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Join neuroscientist, philosopher, and best-selling author Sam Harris as he explores important and controversial questions about the human mind, society, and current events. The Making Sense podcast was selected by Apple as one of iTunes Best of 2015.

Harris is the author of the best-selling books The End of Faith, Letter to a Christian Nation, The Moral Landscape, Free Will,  Lying, and Waking Up—along with Islam and the Future of Tolerance: A Dialogue (with Maajid Nawaz). The End of Faith won the 2005 PEN Award for Nonfiction. His writing and public lectures cover a wide range of topics—neuroscience, moral philosophy, religion, meditation practice, human violence, rationality—but generally focus on how a growing understanding of ourselves and the world is changing our sense of how we should live.

Harris’s work has been published in more than 20 languages and has been discussed in The New York Times, Time, Scientific American, Nature, Rolling Stone, and many other journals. He has written for The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Economist, The Times (London), The Boston Globe, The Atlantic, The Annals of Neurology, and elsewhere.

Sam Harris received a degree in philosophy from Stanford University and a Ph.D. in neuroscience from UCLA.

Sam Harris's blog and podcast, and much more, can be found at samharris.org.

 

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  2. #404 — What If Consciousness Is Fundamental?

#404 — What If Consciousness Is Fundamental?

Mar 25, 2025

Sam Harris speaks with his wife, Annaka Harris, about LIGHTS ON, her ten-part audio documentary exploring the perplexities of consciousness and the cosmos. They discuss the hard problem of consciousness, whether consciousness is fundamental, what split-brain patients can teach us about consciousness, what consciousness being fundamental could mean for the world of physics, and other topics.

After Annaka’s conversation with Sam, we present an excerpt from LIGHTS ON.

Chapter 8: Space and Time features author and science writer George Musser, as well as physicists Lee Smolin and Carlo Rovelli. Annaka draws on their noted expertise to explore some of the most mystifying conclusions in quantum theory, how they may validate certain meditative insights, and the ways in which they challenge our basic understanding of reality.

Everyday experience tells us that space fills the universe; that causes have effects across time; that the future exists only as potential; that consciousness is confined to intelligent creatures, rather than fundamental to the very structure of being. These bedrock assumptions, when examined through both modern physics and contemplative practices, prove surprisingly fragile—and the fabric of existence profoundly counterintuitive.

 

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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.