Making Sense with Sam Harris
A Science, Society and Culture podcast featuring Sam Harris
Reviews of Making Sense
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Five star rating for sure...Wow I have always loved Sam Harris books and I so enjoy his meditation podcast but this is the best. The most interesting people are on and his voice is so soothing. Thanks Sam. I wait for this to come out every week.
I came across Sam Harris through another controversial figure, Dr. J Peterson. Of all the Podcasts I've had the privilege of listening to in the past Sam's are my favorite. The episodes are meticulously edited and professional without being crowded with advertisements. Sam’s voice is very “radio friendly” and his annunciation, tone, pitch and volume are almost always spot on.
I was a little disappointed when I got through his earlier Podcasts and came to the ones where he began a premium feed for the full episode, however I respect his choice to switch to this model.
He always has great guests on and even the controversial ones or ones that he disagrees with he doesn’t play the gotcha game or try to be boorish with them. Besides one specific Podcast episode labelled “the best Podcast episode ever” I have found the guests to generally be respectful of Sam as well.
I have been so impressed with his style that I found for my own Podcast that I have taken some of the concepts for Podcast format and tried to incorporate them into my own.
I was a paying subscriber for over 2 years and used to love every single episode of this podcast. Unfortunately, Sam Harris is either bad advised from a business perspective or simply unable to maintain a scientifically driven podcast anymore. His devotion to meditation is quasi-religious. I was intrigued by it until I went and checkout the scientific literature on meditation and saw the evidence is not there. Sam Harris never addresses those studies which show no psychological benefit which is very dishonest from someone who made a career out of destroying religion by effectively using science .
On the political front, his TDS got so bad he stated (twice) he respected Donald Trump less than Osama Bin Laden.
I have to say I now have more respect for Reza Aslan or any other religious fanatic Sam Harris has ever debated. I may despise their ideas, but at least they dared to debate someone with radically different views on religion. Meanwhile, Sam Harris lives in a world where sceptical views on meditation are only based on lack of personal experience. This lead to the top cringe Sam Harris moment of all times when he made Richard Dawkins meditate in a podcast.
I used to love Sam Harris, but he began to become a bit stale and repetitive to me which allowed me to branch out and see not only the vast array of other opinions regarding topics he indulged in, but also how ignorant he actually was to such perspectives.
The most obvious example of what I'm referring to can be seen in his extremely broad critique of "the left" which he essentially equates to the liberal outrage machine, but completely ignores the foundational tenets of leftist ideology and in doing so, a vast spectrum of more nuanced "left" opinions. Any critique of Sam's opinion's (a non-political example would be from Sean Carroll regarding his stance on "objective morality") he usually equates to unreasonable slander, without actually deeply considering what these critiques are in substance or giving any actual reasons as to why these opposing views are wrong. It's an easy methodology to perpetually be correct in your own mind, but it's fundamentally uninterested in truth.
Essentially Sam has become the victim of his own ego, which is especially ironic considering his actually decent understanding and preaching of the ego's illusory function.
A parallel to my broader view of Sam came from my reading of The Moral Landscape, which I initially loved. After taking a few philosophy classes however, it is almost too clear that Sam has not, as he effectively ignores 300 years of philosophical debate in favor of believing he has stumbled upon some revelation of viewing morality.
It's really interesting, Sam Harris is really intelligent and wise man. However, his religious views are quite one-sided, taking into account his main of interest is god, not the church. He seems not to distinguish the differences between religion and faith in his discussions and in his book.
This is the podcast I wait all week to come out and the first on my list I listen to. I love the intellectual discussions on such a wide range of topics. I have truly expanded my mind by listening to this podcast.
In my opinion, the best podcasts are hosted by people who are genuinely interested in the experiences and opinions of others. I didn't get that impression from Sam Harris. This seems more like a forum for idea wars -- without an outcome since nobody here is about to change his mind. The topics are interesting, and I guess it's nicer to hear both sides of an argument than just one. Still, there is just so much "my opinion is the right one" thinking out there right now. I don't feel the need to subscribe to get more of that in my life.
I find Sam Harris to be one of the most lucid public speakers I've ever found. Even when I disagree with him, which can me somewhat often, I still very much appreciate his thinking on a subject.
Sam is a deep thinker who has the unique ability to explain the complex in simple terms. He's a great host and is skilled at bringing out the best version of his guests.
Ad-free (after the first couple years of the show I think), fascinating conversations, with the occasional writing piece adapted for audio.
Great podcast by the great Sam Harris. He leads the interviews perfectly, always knows the right questions to ask, and knows when to let the guest speak. I particularly love the episodes about consciousness, physics, and AI.
Sam is an incredible thinker, great interviewer, and clear speaker. Also, the guests have generally been interesting. If you're looking to learn something, then highly recommended!
Highly intelligent, rational and a much needed voice in today's discourse on many of today's most important questions in our sosciety
Good material generally. I skip over some episodes because they are invariably long. With that sort of time commitment I stick to the ones where I'm really interested in the subject matter.
Harris does nothing to advance conversations. He never answers tough questions, he just redirects. So annoying.
As one of the most thought-provoking intellectuals of our time, Sam Harris walks us through modernity in a search for truth and nuance. A strong advocate of open and civil communication, Sam Harris receives my highest commendation.
Thoughtful, articulate interviews on mind, morality and politics. Intellectual excellence made accessible for all.
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