Sam Harris speaks with John McWhorter about language, ideology, and moral certainty. They discuss the rise and persistence of "wokeness" and DEI, the legacy of George Floyd's death, the role of social media in amplifying moral panic, how identity shapes perceptions of Israel-Palestine, the linguistics of Donald Trump, the rise of casual speech, conspiracy thinking, positions McWhorter has reconsidered, and other topics.

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As digital distraction increasingly fragments our attention, Sam explains why mindfulness is a practical skill for reclaiming clarity and presence. Begin a mindfulness practice using the Waking Up app, and make training your mind the foundation for everything else in the year ahead.

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In this latest episode of the More From Sam series, Sam and Jaron talk about current events. They discuss Sam's 2025 New Year's resolutions, the benefits of meditation, Sam's conversation with Ross Douthat, AI risks, Tucker Carlson's midnight encounter with a demon, the fracturing on the right, antisemitism on the right and the left, the Bondi Beach massacre, the Epstein files, accusations made by Joe Rogan and Bret Weinstein, and the collapse of shared reality, which Sam argues is the central problem driving many of these crises.

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.