Making Sense with Sam Harris - Subscriber Content
Join neuroscientist, philosopher, and best-selling author Sam Harris as he explores important and controversial questions about the human mind, society, and current events. Sam Harris is the author of five New York Times bestsellers. His books include The End of Faith, Letter to a Christian Nation, The Moral Landscape, Free Will, Lying, Waking Up, and Islam and the Future of Tolerance (with Maajid Nawaz). The End of Faith won the 2005 PEN Award for Nonfiction. His writing and public lectures cover a wide range of topics—neuroscience, moral philosophy, religion, meditation practice, human violence, rationality—but generally focus on how a growing understanding of ourselves and the world is changing our sense of how we should live. Harris's work has been published in more than 20 languages and has been discussed in The New York Times, Time, Scientific American, Nature, Newsweek, Rolling Stone, and many other journals. He has written for The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Economist, The Times (London), The Boston Globe, The Atlantic, The Annals of Neurology, and elsewhere. Sam Harris received a degree in philosophy from Stanford University and a Ph.D. in neuroscience from UCLA.
Latest episodes
32 snips
Apr 9, 2024 • 1h 33min
#362 - Six Months of War
Author and commentator Douglas Murray discusses the ongoing war in Gaza, public opinion, Hezbollah/Iran conflict, Iron Dome, Israeli Arabs, global Islamism, European right-wing resurgence, US border crisis with host Sam Harris and Josh Szeps
4 snips
Apr 1, 2024 • 1h 25min
#361 - Sam Bankman-Fried & Effective Altruism
Sam Harris and William MacAskill discuss the implosion of FTX and its impact on Effective Altruism. They cover 'earning to give,' SBF's philanthropy, AI risk, and challenges with focusing on long-term outcomes. They analyze the character of the EA community, the fallout of FTX on Will personally, and delve into ethical dilemmas within the movement.
14 snips
Mar 27, 2024 • 2h 1min
#360 - We Really Don’t Have Free Will?
Robert Sapolsky discusses the belief in free will with Sam Harris, covering intuition, historical views, complexity, epigenetics, predictability, punishment, ethics, evil, meritocracy, and physical beauty. They question the concept of free will, exploring the role of luck, cognitive processes, and societal implications. The conversation also touches on criminal justice, reward, and the impact of physical attractiveness on individual outcomes.
25 snips
Mar 19, 2024 • 1h 5min
#359 - Getting Used to It
Sam Harris and Cass Sunstein discuss habituation to positive and negative experiences, marriage, happiness, midlife crises, kids, wealth, misinformation and social media, echo chambers, extremism, free speech on college campuses, and the 2024 Presidential election.
Mar 11, 2024 • 1h 6min
#358 - The War in Ukraine
A deep dive into the War in Ukraine, covering false assumptions of a swift Russian victory, Ukrainian military transformation, Russian incompetence, public opinion, the role of the Orthodox Church, conspiracy thinking, Putin's popularity on the Right, NATO membership, Zelensky's leadership, war crimes, casualties, delays in US aid, nuclear blackmail, western sanctions, and potential resolution of the conflict.
Mar 4, 2024 • 1h 29min
#357 - America & World Order
Sam Harris and Bret Stephens discuss America's role in the world, including isolationism, support for Ukraine, criticisms of Israel, potential war with Iran, challenges at the southern border, and the impact of a possible Trump victory in 2024.
Feb 28, 2024 • 1h 34min
#356 - Islam & Freedom
Debate on whether Islam poses a unique threat to open societies, exploration of complexities in discussing Islam, comparison of extremism in Christianity and Islam, global perspective on Islam in current issues, nuances of living under Sharia law, historical executions and societal threats, complexities in geopolitics and society, analysis of Hamas's behavior, religious symbols in conflicts, and perceived threats and diverse views in British society.
36 snips
Feb 21, 2024 • 1h 38min
#355 - A Falling World
Geopolitical expert Peter Zeihan discusses unraveling world order, America's role in global supply chain, US Navy's decline, Middle East conflict, future of Israel, immigration limits, Europe's demise, war in Ukraine, China's demographic collapse, US debt, immigration policy, and why Trump won't win 2024 election.
30 snips
Feb 16, 2024 • 1h 55min
#354 - Is Moral Progress a Fantasy?
Sam Harris interviews John Gray, an expert in moral and political progress. They discuss threats to freedom of thought, the limits of law, dangers of technology, failures of convergence on norms and values, de-industrialization in Europe, progressive embrace of barbarism, the absurdity of pacifism, utilitarianism, and misconceptions about religion.
Feb 11, 2024 • 1h 41min
#353 - Race & Reason
Sam Harris speaks with Coleman Hughes about race, racism, and social justice. They discuss color blindness, race and crime, Coleman's experience at TED, LatinX, confusion of the elites, Ibram X. Kendi, affirmative action, class differences, poverty, single-parent families, George Floyd's death, mob rule, Candace Owens, guilt by association, reparations, Martin Luther King Jr., and more.
