logo
episode-header-image
Aug 2021
46m 54s

#258 — The Fall of Afghanistan

SAM HARRIS
About this episode

Sam Harris speaks with Peter Bergen about the US exit from Afghanistan, the resurgence of the Taliban, and his new book, "The Rise and Fall of Osama bin Laden." They discuss the Neo-isolationist consensus on the Right and Left, the legitimacy of our initial involvement in Afghanistan, our ethical obligations to our Afghan allies, Biden's disastrous messaging, the weakness of the Afghan army, the advantages of the Taliban, the implications for global jihadism, the relationship between the Taliban and al-Qaeda, how Osama bin Laden came to lead al-Qaeda, bin Laden's sincere religious convictions, our failure to capture bin Laden at Tora Bora, the distraction of the war in Iraq, the myth that the CIA funded al-Qaeda, bin Laden's wives, his years of hiding in Pakistan, his death at the hands of US Special Forces, 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.

Up next
Sep 24
#494 — A Coin Toss for the Future
Sam Harris speaks with Ryan Greenblatt about AI misalignment and the risk of losing control of increasingly capable systems. They discuss the Hugging Face incident, the spectrum of concern about AI risk, why companies are racing ahead despite high odds of a, reward hacking, the d ... Show More
1h 32m
Sep 17
#493 — Two Reasons to Meditate
Meditation can help us live better. It can also help us understand what is true about our own minds. These motivations might seem fundamentally different, but Sam explains why they're two aspects of the same project. If the Making Sense podcast logo in your player is BLACK, you c ... Show More
12m 42s
Sep 9
#492 — The Second Plane, 25 Years Later
On the 25th anniversary of September 11th, Sam discusses the significance of the second plane, the writing of The End of Faith, the failure to take jihadist belief seriously, the costs of the war on terror, the abandonment of America's Afghan allies, the continuity between 9/11 a ... Show More
37m 36s
Recommended Episodes
Dec 2023
408. Jordan Peterson & Sam Harris Try to Find Something They Agree On
Dr. Jordan B. Peterson sits down with author, philosopher, and app developer Sam Harris. They discuss the benefits of routine meditation, deleting X (twitter), the issue of defining a Higher Good, the reality of evil, and the difficulty in establishing a shared morality.   Sam Ha ... Show More
2h 10m
Sep 2023
Sam Harris (Wealth, Health & Debate)
<p class="p1">Russell chats to Sam Harris, a renowned neuroscientist, philosopher, best-selling author, and the host of 'Making Sense' podcast, as well as the creator of 'Waking Up'. In this episode, they tackle everything from the world of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, to the dangers of ... Show More
1h 30m
Feb 2018
#045 What’s The Biggest Threat To Freedom? Islam Or Consumerism (with Sam Harris)
In a bumper 2 hour episode neuroscientist, author and fellow podcaster Sam Harris and I discuss the effects and rationality of religious belief, the illusion of freedom, Western intervention in the Middle East and where true power lies. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for ... Show More
2h 3m
Jul 2021
#255 — The Future of Intelligence | Making Sense with Sam Harris | Jeff Hawkins
Written Summaries: https://www.owltail.com/summaries/26758-waking-up-with-sam-harris Other podcast summaries if you're on Apple Podcasts: http://bit.ly/5-min-summaries Or in other apps: search 'podcast summaries'. Original episode: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/making-sen ... Show More
4m 34s