Can the Left Course Correct? Sam Harris on Identity Politics & America's Future with Matt Yglesias

[@allrequiredfields]

I have a ton of respect for anyone who can change their mind on important issues - especially when it will likely alienate a sizable portion of your tribe.

[@neoturfmasterMVS]

Still after a mind chance, still out of touch with reality.

[@johnowens5342]

Go ahead and do it then. Welcome to the right side of reality.

[@pjaworek6793]

"Tribe", you guys don't even pretend to be progressives anymore

[@cragjones1799]

@@johnowens5342 its night a black and white thing... Its a data thing. Sometimes the left side is wrong and those left of center rarely admit it. Sometimes the right side is wrong and Im guessing you never recognize that?

[@aussiehardwood6196]

Reality and facts on the ground like the election have proven many times how wrong & out of touch pundits like Sam are.

[@ezOqekuRitusohI]

Sam's permanent eyebrow raise perfectly captures how we feel about politics today.

[@Salipenter1]

His haters says it’s a botched Botox job 🤷‍♂️

[@adoxographer]

Fascinating.

[@johnsnow661]

Sam is just a huge fan of The Rock. Do you smell what Sam Harris is cooking?

[@HouseJawn]

🤨🌌

[@brianmeen2158]

I’m pretty much completely burned out on politics .. I hope it can course correct but I doubt it

[@Nick-gk7oc]

Great to see the video format!

[@robwindsor6373]

Me too. So much more important than the discussion at hand.

[@killa3x]

Finally.

[@bobgolden939]

Years overdo -- his bubble is so tiny it only now discovered video.

[@transcendence6898]

Absolutely

[@sk8ermGs]

@@robwindsor6373😂

[@wegder]

"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character"

[@dermotmeuchner2416]

Then they killed him. Anythis else you want to add?

[@thunderstreet78]

@@dermotmeuchner2416 His killer escaped from prison. Had CA not allowed the killer to walk on a previous crime, the entire timeline would have changed. CA's inability to manage crime effectively has long-lasting impacts.

[@frankreilly3457]

@@dermotmeuchner2416 - True. He was killed. So what lives on? The strength of the beautiful and aspirational idea, or the horror of the murder? Anything YOU want to add? Or rather anything else you want to add, beyond the fouling of the intent of the initial post with your anger?

[@BroBruh]

Try to tell the far left now you don't see someone by the colour of their skin and you will be labelled as racist ....

[@AaronPerles]

Wow so bold so brave you’re such a visionary for posting the most overused and decontextualized quote of all time

[@johnlcq]

As someone who's grown up around some pretty hyper liberal circles in New York thank fucking God these conversations are finally being had. Logic has really gone out the window these past few years.

[@RealYRM]

Right? The same scientists and atheists who were saying "extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence" don't question stuff like: California having 6+ years of Democrat Super-Majority and making every problem measurably worse, with logical evidence as to why their ideas are failing. Men in makeup magically becoming women and it's cool if they use women's bathrooms, locker rooms, compete in violent sports and steal scholarships? And every DEI idea, if you took it out of context and flipped the races and genders, would be a fire-able offense. Also why is "representation" only important in the west, and not China or India or Nigeria? And why are the white male art directors insisting on 'diversity' only willing to give up other people's jobs, not their own job, when they lecture the rest of us why every bit of entertainment MUST look like an Antifa protest now? The woke-cult is 100% exactly like a far-right religious cult... it just has different unproven magical claims. That's where you feel the logical disconnect.

[@FaraZaminii]

You can attack Sam all you want but really, he ultimately was never captured by his audience. He’s a leftist but for many years said this race obsession is just nonsensical. He always said this trans activism is insanity. I just wish people were a bit more independent in their thinking rather than just taking peoples words for who they should hate or love. As soon as Sam said anything bad about trump he instantly went on the blacklist of many people who have alot of influence in the current independent media.

[@radscorpion8]

Exactly he is a truly independent thinker. I dislike how one-sided his Israel takes are too. But at least he isn't audience captured like many on the right, or outright paid by the Kremlin like Dave Rubin and Tim Pool

[@jmonforton237]

By disowning just for criticizing Trump, they’ve shown they are just as biased and stuck-up as the mainstream media they hate.

[@alienígena-e1p]

His TDS is one thing but his being on board with censorship - the suppression of the Hunter laptop and brushing away ( if even acknowledging at all) the thousands of children pulverized and crushed with US 2000lb bombs in Gaza is beyond redemption.

[@b1walker]

A leftist? 😂 No. A liberal? Sure.

[@dermotmeuchner2416]

Leftist hahaha. Sam is a war monger but you keep telling yourself he is moral.

[@zeymort3926]

Morgan Freeman said, in a 60 Minutes interview, "I don't want a Black History month. Black history is American history." Mike: "How are we going to get rid of racism-" Morgan: "Stop talking about it. I'm gonna stop calling you a white man. And I'm gonna ask you to stop calling me a black man. I know you as Mike Wallace, you know me as Morgan Freeman." When we acknowledge that there is a difference (black, white, etc) it makes us focus on it and we perpetuate group separation. Color is an unimportant identifier. Actually it's harmful.

[@freedomlife3623]

So well said, it’s a very sad reality, our society is going backward to tribals.

[@nodell8729]

And for black issues I think most people saying this they mean poor people issues. Why include rich black families and exclude poor white families? It surely brings more harm.

[@alphie20]

Ok but then I’m left wondering why Sam invited Charles Murray on to discuss racial differences in IQ then? He’s ok having this conversation but not others?

[@RealYRM]

Woke, DEI, race hustlers must convince everyone that white people are born with the original sin of racism. It's their grift. Matt Walsh's movie shines a light on this just like Bill Maher's Religulous shined a light on the magical thinking of Christians. 100%, all the woke activists trying to shame, name call, and silence everyone else helped to elect Trump. For anyone reading this... if you did that, you helped elect Trump. I don't expect anyone on the woke left to self-reflect... but you never know, sometimes evangelicals assess their faith and find it not to be logical, so the same might be true for the woke-cult.

