Making Sense with Sam Harris - Podcast Rankings and reviews

This is a highly thought-provoking (not merely provocative) podcast that I've been listening to from the very beginning. I enthusiasticaly support it financially as well. Listening to the Waking Up podcast is like putting yourself through a vigorous and ever-lengthening intellectual boot camp.

I consume it immediately and greedily and support it happily. I listen to most Waking Up podcasts twice and find that I almost always miss something really good the first time around. I wind up following most of Sam's guests on Twitter so I can keep up with them, and I buy many of their books. I highly recommend it to anyone who is serious about trying to make sense of the world. You won't always agree with Sam Harris, but you'll almost always learn something from every episode.

There are a lot of smart, reflective, intellectually fulfilling podcasts out there, but I’ve yet to hear one that matches the quality and consistency of Making Sense. Sam Harris has produced a long series of outstanding episodes with excellent guests, repeatedly demonstrating his honed and sharp reasoning, his careful thinking and intentional diction, his precision in terminology, his patient engagement with complex and complicated ideas, and a fearlessness in the face of controversy and honesty. I’ve been a fan of Sam since his early days of writing and debating, and he’s always been a good example of what a public intellectual could be, but rarely is. His guests are often global experts, high intellects, generally honest and open minded individuals: scientists, philosophers, and important thinkers with interesting ideas. I’ve paid attention to every manufactured controversy in which he has found himself, I’ve read and watched others’ criticisms of his work and ideas, and it’s amazing to watch how consistently Sam defends his ideas against (sometimes intellectually dishonest) criticism. There are a few topics on which I disagree with him, but still find him to be a thoughtful and important contribution to the landscape of ideas, given his ability to skillfully communicate and engage with the deeper substance. One of his great strengths is decoupling from the useless surface glimmers that most people find themselves transfixed by, and which they incorrectly treat as the substance rather than the distraction it is. Sam gets to the important things while others are too confused and stuck in the mud to understand there’s a more important body of concepts beneath the sludge they’re spinning their tires in.

Sam’s podcast is a wealth of valuable insights and information. One would be hard pressed to find the same quality of guests and conversions. Sam is adept in so many vastly different topics and his guests offer much of the same. I can’t tell you how much value I have found in listening and learning from Sam over the last 4 or 5 years!

This podcast is a wonderful companion to anyone who wishes to understand their experience more. Sam is genuine, insightful, and a compassionate guide. I feel lucky to have stumbled upon this!

I’m usually a fan of Sam Harris and find his podcast interesting and often enlightening. This makes it even more disappointing hearing his podcast about Joe Rogan’s apology for repeatedly using a racial slur and making racist jokes comparing black people to apes. I have similar sentiments about “cancel culture” and the inability of the “left” to allow for redemption of any sort but Sam’s ideas about Rogan’s apology being unnecessary and “going to far” is a big red flag. Sam starts by saying how important it was that Rogan apologized for his misinformation on Covid. So apparently Sam believed this apology was necessary and yet when it comes to apologizing for using racial slurs and telling racist jokes he’s gone too far? Is that because this type of rhetoric and dialogue doesn’t effect Sam personally? Or maybe he just can’t relate?

Not only did Rogan repeatedly use the n-word on air…I’m 37 years old and I’ve made it all this time without feeling the need to use that word ever…but he also made racist jokes, like comparing black people to apes. Is Sam going to tell me this isn’t racist either? I’m honestly stunned by this podcast and very disappointed. I’m curious if Sam believes ANY words carry ANY weight? Maybe it’s hard for white men to grasp this…I am not trying to be belittling or condescending, I honestly can’t understand why Sam doesn’t see that using a word with such a dark and evil past that has tormented generations upon generations of an entire race of humans can easily just be off the table. We can’t give black people the reparations we promised them…can we at least just not use a word that is triggering and insulting to so many?

I believe we need to make room for people to change, to learn, to grow and to prove themselves but I also think people need to do the work before we applaud them for their apology speeches. When Joe Rogan starts showing me he’s anti-racist and that he doesn’t agree with any of his followers who are then we can talk about redemption. The whole episode is disappointing and I’m shocked that Sam can’t see beyond himself and his own biases. He is co-signing these racist ideas…

I just listened to what will be my last episode of Making Sense. I tried to make myself get past Sam Harris’ monotone delivery and frequent mansplaining and focus instead on the interviewees and the bigger conversations. I made it part way through episode #253 ‘Corporate Courage’ and have had enough. In this episode, a tech business owner is being interviewed about a *no politics at work* policy that led to about a third of his employees (~20 out of 60) to quit. It’s clear that there’s much more background to the story than the owner relays. The bigger issue is with Harris’ statements about how delusional all of us white folks are when we’re recognizing our own racist thoughts and actions, apologizing, and looking to Black voices and perspectives to help us learn to do better. He offered his cisgender, heteronormative, white male opinion…*life is sooooooo much better now for Black people in this country than it ever has been anywhere in the world. We’re (white people) wasting our time and energy, making way too big of a deal out of it than is necessary.* Well, he can keep talking just to hear his own voice because I certainly won’t be listening. There are plenty of Black, Indigenous, People of Color and white (anti-racist) voices to be uplifted and heard.