Making Sense with Sam Harris
Episodes
#168 — Mind, Space, & Motion
11 Sep 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Sam Harris speaks with Barbara Tversky about how our senses of space and motion underlie our capacity for thought. They discuss the evolution of mind ...
#167 — A Few Thoughts on White Supremacy
26 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Sam Harris addresses listener concerns that he uses a "double standard" to evaluate the relative threats of white supremacy and jihadism. If the Makin...
#166 — The Plague Years
21 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Sam Harris speaks with Matt McCarthy about his book "Superbugs: The Race to Stop an Epidemic." They discuss the problem of drug resistant bacteria, fu...
#165 — Journey into Wokeness
14 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Sam Harris speaks with Caitlin Flanagan about her work as a writer. They discuss controversies on social media, the contradictions within feminism, me...
#164 — Cause & Effect
05 Aug 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Sam Harris speaks with Judea Pearl about his work on the mathematics of causality and artificial intelligence. They discuss how science has generally ...
#163 — Ricky Gervais
12 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Sam Harris speaks with Ricky Gervais. They discuss fame, the effect of social media, the changing state of comedy, offensive jokes, Louis CK, politica...
#162 — Medical Intelligence
03 Jul 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Sam Harris speaks with Eric Topol about the way artificial intelligence can improve medicine. They talk about soaring medical costs and declining heal...
#161 — Rise & Fall
24 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Sam Harris speaks with Jared Diamond about the rise and fall of civilizations. They discuss political polarization, disparities in civilizational prog...
#160 — The Revenge of History
17 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Sam Harris speaks with Michael Weiss and Yascha Mounk about the state of global politics. They discuss the rise of right-wing populism in Europe, the ...
#159 — Conscious
06 Jun 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Sam Harris speaks with his wife, Annaka Harris, about her new book, "Conscious: A Brief Guide to the Fundamental Mystery of the Mind." If the Making S...
#158 — Understanding Humans in the Wild
30 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Sam Harris speaks with Adam Grant about the social science of the workplace. They discuss how teams work effectively, the nature of power, personality...
#157 — What Does the Mueller Report Really Say?
20 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Sam Harris speaks with Benjamin Wittes about both volumes of the Mueller Report. If the Making Sense podcast logo in your player is BLACK, you can SUB...
#156 — The Evolution of Culture
13 May 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Sam Harris speaks with Nicholas Christakis about his new book, "Blueprint: The Evolutionary Origins of a Good Society." If the Making Sense podcast lo...
#155 — Mental Models
29 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Sam Harris speaks with Shane Parrish about some of the mental models that should guide our thinking and behavior. If the Making Sense podcast logo in ...
#154 — What Do Jihadists Really Want? (2019)
25 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Sam Harris reads from an issue of Dabiq, the magazine of ISIS, and discusses the beliefs and goals of jihadists worldwide. If the Making Sense podcast...
#153 — Possible Minds
15 Apr 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Sam Harris introduces John Brockman's new anthology, "Possible Minds: 25 Ways of Looking at AI," in conversation with three of its authors: George Dys...
#152 — The Trouble with Facebook
27 Mar 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Sam Harris speaks with Roger McNamee about his book Zucked: Waking Up to the Facebook Catastrophe. If the Making Sense podcast logo in your player is ...
#151 — Will We Destroy the Future?
18 Mar 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Sam Harris speaks with Nick Bostrom about the problem of existential risk. They discuss public goods, moral illusions, the asymmetry between happiness...
#150 — The Map of Misunderstanding
12 Mar 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Sam Harris speaks with Daniel Kahneman at the Beacon Theatre in NYC. They discuss the replication crisis in science, System 1 and System 2, where intu...
#149 — The Problem of Addiction
04 Mar 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Sam Harris speaks with Sally Satel about addiction. They discuss whether addiction should be considered a disease, the opiate epidemic in the U.S., th...
#148 — Jack Dorsey
05 Feb 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Sam Harris speaks with Jack Dorsey about how he manages his dual CEO roles at Square and Twitter, the role that Twitter plays in journalism, how it’...
#147 — Stephen Fry
28 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Sam Harris speaks with Stephen Fry about comedy, atheism, political correctness, meditation, ambition, empathy, psychedelics, Christopher Hitchens, St...
#146 — Digital Capitalism
16 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Sam Harris speaks with Douglas Rushkoff about the state of the digital economy. If the Making Sense podcast logo in your player is BLACK, you can SUBS...
#145 — The Information War
02 Jan 2019
Contributed by Lukas
Sam Harris speaks with Renee Diresta about Russia's "Internet Research Agency" and its efforts to amplify conspiracy thinking and partisan conflict in...
The Drive Interview with Peter Attia
20 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Sam Harris speaks with Peter Attia about meditation and the nature of mind. They discuss types of meditation, the difference between pain and sufferin...