[@perplexedbystander4083]

Exactly, focusing on race is how we had slavery, jim crow laws, and red lining to name a few of the harmful things. I wish we could go back in time and fix that or I don't know, maybe deal with the harm it's created for generations. People uniting for solutions is what we need regardless of race

[@marina_9236]

Who else has been listening to Making Sense (first called Waking Up) for about decade now? 😮 I started in 2015 💫. And will keep on listening. Thank you Sam

[@rosscampbell1173]

I finished with him in 2016. This came in my feed so I’m listening.

[@endoalley680]

Me. Monthly subscriber.

[@MrBradogg]

I love Sam’s intelligence but he just doesn’t seem to able to grasp idea that his ideas don’t track well with the obvious excesses on the left.

[@mikemagers9570]

If you wake up, are you woke? I wonder if that's why the name got changed.

[@Sandra_D.9]

If you had been listening you would know that Making Sense the podcast started first and Waking Up, the meditation app, started later.

[@Tyler-k2o]

Hey Sam thank you so much for doing what you do!

[@robwindsor6373]

I am very impressed with this conversation. Being a conservative, i was pleasantly understanding of the points discussed by both of you. Thank you for a bit of sanity in a f*ckt up world.

[@jamsteroffthewheel4731]

bro ur like walking dollar signs to these ppl

[@TheTastefulThickness]

You're not even kind of a conservative.

[@AndrewG-FW-TX]

Conservatives are the only smart people around

[@RealYRM]

For all their talk about Trump's incompetence... and there is evidence that he's a moron about certain things... Trump got better results than the Democrat Super Majority has achieved in California. Canada, under leftist leadership, is in a far worse place than America. Woke leftists do not achieve good results for regular people, and they call names and use every excuse in the world why we just didn't do enough of their terrible idea to make it work. California is like a science experiment. For 6+ years, nobody but Democrats have had any say in the direction... and everything is measurably worse there. Crime? Homelessness? Cost of living? Environment? Energy? Housing?

[@marquesiam7514]

For me, the absolute worst thing about luxury belief systems is that the people that hold them demand everyone else sacrifice for them, but would never do that themselves

[@RealYRM]

The woke left are like your evangelical aunt who demands you burn your Harry Potter books because "witchcraft". The woke will demand you burn the Harry Potter books because the author doesn't believe that a man wearing a dress magically transformed into an actual woman. The DEI white knights demanding that all "representation" look like an Antifa Protest in their video games HAVE JOBS... they're cool with preventing YOUR son from getting THEIR job. No live matters unless a leftist can exploit the corpse for political gain. A Democrat co-worker told me he'd push an old lady out of a wheelchair to keep Trump out of office... and I said, "But not your grandmother, right?"

[@JesseTate]

So glad for this new format Sam, great to have some video and also a great series of guests recently

[@jsnx9067]

yeah great guests like Destiny and Miller. two of the worst humans to ever walk the earth.

[@radscorpion8]

I love the video format. At 12:30 it would be nice if Matt acknowledged the source of all the "racial identity" ideas, which was basically critical race theorists in academia, especially Richard Delgado from the university of Texas, who spread these horrific ideas everywhere, after which it was readily and eagerly adopted by the media, after which it was readily and eagerly adopted by corporations because being "woke" seemed like the correct, money-making decisions, after which it was pushed into schools even at the elementary level of overly eager administrators obsessed with making everything about race, and making kids look at each other based on race. There are many in the democratic party who still don't recognize any of this occurred and absurdly think the whole complaint on the right was just about teaching racial history. There should be some kind of intelligible post-mortem on why these terrible ideas spread, and why they are still so popular, than that it was a "bad trend". This is part of the problem I see with Matt Yglesias, and what's needed for the left to "course correct". If all you're willing to say is that it was a bad stain on the floor and to put a rug on it, you aren't honestly acknowledging the problem or seriously trying to understand where it came from and therefore how to undo it. To me its insane how racist people in the democratic party have become because of these ideas. Its like no one ever understood why racism is wrong, they just went along with it because it was popular or trendy. Sam was good here but he could have and should have pushed a lot harder on that issue. Because while Matt is definitely speaking morally and intelligently about the need to dissolve identity politics, it seems like he is doing a lot to avoid the issue and minimize it as much as possible, as if it is awkward to talk about

[@robinhood20253]

Crt was not taught in elementary schools. Do you eny that systemic racism exists?

[@ladavid7963]

@@robinhood20253Still playing the word games. We don’t teach child psychology in grade schools either.

[@missano3856]

Your horse is dead, quit riding it.​@@robinhood20253

[@coonazz98]

​@robinhood20253 crt influenced the way subjects were taught in elementary schools. That is the objection. Now you know what the complaint is so you can stop strawmanning on this subject for the rest of your life. Antiwhite and antiasian bias in our institutions does appear to be systematized so sure, it exists that's why we are fighting for a colorblind system.

[@parker9012]

​@robinhood20253, you know, I looked it up. They never passed a law called "the Jim Crow law," so I guess Jim Crow was never a thing in the south! Word games are so dumb.

[@franckiewicz0831]

This conversation perfectly captures why so many have left the Democratic Party and become independent, a reluctant republican, or something else: hyper identity politics.

[@TheOlyaTV]

It blew my mind that Jaywalking was made legal in New York because black people were doing it more and getting fine for it more

[@reinforcedpenisstem]

Is there a statement about this law we can read?

[@justinh.6683]

More like, doing it at the same rate as anyone else but being stopped, searched, and detained for it more than anyone else.

[@tybaltyrant1]

Or that they disproportionately disregard rules and the laws. As the crime statistics suggest. And no one is buying the 'institutional racism' dogma anymore. It's why people vote Trump over the Democrats.

[@GrandisArcanum]

Source?

