Making Sense with Sam Harris

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

25 min

#479 — When Robots Take Over

Sam Harris speaks with Vinod Khosla about AI, economic disruption, and political risk. They discuss the prospect of mass job displacement, a trillion-dollar policy framework to redistribute AI's gains, the failure of the California wealth tax, the corporate capitulation to Trump, Elon Musk's embrace of white nationalist rhetoric, US-China competition, semiconductor dependence, 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.

15 min

#478 — The Psychedelic Mind

Sam Harris speaks with Robin Carhart-Harris about psychedelic research and its therapeutic potential. They discuss the current state of the field, the FDA denial of MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD, the critical role of set and setting, risks for vulnerable populations, the REBUS model of how psychedelics work on the brain, the default mode network and ego dissolution, microdosing, the neuroscience of consciousness, DMT entities, 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.

30 min

#477 — More From Sam: Iran's Unraveling, The Gaza Information War, AI-Generated Music, and More

Warning: This episode contains graphic descriptions of violence against civilians during the October 7 attacks (33:49 - 34:35). Listener discretion is advised. In this latest episode of the More From Sam series, Sam and Jaron talk about current events. They discuss the Trump administration's bungled Iran campaign, the information war surrounding Gaza and October 7, Nicholas Kristof's disputed New York Times report on Israeli prisoner abuse, Sam's controversial take on AI-generated music, OpenAI solving a decades-old math problem, the ethics of concealing GLP-1 use, and other topics.

22 min

#476 — The Bittersweet Age

Sam Harris speaks with Susan Cain about writing, creativity, and what AI means for human culture. They discuss the future of books and reading, the tells AI inherits from good writers, why the advent of AI may spark a revival of the humanities, following your bliss, the ethics of curing sadness, the therapeutic potential of psychedelics, 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.

23 min

#475 — The Hard Problem of Consciousness

Sam Harris speaks with Michael Pollan about consciousness, the mind, and the self. They discuss Pollan's new book, the relationship between consciousness and intelligence, whether consciousness is a product of evolution, the role of psychedelics in consciousness research, AI and the question of machine consciousness, 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/subscribe.

26 min

#474 — More From Sam: Hasan Piker, Islamism, Making Sense Community, and More

In this latest episode of the More From Sam series, Sam and Jaron talk about current events. They discuss the launch of Making Sense Community, Sam's Ben Shapiro conversation, the New York Times's embrace of Hasan Piker, Zohran Mamdani's approach to Islamism, the misuse of the word "genocide," AI-driven job displacement, 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.

17 min

#473 — Money, Power, and Moral Failure

Sam Harris speaks with Lloyd Blankfein about finance, politics, and the state of American society. They discuss Blankfein's memoir, Goldman Sachs and its role as a market maker, the 2007-2008 financial crisis, the AI investment bubble, wealth inequality and the rise of trillionaires, the crisis of antisemitism on the left and right, Trump-era corruption and the post-truth political environment, the national debt, 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.

22 min

#472 — Strange Days on the Right

Sam Harris speaks with Ben Shapiro about their pre-election debate and the fractures on the right. They discuss Trump's second term surprises, familial corruption, tariff policy, the ideological world of Tucker Carlson, the spread of conspiracism on the right, antisemitism as the ur-conspiracy theory, JD Vance's political calculations, the future of Israel and the Palestinian question, 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.

16 min

#471 — The End of History, Revisited

Sam Harris speaks with Francis Fukuyama about liberal democracy, American politics, and global order. They discuss the misunderstood thesis of "The End of History," how conservatism has mutated into ethno-nationalism, the self-defeating extremes of both identity politics and neoliberalism, the damage of Trump's second term, the war in Iran, the future of Israel, antisemitism on the left and right, 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.

19 min

#470 — Democrats at a Crossroads

Sam Harris speaks with Rahm Emanuel about American politics, the state of the Democratic Party, and the 2028 presidential race. They discuss Emanuel's possible presidential run, identity politics and the left's cultural cul-de-sac, the Mississippi reading miracle, antisemitism on the left and right, the Gaza war, Netanyahu's failures, U.S. policy toward China, wealth inequality, 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.

22 min

#469 — Escaping an Anti-Human Future

Sam Harris speaks with Tristan Harris about the dangers of AI and the race to build it. They discuss the new documentary The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist, the lessons of The Social Dilemma, the arms race dynamics between AI labs, the "intelligence curse" and its implications for human political power, the psychology of tech CEOs indifferent to extinction risk, the possibilities of US-China coordination on AI safety, 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.

109 min

#468 — More From Sam: Gratitude, Bad Conversations, Conspiracy Addiction, Waffle House Teleportation, and More

In this latest episode of the More From Sam series, Sam and Jaron talk about current events. They discuss how to cultivate gratitude and navigate anxiety in uncertain times, the role of mindfulness in coping with AI-driven job displacement, the slowing of religious decline in America, a FEMA official's claim that he teleported to a Waffle House, the irresponsibility of conspiracy-fueled podcasting, Sam on which conversations are worth having, 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.

33 min

#467 — EA, AI, and the End of Work

Sam Harris speaks with William MacAskill about effective altruism, AI, and the future of humanity. They discuss the post-FTX recovery of the EA movement, global health and pandemic preparedness, the limits of quantifiable ethics, the intelligence explosion, risks of concentrated AI power, what a post-scarcity world might look like, 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.

