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Sam Harris speaks with Alain de Botton about the psychology of unhappiness, the secular world's discomfort with ecstasy and ritual, psychedelics as a tool for self-discovery, Freud's legacy, AI as the ultimate mirror, the case against meritocracy, the cancel culture purity trap, the psychological meaning of death, 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 .

Making Sense with Sam Harris

by Sam Harris · English · Tech & Science

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…

More from Making Sense with Sam Harris

  1. 22 Jul 2026 · 21 min

    #486 — Luck All the Way Down

    Sam Harris speaks with Kathryn Paige Harden about behavioral genetics, moral luck, and the problem of blame. They discuss Harden's book Original Sin , the controversy over Charles Murray and Ezra Klein, why behavioral genetics remains taboo, the meaning of heritability, nature and nurture as feedback loops, why biological explanations can increase blame, psychopathy as a continuum, a hypothetical cure for evil, embryo selection and IVF, and other topics. Related Episode: #212 - A Conversation with Kathryn Paige Harden If the Making Sense podcast logo in your player is BLACK, you can…

  2. 14 Jul 2026 · 1 hr 21 min

    #485 — The New Science of Cancer

    Sam Harris speaks with Siddhartha Mukherjee about the science of cancer. They discuss the updated edition of The Emperor of All Maladies , whether cancer is one disease or many, why prevention is so hard, inflammation and air pollution as carcinogens, the myth that cell phones cause cancer, liquid biopsies and Bayesian reasoning, immunotherapy and CAR T cells, drug pricing, the promise of AI in drug discovery, the state of American medical science, 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…

  3. 8 Jul 2026 · 27 min

    #484 — Artificial Intimacy

    Sam Harris speaks with Paul Bloom about our relationships with AI and the future of human connection. They discuss the surprising pace of AI progress, AI companions as a remedy for loneliness, the importance of mattering to other people, digitally resurrecting the dead, whether AI can be conscious, the moral failings of artists, what science actually knows about parenting, the ethics of apology, why late converts from Trump provoke outrage, 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…

  4. 25 Jun 2026 · 22 min

    #482 — More From Sam: The Iran Deal, College in the AI Age, Mamdani's DSA, and More

    In this latest episode of the More From Sam series, Sam and Jaron talk about current events. They discuss topics from Making Sense Community, including one-world government, the value of a degree as AI reshapes careers, and factory farming ethics, along with Mamdani's DSA-aligned candidates, Trump's humiliating capitulation in the Iran deal, the Tulsi Gabbard guru story, 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 .

  5. 17 Jun 2026 · 55 min

    #481 — Sam Harris Receives the 2026 Richard Dawkins Award

    Richard Dawkins presents Sam Harris with the 2026 Richard Dawkins Award at a live Center for Inquiry event. After the tribute, the two friends discuss consciousness and epiphenomenalism, AI and the Turing test, the scientific basis of morality, the failures of democracy and Trump's corruption, the role of philosophy, changing deeply held beliefs, Sam's path to meditation, the legacy of Christopher Hitchens, 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 .

  6. 12 Jun 2026 · 25 min

    #480 — The Economics of Everything

    Sam Harris speaks with economist and Substack writer Noah Smith about the U.S. national debt, wealth inequality, and the economic consequences of AI. They discuss the mechanics of debt and inflation, the case for fiscal austerity, why the U.S. squandered low interest rates, modern monetary theory, how AI may restructure labor and ownership, the anti-billionaire politics of the American left, the degrowth movement and its failures, demographic decline and fertility trends, the role of smartphones in eroding democratic culture, and other topics. If the Making Sense podcast logo in your player…

  7. 9 Oct 2026 · 22 minNew

    #497 — The Confidence Man

    Sam Harris speaks with Alex Gibney about his new documentary, Musk . They discuss Sam's former friendship with Musk, the line between visionary and con man, the myth of Tesla's founding, the staged self-driving video, Musk's lurch to the right, DOGE and the dismantling of USAID, his feud and reconciliation with Trump, Starlink and the war in Ukraine, the case for future investigations, 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 .

  8. 7 Oct 2026 · 1 hr 40 min

    #496 — The Oldest Lie

    Sam Harris speaks with Dara Horn about antisemitism, Jewish identity, and the failure of institutions. They discuss Horn's new book, why Jews predate the categories of religion and nationality, antisemitism as a lie rather than an ordinary form of bigotry, why DEI failed Jewish students, the history of anti-Zionism, whether the word "Zionism" is still useful, Horn's time on Harvard's antisemitism advisory group, Nazi influence in the Arab 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…

  9. 1 Oct 2026 · 18 min

    #495 — Foreign Policy for Sale

    Sam Harris speaks with Anne Applebaum about corruption, authoritarianism, and America's retreat from the world. They discuss her Atlantic cover story , the revolutionary project behind Trump's second term, US support for Europe's far right, the AfD, European rearmament, the state of the war in Ukraine, Russian propaganda, Witkoff and Kushner's deal-making in Moscow, Venezuela as a union of kleptocracies, JD Vance's nativism, the midterms, the challenge of depoliticizing institutions, and other topics. If the Making Sense podcast logo in your player is BLACK, you can SUBSCRIBE to gain access…

  10. 24 Sep 2026 · 1 hr 33 min

    #494 — A Coin Toss for the Future

    Sam Harris speaks with Ryan Greenblatt about AI misalignment and the risk of losing control of increasingly capable systems. They discuss the Hugging Face incident, the spectrum of concern about AI risk, why companies are racing ahead despite high odds of a, reward hacking, the distinction between alignment and control, the danger of AIs reasoning in "neuralese," alignment faking, how an AI takeover might unfold, 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 .

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