Sam Harris is best thought of as a self-righteous and hypocritical moral vacuum with an exaggerated, irrational and all-consuming hatred of Arabs, Palestinians, and Islam - especially those who have had the gall to survive 80 years of Israeli occupation. Imagine an unreformed and unrepentant anti-Semitic Ivy-league professor who is thoroughly convinced of his own intellectual, cultural and moral superiority. Now, replace “anti-Semitic” with “anti-Palestinian”. It’s that simple. It’s that tragic. It’s that grotesque. Worst of all he doesn’t know any history. Right and Left should shut up and listen Ezra Klein who has at least laid out the issues. Only then, with at least a modicum of effort to understand the history should one attempt to form an opinion. Bill Maher is the perfect guest for this podcast and exactly the level of bottom-feeding political and moral dialogue you should expect.

Can you please have on Dr mordechai Kedar, he’s an expert on Arab culture, and Islam,speaks fluent Arabic, you and the listeners will really enjoy it! Thanks

I am a long-time listener and reader. This review applies to the whole tenure of the podcast. Sam Harris helps listeners find clarity. I always draw a conclusion on a topic after listening to a given episode. But my conclusion often differs from Sam’s. His most engaging episodes rigorously test conventional angles on the human mind, culture, politics, technology, science. His least interesting episodes present a lower bar and usher people directly over it.

Smug Bill Maher again, aging like cheap wine

I started listening to Sam Harris when I heard him on Bill Maher show. I’ve been listening to him since October up and on and every time I pick up his episode it’s extremely thought-provoking. And today soundbites it’s hard to hear a holistic story. Sam does a good job of really looking at the story from all angles. Not the fake equivalency of this side versus that side, but of historical future in and out of the situation.

Sam, using Sebastian Junger’s near-death experience to ply listeners for subscriptions is a bridge too far. Good intellectual ideas are not the property of one person.

The high rating on this podcast gave me hope that would be a place for intelligent discourse with engagement arguments on both sides to the extent they are reasonable. What a disappointment. This is just one of dozens of similar podcasts in which the host has a fixed opinion and demonizes the other side without engaging with the evidence that contradicts his point of view. It is one polemic after another, usually crafted exactly as one might expect from the the far right. I can’t for the life of me understand why anyone finds this pseudo-intellectual podcast compelling.

I used to appreciate the even keeled discussion (even when i didn’t agree), but the quality of the logic and well balancedness has been deteriorating since covid and now has gone totally off the rails. The Israel/Palestine rants are alarming :: all student protestors are antisemites and hamas supporters?! All Palestinians are hamas?! At first I thought: this has to be hyperbole…but later realized that the hate and prejudice have taken over… Sam, please take care and do better!

As the title says, i’ve been a subscriber of Sam’s making sense podcast for years. He brought knowledgeable insights about biases, and rationale pits that anyone is susceptible to, even the most trained and self aware mind. But of course, this show has become unlistenable after Sam seemingly forgot everything he’s talked about in his past shows, and just dove head first into blatant propaganda and dehumanizing rhetoric. His thinking is so incredibly black and white right now, that he is doubling down each time with each episode, he refuses to listen to the opposition, or any discourse. You would think that he’d recognize his position on things by the sheer amount of invitations to guest host right wing podcasts and shows. He got lost in the sauce, and at this point, I think he realizes there’s no redemption or backing down, because he’d lose all credibility if he were to retract any of his previous stance or opinions. He is a prisoner of his own podcast show, and his institutionalized beliefs. I do hope he can see, with time, how damaging his impact was, to real civilian lives, who suffered due to his platform, and his harmful rhetoric.

Sam harris, at the most part, described the situation accurately and I agree with him. I am Iranian and I lived the most of my life in Iran under aIslamic regime and by the way, I am well educated and informed about Islam, Islamists ideology, and Middle East.

Sam I have relatedd to your podcast about campus protests five times. I cannot thank you enough for verbalizing exactly what my heart aches over. I couldn’t find the words, but you have for me. I have forwarded this podcast on to so many friends and colleagues. I hope your message is heard far and wide. The world needs to know.

The “accidental killing of aid workers”?! This is insanity. “War” is fighting between two states, which is not what is currently happening in Gaza. This is lunacy, maybe stop touching this topic if you can’t be unbiased. Your critical thinking and so called journalism on this subject is seriously lacking. *update, someone else commented “Sam Harris is not making sense” and I think that’s best description for this podcast I’ve now unfollowed.

Sam, I was a subscriber and I am out. This latest rant was so typically one sided and selective in factual reference. To categorically dismiss leftists, college students, universities, Gazans, Muslims, and Islam, while selectively ignoring the atrocities of the west and Christianity, has gone too far for me. This is at best a pro Israel hatred filled rant, wrapped in a high brow, right wing, anti-woke wrapper. Your other content is generally positive and well researched, but I can no longer listen to this holier than thou baloney.

