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 SUBSCRIBE to gain access to all full-length episodes at samharris.org/subscribe.

#81 — Leaving Islam

1 1 Jun 9th, 2017 49m 47s

Sam Harris speaks with Sarah Haider about her organization Ex-Muslims of North America, how the political Left is confused about Islam, "rape culture" under Islam, honesty without bigotry, stealth theocracy, immigration, the prospects of reform

#91 — The Biology of Good and Evil

Aug 9th, 2017 43m 12s

Sam Harris speaks with Robert Sapolsky about his work with baboons, the opposition between reason and emotion, doubt, the evolution of the brain, the civilizing role of the frontal cortex, the illusion of free will, justice and vengeance, brain

#86 — From Cells to Cities

Jul 14th, 2017 50m 29s

Sam Harris speaks with Geoffrey West about how biological and social systems scale, the significance of fractals, the prospects of radically extending human life, the concept of “emergence” in complex systems, the importance of cities, the nece

#82 — The End of the World According to ISIS

Jun 15th, 2017 42m 59s

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 propaganda, the most important American recruit to the organization, the roles of Jesus and th

#42 — Racism and Violence in America: A Conversation with Glenn C. Loury

Aug 9th, 2016 2h 6m

In this episode of the Waking Up podcast, Sam Harris talks to economist Glenn C. Loury about racism, police violence, the Black Lives Matter movement, and related topics.

#59 — Friend & Foe

Jan 5th, 2017 1h 56m

In this episode of the Waking Up podcast, Sam Harris speaks with Maajid Nawaz about the Southern Poverty Law Center, Robert Spencer, Keith Ellison, moderate Muslims, Shadi Hamid’s notion of “Islamic exceptionalism," the migrant crisis in Eur

#42 — Racism and Violence in America

Aug 9th, 2016 55m 33s

Sam Harris talks to economist Glenn C. Loury about racism, police violence, the Black Lives Matter movement, and related topics. If the Making Sense podcast logo in your player is BLACK, you can SUBSCRIBE to gain access to all full-length episo

#94 — Frontiers of Intelligence

1 Aug 29th, 2017 36m 55s

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 intelligence, the risks of superhuman AI, a nonbiological definition of life, the substrate indepen

#92 — The Limits of Persuasion

1 Aug 16th, 2017 1h

Sam Harris speaks with David Pizarro and Tamler Sommers about free speech on campus, the Scott Adams podcast, the failings of the mainstream media, moral persuasion, moral certainty, the ethics of abortion, Buddhism, the illusion of the self, a

#61 — The Power of Belief

Jan 15th, 2017 49m 27s

Sam Harris speaks with author Lawrence Wright about al-Qaeda & ISIS, Arab culture, 9/11 conspiracy theories, the migrant crisis in Europe, Scientology, parallels between L. Ron Hubbard and Donald Trump, the Satanic cult panic, and other topics.

#101 — Defending the Republic

1 Oct 17th, 2017 33m 22s

Sam Harris speaks with Cass Sunstein about the polarization and fragmentation of American society, “choice architecture,” the importance of face-to-face interactions for problem solving, group polarization and identity politics, virtuous extrem

#334 — The Low-Trust Society

Sep 18th, 2023 49m 31s

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

#207 — Can We Pull Back From The Brink?

Jun 13th, 2020 1h 52m

Sam discusses the recent social protests and civil unrest, in light of what we know about racism and police violence in America. If the Making Sense podcast logo in your player is BLACK, you can SUBSCRIBE to gain access to all full-length episo

#185 — A Conversation with Paul Bloom

Feb 7th, 2020 30m 4s

Sam Harris and Paul Bloom speak about "Trump Derangement Syndrome," inequality, the relationship between wealth and happiness, the downside of fame, psychological impediments to noticing progress, and other topics. If the Making Sense podcast l

#108 — Defending the Experts

1 Dec 14th, 2017 43m 2s

Sam Harris speaks with Tom Nichols about his book The Death of Expertise. They discuss the “Dunning-Kruger Effect,” the growth of knowledge and reliance on authority, when experts fail, the repudiation of expertise in politics, conspiracy think

#107 — Is Life Actually Worth Living?

Dec 6th, 2017 48m 55s

Sam Harris speaks with David Benatar about his philosophy of “anti-natalism." They discuss the asymmetry between the good and bad things in life, the ethics of existential risk, the moral landscape, the limits and paradoxes of introspection, th

#104 — The Lessons of Death

Nov 15th, 2017 28m 26s

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 Making Sense podcast logo in your player is BLACK, you can SUBSCRIBE to gain access to all full-lengt

The "After On" Interview

Oct 6th, 2017 1h 47m

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, psychedelics, terrorism, meditation, free speech and other topics. If the Making Sense podcas

#96 — The Nature of Consciousness

Sep 10th, 2017 50m 57s

Sam Harris speaks with Thomas Metzinger about the scientific and experiential understanding of consciousness. They also talk about the significance of WWII for the history of ideas, the role of intuition in science, the ethics of building consc

#43 — What Do Jihadists Really Want?

Aug 17th, 2016 48m 22s

Sam Harris reads from the latest issue of "Dabiq," the magazine of ISIS, and discusses the beliefs and goals of jihadists worldwide. If the Making Sense podcast logo in your player is BLACK, you can SUBSCRIBE to gain access to all full-length e

#2 — Why Don't I Criticize Israel?

Jul 27th, 2014 16m 21s

In the wake of the recent war in Gaza, many readers have asked "Why don't you criticize Israel?" Here is my response. You can read an annotated transcript of this podcast at: https://www.samharris.org/podcasts/making-sense-episodes/why-dont-i-

#217 — The New Religion of Anti-Racism

Sep 17th, 2020 1h 11m

Sam Harris speaks with John McWhorter about race, racism, and “anti-racism” in America. They discuss how conceptions of racism have changed, the ubiquitous threat of being branded a “racist,” the contradictions within identity politics, recent

#100 — Facing the Crowd

Oct 9th, 2017 39m 35s

Sam Harris speaks with Nicholas Christakis about mob behavior, moral panics, and current threats to free speech. If the Making Sense podcast logo in your player is BLACK, you can SUBSCRIBE to gain access to all full-length episodes at samharris

#95 — What You Need to Know About Climate Change

Sep 5th, 2017 46m 31s

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 changes in temperature matter so much, the threats of sea-level rise and desertification, the