Is it ever okay to put a price on a kidney? Why is it illegal to sell an organ, but perfectly legal to sell blood plasma? This episode explores the world of "repugnant transactions" — the markets we find morally offensive — and asks why we ban certain markets as "gross" or "unethical" while ignoring others that might cause more harm.
In this episode of The ... Show More
Aug 14
Why straight dating feels bleak
The internet is rife with chatter about “heteropessimism,” the feeling that gender relations are broken and heterosexual relationships are doomed. But is this just cynical discourse, like a coping mechanism for bad dates? Or is this a symptom of a much deeper, systemic breakdown? ... Show More
57m 48s
Jul 2023
Why we can't just blame capitalism for everything
We’re sharing an episode of The Gray Area from our friends at Vox.
The Gray Area is a philosophical take on culture, politics, and your daily life. In the episode we’re sharing with you today, host Sean Illing speaks with New York Magazine writer Eric Levitz about the viability ... Show More
50m 19s
Oct 2019
#172 — Among the Deplorables
<p>Sam Harris speaks with Andrew Marantz about his book "Antisocial: Online Extremists, Techno-Utopians, and the Hijacking of the American Conversation." They discuss the effect of social media on politics, the distinction between publishers and platforms, the problem of guilt by ... Show More
51m 31s
Jun 2019
#160 — The Revenge of History
<p>Sam Harris speaks with Michael Weiss and Yascha Mounk about the state of global politics. They discuss the rise of right-wing populism in Europe, the prospect that democracy could fail in the US, Trump's political instincts, the political liability of "wokeness," the Left's fa ... Show More
58m 7s
Apr 2023
#315 — The Great Derangement
<p dir="ltr">Sam Harris speaks with Tim Urban about his new book, "<a href="https://waitbutwhy.com/whatsourproblem">What's Our Problem: A Self-Help Book for Societies</a>." They discuss Tim's unusual career, the finitude of life, existential risk, exponential technological change ... Show More
59m 57s
Sep 2020
#216 — A Conversation with Graeme Wood
Sam Harris speaks with Graeme Wood about the breakdown of social order in the U.S. They discuss the recent eruptions of violence, the loss of trust in the media, the cases of Jacob Blake and Kyle Rittenhouse, how to understand police videos, the risks of vigilantism, the politici ... Show More
50m 50s
Aug 2017
#92 — The Limits of Persuasion
Sam Harris speaks with David Pizarro and Tamler Sommers about free speech on campus, the Scott Adams podcast, the failings of the mainstream media, moral persuasion, moral certainty, the ethics of abortion, Buddhism, the illusion of the self, and other topics. If the Making Sense ... Show More
1 h
Aug 2025
#429 — The New World Order
<p dir="ltr">Sam Harris speaks with Anne Applebaum about the erosion of democracy at home and abroad. They discuss the Sudanese civil war and the outside forces involved, America's retreat from global leadership, the impacts of USAID cuts, gerrymandering, the integrity of U.S. el ... Show More
26m 52s
Sep 2025
#433 — How Did We Get Here?
Sam Harris speaks with Dan Carlin about the decades-long buildup to our current political moment. They discuss the growing powers of the presidency, executive orders, different factions within the Republican Party, the fragmentation of our society, Libertarianism, the growing pro ... Show More
22m 6s
Sep 2020
#218 — Welcome to the Cult Factory
In this episode of the podcast, Sam Harris speaks with Tristan Harris about the ways in which social media is fracturing society. They discuss the rise in teen depression and suicide, political polarization, conspiracy theories, information warfare, the decoupling of power and re ... Show More
47m 22s