Making Sense with Sam Harris

#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.

#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.

#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.

#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.

#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.