid to Ukraine. Discussions on the role of the Orthodox Church, conspiracy theories, Putin's popularity, and the potential outcomes of the conflict.

Sam Harris and Bret Stephens discuss America's global position, Russian influence, Republican support for Putin, Israel-Palestine conflict, Biden's stance on Israel, tensions with Hezbollah, criticisms of Israeli politics, anti-Semitism, and the potential implications of a Trump victory in 2024.

Sam Harris and Rory Stewart debate if Islam poses a threat to open societies, discussing extremism, Hamas, and challenges in integrating diverse beliefs. They address Islamophobia, societal perceptions, and the complexity of critiquing beliefs vs people, advocating for candid discussions and compassionate analysis of communities.

Share this episode: https://www.samharris.org/podcasts/making-sense-episodes/355-a-falling-world Sam Harris speaks with Peter Zeihan about the unraveling world order. They discuss the Bretton Woods system, America’s role in securing the global supply chain, the coming end of American security guarantees, the shrinking of the US Navy, Houthi terrorism, deterring Iran, conflict in the Middle East, the future of Israel, the limits of immigration, the demographic pyramid, the demise of Europe, the war in Ukraine, the prospect of nuclear war, demographic collapse in China, loose nukes, America’s relative immunity to the world’s chaos, U.S. debt, the U.S. Southern border and immigration policy, why Trump will not win the 2024 election, and other topics. Peter Zeihan is a geopolitical strategist and a global energy demographic and security expert. Over the course of his career, Peter has worked for the US State Department in Australia, the DC think tank community, and helped develop the analytical models for Stratfor, one of the world’s premier private intelligence companies. In 2012, Peter founded his own firm, Zeihan on Geopolitics, in order to provide a select group of clients with direct, custom analytical products. Today those clients represent a vast array of sectors including energy majors, financial institutions, business associations, agricultural interests, universities, and the U.S. military. Peter is a critically acclaimed author whose first two books—The Accidental Superpower and The Absent Superpower—have been recommended by Mitt Romney, Fareed Zakaria, and Ian Bremmer. His other books include Disunited Nations: The Scramble for Power in an Ungoverned World and The End of the World Is Just the Beginning: Mapping the Collapse of Globalization. Website: https://zeihan.com/ Twitter: @PeterZeihan YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ZeihanonGeopolitics   Learning how to train your mind is the single greatest investment you can make in life. That’s why Sam Harris created the Waking Up app. From rational mindfulness practice to lessons on some of life’s most important topics, join Sam as he demystifies the practice of meditation and explores the theory behind it.

Sam Harris and John Gray delve into the challenges of moral and political progress, discussing threats to freedom of thought, failures in norm convergence, and the embrace of barbarism. They touch on utilitarianism, historical perspectives, liberalism, and the impact of technology on societal norms.

Sam Harris and Coleman Hughes discuss race, color blindness, crime statistics, elites vs. common values, intersection of race and class in America, ideological alignments, political associations, reparations, and more in a thought-provoking conversation.

Sam Harris speaks with Rory Stewart about the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, problems with nation-building, cultural ignorance, catastrophic withdrawal from Afghanistan, influence of social media, war in Ukraine, age of populism, Trump and future of NATO, Brexit, current state of politics, and GiveDirectly's direct cash transfers to alleviate poverty.

Share this episode: https://www.samharris.org/podcasts/making-sense-episodes/351-5-myths-about-israel-and-the-war-in-gaza A transcript of this podcast is available on Sam’s blog.