#144 — Conquering Hate
07 Dec 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Sam Harris speaks with Deeyah Khan about her groundbreaking films "Jihad" and "White Right." They discuss her history as a target of religious intoler...
#143 — The Keys to the Mind
21 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Sam Harris speaks with Derren Brown about his work as a "psychological illusionist." They discuss the power of hypnosis, the power of expectations, th...
#142 — Addiction, Depression, and a Meaningful Life
13 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Sam Harris speaks with Johann Hari about his books "Chasing the Scream" and "Lost Connections." If the Making Sense podcast logo in your player is BLA...
#141— Is #MeToo Going Too Far?
05 Nov 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Sam Harris speaks with Rebecca Traister about her new book "Good and Mad: The Revolutionary Power of Women's Anger." If the Making Sense podcast logo ...
The TED Interview
30 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Sam talks to the head of TED, Chris Anderson, about using reason to build our morality. Sam makes the case that reason can indeed answer moral questio...
#140 — Burning Down the Fourth Estate
17 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Sam Harris speaks with Matt Taibbi about the state journalism and the polarization of our politics. They discuss the controversy over Steve Bannon at ...
#139 — Sacred & Profane
03 Oct 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Sam Harris gets together with Bill Maher and Larry Charles to celebrate the 10th anniversary of their film "Religulous." They discuss religion, politi...
Introducing Waking Up
25 Sep 2018
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode of the podcast, Sam Harris introduces Waking Up. More information can be found at WakingUp.com. You can support the Making Sense podca...
#138 — The Edge of Humanity
20 Sep 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Sam Harris speaks with Yuval Noah Harari about his new book “21 Lessons for the 21st Century.” They discuss the importance of meditation for his i...
#137 — Safe Space
10 Sep 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Sam Harris speaks with Jonathan Haidt about his new book "The Coddling of the American Mind." They discuss the hostility to free speech that has grown...
#136 — Digital Humanism
30 Aug 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Sam Harris speaks with Jaron Lanier about the economics, politics, and psychology of our digital lives. They discuss the insidious idea that informati...
#135 — Navigating Sex and Gender
20 Aug 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Sam Harris speaks with Martie Haselton about sex and gender, the role of hormones in human psychology, “Darwinian feminism,” the unique hormonal e...
#134 — Beyond the Politics of Race
29 Jul 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Sam Harris speaks with Coleman Hughes about race, racism, and identity politics. If the Making Sense podcast logo in your player is BLACK, you can SUB...
#133 — Globalism on the Brink
18 Jul 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Sam Harris speaks with Ian Bremmer about the failure of globalism and rise of populism. They discuss immigration, trade, automation, wealth inequality...
#132 — Freeing the Hostages
09 Jul 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Sam Harris speaks with Chris Voss about his experience as a hostage negotiator for the FBI. They discuss different types of hostage crises, along with...
#131 — Dictators, Immigration, #MeToo, and Other Imponderables
03 Jul 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Sam Harris speaks with Masha Gessen about Vladimir Putin, the problem of gauging public opinion in Russia, Trump's fondness for dictators, the challen...
#130 — Universal Basic Income
19 Jun 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Sam Harris speaks with presidential candidate Andrew Yang about "universal basic income" (UBI). They discuss the state of the economy, the rise of aut...
#129 — An Insider’s View of Medicine
12 Jun 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Sam Harris speaks with Dr. Nina Shapiro about the practice of medicine. They discuss the unique resiliency of children, the importance of second opini...
#128 — Transformations of Mind
04 Jun 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Sam Harris speaks with Geoffrey Miller about evolutionary psychology. They discuss sexual selection, virtue signaling, social media, public shaming, m...
#127 — Freedom from the Known
28 May 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Sam Harris speaks with Michael Pollan about his new book “How to Change Your Mind.” They cover the the resurgence of interest in psychedelics in c...
#126 — In Defense of Honor
08 May 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Sam Harris speaks with Tamler Sommers about cultures of honor. They discuss the difference between honor and dignity, “justice porn,” honor killin...
#125 — What Is Christianity?
01 May 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Sam Harris speaks to Bart Ehrman about his experience of being a born-again Christian, his academic training in New Testament scholarship, his loss of...
#124 — In Search of Reality
21 Apr 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Sam Harris speaks with Sean Carroll about our understanding of reality. They discuss consciousness, the many worlds view of quantum mechanics, the arr...
#123 — Identity & Honesty
09 Apr 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Sam Harris speaks with Ezra Klein, Editor-at-Large for Vox Media, about racism, identity politics, intellectual honesty, and the controversy over his ...
#122 — Extreme Housekeeping Edition
03 Apr 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Sam Harris responds to the ongoing controversy over his interview with Charles Murray and discusses his upcoming conversation with Ezra Klein. He also...