Clear, concise, well-spoken, and incredibly interesting. I’m a fan!

Clearly one of the most intelligent authors ever.

Sam is not making sense.

Sam Harris has done an amazing job in providing clear and informative answers and information about n the war between Israel and Hamas. It is a must listen if you have any opinion and are unclear on the subject.

At a time like this, for your clear thinking and communication. Thank you, Sam Harris!

To do this podcast with a guest who answered the question “What Did The IDF Do Wrong” and he answered “journalism” as the sole criticism without pushback from you is so disingenuous it hurts as a long-time listener. How could you let him walk all over you when this is happening? You could have challenged him for needed criticism. Who will have the courage to challenge the IDF to have some form of responsibility?

He pompously glosses over Palestinian deaths and yet will detail the horrors of an Israeli death. He will gloss over Israeli atrocities and will hyperbolize the Palestinian wrongdoings. He doesn’t even for balance dare to present the Palestinian or anti-zionist point of view, even when offered by highly articulate and educated Jews. It’s grotesque & disappointing. I’ll take Ezra Klein & Gabor/Daniel Mate for a more enlightened, self-aware, and less biased discussion. Sam lacks nuance & flexibility of mind on this subject, indeed lacks courage to consider different views/realities, & in the end serves as just another mouthpiece for Israel. He will stereotype all palestinians based on hamas but won’t assume all israelis as as extremist as the Jewish “settlers.” For someone who touts awareness, he simply cannot see his implicit bias and the bubble he is in.

Thank you, Sam, for excoriating moral clarity in a time of willful ignorance, extreme naïveté and sheer malice. Thank you for defending Israel and reality itself against the onslaught of lies and anti-Semitic smears that the western left gleefully launders for Islamist jihadists through the media, UN, activism masquerading as “human rights” agencies and pseudo-academia, with devastating effect. Don’t always agree with Sam on every topic but appreciate the mental tonic of discussions that wrestle hard with ideas and themes swallowed too often by too many on unquestioned premises and assumptions. Wish there were more voices out there like him.

So I love that you introduced John Spencer as an “expert on modern warfare” but fail the mention the fact that he is a full Zionist, personally interviewed Netanyahu, AND actively contributes content to a Pro-Israeli organization. Your show is called Making Sense, but all you did was blatantly withhold critical BIASED information about your guest while holding him up as an “expert.” You’re right, he is an expert… in supporting Israel. That doesn’t make much sense to me. If you wanted an intelligent, fact based take on the war you absolutely failed. This is blatant propaganda presented as a rational, fact based conversation. You should be embarrassed.

Sam’s perspective is the voice of reason making sense!

Sam brings logic and perspective to a world gone completely mad. ❤️

I never voted for Trump, but Sam’s insensate fixation and angst against him is so overboard it clearly demonstrates the Trump Derangement Syndrome is alive and well in Sam’s intellect. I never thought Sam’s intellectual composure would be so weakened by Trump. It’s humorous to witness but I’ve lost respect for Sam and his voice of reason.

I've bought Harris' books and used to support him as a patron on his website. His intellect and eloquence connected with me. It is sad and alarming to see how obviously wrong he is about the atrocities in Gaza. Perhaps his anti-religion rhetoric was a harbinger all along, or maybe he lost his moral compass somewhere along the way. But his embrace of nihilist Zionist warmongers was not something I saw coming. Please pull your head out of your butt, Sam. We need smart people like you to focus on improving the world.

Sam’s atheism is nothing more than a shield to hide behind his prejudice. An outright embarrassment with nothing to offer atheism or free society. Claims to want to end suffering yet sides with capitalists and transphobes. Nice to see the mask is fully off. Thanks for wasting everyone’s time.

Sam Harris is a great listen and deep thinker on many topics, but his obsession with Islam and jihadism, which he continually conflates, detracts from way too many of his other very informed and interesting opinions.

9/10 of what I hear on other podcasts is obvious; this is not. I don’t listen as much because the full versions are expensive and 2/3rds of the episodes aren’t of interest. I also think he gets a bit deranged about Trump (who I think is a jerk) and far too woo in some areas like the nature of reality, but I just don’t listen to those. But the depth of insight is amazing. His latest on Knowledge Work was just brilliant. The ones on SBF, nuclear proliferation and others made me think a different way. Even the shortened free versions are just better than almost all the other podcasts I listen to. And unlike Malcolm Gladwell, he never seems to just mail it in. I really should just pay for the full versions, but I listen to so many podcasts, it sets an expensive precedent at a time when I’m trying to cut back on subscriptions. I should comment on the negative reviews. My guess is these come from people who disagree with him on highly polarized issues like Israel. They’re not on the quality of the program.

