Sam Harris

Making Sense with Sam Harris

Science EN ↓ 498 episodes

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 reso...

Author

Sam Harris

Category

Science

Podcast website

www.samharris.org

Latest episode

Jul 8, 2026

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Episodes

#97 — The Impossible War 15.09.2017

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

#96 — The Nature of Consciousness 10.09.2017

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 conscious AI, the self as an hallucination, how we identify with our thoughts, attention as the root of the feeling of self, the place of Eastern philosophy in W...

#95 — What You Need to Know About Climate Change 05.09.2017

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 best and worst case scenarios, the Paris Climate Agreement, the politics surrounding climate science, and many other topics. If the Making Sense podcast log...

#94 — Frontiers of Intelligence 29.08.2017

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 independence of minds, the relevance and irrelevance of consciousness for the future of AI, near-term breakthroughs in AI, and other topics.   If the Making Sense...

#93 — Identity & Terror 21.08.2017

Sam Harris speaks with Douglas Murray about identity politics, the rise of white nationalism, the events in Charlottesville, guilt by association, the sources of western values, the problem of finding meaning in a secular world, and other topics. 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.

#92 — The Limits of Persuasion 16.08.2017

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, and other topics. 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/sub...

#91 — The Biology of Good and Evil 09.08.2017

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-machine interface, religion, drugs, and other topics. If the Making Sense podcast logo in your player is BLACK, you can SUBSCRIBE to gain access to all ful...

#90 — Living With Violence 06.08.2017

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 logo in your player is BLACK, you can SUBSCRIBE to gain access to all full-length episodes at samharris.org/subscribe.

#89 — On Becoming a Better Person 25.07.2017

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-overcoming, the significance of keeping promises, honesty, President Trump, and other topics. 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 .

#88 — Must We Accept a Nuclear North Korea? 21.07.2017

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

#87 — Triggered 19.07.2017

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 .

#86 — From Cells to Cities 14.07.2017

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 necessity for continuous innovation, and other topics. If the Making Sense podcast logo in your player is BLACK, you can SUBSCRIBE to gain access to all full-le...

#85 — Is this the End of Europe? 07.07.2017

Sam Harris speaks with Douglas Murray about his book The Strange Death of Europe: Immigration, Identity, Islam. 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 .  

#84 — Landscapes of Mind 01.07.2017

Sam Harris speaks with Kevin Kelly about why it's so hard to predict future technology, the nature of intelligence, the "singularity," artificial consciousness, and other topics. 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 .

#83 — The Politics of Emergency 23.06.2017

Sam Harris speaks with Fareed Zakaria about his career as a journalist, Samuel Huntington's "clash of civilizations," political partisanship, Trump, the health of the news media, the connection between Islam and intolerance, and other topics. 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 .

#82 — The End of the World According to ISIS 15.06.2017

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 the Anti-Christ in Islamic prophecy, free speech and the ongoing threat of jihadism, and other topics. If the Making Sense podcast logo in your player is BLAC...

#81 — Leaving Islam 09.06.2017

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 reforming Islam, and other topics. If the Making Sense podcast logo in your player is BLACK, you can SUBSCRIBE to gain access to all full-length episodes at  samh...

#80 — The Unraveling 04.06.2017

Sam Harris speaks with David Frum about political partisanship, recent security leaks, Trump's foreign policy, the Russia investigation, Kathy Griffin's joke, and other topics. 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 .

#79 — The Road to Tyranny 29.05.2017

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 player is BLACK, you can SUBSCRIBE to gain access to all full-length episodes at  samharris.org/subscribe .

#78 — Persuasion and Control 26.05.2017

Sam Harris speaks with Zeynep Tufekci about "surveillance capitalism," the Trump campaign's use of Facebook, AI-enabled marketing, the health of the press, Wikileaks, ransomware attacks, and other topics. 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 .

#77 — The Moral Complexity of Genetics 22.05.2017

Sam Harris speaks with Siddhartha Mukherjee about the human desire to understand and manipulate heredity, the genius of Gregor Mendel, the ethics of altering our genes, the future of genetic medicine, patent issues in genetic research, controversies about race and intelligence, and other topics. If the Making Sense podcast logo in your player is BLACK, you can SUBSCRIBE to gain access to all full-...

#76 — The Path to Impeachment 18.05.2017

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 your player is BLACK, you can SUBSCRIBE to gain access to all full-length episodes at  samharris.org/subscribe .

#75 — Ask Me Anything 7 12.05.2017

Sam Harris answers questions from listeners about the illusion of the self, his podcast with Charles Murray, the future of brain-machine interfaces, his BJJ practice, reasoning with the extreme Left, mindfulness and parenting, his experience of going back to school after a long break, transgenderism, increasing one's vocabulary, and other topics. If the Making Sense podcast logo in your player is...

#74 — What Should We Eat? 06.05.2017

Sam Harris speaks with Gary Taubes about his career as a science journalist, the difficulty of studying nutrition and public health scientifically, the growing epidemics of obesity and diabetes, the role of hormones in weight gain, the controversies surrounding his work, and other topics.  If the Making Sense podcast logo in your player is BLACK, you can SUBSCRIBE to gain access to all full-length...

#73 — Forbidden Knowledge 23.04.2017

Sam Harris speaks with Charles Murray about the controversy over his book "The Bell Curve," the validity and significance of IQ as a measure of intelligence, the problem of social stratification, the rise of Trump, universal basic income, and other topics. 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/subscr...

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