Sam Harris on The Democrats’ Far-Left Problem
Scott Galloway speaks with neuroscientist and philosopher Sam Harris about why social media rewards political extremism, how our devices have made sustained attention nearly impossible, and why reclaiming control of our minds may be the key to a happier life.
They also discuss the erosion of trust in expertise, the dangers of the AI arms race, and why Democrats need to draw a clearer line against the far left.
Subscribe to Prof G+ to join our next livestream at profgmedia.com. And if you're not already reading Sam’s work, check out his Substack.
PLUS! Join us for a live Prof G Pod recording at the Odoo Experience conference in San Francisco on Sept 3. You can register for the conference here.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The Crisis of Truth in American Politics — with Sam Harris
Sam Harris, a neuroscientist, bestselling author, and host of the Making Sense podcast, joins Scott Galloway to discuss the rise of conspiracy thinking, the role of the media, and how identity politics is shaping American politics. They also talk about ICE and law enforcement, Trumpism, antisemitism, Iran and Islamism, masculinity, and why it’s becoming harder for people to agree on basic facts.
Follow Sam, @samharrisorg.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Sam Harris on Silicon Valley’s Slide into Techno-Authoritarianism
One of 2025’s most memorable images was of Silicon Valley’s billionaire CEOs lined up in the front rows at President Donald Trump’s inauguration. It was visual proof of the tech industry’s embrace of MAGA’s authoritarian-style of politics — one it has benefited from considerably over the last year. Author and neuroscientist Sam Harris has been using his podcast, “Making Sense,” to talk about the ways tech moguls are corroding our politics, and although he used to be close with some of them, he’s become a vocal critic of their support for Trump.
Kara and Sam talk about why he thinks the left is to blame for the tech billionaires’ shift to the right, why all of us are bad at sorting through the glut of information we find online, and the potential risks that come with the Trump administration’s hands-off approach to A.I. They also talk about what possible tech regulation could look like, and whether everyday people stand a chance against tech oligarchs and their platforms.
(Please note: This interview was recorded before President Trump signed an executive order to block states from passing A.I. regulation.)
Questions? Comments? Email us at on@voxmedia.com or find us on YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, Threads, and Bluesky @onwithkaraswisher.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
WARNING By Sam Harris: ChatGPT Could Be The Start Of The End. AI "Could Destroy Us, The Internet And Democracy"
In this new episode Steven sits down with philosopher, neuroscientist, podcast host and author Sam Harris.
In 2004, Sam published his first book, ‘The End of Faith’, this stayed on the New York Times bestseller list for 33 weeks and won the PEN/Martha Albrand Award for First Nonfiction. He has gone on to author 5 New York Times bestselling books published in over 20 languages. In 2009, Sam obtained his Ph.D. in cognitive neuroscience from the University of California, Los Angeles. In 2013, he began the ‘Waking Up’ podcast which covers subjects from meditation to AI. Sam is also the co-founder and CEO of Project Reason, a nonprofit foundation devoted to spreading scientific knowledge and secular values in society.
In this conversation Sam and Steven discuss topics, such as:
How to change peoples beliefs
Why he is not optimistic about AI
How to live an examined life
Why you become what you pay attention to
The reason the mind is all you really have moment by moment
Why AI is not aligned with human wellbeing
How it is too late to turn back the progression of AI
The danger of misinformation
Why we’re going to have to abandon the internet
You can access the ‘Waking Up’ meditation app here: https://bit.ly/3Qp51D7
Follow Sam:
Instagram: https://bit.ly/3DHwOHy
YouTube: https://bit.ly/3DE8RAy
Follow me:
https://beacons.ai/diaryofaceo
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Using Meditation to Focus, View Consciousness & Expand Your Mind | Dr. Sam Harris
My guest is Sam Harris, Ph.D. Sam earned his bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Stanford University and his doctorate (Ph.D.) in neuroscience from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). He is the author of multiple best-selling books and is a world-renowned public-facing intellectual on meditation, consciousness, free will, psychedelics and neuroscience. He is also the creator of Waking Up and the host of the "Making Sense" podcast. In this episode, we discuss meditation as a route to understanding “the self” and experiencing consciousness, not just changing one’s conscious state. Sam describes several meditation techniques and their benefits, including how meditation fundamentally changes our worldview and how it can be merged seamlessly into daily life. It can help us overcome universal challenges such as distractibility and persistent, internal dialogue (“chatter”) to allow for deep contentment and pervasive shifts in our awareness, all while acknowledging the more immediate stress-lowering and memory-improving effects of meditation. We also discuss the therapeutic use of psychedelics and the mechanistic similarities between the benefits of a psychedelic journey and long-term meditation practices. And we discuss the rationale behind Sam’s recent decision to close his social media (Twitter) account. This episode should interest anyone wanting to learn more about the higher order functions of the brain, the brain-body connection, consciousness and, of course, meditation and why and how to meditate for maximum benefit.
For the full show notes, visit hubermanlab.com.
