Making Sense with Sam Harris

By Sam Harris

Society & Culture

What's Making Sense with Sam Harris about?

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.

4.7

22,960 ratings

Download our free app to listen on your phone

LAST EPISODE

#342 — Animal Minds & Moral...

11.27.2023

Sam Harris speaks with Peter Singer about important problems in ethics. They discuss his career as a philosopher, the moral status of non-human animals, the ethics of moral hierarchies, speciesism, the scale of animal suffering, conscientious omnivores, animal experimentation, the ...

Making Sense with Sam Harris episodes:

11.27.2023 #342 — Animal Minds & Moral Truths Sam Harris speaks with Peter Singer about important problems in ethics. They discuss his career as a philosopher, the moral status of non-human animals, the ethics of moral hierarchies, speciesism, the scale of animal suffering, conscientious omnivores, animal experimentation, the ...
11.16.2023 #341 — Gaza & Global Order Sam Harris speaks with Yuval Noah Harari about the events of October 7th and the resulting war in Gaza. They discuss the unraveling of global order, the failure of the IDF, the incompetence of the Netanyahu government, the goals of ...
11.07.2023 #340 — The Bright Line Between Good and Evil Sam Harris speaks about the ongoing war in Gaza, the global rise of antisemitism, and the enduring problem of jihadism. If the Making Sense podcast logo in your player is BLACK, you can SUBSCRIBE to gain access to all full-length ...
11.03.2023 #339 — The Infernal Logic of Jihad Sam Harris speaks with Graeme Wood about the October 7th atrocities in Israel, the unfolding war in Gaza, and the ongoing problem of global jihadism. If the Making Sense podcast logo in your player is BLACK, you can SUBSCRIBE to ...
10.12.2023 #338 — The Sin of Moral Equivalence 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.
10.04.2023 #337 — The Future of Psychedelic Medicine Sam Harris speaks with Jeannie Fontana and Robin Carhart-Harris about the TREAT Initiative in California and the growing promise of psychedelics for mental health care. If the Making Sense podcast logo in your player is BLACK, you can SUBSCRIBE to ...
09.27.2023 #336 — The Roots of Identity Politics Sam Harris speaks with Yascha Mounk about identity politics. They discuss Yascha’s concept of the “identity synthesis,” skepticism about “cancel culture,” racial segregation in schools, the ideological change on college campuses, Michel Foucault and postmodernism, the rejection of universalism, Derrick ...
09.22.2023 #335 — A Postmortem on My Response to Covid 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.
09.18.2023 #334 — The Low-Trust Society Sam Harris speaks with David Brooks about the state of American democracy and the liberal world order. They discuss the weakness of moral individualism, the loss of social trust, the dangers of identity politics, what happened to the Republican Party, ...
09.05.2023 #333 — Sanity Check on Climate Change Sam Harris speaks with Chris Field about climate change and its consequences. They discuss skepticism about climate change, the accuracy of climate models, the magnitude of temperature increases, how global temperatures are measured, the historical record of climate variation, the ...
08.28.2023 #332 — Can We Contain Artificial Intelligence? Sam Harris speaks with Mustafa Suleyman about his new book, “The Coming Wave: Technology, Power, and the 21st Century’s Greatest Dilemma.” They discuss the progress in artificial intelligence made at his company DeepMind, the acquisition of DeepMind by Google, Atari ...
08.20.2023 #331 — A Golden Age for Assholes 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.
08.16.2023 #330 — The Doomsday Machine Sam Harris speaks with Carl Robichaud about the ongoing threat of nuclear war. They discuss the film "Oppenheimer," the ethics of dropping atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the false lessons of the Cuban Missile Crisis, the history and future ...
08.12.2023 #329 — What Happened to the Republican Party? Sam Harris speaks with Bret Stephens about the current state of the Republican Party. They discuss the strange change in Republican attitudes toward Putin, the character of Tucker Carlson, the war in Ukraine, the failures of elites and experts, the ...
08.02.2023 #328 — Health & Longevity Sam Harris speaks with Peter Attia about his book, “Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity.” They discuss "healthspan," centenarians, diet and nutrition, sugar, macronutrients, alcohol, fasting and time-restricted eating, exercise, Zone 2 training, heart disease, blood pressure, cholesterol, cancer, ...
07.21.2023 #327 — Transformative Experiences Sam Harris speaks with L.A. Paul about the nature of transformative experiences. They discuss how certain experiences change the self, the nature of regret, changing belief systems, conspiracy thinking, empathy, doing good in the world, our relationship to our future ...
07.06.2023 #326 — AI & Information Integrity Sam Harris speaks with Nina Schick about generative AI and information integrity. They discuss the challenges of regulating AI, authentication vs detection, fake video, hyper-personalization of information, the promise of generative design, productivity gains, disruptions in the labor market, OpenAI, ...
