Making Sense with Sam Harris - Subscriber Content

In this episode of the podcast, Sam Harris speaks with Peter Singer, Francesca Minerva, and Jeff McMahan about the newly launched Journal of Controversial Ideas. They discuss the ethics of discussing dangerous ideas, the possibility of having a market in vaccines, the taboo around the topic of race and IQ, the relationship between activism and academia, the shallow-pond argument for doing good, and other topics. Peter Singer is a professor of bioethics at Princeton University. He focuses on practical ethics, and is best known for his book Animal Liberation and for his writings about global poverty. Francesca Minerva is a research fellow at the University of Milan and a co-founder and co-editor of the Journal of Controversial Ideas. Her research focuses on applied ethics, medical and bioethics, discrimination, and academic freedom. Jeff McMahan is a professor of Moral Philosophy at Oxford University. He focuses on a range of issues related to harm and benefit—including war, self- and other-defense, abortion, infanticide, euthanasia, personal identity, the moral status of animals, causing people to exist, disability, philanthropy, and other topics. Website: https://petersinger.info/, http://francescaminerva.com/, http://jeffersonmcmahan.com/ Twitter: @PeterSinger, @FranciMinerva, @JConIdeas

In this episode of the podcast Sam Harris speaks with Bruce Friedrich and Liz Specht from the Good Food Institute about the way the problems of climate change and pandemic risk are directly connected to animal agriculture. The Good Food Institute is an international nonprofit reimagining protein production. Bruce Friedrich oversees GFI’s global strategy, working with the U.S. leadership team and international managing directors to ensure that GFI is maximally effective at implementing programs that deliver mission-focused results. Bruce is a TED Fellow, Y Combinator alum, and popular speaker on food innovation. He has penned op-eds for the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Los Angeles Times, Wired, and many other publications. Bruce’s 2019 TED talk has been viewed two million times and translated into dozens of languages. He graduated magna cum laude from Georgetown Law and also holds degrees from Johns Hopkins University and the London School of Economics. Liz Specht works to identify and forecast areas of technological need within the alternative protein field. Her efforts also catalyze research to address these needs while supporting researchers in academia and industry to move the field forward. Liz has a bachelor’s degree in chemical and biomolecular engineering from Johns Hopkins University, a doctorate in biological sciences from the University of California San Diego, and postdoctoral research experience from the University of Colorado Boulder. Prior to joining GFI in 2016, Liz had accumulated a decade of academic research experience in synthetic biology, recombinant protein expression, and development of genetic tools. Website: gfi.org Twitter: @GoodFoodInst, @BruceGFriedrich, @LizSpecht

   

In this episode of the podcast, Sam Harris speaks with James Fadiman about the psychedelic experience. They discuss who should and shouldn’t take psychedelics, set and setting, the role of a guide, the effects of microdosing, the difference between MDMA and true psychedelics, “good” and “bad” trips, the power of thought, the fiction of a unified self, changing states of self, compassion, and other topics. James Fadiman, Ph.D., has been exploring psychedelics since 1961 and the effect of microdosing since 2010. As well as holding consulting, training, counseling and editorial jobs, he has taught in psychology and design engineering at San Francisco State, Brandeis, and Stanford. His most recent books are The Psychedelic Explorer’s Guide and Your Symphony of Selves: Discover and Understand More of Who We Are (with Jordan Gruber). Website:  https://www.jamesfadiman.com microdosingpsychedelics.com Twitter: @Jfadiman

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.

Sam speaks with poet David Whyte about his new series on the Waking Up app, based on his book, Consolations. They discuss the power of language, the essence of friendship, the paradox of ambition, the transformative nature of aloneness, and becoming the ancestor of your future happiness.

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.

In this episode of the podcast, Sam Harris speaks with Frank Wilczek about the fundamental nature of reality. They discuss the difference between science and non-science, the role of intuition in science, the nature of time, the prospect that possibility is an illusion, the current limits of quantum mechanics, the uncertainty principle, space-time as a substance, the “unreasonable effectiveness” of mathematics in science, the possibility that we might be living in a simulation, the fundamental building blocks of matter, the structure of atoms, the four fundamental forces, wave-particle duality, the electromagnetic spectrum, the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics, the implications of infinite space-time, dark energy and dark matter, and other topics. Frank Wilczek won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2004 for work he did as a graduate student. He was among the earliest MacArthur fellows, and has won many awards both for his scientific work and his writing. He is the author of A Beautiful Question, The Lightness of Being, Fantastic Realities, Longing for the Harmonies, Fundamentals: Ten Keys to Reality, and hundreds of articles in leading scientific journals. His “Wilczek’s Universe” column appears regularly in the Wall Street Journal. Wilczek is the Herman Feshbach Professor of Physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, founding director of the T. D. Lee Institute and chief scientist at the Wilczek Quantum Center in Shanghai, China, and a distinguished professor at Arizona State University and Stockholm University. Website: https://www.frankawilczek.com/ Twitter: @FrankWilczek   Episodes that have been re-released as part of the Best of Making Sense series may have been edited for relevance since their original airing.

Ricky Gervais calls to discuss Sam’s monster joke from their last conversation and then other things happen…

In this episode of the podcast, Sam Harris speaks with mayoral candidate, Andrew Yang, about the future of New York City. Andrew Yang is an entrepreneur, founder of Humanity Forward, and host of the weekly Yang Speaks podcast. Andrew also recently ran as a democratic candidate in the 2020 Presidential primary election. In his early career, Andrew served as the CEO, co-founder or executive at a number of technology and education companies including the well-known test preparation company, Manhattan Prep. In 2011, he founded Venture for America, a non-profit which connects recent college graduates with start-ups. His book, The War on Normal People: The Truth About America’s Disappearing Jobs and Why Universal Basic Income Is Our Future was published in 2018, shortly after announcing his run for presidency. He is now focused on his mayoral campaign, but also leads Humanity Forward, a non-profit organization dedicated to continuing the movements inspired by his campaigns for public office. Websites: https://www.yangforny.com/ https://movehumanityforward.com/ Twitter: @AndrewYang