30 min

#466 — What Is Technology Doing to Us?

Sam Harris speaks with Nicholas Christakis about technology, society, and human nature. They discuss the harms of modern communication technology, polarization and anomie, how AI agents can improve human cooperation, the social implications of humanoid robots, Christakis's experience at the center of the woke moral panic at Yale, the Trump administration's assault on American universities and science, the collapse of public trust in institutions, 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.

19 min

#465 — More From Sam: Iran, Jihadism, Conspiracism, AI Disruption, the Manosphere, and More

In this latest episode of the More From Sam series, Sam and Jaron talk about current events. They discuss the Iran war and the Trump administration's shambolic messaging, antisemitism and moral confusion on the left and right, the spread of conspiracism, finding contentment in uncertain times, AI's looming disruption of white-collar work, wealth inequality and the ultra-rich's failures of philanthropy, Louis Theroux's documentary on the manosphere, 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.

36 min

#464 — The Politics of Pragmatism and the Future of California

Sam Harris speaks with Matt Mahan, mayor of San Jose and Democratic candidate for governor of California, about governance, pragmatism, and California's policy failures. They discuss the dysfunction of progressive governance, the homelessness crisis and what San Jose has done to reduce it, the proposed wealth tax and its likely backfire, why California can't build housing affordably, rent control, mandatory psychiatric holds, the influence of special interests in Sacramento, 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 min

#463 — Privatizing the Apocalypse

Sam Harris speaks with Rob Reid about biosecurity, pandemic risk, and the alarming fragility of our defenses against biological catastrophe. They discuss the controversial USAID program DEEP VZN, the dangers of gain-of-function research, open science norms that could arm bad actors, the role of AI in accelerating bioweapon development, biosurveillance tools, lone wolf bioterrorists, chaos agents, 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.

22 min

#462 — More From Sam: The Iran War, American Amorality, Addressing Hopelessness, Tucker, and More

In this latest episode of the More From Sam series, Sam and Jaron talk about current events. They discuss whether the U.S. was right to take military action against Iran, the new era of American amorality, antisemitism on the left and right, Tucker Carlson's provocative interview with Mike Huckabee, navigating feelings of hopelessness and dread, the dangers and promise of psychedelics, the corrosive effects of social media on culture and politics, 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.

20 min

#461 — Dictators Always Tell You What They'll Do

Sam Harris speaks with Garry Kasparov about the erosion of American democracy and the global authoritarian threat. They discuss Trump's systematic corruption, the GOP's moral collapse, the 2026 midterms as a decisive moment for democracy, Trump's entanglement with Russia and Putin, what a Ukrainian victory would mean for the free world, why Putin's nuclear threats are a bluff, 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.

29 min

Making Sense with Sam Harris

Episodes

#480 — The Economics of Everything

#479 — When Robots Take Over

#478 — The Psychedelic Mind

#477 — More From Sam: Iran's Unraveling, The Gaza Information War, AI-Generated Music, and More

#476 — The Bittersweet Age

#475 — The Hard Problem of Consciousness

#474 — More From Sam: Hasan Piker, Islamism, Making Sense Community, and More

#473 — Money, Power, and Moral Failure

#472 — Strange Days on the Right

#471 — The End of History, Revisited

#470 — Democrats at a Crossroads

#469 — Escaping an Anti-Human Future

#468 — More From Sam: Gratitude, Bad Conversations, Conspiracy Addiction, Waffle House Teleportation, and More

#467 — EA, AI, and the End of Work

#466 — What Is Technology Doing to Us?

#465 — More From Sam: Iran, Jihadism, Conspiracism, AI Disruption, the Manosphere, and More

#464 — The Politics of Pragmatism and the Future of California

#463 — Privatizing the Apocalypse

#462 — More From Sam: The Iran War, American Amorality, Addressing Hopelessness, Tucker, and More

#461 — Dictators Always Tell You What They'll Do

Ologies with Alie Ward

Episodes

#480 — The Economics of Everything

#479 — When Robots Take Over

#478 — The Psychedelic Mind

#477 — More From Sam: Iran's Unraveling, The Gaza Information War, AI-Generated Music, and More

#476 — The Bittersweet Age

#475 — The Hard Problem of Consciousness

#474 — More From Sam: Hasan Piker, Islamism, Making Sense Community, and More

#473 — Money, Power, and Moral Failure

#472 — Strange Days on the Right

#471 — The End of History, Revisited

#470 — Democrats at a Crossroads

#469 — Escaping an Anti-Human Future

#468 — More From Sam: Gratitude, Bad Conversations, Conspiracy Addiction, Waffle House Teleportation, and More

#467 — EA, AI, and the End of Work

#466 — What Is Technology Doing to Us?

#465 — More From Sam: Iran, Jihadism, Conspiracism, AI Disruption, the Manosphere, and More

#464 — The Politics of Pragmatism and the Future of California

#463 — Privatizing the Apocalypse

#462 — More From Sam: The Iran War, American Amorality, Addressing Hopelessness, Tucker, and More

#461 — Dictators Always Tell You What They'll Do

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Ologies with Alie Ward