All Episodes

#422 - Zionism & Jihadism

#421 - “More From Sam”: Political Violence, Iran, Deportations, Protests, & Rapid Fire Questions

#420 - Countdown to Superintelligence

#419 - "More From Sam": Elon vs. Trump, Religion, Jordan Peterson, & Rapid Fire Questions

#418 - A Future for Democrats

#417 - Philosophy for Life

#416 - “More From Sam”: Biden's Big Lie, Review of Tapper Interview, Trump, & a Case Against Israel's Actions in Gaza

#415 - The Cover-Up

#414 - Strange Truths

#413 - “More From Sam”: Trump & Israel, Corruption, Free Speech Violations, the Democrats, & Ezra Klein

#412 - Better Things & Better People

#411 - The Victimhood Pandemic

#410 - The Whole Catastrophe

#409 - "More From Sam": Religion, Deportations, Douglas Murray vs. Rogan, & Bill Maher's Dinner with Trump

#408 - Finding Equanimity in Chaos

#407 - Can We Ever Return to Normal Politics?

#406 - The Legacy of Christianity

#405 - "More From Sam": Tariffs, SignalGate, Trump, Elon, Douglas Murray, & Joe Rogan

#404 - What If Consciousness Is Fundamental?

#403 - Sanity Check on Trump 2.0

#402 - The Geopolitics of Trump 2.0

#401 - Christian Nationalism and the New Right

#400 - The Politics of Information

#399 - The Politics of Catastrophe

#398 - Thoughts Without a Thinker

#397 - A New Year's Message from Sam

#396 - The Way Forward

#395 - Intellectual Authority and Its Discontents

#394 - Bringing Back the Mammoth

#393 - Is History Repeating Itself?

#392 - Technology & Culture

#391 - The Reckoning

#390 - Final Thoughts on the 2024 Presidential Election

#389 - The Politics of Risk

#388 - What Is Life?

#387 - Politics & Power

#386 - Information & Social Order

#385 - AI Utopia

#384 - Stress Testing Our Democracy

#383 - Where Are the Grown-Ups?

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#381 - Delusions, Right and Left

#380 - The Roots of Attention

#379 - Regulating Artificial Intelligence

#377 - The Future of Psychedelic Medicine

#376 - How Democracies Fail

#375 - On the Attempted Assassination of President Trump

#374 - Consciousness and the Physical World

#373 - Anti-Zionism Is Antisemitism

#372 - Life & Work

#371 - What the Hell Is Happening?

#370 - Gender Apartheid and the Future of Iran

#369 - Escaping Death

#368 - Freedom & Censorship

#367 - Campus Protests, Antisemitism, and Western Values

#366 - Urban Warfare 2.0

#365 - Reality Check

#364 - Facts & Values

#363 - Knowledge Work

#362 - Six Months of War

#361 - Sam Bankman-Fried & Effective Altruism

#360 - We Really Don’t Have Free Will?

#359 - Getting Used to It

#358 - The War in Ukraine

#357 - America & World Order

#356 - Islam & Freedom

#355 - A Falling World

#354 - Is Moral Progress a Fantasy?

#353 - Race & Reason

#352 - Hubris & Chaos

#351 - 5 Myths about Israel and the War in Gaza

#350 - Sharing Reality

#349 - Generosity, Cynicism, and the Future of Doing Good

#348 - The Politics of Antisemitism

#347 - Finding Sanity in 2024

#346 - The Best Kept Secret In History?

#345 - Resilience

#344 - The War in Gaza

#343 - What Is "Islamophobia"?

#342 - Animal Minds & Moral Truths

#341 - Gaza & Global Order

#340 - The Bright Line Between Good and Evil

#339 - The Infernal Logic of Jihad

#338 - The Sin of Moral Equivalence

#337 - The Future of Psychedelic Medicine

#336 - The Roots of Identity Politics

#335 - A Postmortem on My Response to Covid

#334 - The Low-Trust Society

#333 - Sanity Check on Climate Change

#332 - Can We Contain Artificial Intelligence?

#331 - A Golden Age for Assholes

#330 - The Doomsday Machine

#329 - What Happened to the Republican Party?

#328 - Health & Longevity

#327 - Transformative Experiences

#326 - AI & Information Integrity

#325 - A Few Thoughts About RFK Jr.