[@TheOlyaTV]

@ Late night show with Seth Mayers I think . Said “disproportionately affected black people“

[@gford9988]

i wish the guest did not say “you know” so often.

[@houndofzoltan]

I know.

[@SirArghPirate]

I know. I mean, you know, I think you're right..

[@gigicolada]

Yes unfortunately that kinda made it hard to listen to for me 😢

[@gford9988]

@@gigicolada yes! I had the same experience. I could not listen. Even worse on the full 1hr podcast version

[@marvinbone1379]

I struggle with this personally, with my own conversation. Not sure what its origins are. It's why I prefer my own written commentary, rather than speaking aloud on subjects.

[@photographyandthecreativeyou]

Here in Canada, in mainstream media, race is often not mentioned when a crime is committed. It's become a bit of a joke about how the media controls language especially about race. Orwellian doublespeak!

[@mindlander]

Fyi.. Americans don't care what Canadians think or do. Canada is cool, but that's just the truth.

[@mindlander]

@@Robespierre-lI you're right. I should've said Americans often don't care what happens in Canada.

[@claytonanderson6399]

@@mindlanderspeaks for mindlander, and no one else.

[@gtrman6504]

​@Robespierre-lI * Better than

[@thesubhumancomedy]

Not in most of Europe either. About Orwell, I'm not certain.

[@adoxographer]

How is all of this anything other than completely obvious?

[@cragjones1799]

Its obvious to people like you and me, but 80-90 percent of Americans it isnt...

[@adoxographer]

@cragjones1799 So it seems. I stopped listening after 10 minutes because every sentence I could have written myself. I'm glad Sam keeps at it though.

[@cragjones1799]

@@adoxographer fair enough....

[@spiritualpolitics8205]

A more interesting question is why?

[@andyjackson3414]

No comment I've read so has mentioned anything specific. What, to you, is completely obvious?

[@fitmeals9577]

No starting music 😢. Great conversation.

[@solarnaut]

I've always hated that 'music' . . . for me, it brings images of the sky thundering down upon us . . . on 2nd thought, maybe we need it now more than ever ? :--o

[@peterbadami4872]

Yeah, it's real easy. Stop bending over backwards to try to appeal to barely 1% of the population, stop focusing on divisive problems like race and sexual orientation, and speak about unifying issues that benefit poor and middle-class people. Don't label half of the country Nazi Garbage (especially when you need many rural whites and right leaning independents to vote for you), and try to come off as normal, authentic, and human in podcast and interviews instead of elitist programed robot that can only speak in platitudes and word salads for 30 mins. The Democrats and DNC allowed a Billionaire that does not support unions or the welfare state to appear more relatable to working class people and the better perceived populist option. That's 100% on them!

[@lesilluminations1]

100% on the Democrats but 0% on the bigoted, hate-filled people who voted for Trump?

[@duewest1987]

Even easier: stop bending over backwards to create fake outrage over 1% of the population, like Ben Shapiro and other right wing pundits do on the regular. Nobody is less interested in uniting the poor and middle class than the right (their whole playbook is doing the opposite).

[@TisDana]

I agree about the fringe issues being the problem, but not your take on Sam using word salad.

[@transom2]

​@@TisDana Not Sam, but Dem pols like Kamala speaking Word Salad.

[@christopherc8563]

I agree with a sentiment. I just wanted to draw distinction between that focusing on these like device of issues and like abandoning minorities like a lot of democrats are advocating to do. We should protect people, That? Include the white working class who is falling into radicalization due to that behavior alienating them

[@ast453000]

The problem is not that the Left talks too much about race and gender. It's that that's all they talk about anymore. They need to get back to talking about class, where they can connect with the working class again. And you cannot protect race and gender without addressing economic class issues. The best way to protect marginalized groups is to address their economic insecurity. Make them economically secure, and they can defend themselves. Without economic security, all the DEI programs in the world won't help them. But try to suggest this to them and they immediately brand you as a racist/sexist "class reductionist." Okay fine, guys. Get used to losing.

[@MoreRonPleeze]

Exactly. Nicely put.

[@dermotmeuchner2416]

Class you commie! America will never breach the subject until collapse is imminent.

[@musicians_with_gunts]

Yeah, said like a true bigot!

[@GKEL18]

Yes not badly put. But this habit of putting all so called “Leftist” in one category is like every thing on -line these days. It’s a broad brush categorisation of everything into black and white. Id regard myself as a caring progressive so “Leftist”, but I certainly don’t talk endlessly on race or gender issues, but do point out when its the topic or when somebody is blatantly trying to cover-up their racism, bigotry or gender prejudice with fake arguments. Alternatively, like you’ve pointed out, I do talk and encourage others to talk about class as the main issue. Unlike others here I don’t think right wing conversation comes even close to this topic. And the Trump people here, you’ve been thoroughly hood-winked by his rhetoric in thinking he cares one iota about it either. He’s all about himself and wealth. Those that follow him, will all end up being the fodder going over the top when it comes to his fight for his dominion.

[@brianmeen2158]

There’s a good reason they don’t talk about class though

[@jesterlead]

I've been an Energy CEO for a long time and I can always tell when a person has never been in business. I have literally sat across from dozens of DJT "types" of CEO's with a lot of the same traits / characteristics. What every political pundit gets wrong is it is NOT about being authoritarian, it's about results and winning. "Oh, nobody likes him!" "Oh, there are NO stories that are positive about him!" "Oh, he fired 20 people on his team!". Yep, that is EXACTLY the same thing Steve Jobs, Jack Welch and Henry Ford did. Were they authoritarian fascists or only concerned with winning and results? You can literally replace DJT with Steve Jobs and have the exact same stories - yet, Steve is seen as a visionary leader, and as soon as that hits politics.....it's "Hitler era".

[@HAST0408]

Sam literally said he wasn’t going to talk about politics again anytime soon on his last show…

[@DUDEBroHey]

He's an addict just like I'm an addict checking the comment section of his most recent video every week.

