Making Sense of the Chaos with Sam Harris: Politics, Tribalism, and the Outrage Machine
May 21, 2026 · 50 min
Why listen
A neuroscientist explains how to stay clear-headed inside politics, tribalism, and the outrage machine.
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In this episode
- Why quitting Twitter after 12 years changed how one thinker processes the news
- How the attention economy turns normal people into hyper-partisans
- What the moral panic around race has done to the political center
- How to stay engaged with the world without losing your mind to it
About this episode
Sam Harris has two brains. One is making sense of the political chaos. The other is waking up from it.
In this episode, Jeff sits down with Sam Harris, neuroscientist, author, and host of the Making Sense podcast, for part one of a two-part conversation on surviving the modern world with your sanity intact. They unpack the outrage machine, political tribalism, and what it actually takes to stay clear-headed inside the noise.
They discuss:
- Why Sam finally quit Twitter after 12 years, and what changed
- How the attention economy fuels hyper-partisanship and authoritarianism
- The moral panic around race, and how it radicalized the center
- Immigration policy, deportation, and the abandonment of Afghan allies
- Free speech, Orbán's defeat, and the future of liberal democracy
If you want to learn Sam’s approach to staying engaged with the world without losing your mind to it, go to https://onecommune.com/sam to get 30 days of his Waking Up app for free.
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About Commune with Jeff Krasno
The Commune Podcast is where we explore the ideas and practices that help us live healthy, connected, purpose-filled lives.
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