#324 - Debating the Future of AI

#323 - Science & Survival

Making Sense of Meditation

#322 - Predicting Reality

#321 - Reckoning with Parfit

Making Sense of Death

#320 - Constructing Self and World

#319 - The Digital Multiverse

Making Sense of Social Media

#318 - Physics & Philosophy

#317 - What Do We Know About Our Minds?

#314 - The Cancellation of J.K. Rowling

#313 - Apocalypse

Making Sense of Belief and Unbelief

#311 - Did SARS-CoV-2 Escape from a Lab?

Making Sense of Free Will

#310 - Social Media & Public Trust

Making Sense of Encounters With Violence

#309 - Vulnerability, Politics, and Moral Worth

#308 - The Long Game

#307 - Twitter, Elon, & Free Speech

Making Sense of Consciousness

#306 - Psychedelics & Mortality

#304 - Why I Left Twitter

Making Sense of Artificial Intelligence

#303 - The Fall of Sam Bankman-Fried

#302 - Science & Civilization

#301 - The Politics of Unreality: Ukraine and Nuclear Risk

#300 - A Tale of Cancellation

#299 - Steps in the Right Direction

#298 - Leaving the Faith (Rebroadcast)

#297 - Preparing for the End

#296 - Repairing Our Country

#295 - Philosophy and the Good Life

#294 - Status Games

#293 - What I Really Think About Trump and Media Bias

#292 - How Much Does the Future Matter?

#291 - Where is Happiness?

#290 - What Went Wrong?

#289 - Time Management for Mortals

#288 - The End of Global Order

#287 - Why Wealth Matters

#286 - The Paradox of Psychedelics

#285 - American Division

#284 - The Funny Business

#283 - Gun Violence in America

#282 - Do You Really Have a Self?

#281 - Western Culture and Its Discontents

#280 - The Future of Artificial Intelligence

#279 - The Rules of the Stage

#278 - The Man Who Will Be King

#277 - How Does the War in Ukraine End?

#276 - Defending the Global Order

#275 - The Russian War in Ukraine

Absolutely Mental Season 3

Special Episode: Recipes for Future Plagues

#274 - The Future of American Democracy

#273 - Joe Rogan and the Ethics of Apology

Vaccine Mandates, transgender athletes, billionaires… (AMA #19)

#272 - On Disappointing My Audience

#271 - Earning to Give

#270 - What Have We Learned from the Pandemic?

#269 - Deep Time

#267 - The Kingdom of Sleep

#266 - The Limits of Pleasure

#265 - The Religion of Anti-Racism

#264 - Consciousness and Self (Rebroadcast)

#263 - The Paradox of Death

#262 - The Future of American Democracy

#261 - Belief & Identity

Absolutely Mental Season Two

Ask Me Anything #18

#260 - The Second Plane

#259 - The Reckoning to Come

Ask Me Anything #17

#258 - The Fall of Afghanistan

#257 - The State of the World

#256 - A Contagion of Bad Ideas

#255 - The Future of Intelligence

#254 - The Mating Strategies of Earthlings

#253 - Corporate Courage

#251 - Corporate Cowardice

#250 - Broken Conversations

#249 - Distance & Arrival

#248 - Order & Freedom

Special Episode: Engineering the Apocalypse

#247 - Constructing Minds

#246 - Police Training & Police Misconduct

#245 - Can We Talk About Scary Ideas?

#244 - Food, Climate, and Pandemic Risk

#243 - A Few Points of Confusion

#242 - Psychedelics and the Self

#241 - Final Thoughts on Free Will

#240 - The Boundaries of Self

#239 - Yet Another Call from Ricky Gervais

#238 - How to Build a Universe

#237 - Another Call from Ricky Gervais

#236 - Rebooting New York City

#235 - A Call from Ricky Gervais

#234 - The Divided Mind

#233 - In the Groves of Misinformation

#232 - Inequality & Revolution

#231 - Crossing the Abyss

#230 - An Insurrection of Lies

#229 - A Few Thoughts for a New Year

#227 - Knowing the Mind

#226 - The Price of Distraction

#225 - Republic of Lies

#224 - The Key to Trump’s Appeal

#223 - A Conversation with Andrew Sullivan

#222 - A Pandemic of Incompetence

#221 - Success, Failure, & the Common Good

#220 - The Information Apocalypse

#219 - The Power of Compassion

#218 - Welcome to the Cult Factory

#217 - The New Religion of Anti-Racism

#216 - A Conversation with Graeme Wood

#215 - A Conversation with David Miliband

#214 - A Conversation with Siddhartha Mukherjee

#213 - The Worst Epidemic

#212 - A Conversation with Kathryn Paige Harden

Bonus Questions: Robert Plomin

#211 - The Nature of Human Nature

#210 - The Logic of Doomsday

#209 - A Good Life

#208 - Existential Risk

#207 - Can We Pull Back From The Brink?