[@alphie20]

He also says he’s tired of talking about race but I hear it in every interview.

[@HAST0408]

@ liberals like Sam don’t realize how many people they’ve pushed to the other side of the political spectrum. I bet Sam has been responsible for millions of Trump voters.

[@Spuzzmacher]

I hear a lot of tiptoeing around the unpopularity of the leftmost positions and language with the mainstream. I live in the country full of these vaunted normal, mainstream people. If you were more familiar with what is “mainstream” in this country, you’d realize the time for hemming and hawing over offensive language and race and history is over. We’re worried about offending them thinking we can lead them into a peaceful future. They’ve already chosen 40 years of equating you with satanic evil and now think a of mass murdering you is a divine rite. Hoping to not upset them bc they’re sensitive about language is deck chairs on the titanic. You will never get these people on your side. Appeasement is capitulation.

[@justinh.6683]

Sam is losing it for sure.

[@RealYRM]

I think it's the other way around. I went left BECAUSE of hard-core evangelicals, and I swung back to the right because of people who talk like you do in your post. You've become as extreme as the people you hate... and you hate them all universally, sight unseen, if they don't share almost all of your views. It used to be that extraordinary claims required extraordinary evidence, but the left provides zero evidence for many of it's extreme claims over the last decade. People who were very tolerant, and 'live-and-let-live' have shifted to voting for Trump because of stances like yours. I'd say, genuinely, that you, and people who feel like you do, helped get Trump elected.

[@Spuzzmacher]

@@RealYRM oh yeah totally. Ive become as extreme as them. They’re stockpiling ammunition talking about how they can’t wait to murder everyone and finally make their god happy replacing democracy with a medieval theocracy, and I’m saying that’s bad for the country. The BOTH SIDES EVERYONE, BOTH SIDES (aka everyone is crazy but me) is a convenient, lazy excuse for not being responsible for your own choices. The reason you sided with them is you saw what was on the table annd you chose it. No one else controlled your feeble mind and made you choose it.

[@Dr.EgonCholakian]

Video format is the best.

[@robwindsor6373]

Agreed. Never-mind the discussion...

[@simpletimes2819]

Sam i love this format! I like the waking up audio podcast as well. But having visuals like this in the more popular format will help you and us. Great guest by the way

[@WestPictures]

This would have been a good analysis for the Democrats to have....back in 2014

[@JackSchitt-p9t]

There is no danger if you do the post-mortem, but if you do the pre-mortem then you get kicked out of the party. Sam is a loyal Democrat.

[@alangil40]

@@JackSchitt-p9t Sam has been warning and speaking out against the "regressive left" since at least 2015 and was warning about the capture of institutions by intersectionality almost as soon as it happened in 2020. He is most assuredly not worried about being kicked out of any party.

[@RealYRM]

Democrats are like a football team that has 8 fumbles, 10 interceptions, 46 penalties, and spend the game screaming insults at the people in the crowd, but refusing to accept any blame for their loss. Democrats could simply put a product on the field, in this analogy, that the fans enjoy. In other words, make life equal or better for regular hard working humans... don't over do it catering to the extreme, unproductive crazies who have mental illness trading cards. For example, let's imagine life in California had become measurably better 6+ years ago when the Democrats got a super majority? Instead of life getting measurably worse in every category? Something like that could help...

[@jellyrcw12]

Sam has always held the line

[@davidfgranger]

It's a common meme now that people use the term 'woke' without knowing what it really means, but Sam sums it up perfectly here: Woke means having your reaction to any given situation governed by the identity categories of the people involved.

[@garychurch9237]

Supposedly being "governed" is what the right made it into. It never meant that until they demonized it that way.

[@ninjacats1647]

Woke is basically radical intersectionality without any sense of class consciousness what so ever. It is a divide and conquer strategy to divide people among race and gender rather than a big tent strategy that class consciousness would represent.

[@countdebleauchamp]

That's a component of wokeness, but in the larger sense it means more than that.

[@cowabungadude7408]

Woke is a polysemic term that contains multiple meanings. It contains a lot more than just identity politics.

[@brianmeen2158]

I personally don’t give a damn what they call this strange fixation on race/gender - let’s just find a term and stick with it lol

[@bradpirochta9293]

This guy is hard coping. Concerning identity politics, "We let it go too far." ??? You mean doubling down every time you're challenged about something eventually goes off the rails? Who would have thought? The only thing that prevented it from going further was the people voted. If Kamala won, the identity politics would still be flying.

[@JobVanDam]

Obama was president for 8 years and still they harp on about racism being a big issue in the country.

[@RealYRM]

The Left can NOT course correct. Most on the left can't even talk to anyone who disagrees, (at least without calling names). It's like a religion now... - Conspiracy theories, magical thinking & censorship remind me of 1980s bible thumpers. (Trump wasn't shot, a man in a dress IS magically a woman, censor everyone else) - Evidence of results are bad. California - 100% controlled by the left for over six years... homelessness, energy, water, crime, fires, cost of living? PROVEN FAILURE - DEI & wokeness is entitled women, ESTABLISHED, RICH white men, using bigotry (if you flip the gender/race ALL of DEI is a fire-able offense) to hurt OTHER poor, white men.

[@Freeupdayuts]

As a neuroscientist & person seemingly committed to science & social justice….it’s puzzling how you depict/describe those suffering from severe & persistent mental illness. It discredits you & your otherwise cogent positions.

[@DaboooogA]

This soft spoken man would re-woke if society turns in that direction.

[@a.i.8583]

He's a useful ideeyot

[@RealYRM]

I think people have finally reached the point where "woke" went so far around the bend and up it's own behind, that regular people have stopped being afraid to speak out against it... it's sort of like how, if your whole family was a bunch of whack-job bible thumpers, and you were afraid to say anything? But at some point, enough people in your family had enough, and started calling it out? Well, enough normal people are calling out the woke-DEI BS, that it's sending cowardly supporters back under their rocks. There's no actual logical argument that supports the woke world view, so all they can do is ad-hominem attacks and arguments from expertise and other fallacies.