While normally this podcast is a source of insight, your assessment of Israel's annihilation of the aid workers was premature at least. If not an assassination, it reads more of a society who has forgotten anything except retaliation. It's like an abused child growing up to become an abuser. Everyone loses. Your short-sightedness surprised me. Keep an open mind- like you teach us to do. The team had established a “deconfliction” plan ahead of time with Israeli forces, so the military would know when they would travel and what route they would take. They also wore GPS trackers to make certain their location was clear. The first missile struck one of the armored cars as it drove along the coastal road. Aid workers fled the damaged vehicle for the other armored vehicle. minutes later, the second vehicle was hit and yet people injured and alive moved to this third vehicle until it too was struck.

Think you Sam and for your thoughtful and analytical podcast. I will subscribe.

Harris has lost the script and is now making sweeping statements about important current events which are devoid of any historical context and/or outright false. It’s hard to take him seriously as an arbiter of logic and reason when he lacks such qualities in his commentary on current events.

The speaker is clearly an apologist for israeli apartheid regime. Spewing anti-Palestine hatred along with rabid hatred of islam in general. It’s quite amazing how could an atheist support a religious ethinonationalist society?! Could be a tribal thing !!

The misinformation paired with the racist views of the host are disgusting. He completely and utterly lacks any humanity. In addition to the fact he fails to go through the effort to research history and only focuses on post Oct 7th and nothing prior.

I have always defended the rationality of Sam Harris. He has been a magnificent and lucid critic of religion. I feel like he has lost his north. He is not seeing the obvious genocide Israel is doing. He is blinded by tribal perceptions. I understand, he is a Jew; but Israel is literally perpetrating a racist genocide to gain more land. It is disgusting an Harris is blind to it.

This was very painful to listen to. Two intelligent, successful men making excuses for the actions of SBF for 90 minutes is just intolerable. So tone deaf and really sad. I’ve been a listener to Sam (Harris) for many years and I’ve disagreed with him on many things throughout those years, but this gross exercise is making me want to cancel my membership…

I certainly am no Trump fan and wish the Republicans would have chosen differently, but Harris is absolutely unhinged about Trump and is not introspective whatsoever as he thinks he has it all figured out. What a damaged man.

I only came here to listen to this man embarras himself all over again by inviting Rory Stewart back and, boy, did it deliver! You’re an intellectual lightweight, Sam. It’s ok. Many people are.

That was a wonderful episode. I hope he comes on again. Thank you.

Two stars as earlier this used to be good.. but now, just bigotry and opinionated views.. Either a lot of monologue or badgering guests with his ideas.. worst now if getting a guest back to apologize to Sam.

I used to love this podcast. Until it went to Mr.Harris’s head and he started thinking he can take on politics and international events. It was sad to hear the nakedness of his biases to say the least. All that contemplation and to end up here?

I was a fan and I knew that Sam has strong opinions on Islam. However now he has an anti-Islam episode every other day and it’s just unbearable.

I subscribed and listened to several episodes. The more I listen, the more I realize that what appears to be intelligent conversation is actually masking Sam’s very sloppy thinking.

Was a fan until the episode with Zeihan despite being a big fan of Peter’s work. Demonizing the right while completely failing to acknowledge the oversights, missteps, and failures of the left/current administration is idiotic and only furthers divisive thinking. The Left wants to destroy the institutions of the right as much as the Right wants to abolish the left. The moral compass has disappeared for each side. If there was ever such a thing. Maybe stay away from politics, Sam. Love quite a bit of your content but, as someone who attempts not to align too much with the right or left, your commentary is too far left.

… We have Tucker Carlson. With that missive I just renewed mymembership.

Not only would John Gray’s philosophy create totalitarianism, his conversational style is totalitarian in that he never lets Harris speak. His superficial argument against Popper’s piecemeal social engineering is another case in point.

Right wing mascot Coleman Hughes? Really Sam? I understand you are mad about the antisemitic views on the far left. We all are. Are the recent right wing tuned episode a result of that? Come to your senses man. You need some meditation. I know an app

Do not discuss politics, you are super biased and it’s annoying.

I began listening to this pod about 6 months ago, and appreciated most episodes even if I didn’t entirely agree. But Harris’s recent episode about the Israeli genocide of Palestinians crossed a line and lost absolutely all credibility & this listener. I am actively discouraging folks from listening to this man.

How insane it is to insinuate that Islamists want peace? When they follow the Quran literally they are violently favoring death to all non-Muslims. The Quran is based on lies. Thank goodness for kind hearted family oriented Muslims who do not follow the Quran. Check out CIRA Int’l on YouTube. The host is AlFadi.