07.03.2023 #325 — A Few Thoughts About RFK Jr. Sam Harris discusses Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s recent appearances on other podcasts. 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. Learning how to train your ...
06.28.2023 #324 — Debating the Future of AI Sam Harris speaks with Marc Andreessen about the future of artificial intelligence (AI). They discuss the primary importance of intelligence, possible good outcomes for AI, the problem of alienation, the significance of evolution, the Alignment Problem, the current state of ...
06.22.2023 #323 — Science & Survival Sam Harris speaks with Martin Rees about the importance of science and scientific institutions. They discuss the provisionality of science, the paradox of authority, genius, civilizational risks, pandemic preparedness, artificial intelligence, nuclear weapons, the far future, the Fermi problem, the ...
06.18.2023 Making Sense of Meditation \| Episode 10 of The Essential Sam Harris In this episode, we traverse a decade of Sam’s conversations on the topic of meditation. We start with the very first recorded episode from the archives: a conversation with Sam’s meditation teacher and friend, Joseph Goldstein. Goldstein recalls how his ...
06.13.2023 #322 — Predicting Reality Sam Harris speaks with Andy Clark about the predictive brain, embodied cognition, and the extended mind. They discuss the structure of perception, novelty, precision, pain, psychedelics, emotion, ways to hack our predictions, hypnosis, meditation, artificial intelligence, consciousness, and other topics. ...
06.05.2023 #321 — Reckoning with Parfit Sam Harris speaks with David Edmonds about the life and philosophy of Derek Parfit. They discuss Parfit’s work on identity, time bias, the “non-identity problem,” population ethics and “the Repugnant Conclusion,” the ethical importance of future people, Effective Altruism, moral ...
05.26.2023 Making Sense of Death \| Episode 9 of The Essential Sam Harris In this episode, we explore Sam’s conversations about the phenomenon of death. We begin with an introduction from Sam as he urges us to use our awareness of death to become more present in our day-to-day lives. We then hear ...
05.22.2023 #320 — Constructing Self and World Sam Harris speaks with Shamil Chandaria about how the brain constructs a vision of the self and the world. They discuss the brain from first principles; Bayesian inference; hierarchical predictive processing; the construction of vision; psychedelics and neuroplasticity; beliefs and ...
05.15.2023 #319 — The Digital Multiverse Sam Harris speaks with David Auerbach about the problematic structure of online networks. They discuss the tradeoffs between liberty and cooperation, the impossibility of fighting misinformation, bottom-up vs top-down influences, recent developments in AI, deepfakes, the instability of skepticism, the ...
05.05.2023 Making Sense of Social Media and the Information Landscape \| Episode 8 of The Essential Sam Harris In this episode, we examine a series of Sam’s conversations centered around social media’s impact on the information landscape. We begin with Sam’s second conversation with Tristan Harris, which was conducted shortly after the release of Tristan’s documentary, The Social ...
05.01.2023 #318 — Physics & Philosophy Sam Harris speaks with Tim Maudlin about the foundations of physics and metaphysics. They talk about the nature of scientific reductionism, emergence, functionalism, the nature of time, presentism vs eternalism, causation, the nature of possibility, the laws of nature, David ...
04.20.2023 #317 — What Do We Know About Our Minds? Sam Harris speaks with Paul Bloom about the state of psychological science. They discuss fiction as a window onto the mind, recent developments in AI, the tension between misinformation and free speech, bullshitting vs lying, truth vs belonging, reliance on ...
04.14.2023 #316 — Self-Defense: Reality and Fantasy Sam Harris speaks with Matt Thornton about his new book, “The Gift of Violence: Practical Knowledge for Surviving and Thriving in a Dangerous World.” They discuss his background in martial arts, the reasons to train in combat sports, the UFC ...
04.12.2023 Making Sense of Existential Threat and Nuclear War \| Episode 7 of The Essential Sam Harris In this episode, we examine the topic of existential threat, focusing in particular on the subject of nuclear war. Sam opens the discussion by emphasizing the gravity of our ability to destroy life as we know it at any moment, ...
04.07.2023 #315 — The Great Derangement Sam Harris speaks with Tim Urban about his new book, “What’s Our Problem: A Self-Help Book for Societies.” They discuss Tim’s unusual career, the finitude of life, existential risk, exponential technological change, political tribalism, the corruption of the media, how ...
03.31.2023 #314 — The Cancellation of J.K. Rowling Sam Harris speaks with Megan Phelps-Roper about the new podcast series she hosts and produced, “The Witch Trials of J. K. Rowling.” The series is also produced by Andy Mills and Matt Boll for The Free Press. If the Making ...