[@walterhughes7763]

My god finding this channel and your discourse is the only thing independents have lol. I wish you the best. Keep doing the hard work to build a better world.

[@RealYRM]

Years ago I became an atheist because I couldn't live in the magical thinking and delusional thinking of the religious right anymore. Over the past 8 years, I've seen all the qualities of magical and delusional thinking I hated about the far right repeated by the far left woke cult. And on top of that, where Democrats have all the power, they are NOT achieving great results for the people who live there. I think the science experiment on leftism proves it doesn't work. California is like a petri dish to see if Democrats can make a better place to live when they get 100% of the power. They can't, and it's measurably, scientifically worse there than places like Texas or Florida.

[@antimale]

​@@RealYRM If you think "far left woke cult" and Nazis are in any way the same you are officially stupid.

[@blindtrace7220]

My cortisol levels are a little low, so im going to listen to sam harris talk politics

[@endoalley680]

I am a working class white man who suffered ACA Obamacare. Regardless of what Rush Limbaugh said as a joke about it, my excellent health insurance policy that I had for decades was dropped by my insurer shortly after implementation of ACA. The only policies that I qualified for after the inception of Obamacare were 400% more expensive monthly than my previous open market policy. The the deductible went up 500%. And for me, a hard working construction worker, health insurance was no longer an affordable option for nearly a decade. It is only recently that I, still working, can qualify for a Medicare policy. And once again have health insurance. My point being that this egalitarian system that Yglesias refers to was no such thing. ACA is a disaster for the people it was supposed to help. Joking or not joking Rush was quite right to criticize the Obamacare program. It has made healthcare obviously worse. ACA truly deserves the disparaging "Libtard policy" moniker that Rush, for all of his faults, gave it.

[@almcdonald8676]

I’m from the UK but the pain of a fellow working man transmits in your words, right to my soul

[@ast453000]

Nice, fact-free anecdote. Fact 1: the ACA currently has over a 60% approval rate. Look it up. It's overwhelmingly popular, despite Republicans doing everything they can to make it worse. Fact 2: 14% of the US population had no health insurance prior to the ACA. Now only 8% are without insurance. It virtually cut the uninsured rate by half. Fact 3: prior to the ACA there was no protection for people with pre-existing conditions. So people with pre-existing conditions basically couldn't get insurance at all. When people look into stories like yours, they always find that you had "junk insurance" plans. They didn't cost much because they basically didn't cover anything. Or you were very lucky if they covered what you needed. That's how the free market works. You don't get a lot for a little. Nevertheless, I agree that the ACA is garbage compared to what other countries have. So you should be in favor of universal Medicare for All or a public option that would cover everyone cradle to grave. Americans pay far more for healthcare than any other country, and have far worse health outcomes. Every other country has figured out how to do this. It's really not rocket science.

[@transom2]

​@@ast453000 Well stated. I doubt his story as well. It's unlikely.

[@endoalley680]

@@ast453000 How absurd. Nearly 60% of Americans with health insurance receive their insurance through their employer as a benefit. They are not purchasing individual private health insurance on the open market. And thus, they don't have a valid claim to appraise ACA either way. Since ACA does not effect their ability to have health insurance. 30% of Americans who are health insured receive their insurance through expanded Medicaid. Not ACA. They are not purchasing individual private health insurance policies at ACA market rates. Only a smaller percentage of Americans actually use the ACA individual health insurance program. Thus 60% of Americans are not ACA subscribers responding with their personal anecdotal opinions of ACA. I as a contractor always purchased my own individual policy. Obama could have created an expanded Medicare if he so chose without touching the very effective private health insurance market we once had. He chose not to do so. I suspect neither of the two of you who have thus commented purchase individual health insurance policies either. And so, it is the claims made by both of you that I doubt. Just more unsubstantiated troll opinions with no real-life experience. Unlike me who has enough real-life experience to burn.

[@endoalley680]

@@ast453000 "Nice, fact-free anecdote." . . . Fact. My monthly insurance policy premium went from about $325 before ACA to $1,2000 per month after Obamacare. My annual deductible went from $1,5000 before to $8,000 after. This is fact. This is in the skiburbia region of Western Colorado. No prior conditions. Perfectly healthy. I pass all my physicals with flying colors and to the amazement of my doctor.

[@bdarflinger]

Funny how just by hearing the sound of his voice, I can know his position on every subject

[@bernay8274]

Same here. I thought I was just being paranoid 😀

[@ksquine]

He certainly has a low-T voice, and face, and body. The perfect specimen of a Leftist adult male.

[@akp167]

Hahahahah that’s amazing

[@davidpenn1123]

Really enjoying these conversations between folks I’ve followed for years.

[@FoulBundy]

I love the video format

[@william9491]

Neither of these men have ever pissed standing up.

[@VectorOfKnowledge]

Says the dude who gets on his knees for billionaires to administer oral sex...

[@Bauks]

Thank you Sam.

[@alexiskiri9693]

Sam, Happy New Year 🙏🙏🙏May we all learn what we know when we know when were knowing and may we all come out into the light.

[@jessemaron1767]

I love this new format

[@joshuacornelius25]

This format has actually been around for some time now.

[@jgonsalk]

Great conversation! As an Australian of Sri Lankan background i can't wait for us to go back to NOT talking about race all the time. It's the absolute least interesting thing about me and if that's all you care about, then you're a racist, plain and simple. I also found this to be a good example of contrasting being precise with speech vs. trying to sound more sophisticated than you are. The embellishments in the guests turns of phrase are usually redundant. This is not a serious criticism, this is extremely common. Sam, on the other hand, finds a creative way of framing things so they are more compelling. There are times when he can be more concise but he uses his extensive vocabulary appopriately and the difference is vast.

[@ramzabeoulve9820]

I always assumed Matt had a deep voice based on his twitter profile picture.

