Making Sense with Sam Harris

Podcasts · Science

Making Sense with Sam Harris

281 episodes · 20 with AI analysis

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 resource for anyone interested in living a more examined, fulfilling life—and a new operating system for the mind. Waking Up offers free subscriptions to anyone who can't afford one, and donates a minimum of 10% of profits to the most effective charities around the world. To learn more, please go to WakingUp.com. Sam Harris received a degree in philosophy from Stanford University and a Ph.D. in neuroscience from UCLA.

AI Intelligence · across all analyzed episodes

Topics · top 10

AI Consciousness and Moral StatusArtificial Intimacy and AI CompanionshipLoneliness as a Public Health CrisisTuring Test and Cultural Normalization of AILLM Sycophancy and Epistemic DistortionAI Voice Interfaces and Parasocial RelationshipsAI Impact on Employment and Future Career PlanningElderly Care and AI as Loneliness RemedyAI and Adolescent Social DevelopmentExpanding Circle of Moral Concern to AI

Analyzed Episodes

Jul 8, 2026

#484 — Artificial Intimacy

AI Consciousness and Moral StatusArtificial Intimacy and AI CompanionshipLoneliness as a Public Health Crisis
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Jul 1, 2026

#483 — The Knots We Tie Ourselves Into

Secular alternatives to religious ritual and communityPsychological roots of unnecessary human sufferingEmotional education as a formal discipline
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Jun 25, 2026

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

One-world government and global political unificationAGI and superintelligence as geopolitical wildcotchHard materialism vs. physicalism and the hard problem of consciousness
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Jun 17, 2026

#481 — Sam Harris Receives the 2026 Richard Dawkins Award

AI Consciousness and the Hard Problem of MindLLMs Surpassing the Turing TestAccidental Creation of Suffering AI in Server Farms
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Jun 12, 2026

#480 — The Economics of Everything

National Debt CrisisFiscal Austerity PolicyInterest Rate Risk Management
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Jun 4, 2026

#479 — When Robots Take Over

AI Job DisplacementEconomic Disruption from AIAI Regulation and Politics
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May 26, 2026

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

Iran military strategyAmerican foreign policyMiddle East conflict reporting
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May 29, 2026

#478 — The Psychedelic Mind

Psychedelic therapy protocolsFDA drug approval processClinical trial design
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May 12, 2026

#475 — The Hard Problem of Consciousness

Hard Problem of ConsciousnessNeural Correlates of ConsciousnessPsychedelic-Assisted Therapy
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Apr 29, 2026

#473 — Money, Power, and Moral Failure

2008 Financial Crisis ManagementMarket Making vs Fiduciary DutyWealth Inequality Solutions
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Apr 24, 2026

#472 — Strange Days on the Right

Trump Administration Personnel ChangesTariff Policy ImplementationPresidential Corruption and Ethics
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Apr 16, 2026

#471 — The End of History, Revisited

End of History thesisLiberal democracy vs authoritarianismClassical liberalism
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Apr 13, 2026

#470 — Democrats at a Crossroads

2028 Presidential ElectionDemocratic Party StrategyEducation Reform and Accountability
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Apr 10, 2026

#469 — Escaping an Anti-Human Future

AI Safety and AlignmentArtificial General Intelligence (AGI)AI Arms Race Dynamics
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Apr 7, 2026

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

AI job displacement and economic adaptationMindfulness practice for anxiety managementPodcast responsibility and misinformation
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Mar 30, 2026

#467 — EA, AI, and the End of Work

Effective Altruism Movement Growth and FTX RecoveryGlobal Health and Development InterventionsFarm Animal Welfare and Corporate Campaigns
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Sep 16, 2025

#434 — Can We Survive AI?

AI Alignment ProblemSuperintelligence RiskGradient Descent and Model Training
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Oct 2, 2025

#435 — The Last Invention

Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) timelines and development trajectoriesArtificial Superintelligence (ASI) existential risk and control problemsAI safety research and alignment techniques
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Oct 3, 2025

#436 — A Crisis of Trust

Airborne transmission and aerosol science in respiratory virusesPandemic preparedness and biosecurity infrastructuremRNA vaccine technology development and deployment
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Mar 24, 2026

#466 — What Is Technology Doing to Us?

Social Media Toxicity and PolarizationSection 230 Liability ReformAI Safety and Existential Risk
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