03.25.2023 #313 — Apocalypse Sam Harris speaks with Bart D. Ehrman about the prophecies contained in the book of Revelation. They discuss his latest book, "Armageddon," and widespread Christian beliefs about the coming end of the world. If the Making Sense podcast logo in ...
03.15.2023 Making Sense of Belief and Unbelief \| Episode 6 of The Essential Sam Harris In this episode, we examine a series of Sam’s conversations centered around religion, atheism, and the power of belief. First, we hear the stories of three guests who have fled their respective oppressive religious organizations. We begin with Sarah Haider, ...
03.07.2023 #312 — The Trouble with AI Sam Harris speaks with Stuart Russell and Gary Marcus about recent developments in artificial intelligence and the long-term risks of producing artificial general intelligence (AGI). They discuss the limitations of Deep Learning, the surprising power of narrow AI, ChatGPT, a ...
02.20.2023 #311 — Did SARS-CoV-2 Escape from a Lab? Sam Harris speaks with Matt Ridley and Alina Chan about the origins of the COVID pandemic. They discuss the evidence of a lab leak from the Wuhan Institute of Virology, media and academic censorship of this topic, the history of ...
02.14.2023 Making Sense of Free Will \| Episode 5 of The Essential Sam Harris In this episode, we examine the timeless question of “free will”: what constitutes it, what is meant by it, what ought to be meant by it, and, of course, whether we have it at all. We start with the neuroscientist ...
02.01.2023 #310 — Social Media & Public Trust Sam Harris speaks with Bari Weiss, Michael Shellenberger, and Renee DiResta about the release of “the Twitter files” and the loss of trust in the institutions of media and government. They discuss Bari and Michael’s experience of participating in the ...
01.26.2023 Making Sense of Encounters With Violence \| Episode 4 of The Essential Sam Harris This episode centers around the specter of violence and surfaces some of Sam’s most controversial positions and difficult conversations. We begin with author and former FBI hostage negotiator Chris Voss, who delivers some potentially life-saving aspects of “tactical empathy,” which ...
01.20.2023 #309 — Vulnerability, Politics, and Moral Worth Sam Harris speaks with Martha C. Nussbaum about her philosophical work. They discuss the relevance of philosophy to personal and political problems, the influence of religion, the problem of dogmatism, the importance of Greek and Roman philosophy for modern thought, ...
01.11.2023 #308 — The Long Game Sam Harris speaks with Robert Waldinger about the Harvard Study of Adult Development. They discuss the limitations of relying on self-report to assess a person’s well-being; Daniel Kahneman’s remembering and experiencing selves; why it can be hard to figure out ...
01.05.2023 Making Sense of Foundations of Morality \| Episode 3 of The Essential Sam Harris In this episode, we try to trace morality to its elusive foundations. Throughout the compilation we take a look at Sam’s “Moral Landscape” and his effort to defend an objective path towards moral evaluation. We begin with the moral philosopher ...
12.30.2022 #307 — Twitter, Elon, & Free Speech Sam Harris discusses Elon Musk's behavior on Twitter and the illusion of "free-speech absolutism." 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. Learning how to ...
12.15.2022 Making Sense of Consciousness \| Episode 2 of The Essential Sam Harris Filmmaker Jay Shapiro has produced a new series of audio documentaries, exploring the major topics that Sam has focused on over the course of his career. Each episode weaves together original analysis, critical perspective, and novel thought experiments with some ...
12.13.2022 #306 — Psychedelics & Mortality Sam Harris speaks with Roland Griffiths about psychedelics and mortality. They discuss the current state of psychedelic research, the timeline for FDA approvals, the risks to mental health posed by psychedelics in vulnerable populations, the use of psychedelics among the ...
12.08.2022 #305 — Moral Knowledge Sam Harris speaks with Erik Hoel about the nature of moral truth. They discuss the connection between consequentialism and Effective Altruism, the problems with implementing academic moral philosophy, bad arguments against consequentialism, the implications of AI for our morality, the ...
11.28.2022 #304 — Why I Left Twitter Sam Harris explains why he deleted his Twitter account. He then speaks with Cal Newport about the fragmentation of modern life. They discuss the history of computer science, how information technology has changed our lives, the effects of social media, ...
11.22.2022 Making Sense of Artificial Intelligence \| Episode 1 of The Essential Sam Harris Filmmaker Jay Shapiro has produced a new series of audio documentaries, exploring the major topics that Sam has focused on over the course of his career. Each episode weaves together original analysis, critical perspective, and novel thought experiments with some ...
11.15.2022 #303 — The Fall of Sam Bankman-Fried Sam Harris discusses the recent Sam Bankman-Fried fiasco, the collapse of FTX, and the future of Effective Altruism. If the Making Sense podcast logo in your player is BLACK, you can SUBSCRIBE to gain access to all full-length episodes at ...

Older episodes