#206 - A Conversation with David Frum

#205 - The Failure of Meritocracy

#204 - A Conversation with Jonathan Haidt

#203 - A Conversation with Caitlin Flanagan

#202 - A Conversation with Andrew Yang

Bonus Questions: Yuval Noah Harari

#201 - A Conversation with Yuval Noah Harari

#200 - Creatures of Habit

#199 - A Conversation with Caitlin Flanagan

#198 - A Conversation with Paul Bloom

#197 - A Conversation with Caitlin Flanagan

#196 - The Science of Happiness

#195 - Social Cohesion is Everything

#194 - The New Future of Work

#193 - Meditation in an Emergency

#192 - A Conversation with Paul Bloom

#191 - Early Thoughts on a Pandemic

#190 - How Should We Respond to Coronavirus?

#189 - Wealth & Happiness

#188 - A Conversation with Paul Bloom

#187 - A Conversation with Paul Bloom

#186 - The Bomb

#185 - A Conversation with Paul Bloom

#184 - The Conversational Nature of Reality

#183 - A Conversation with Paul Bloom

#182 - Unlearning Race

#181 - The Illusory Self

#180 - Sex & Power

#179 - The Unquiet Mind

Bonus Questions: Donald Hoffman

#178 - The Reality Illusion

#177 - Psychedelic Science

#176 - Knowledge & Redemption

#175 - Leaving the Faith

#174 - Life & Mind

#173 - Anti-Semitism and Its Discontents

#172 - Among the Deplorables

White Privilege

#171 - Escaping a Christian Cult

#170 - The Great Uncoupling

#169 - Omens of a Race War

#168 - Mind, Space, & Motion

#166 - The Plague Years

#165 - Journey into Wokeness

#164 - Cause & Effect

#163 - Ricky Gervais

#162 - Medical Intelligence

#161 - Rise & Fall

#160 - The Revenge of History

#159 - Conscious

#158 - Understanding Humans in the Wild

#157 - What Does the Mueller Report Really Say?

Bonus Questions: Nicholas Christakis

#156 - The Evolution of Culture

#155 - Mental Models

#154 - What Do Jihadists Really Want? (2019)

#153 - Possible Minds

#152 - The Trouble with Facebook

Bonus Questions: Nick Bostrom

#151 - Will We Destroy the Future?

#150 - The Map of Misunderstanding

#149 - The Problem of Addiction

Ask Me Anything #16

Bonus Questions: Jack Dorsey

#148 - Jack Dorsey

Bonus Questions: Stephen Fry

#147 - Stephen Fry

#146 - Digital Capitalism

#145 - The Information War

#144 - Conquering Hate

#143 - The Keys to the Mind

Bonus Questions: Johann Hari

#142 - Addiction, Depression, and a Meaningful Life

Bonus Questions: Matt Taibbi

#140 - Burning Down the Fourth Estate

#139 - Sacred & Profane

#138 - The Edge of Humanity

Bonus Questions: Jonathan Haidt

#137 - Safe Space

Bonus Questions: Jaron Lanier

#136 - Digital Humanism

#135 - Navigating Sex and Gender

Ask Me Anything #14

#134 - Beyond the Politics of Race

Ask Me Anything #13

#133 - Globalism on the Brink

#132 - Freeing the Hostages

#131 - Dictators, Immigration, #MeToo, and Other Imponderables

#130 - Universal Basic Income

#129 - An Insider's View of Medicine

Bonus Questions: Geoffrey Miller

#128 - Transformations of Mind

#127 - Freedom from the Known

Ask Me Anything #12

#126 - In Defense of Honor

#125 - What is Christianity?