[@justgivemethetruth]

14:50 - This framing of situations differently with race and gender and getting different results across the political spectrum was brilliant by Sam - he nailed it perfectly.

[@Czechuser]

anybody else noticed the high pitch of this guys voice?

[@MaxG-jk8ty]

It's called uptalk. Ends each sentence like It's a question. It's a very annoying trait. Not as bad as vocal fry but close.

[@Fingolfin69]

No, he also just has a very high-pitch voice. A bit like a SpongeBob character.

[@autumnstarrs]

The opposite with him. He begins his sentences with a high pitch then gets more fry sounding in the end. It's distracting. ​@MaxG-jk8ty

[@tomtom6319]

It's called gay

[@benqurayza7872]

​@@MaxG-jk8tyI hate it.

[@luigialfonsodiserio7009]

I enjoyed this episode of Making Sense immensely!! It is very insightful.

[@JamesSmith-sw3nk]

I lean very left and I would have probably voted not guilty in the Daniel Penny trial (NYC subway) but it did bother me, Daniel Penny is a big strong guy and he is trained in hand to hand combat. I am also big and strong and have a bit of training, what bothered me: You don't keep a choke on for 6 mins. As soon as someone goes out, you let them go. I would have let the violent guy go when he was out and the transitioned to an arm bar. The violent guy can't get out of it when he comes to, worse case is you break his arm or dislocate his elbow. The violent guy isn't getting up with a big guy having an arm bar on him. I actually fought a violent guy on a subway car who had a large knife. I was disgusted that NO ONE helped me (he was threatening women on the subway car) I managed to break his arm (from a standing position) just as the subway car stopped at the station. I was also exhausted at that point. "Crazy" people can have a lot of energy and they can feel pain differently. I pulled the emergency cord and security came and arrested the guy, he was known to them.

[@JackAShepherd]

Also, the NYC Subway is the great racial and socioeconomic equalizer... It's alllllllll about mental illness. I've been riding the subway regularly since I was 13, and the scariest person I've ever seen was a 20-Something Filipina woman who was screaming her face off and threatening everyone and popped a squat to pee... At least since crime declined in the '90s, schizophrenia or lack-of-schizophrenia is all that matters

[@loffel1700]

See I still disagree with you. You don't get to terrorize the public. Much like you don't get to say "fire" in a crowded theater if there isn't one, you don't get to issue threats upon people's lives. That's an escalation that calls for force to meet it. How do you know that once you let up even a little that they aren't going to get out and immediately weaponize their advantage over you, let alone at least try? How do you know that these people wouldn't themselves have any training? Not to mention if we incentivize young capable men to *not* step in out of fear of legal trouble, then all we'll get are people just simply recording horrendous attacks by deranged people with literally no one stepping in to intervene on anyone's behalf. Violence will become a spectator sport. Is this what we really want? And if your response is "well he shouldn't be killed over this" - I agree which is why he should've not done what he did. You can't expect that you can throw caution to the wind and that the good Samaritan will simply bear responsibility over your well-being in your stead. Ridiculous.

[@jsnx9067]

You know that he didn't die from the choke, right? right?

[@AlanDantes76]

Even the people on the train said he wasn't choking him. Do a little research.

[@JackAShepherd]

@ Why must there always be someone saying this... It's sooooo silly. Like how George Floyd didn't die from the knee on his neck or how Heather Heyer didn't die from being hit by that car... You Rightwingers expose yourselves...

[@fleafarts3576]

Why do ALL THESE LEFTY MEN SOUND SO DAMN BETTA?!!! Maybe start appealing to MEN again? I don’t know, that may help.

[@NakedCowboy123]

Who you calling a fish?! LMAO! Something about identity politics?! You don't need catered to, this blog is about education, not dominance.

[@mountainair]

Iglesias is articulate and insightful. Sam or Making Sense Team, why doesn't my Making Sense subscription acquired through your website not work for KZbin Members Only content? I want to watch on YT to help viewership numbers.

[@TheBradBradish]

Agreed. I can’t figure out what the approach is here. I have a membership to Making Sense and listen to it on Spotify. However, there are times I’m in front of a tv and wouldI rather have the video option. Do they expect me to pay for both platforms for essentially the same content?

[@karwashblark7499]

@@TheBradBradish I'm not sure that KZbin even offers the option for content creators to sync memberships in this way. If I sign up to Making Sense on Sam's website, I don't think KZbin has any way of knowing this and granting me that same access through their platform.

[@LeeWang-y9z]

I love the new video format, glad you upgraded to this. :]

[@Beretta249]

This might be Sam's least interesting interview ever. I pay for a Waking Up sub, I've listened to the full interview for 57 minutes now, and there is absolutely nothing of substance being said. This is interview what the weak, gutless middle ground sounds like. It's attempting to be "common sensical" and "bipartisan" and "compromise-first" and it's completely useless and worthless. Shockingly disappointing and vapid and devoid of conviction that isn't "why can't life just be more convenient again?"

[@transom2]

Milquetoast Matt

[@daveirvine609]

Please enlighten us with your point of view

[@lucerfarul]

Mad respect for you, Sam.

[@michaellust2030]

Prejudice, based on race, comes in more than one form. If one's assessment of a situation... who is right, who is wrong... depends on the perceived races of the participants in that situation, that sounds like racial prejudice to me. A given instance of this phenomenon may not feature the most destructive form... automatically assigning credit or blame, based on race, isn't the same as hustling people into cattle cars bound for Auschwitz... but it is still fundamentally irrational.

[@MississippiDevL]

Glad it is in video format. I think it will increase the number of people who listen/watch your content. Human connection matters.

[@MeshFrequency]

Paused the video and running to make some popcorn.

[@aaronscheuman]

I hope you made it back.

[@juanReflex37]

Sam Harris is the BEST!!

[@lachland592]

Tom Segura sounds really different nowadays

[@15walkingaway]

Sam should go on the YMH podcast. I wonder if he wears his jeans high and tight.