Thank you to our sponsors
AG1: https://athleticgreens.com/huberman
LMNT: https://drinklmnt.com/hubermanlab
Waking Up: https://wakingup.com/huberman
Momentous: https://livemomentous.com/huberman
Timestamps
(00:00:00) Dr. Sam Harris
(00:04:54) Sponsor: LMNT
(00:08:54) Sense of Self & Meditation, Dualism of Self
(00:18:07) Sense of Self in Brain & Body
(00:25:28) Consciousness vs. Contents, Meditation
(00:28:25) Interrupting Sense of Self & Attentional Focus, Visual Saccade
(00:33:30) Observer & Actor, Default Mode Network & Meditation, Blind Spot
(00:36:52) Sponsor: AG1
(00:41:57) Mediation & Paths to Understanding Consciousness, Non-Dualistic Experience
(00:57:32) Sense of Self throughout Evolution
(01:07:40) Sense of Self from Human Development, Language
(01:19:46) Internal Dialogue, Distractibility & Mindfulness
(01:26:27) Time Perception & Mindfulness, Vipassana Meditation, Resistance & Pain
(01:37:13) Consciousness & Sense of Control, Free Will
(01:43:14) Authoring Thoughts: Storytelling & Ideas, Free Will
(01:52:11) Meditation & the Paradoxical Search for Self
(02:06:44) Meditation & Concentration Practice
(02:11:58) Mindfulness, “Skylike Mind” & Thoughts
(02:15:11) States of Self & Context, Dualistic Experiences
(02:32:39) Distraction & Identification of Thoughts, Meditation & “Flow” States
(02:42:58) Eyes-Open Meditations, Sense of Self, Visual Cues & Social Interactions
(02:54:59) Paths to Meditation, Mindfulness Meditation Step-Functions
(03:05:58) Psychedelics, MDMA & Experiences in Consciousness, Religion
(03:21:11) Meditation, Psychedelic Journeys & Inner Truths
(03:29:48) Psilocybin, Ego-Dissolution & Thought Expansion
(03:40:09) Process vs. Achievement of Goals, Fulfillment in Present
(03:54:29) Leaving Twitter; Conflict, Life Interruption & Politics
(04:06:14) Social Media, Attentional Disruption & Deep Work
(04:15:39) Meditation & Sense of Self
(04:19:02) Sam Harris & Waking Up App, Zero-Cost Support, YouTube Feedback, Spotify & Apple Reviews, Sponsors, Momentous, Social Media, Neural Network Newsletter
Disclaimer
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
#185 – Sam Harris: Consciousness, Free Will, Psychedelics, AI, UFOs, and Meaning
Sam Harris is an author, podcaster, and philosopher. Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors:
– National Instruments (NI): https://www.ni.com/perspectives
– Belcampo: https://belcampo.com/lex and use code LEX to get 20% off first order
– Athletic Greens: https://athleticgreens.com/lex and use code LEX to get 1 month of fish oil
– Linode: https://linode.com/lex to get $100 free credit
EPISODE LINKS:
Sam’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/SamHarrisOrg
Sam’s Website: https://samharris.org/
Sam’s YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNAxrHudMfdzNi6NxruKPLw
PODCAST INFO:
Podcast website: https://lexfridman.com/podcast
Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2lwqZIr
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2nEwCF8
RSS: https://lexfridman.com/feed/podcast/
YouTube Full Episodes: https://youtube.com/lexfridman
YouTube Clips: https://youtube.com/lexclips
SUPPORT & CONNECT:
– Check out the sponsors above, it’s the best way to support this podcast
– Support on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/lexfridman
– Twitter: https://twitter.com/lexfridman
– Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lexfridman
– LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lexfridman
– Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lexfridman
– Medium: https://medium.com/@lexfridman
OUTLINE:
Here’s the timestamps for the episode. On some podcast players you should be able to click the timestamp to jump to that time.
(00:00) – Introduction
(08:18) – Where do thoughts come from?
(14:18) – Consciousness
(31:50) – Psychedelics
(41:14) – Nature of reality
(58:09) – Free will
(1:56:55) – Ego
(2:05:59) – Joe Rogan
(2:08:59) – How will human civilization destroy itself?
(2:16:27) – AI
(2:37:10) – Jordan Peterson
(2:45:12) – UFOs
(2:53:02) – Brazilian Jiu Jitsu
(3:02:47) – Love
(3:13:50) – Meaning of life
How to master your emotions, w/Sam Harris
The biggest challenge for founders often isn’t winning the strategic game – it’s winning the mental game. For a master class in mastering your emotions, we turn to Sam Harris, author, neuroscientist, and philosopher. His podcast “Making Sense,” his app “Waking Up,” and his many books have drawn a devoted following among entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley and beyond. Leadership experts often talk about the importance of adding new skills to your metaphorical toolbox, but less attention is paid to the actual toolbox itself: your mind. Sam shares how you can manage your own emotions, and master your own runaway thoughts, to not only make it through the entrepreneurial journey but learn more, and scale faster along the way.
Read a transcript of this episode at https://mastersofscale.com
Subscribe to the Masters of Scale weekly newsletter at https://mastersofscale.com/subscribe
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Recode Decode: Sam Harris
Writer and podcaster Sam Harris talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about his views on Islam, social media, and President Trump.
In this episode: Harris’ background; why he wrote his first book; the controversy around his books about religion and why Harris didn’t initially call himself an “atheist"; Islamophobia and Harris’ enemies; Christopher Hitchens and the performance of public debate; identity politics; feminism and hijabs; white supremacists online; the terror attacks in Sri Lanka and New Zealand; the Trump effect; Should Jack Dorsey delete Twitter?; Harris and Swisher’s Twitter history; free speech online; what should tech companies do and what should be done to them?; the “moral panic” side of #MeToo; and keeping focused on the right problems.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
