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Making Sense with Sam Harris

Making Sense with Sam Harris

Sam Harris

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.
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Top 10 Making Sense with Sam Harris Episodes

Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best Making Sense with Sam Harris episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to Making Sense with Sam Harris for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite Making Sense with Sam Harris episode by adding your comments to the episode page.

Making Sense with Sam Harris - #14 — The Virtues of Cold Blood

#14 — The Virtues of Cold Blood

Making Sense with Sam Harris

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07/29/15 • 42 min

Sam Harris speaks with psychologist Paul Bloom about the limitations of empathy as a guide to moral reasoning.

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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Making Sense with Sam Harris - #312 — The Trouble with AI

#312 — The Trouble with AI

Making Sense with Sam Harris

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03/07/23 • 86 min

Sam Harris speaks with Stuart Russell and Gary Marcus about recent developments in artificial intelligence and the long-term risks of producing artificial general intelligence (AGI). They discuss the limitations of Deep Learning, the surprising power of narrow AI, ChatGPT, a possible misinformation apocalypse, the problem of instantiating human values, the business model of the Internet, the meta-verse, digital provenance, using AI to control AI, the control problem, emergent goals, locking down core values, programming uncertainty about human values into AGI, the prospects of slowing or stopping AI progress, 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.

Learning how to train your mind is the single greatest investment you can make in life. That’s why Sam Harris created the Waking Up app. From rational mindfulness practice to lessons on some of life’s most important topics, join Sam as he demystifies the practice of meditation and explores the theory behind it.

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Making Sense with Sam Harris - #305 — Moral Knowledge

#305 — Moral Knowledge

Making Sense with Sam Harris

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12/08/22 • 67 min

Sam Harris speaks with Erik Hoel about the nature of moral truth. They discuss the connection between consequentialism and Effective Altruism, the problems with implementing academic moral philosophy, bad arguments against consequentialism, the implications of AI for our morality, the dangers of moral certainty, whether all claims about good and evil are claims about consequences, the problem of moral fanaticism, difficulty in thinking about low-probability events, 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.

Learning how to train your mind is the single greatest investment you can make in life. That’s why Sam Harris created the Waking Up app. From rational mindfulness practice to lessons on some of life’s most important topics, join Sam as he demystifies the practice of meditation and explores the theory behind it.

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Making Sense with Sam Harris - #302 — Science & Civilization

#302 — Science & Civilization

Making Sense with Sam Harris

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11/11/22 • 49 min

Sam Harris speaks with Neil deGrasse Tyson about his new book, Starry Messenger. They discuss what makes science a unique human endeavor, the tension between respecting scientific consensus and overturning it, confusion about paradigm shifts and scientific controversies, the social importance of probability and statistics, climate change, the consequences of exponential cultural change, social media, social inequality and affirmative action, identity politics and a post-racial future, the wisdom of focusing on class rather than race, 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.

Learning how to train your mind is the single greatest investment you can make in life. That’s why Sam Harris created the Waking Up app. From rational mindfulness practice to lessons on some of life’s most important topics, join Sam as he demystifies the practice of meditation and explores the theory behind it.

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Making Sense with Sam Harris - #34 — The Light of the Mind

#34 — The Light of the Mind

Making Sense with Sam Harris

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04/18/16 • 47 min

Sam Harris speaks with philosopher David Chalmers about the nature of consciousness, the challenges of understanding it scientifically, and the prospect that we will one day build it into our machines.

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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Making Sense with Sam Harris - #35 — The End Of Faith Sessions 1

#35 — The End Of Faith Sessions 1

Making Sense with Sam Harris

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04/25/16 • 51 min

Sam Harris reads and discusses the first chapter of "The End of Faith."

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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Making Sense with Sam Harris - #314 — The Cancellation of J.K. Rowling

#314 — The Cancellation of J.K. Rowling

Making Sense with Sam Harris

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03/31/23 • 54 min

Sam Harris speaks with Megan Phelps-Roper about the new podcast series she hosts and produced, “The Witch Trials of J. K. Rowling.” The series is also produced by Andy Mills and Matt Boll for The Free Press.

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.

Learning how to train your mind is the single greatest investment you can make in life. That’s why Sam Harris created the Waking Up app. From rational mindfulness practice to lessons on some of life’s most important topics, join Sam as he demystifies the practice of meditation and explores the theory behind it.

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Making Sense with Sam Harris - #318 — Physics & Philosophy

#318 — Physics & Philosophy

Making Sense with Sam Harris

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05/01/23 • 54 min

Sam Harris speaks with Tim Maudlin about the foundations of physics and metaphysics. They talk about the nature of scientific reductionism, emergence, functionalism, the nature of time, presentism vs eternalism, causation, the nature of possibility, the laws of nature, David Lewis’s possible worlds, rival interpretations of quantum mechanics, free will, 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.

Learning how to train your mind is the single greatest investment you can make in life. That’s why Sam Harris created the Waking Up app. From rational mindfulness practice to lessons on some of life’s most important topics, join Sam as he demystifies the practice of meditation and explores the theory behind it.

bookmark
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Making Sense with Sam Harris - #317 — What Do We Know About Our Minds?

#317 — What Do We Know About Our Minds?

Making Sense with Sam Harris

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04/20/23 • 67 min

Sam Harris speaks with Paul Bloom about the state of psychological science. They discuss fiction as a window onto the mind, recent developments in AI, the tension between misinformation and free speech, bullshitting vs lying, truth vs belonging, reliance on scientific authority, the limits of reductionism, consciousness vs intelligence, Freud, behaviorism, the unconscious origins of behavior, confabulation, the limitations of debate, language, Koko the gorilla, mental health, happiness, behavioral genetics, birth-order effects, living a good life, the remembered and experiencing selves, 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.

Learning how to train your mind is the single greatest investment you can make in life. That’s why Sam Harris created the Waking Up app. From rational mindfulness practice to lessons on some of life’s most important topics, join Sam as he demystifies the practice of meditation and explores the theory behind it.

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Making Sense with Sam Harris - #13 — The Moral Gaze

#13 — The Moral Gaze

Making Sense with Sam Harris

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07/21/15 • 32 min

Sam Harris speaks with the filmmaker Joshua Oppenheimer about his remarkable documentaries, "The Act of Killing" and "The Look of Silence."

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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FAQ

How many episodes does Making Sense with Sam Harris have?

Making Sense with Sam Harris currently has 413 episodes available.

What topics does Making Sense with Sam Harris cover?

The podcast is about Society & Culture, Neuroscience, Podcasts, Religion, Science, Philosophy, Ethics and Politics.

What is the most popular episode on Making Sense with Sam Harris?

The episode title '#311 — Did SARS-CoV-2 Escape from a Lab?' is the most popular.

What is the average episode length on Making Sense with Sam Harris?

The average episode length on Making Sense with Sam Harris is 49 minutes.

How often are episodes of Making Sense with Sam Harris released?

Episodes of Making Sense with Sam Harris are typically released every 7 days, 4 hours.

When was the first episode of Making Sense with Sam Harris?

The first episode of Making Sense with Sam Harris was released on Nov 12, 2013.

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