[@Daan-108]

How long has Sam producing video podcasts? I understand why it theoretically doesn't make much sense, but I love some video from time to time to feel more engaged, especially when I'm alone for a while.

[@carlatteniese2]

I agree that we have to stop signaling ‘ race ‘ in our discourse and politics - as anybody who knows me for the last decade knows that I’ve been writing about this and casting about it extensively. Equality can never come if we continue to divide ourselves into artificial groups that have no scientific basis, but pretend they are scientifically categorical. It’s one thing to refer to ethnicity, culture, nationality, religion and political faction - it’s another to pretend, biologically, that we are different- separated into “races”-which means subspecies. it’s categorically incorrect - and socially injurious.

[@mindlander]

So equality can come if we divide ourselves on a scientific basis?

[@mindlander]

What do you consider equality? I don't know who you are.

[@PoetlaureateNFDL]

Great interview Sam! 🎉

[@chrisocony]

Glad to see Sam talking with Matt because Sam slagged him off not that long ago, kind of assuming he was a knee jerk, even identitarian Democrat. And by that time, Matt had been to heterodox conferences and was catching a lot of flak from the left. But he still comes at it as a partisan Democrat so he's not really heterodox, but definitely very thoughtful.

[@jamsteroffthewheel4731]

"heterodox" means republican right?

[@liljinjar1268]

“I worked at Vox.” Everyone stands up and moves to a different table

[@chooseanamenow]

He offered 2 options there.. if Trump does poorly or okay.. he didn't even want to entertain the idea he might do well.. this says everything.. totally biased.. therefore not a reliable voice of reason..

[@xxcrysad3000xx]

Or he just knows more about Trump, his policies, and the political environment Trump's administration will have to operate in than you do, and places the probability of Trump actually doing well at a level too low to seriously entertain.

[@chooseanamenow]

@xxcrysad3000xx that is a very judgemental and ignorant reason to not entertain an idea.. it is extremely unwise to be so convinced of something that you don't entertain the possibilities.. only fools do that.. which many fools did/do over and over and over when it comes to Trump..

[@RealYRM]

It's hard to imagine that Trump would get worse results than Biden got, or worse results than a Democrat super-majority has achieved in California. While COVID was a once-in-a-century disaster that hurt the entire world, and Trump certainly made his share of mistakes, in general life was far better under Trump. Democrats have become so hateful and illogical, and don't get good results for regular working people, that even if Trump is a bit of a nut-job, he's still better than the Democrats. In fact, if Joe Biden had just done "OK" then Trump couldn't have won this election against anyone. He might not even have won the primary, if immigration and inflation and WW3 risk was under control.

[@Observe411]

Video format so much better!

[@MrBradogg]

Good to see Sam talking to someone who finally figured it out. Totally unlike Sam himself. Stay oblivious Sam you’re my hero.

[@Tyler-k2o]

Weve got video now!!!

[@ReyAndreano]

Very good Sir Sam Harris ⭐

[@AG-ur1lj]

Sam has resting skeptic face. His eyebrow is literally stuck being permanently arched.

[@scarletsletter4466]

I ❤ Yglesias! So happy to see the 2 of you having a thoughtful convo

[@JamesKonzek-xr5zy]

Sam would make a better president than anybody.

[@basedcentrist3056]

It shouldn't take 15 years to realize this really obvious shit

[@MutatedPizzaBoi]

Econmoic populism is the major course correction. But all you hear is woke culture.

[@daniellove162]

When the Democratic Party (obviously both parties) is so dependent on donations from very wealthy donors, economic populism would scare them off. Talking about identitarianism on the other hand is a great way to wear your virtue on your sleeve without scaring off those donors.

[@okay3506]

sam nailed it at 21:25 when he talks about racial inequality and wealth in black Americans. he is actually open and very objective in many issues except Israel.

[@tpearl109]

So when trump’s campaign make “blacks for trump” “women for trump” “Latinos for trump” posters for their rallies, that’s not identity politics

[@JackSchitt-p9t]

Why do you think they do that?

[@gigicolada]

Because it isn’t disparaging another race/gender in the process. Not that they don’t do it. They do, obviously, but in this example, signs are pretty innocuous compared to the hate I see from the far left lately. The left has been putting down men/whites/and straight women for a while now. Calling a woman “birthing person” is not a good look, but the far left is happy to do it.

[@BrianHoff04]

@@JackSchitt-p9t Why do you not think it. The signs literally identify a group.

[@shishkabobby]

It is Kabuki theatre, imo.

[@IRGhost0]

it's just to counter the idea that Trump is against them somehow, which of course he's not.

[@thesubhumancomedy]

Always interesting. Always something new, Thank you.

[@apokatastasian2831]

Can the left course correct? -brought to you by a blindfold and a brick on the gas pedal

[@scottt725]

We all have EV's so there is no gas pedal. Please clarify your mediocre snarky remark.

[@occamsblunderbuss]

@@scottt725 Basically, the morons in the Democract party have not learned any lessons from the trouncing they received from Trump and MAGA, and I for one am here for it. The Democrats utterly disgust me and they're going to have to do something radically normal in order for me to consider voting for them ever again. I voted for Trump because the left has become repugnant, authoritarian, hateful, spiteful and fascistic.

[@slow88LX]

😂😂😂

[@RealYRM]

The Left can NOT course correct. Most on the left can't even talk to anyone who disagrees, (at least without calling names). It's like a religion now... - Conspiracy theories, magical thinking & censorship remind me of 1980s bible thumpers. (Trump wasn't shot, a man in a dress IS magically a woman, censor everyone else) - Evidence of results are bad. California - 100% controlled by the left for over six years... homelessness, energy, water, crime, fires, cost of living? PROVEN FAILURE - DEI & wokeness is entitled women, ESTABLISHED, RICH white men, using bigotry (if you flip the gender/race ALL of DEI is a fire-able offense) to hurt OTHER poor, white men.