#121 — White Power
25 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Sam Harris speaks with Christian Picciolini about his experience as a neo-Nazi skinhead. They discuss how Christian got out of the movement, the limit...
#120 — What Is and What Matters
19 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Sam Harris speaks with Rebecca Goldstein and Max Tegmark about the foundations of human knowledge and morality. If the Making Sense podcast logo in yo...
#119 — Hidden Motives
12 Mar 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Sam Harris speaks with Robin Hanson about our hidden motives in everyday life. They discuss selfishness, hypocrisy, norms and meta-norms, cheating, de...
# 118 — The View from Trumpistan
27 Feb 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Sam Harris speaks with Preet Bharara about President Trump and the Russia investigation. If the Making Sense podcast logo in your player is BLACK, y...
#117 — Networks, Power, and Chaos
19 Feb 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Sam Harris speaks with Niall Ferguson about his new book "The Square and the Tower." They discuss his career as a writer, networks and hierarchies, ho...
The Russell Brand Interview
09 Feb 2018
Contributed by Lukas
This episode of the Making Sense podcast features an interview that Sam did with Russell Brand on the Under the Skin podcast. They speak about religio...
#116 — AI: Racing Toward the Brink
06 Feb 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Sam Harris speaks with Eliezer Yudkowsky about the nature of intelligence, different types of AI, the "alignment problem," IS vs OUGHT, the possibilit...
#115 — Sam Harris, Lawrence Krauss, and Matt Dillahunty (1)
29 Jan 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Sam Harris speaks with Lawrence Krauss and Matt Dillahunty about the threat of nuclear war, Christian support for Trump, science and a universal conce...
#114 — Politics and Sanity
22 Jan 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Sam Harris speaks with David Frum and Andrew Sullivan about the Trump presidency, hyper-partisanship, how democracies fail, immigration, the lowering ...
#113 — Consciousness and the Self
09 Jan 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Sam Harris speaks with Anil Seth about the scientific study of consciousness, where consciousness emerges in nature, levels of consciousness, percepti...
#112 — The Intellectual Dark Web
02 Jan 2018
Contributed by Lukas
Sam Harris speaks with Eric Weinstein and Ben Shapiro about the breakdown of shared values, the problem with identity politics, religion, free will, t...
#111 — The Science of Meditation
28 Dec 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Sam Harris speaks with Daniel Goleman and Richard J. Davidson about the current scientific understanding of meditation practice. They speak about the ...
#110 — The Change Artist
23 Dec 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Sam Harris speaks with AJ Jacobs about religion, gossip, polyamory, health advice, our past and future selves, “radical honesty,” human genealogy,...
#109— Biology and Culture
19 Dec 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Sam Harris speaks with Bret Weinstein about the moral panic at Evergreen State College, the concept of race, genetic differences between human populat...
#108 — Defending the Experts
14 Dec 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Sam Harris speaks with Tom Nichols about his book The Death of Expertise. They discuss the “Dunning-Kruger Effect,” the growth of knowledge and re...
#107 — Is Life Actually Worth Living?
06 Dec 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Sam Harris speaks with David Benatar about his philosophy of “anti-natalism." They discuss the asymmetry between the good and bad things in life, th...
#106 — Humanity 2.0
29 Nov 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Sam Harris speaks with Jennifer Doudna about the gene-editing technology CRISPR/cas9. They talk about the biology of gene editing, how specific tissue...
#105 — Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, and Matt Dillahunty
20 Nov 2017
Contributed by Lukas
The following conversation between Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, and Matt Dillahunty was recorded at the Orpheum Theatre in Vancouver on November 2, 20...
#104 — The Lessons of Death
15 Nov 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Sam Harris speaks with Frank Ostaseski about death and dying—and about how the awareness of death can improve our lives in each moment. If the Makin...
#103 — American Fantasies
09 Nov 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Sam Harris speaks with Kurt Andersen about the American aptitude for unfounded belief, the religious lunacy of the Puritans, populist mistrust of auth...
#102 — Is Buddhism True?
30 Oct 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Sam Harris speaks with Robert Wright about his book Why Buddhism is True: The Science and Philosophy of Meditation and Enlightenment. If the Making Se...
#101 — Defending the Republic
17 Oct 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Sam Harris speaks with Cass Sunstein about the polarization and fragmentation of American society, “choice architecture,” the importance of face-t...
#100 — Facing the Crowd
09 Oct 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Sam Harris speaks with Nicholas Christakis about mob behavior, moral panics, and current threats to free speech. If the Making Sense podcast logo in y...
The "After On" Interview
06 Oct 2017
Contributed by Lukas
This episode of the Making Sense podcast features an interview that Sam Harris did with Rob Reid on the After On podcast. They speak about publishing,...
