Sam Harris speaks with Donald Robertson about Stoicism and the good life. They discuss the relationship between wisdom and virtue, ancient versions of psychotherapy, parallels between Stoicism and Buddhism, practical vs. analytical styles of philosophy, CBT’s origins in Stoicism, the difficulty of self-criticism, techniques for reframing upsetting experiences, the lives of Marcus Aurelius and Socrates, the psychological pitfalls of using social media, 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.

Sam hopped back on with his manager and business partner, Jaron Lowenstein, to talk about current events and answer some of the questions you all submitted on Substack. They discuss the Biden cover-up and how it compares to Trump’s transgressions, Sam’s latest episode with Jake Tapper, whether Tapper had a journalistic responsibility to share what he knew about the cover-up sooner, and criticism from the audience about Sam’s views on Israel’s actions in Gaza.

Produced by Griffin Katz

Sam Harris speaks with Jake Tapper about Jake’s new book (with Alex Thompson), Original Sin: President Biden's Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again. They discuss how the mainstream media failed to cover the issue of Biden’s health, how Biden shielded himself from criticism, the false notion that Biden was simply a bad speaker, the audio released from Biden’s 2023 interview with special counsel Robert Hur, Jake’s experience moderating Biden’s disastrous debate against Trump, Jill and Hunter Biden’s influence on former President Biden’s decision to run again, the Hunter Biden laptop story, anti-democratic processes in the Democratic Party, 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.