#124 - In Search of Reality

#123 - Identity & Honesty

#122 - Extreme Housekeeping Edition

#121 - White Power

#120 - What Is and What Matters

#119 - Hidden Motives

Bonus Questions: Preet Bharara

#118 - The View from Trumpistan

#117 - Networks, Power, and Chaos

Ask Me Anything #10

Bonus Questions: Eliezer Yudkowsky

#116 - AI: Racing Toward the Brink

#115 - Sam Harris, Lawrence Krauss, and Matt Dillahunty (1)

#114 - Politics and Sanity

#113 - Consciousness and the Self

#112 - The Intellectual Dark Web

#111 - The Science of Meditation

#110 - The Change Artist

#109 - Biology and Culture

#108 - Defending the Experts

#107 - Is Life Actually Worth Living?

#106 - Humanity 2.0

#105 - Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, and Matt Dillahunty

#103 - American Fantasies

#102 - Is Buddhism True?

#101 - Defending the Republic

#100 - Facing the Crowd

#99 - What Happened to Liberalism?

#98 - Into the Dark Land

#97 - The Impossible War

#96 - The Nature of Consciousness

#95 - What You Need to Know About Climate Change

#94 - Frontiers of Intelligence

#93 - Identity & Terror

#92 - The Limits of Persuasion

#91 - The Biology of Good and Evil

#90 - Living With Violence

#89 - On Becoming a Better Person

#88 - Must We Accept a Nuclear North Korea?

#87 - Triggered

#86 - From Cells to Cities

#85 - Is this the End of Europe?

#84 - Landscapes of Mind

#83 - The Politics of Emergency

#82 - The End of the World According to ISIS

#81 - Leaving Islam

#80 - The Unraveling

#79 - The Road to Tyranny

#78 - Persuasion and Control

#77 - The Moral Complexity of Genetics

#76 - The Path to Impeachment

#74 - What Should We Eat?

#73 - Forbidden Knowledge

#70 - Beauty and Terror

#69 - The Russia Connection

#68 - Reality and the Imagination

#67 - Meaning and Chaos

#66 - Living with Robots

#65 - We're All Cucks Now

#63 - Why Meditate?

#62 - What is True?

#61 - The Power of Belief

#60 - An Evening with Richard Dawkins and Sam Harris (2)

#59 - Friend & Foe

#58 - The Putin Question

#57 - An Evening with Richard Dawkins and Sam Harris (1)

#56 - Abusing Dolores

#55 - Islamism vs Secularism

#54 - Trumping the World

#53 - The Dawn of Artificial Intelligence

#52 - Finding Our Way in the Cosmos

#51 - The Most Powerful Clown

#50 - The Borders of Tolerance

#49 - The Lesser Evil

#48 - What Is Moral Progress?

#47 - The Frontiers of Political Correctness

#46 - The End of Faith Sessions 3

#44 - Being Good and Doing Good

#43 - What Do Jihadists Really Want?

#42 - Racism and Violence in America

#41 - Faith in Reason

#40 - Complexity & Stupidity

#39 - Free Will Revisited

#38 - The End of Faith Sessions 2

#37 - Thinking in Public

#36 - What Makes Us Safer?

#35 - The End of Faith Sessions 1

#34 - The Light of the Mind

#32 - The Best Podcast Ever

#31 - Evolving Minds

#30 - Inside the Crucible: Syria and the Islamic State

#29 - Throw Open the Gates

#28 - Meat Without Misery

#26 - The Logic of Violence

#25 - Behind the Gun

#23 - Islam and the Future of Tolerance: A Dialogue

#22 - Surviving the Cosmos

#21 - On the Maintenance of Civilization

#20 - Still Sleepwalking Toward Armageddon

#19 - The Riddle of the Gun (Revisited)

#18 - The Multiverse & You (& You & You & You…)

#17 - What I Really Think About Profiling

#16 - The Dark Side

#14 - The Virtues of Cold Blood

#13 - The Moral Gaze

#12 - Leaving the Church

#11 - Shouldering the Burden of History

#10 - Faith vs. Fact

#9 - Final Thoughts on Chomsky

#7 - Through the Eyes of a Cult

#6 - The Chapel Hill Murders and ‘Militant’ Atheism

#5 - After Charlie Hebdo and Other Thoughts

#4 - The Path and the Goal

#3 - WAKING UP: Chapter One

#2 - Why Don't I Criticize Israel?

Morality and the Christian God

#1 - Drugs and the Meaning of Life