#99 — What Happened to Liberalism?
28 Sep 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Sam Harris speaks with Mark Lilla about the fate of political liberalism in the United States, the emergence of a new identity politics, the role of c...
#98 — Into the Dark Land
21 Sep 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Sam Harris speaks with Siddhartha Mukherjee about his Pulitzer Prize-winning book, The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer. If the Making...
#97 — The Impossible War
15 Sep 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Sam Harris speaks with Ken Burns and Lynn Novick about their latest film, The Vietnam War. If the Making Sense podcast logo in your player is BLACK, y...
#96 — The Nature of Consciousness
10 Sep 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Sam Harris speaks with Thomas Metzinger about the scientific and experiential understanding of consciousness. They also talk about the significance of...
#95 — What You Need to Know About Climate Change
05 Sep 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Sam Harris speaks with Joseph Romm about how the climate is changing and how we know that human behavior is the primary cause. They discuss why small ...
#94 — Frontiers of Intelligence
29 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Sam Harris speaks with Max Tegmark about his new book Life 3.0: Being Human in the Age of Artificial Intelligence. They talk about the nature of intel...
#93 — Identity & Terror
21 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Sam Harris speaks with Douglas Murray about identity politics, the rise of white nationalism, the events in Charlottesville, guilt by association, the...
#92 — The Limits of Persuasion
16 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Sam Harris speaks with David Pizarro and Tamler Sommers about free speech on campus, the Scott Adams podcast, the failings of the mainstream media, mo...
#91 — The Biology of Good and Evil
09 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Sam Harris speaks with Robert Sapolsky about his work with baboons, the opposition between reason and emotion, doubt, the evolution of the brain, the ...
#90 — Living With Violence
06 Aug 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Sam Harris speaks with Gavin de Becker about the primacy of human intuition in the prediction and prevention of violence. If the Making Sense podcast ...
#89 — On Becoming a Better Person
25 Jul 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Sam Harris speaks with David Brooks about his book The Road to Character, the importance of words like “sin” and "virtue," self-esteem vs. self-ov...
#88 — Must We Accept a Nuclear North Korea?
21 Jul 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Sam Harris speaks with Mark Bowden about the problem of a nuclear-armed North Korea. If the Making Sense podcast logo in your player is BLACK, you can...
#87 — Triggered
19 Jul 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Sam Harris and Scott Adams debate the character and competence of President Trump. If the Making Sense podcast logo in your player is BLACK, you can S...
#86 — From Cells to Cities
14 Jul 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Sam Harris speaks with Geoffrey West about how biological and social systems scale, the significance of fractals, the prospects of radically extending...
#85 — Is this the End of Europe?
07 Jul 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Sam Harris speaks with Douglas Murray about his book The Strange Death of Europe: Immigration, Identity, Islam. If the Making Sense podcast logo in yo...
#84 — Landscapes of Mind
01 Jul 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Sam Harris speaks with Kevin Kelly about why it’s so hard to predict future technology, the nature of intelligence, the “singularity,” artificia...
#83 — The Politics of Emergency
23 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Sam Harris speaks with Fareed Zakaria about his career as a journalist, Samuel Huntington's "clash of civilizations," political partisanship, Trump, t...
#82 — The End of the World According to ISIS
15 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
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 ...
#81 — Leaving Islam
09 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Sam Harris speaks with Sarah Haider about her organization Ex-Muslims of North America, how the political Left is confused about Islam, "rape culture"...
#80 — The Unraveling
04 Jun 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Sam Harris speaks with David Frum about political partisanship, recent security leaks, Trump's foreign policy, the Russia investigation, Kathy Griffin...
#79 — The Road to Tyranny
29 May 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Sam Harris speaks with Timothy Snyder about his book On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century. If the Making Sense podcast logo in your p...
#78 — Persuasion and Control
26 May 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Sam Harris speaks with Zeynep Tufekci about "surveillance capitalism," the Trump campaign's use of Facebook, AI-enabled marketing, the health of the p...
#77 — The Moral Complexity of Genetics
22 May 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Sam Harris speaks with Siddhartha Mukherjee about the human desire to understand and manipulate heredity, the genius of Gregor Mendel, the ethics of a...
#76 — The Path to Impeachment
18 May 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Sam Harris speaks with Anne Applebaum and Juliette Kayyem about the unfolding Russia scandal in the White House. If the Making Sense podcast logo in y...
#75 — Ask Me Anything 7
12 May 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Sam Harris answers questions from listeners about the illusion of the self, his podcast with Charles Murray, the future of brain-machine interfaces, h...
#74 — What Should We Eat?
06 May 2017
Contributed by Lukas
Sam Harris speaks with Gary Taubes about his career as a science journalist, the difficulty of studying nutrition and public health scientifically, th...