[@ryansamuel8835]

The problem is you think you are superior for being out of touch. It’s this game of “I am trying to process your crazy ideas” when the reality is “I’ve never thought about it like this before because I live in an information opinion bubble”. Don’t put so much effort into maintaining your image of smart guy if you haven’t been exposed to all the ideas and been able to decide for yourself which side you are on.

[@RealYRM]

What is an example of an argument or idea that you think is good, that they haven't been exposed to, that they should believe, that would put them on one side or the other?

[@danielwnorowski2553]

One problem among left-leaning progressives is speaking in terms that common people have no way of understanding or relating; retired doctor speaking. They may have some good and even necessary ideas for our chaotic society, but they have profound difficulties in explaining these concepts and messages in “plain speak”.

[@RealYRM]

Other problems that these progressives have are that very few academic leftists consider cause/effect when talking about their plans to make the world better. Human nature is to want to compete, to want to have freedom to thrive or fail, to not be forced to think or do a lot of things. Consider Daryl Davis, 60+ black jazz musician, who has de-programmed hundreds of racist members of the KKK by simply talking to them as humans. Davis wanted to be seen as a fellow human, so his logical position translated to actual racists. But progressives? Results of progressive programs are HORRIBLE. Their ideas don't hold up logically - magical thinking that ignores human nature.

[@PolynesianPrince97]

Love the video format. Great vid Sam.

[@LauraB-v7b]

I am so happy to see this step, the centrist such as myself, had to move right, because the left has basically fallen of the ledge. Today, I’m happy with the abrupt course correction. That being said, I am cautiously concerned about the far right lunacy that can creep in, tilting to a deep ideology into a religious drive into government. As a Christian, I do not want sects that don’t align with my beliefs, bring the right over that ledge.

[@PoetryBirdsFly]

Dear Mr. Harris. I just discovered that you and your family have been living in Los Angeles.... I wish you all strength to cope with this disaster.

[@angryeric2961]

He voted for the Fire 🔥

[@gskills55]

This guy said the phrase "ya know" about 500 times in a half hour, and now that you've read this you're not gonna be able to unhear it. Sorry. He has the exact same speaking mannerisms as Ezra Klein.

[@jeffg4570]

Time to call 1-800-Toastmasters!

[@financialtrader3435]

Sammy, please do all the podcasts in video

[@jerrysmith5782]

5:00 The current Democratic Party is so objectionable to me that I voted for Trump, on the slim chance that it would compel the Democratic Party to become more centrist by 2026/2028. I'm not holding my breath, however...more likely that Trump will overplay his hand, and then the Democratic Party won't need to become more centrist.

[@scarletsletter4466]

Yea I’m a lifelong Dem as well, & Latina, but Harris was the worst candidate in my lifetime. She’s a flip-flopper who lied to women by pretending she can “codify Roe v Wade”

[@williambartholmey5946]

WTF. More centrist? We need more Bernies, not more Joe Manchins.

[@FrankOlivo-m1e]

Donald Trump literally said in an interview that he didn't know if Kamala was black or Indian. He said she's black one day and East Indian the next. Kamala literally said nothing in response. Yet the Democrats campaigned on identity politics. Same goes for trans issues. I don't think I heard Kamala mention trans issues once. However, trans issues were Trump's most successful add that he ran.

[@joshuacornelius25]

Kamala was the leader of the Democratic party which has been highjacked by far left looney activists. As the leader of that party, she owned all the baggage as well. To pretend otherwise is the height of intellectual dishonesty and is precisely why Trump won the popular vote. If the left keeps making these vacuous excuses they will continue to loose.

[@Alexxf35]

Candidates are judged for more than just what they said during their campaign.

[@danielwnorowski2553]

Trump knows tribal politics of fear and hatred still work, and probably always will for voters who are Homo sapiens.

[@coryhebert2070]

​@brian5001 maybe if you stop watching the MSM in general you will get a more accurate view of the country. Doesn't matter if you watch CNN, MSNBC, or FOX you will be lied too. You need to watch independent media that don't have an agenda

[@FrankOlivo-m1e]

@@Alexxf35 Ok sure…but voting based on what you say in your campaign, should be how a candidate is judged moving forward. It’s why they have a campaign to begin with.

[@gobabawonan2199]

Sticking to subtitles for this one

[@mauricedoniphan8982]

It is easy for those who are at the top of our racial caste system to tell others who are not, to stop focusing on “race” when it doesn’t affect their own lives in any meaningful way.

[@Merriwether-w8k]

I agree

[@UNDERDOG18UNDERDOG18]

Stop Jussie Smollett ing up racial division

[@TheDuquette1]

I always enjoy watching videos of "intellectuals" making obvious points they should have made years ago. (Talking about Matt, not Sam)

[@Krestshinable]

Matt Yglesias twitter is just an endless stream of false dilemma fallacies. Another social media personality that has found a shtick that garners ad revenue.

[@alienígena-e1p]

And are we surprised to find him on Sam's podcast along with all the other drones of the same ilk he's been showcasing in his echo chamber?

[@tylerjaynes9226]

It’s hard to put a finger on it but I enjoy this podcast a bit more when video wasn’t part of the equation. There’s something about pure audio that makes it feel more authentic. I don’t have the words to explain it. All I’m saying is, the making sense podcast was/is amazing just the way it was without video. Doesn’t matter either way, an observation only

[@garychurch9237]

Disappointed in this interview. Shut it off at 11:35.

[@transom2]

Matt is milquetoast

[@MrDyldoBaggins]

100% agree with Matt's comment on race & ethnicity

[@jonq8714]

It's not the left that needs to course correct, it's the take no stances other than give the donor class all they want moderates that need to course correct. THEY NEED TO CHANGE, not the left.

[@mindlander]

The left doesn't vote, so why should anyone give a shit what they want?

[@MoreRonPleeze]

I partially agree. There's some segments of the left that I find pretty cringe inducing, but yeah, you're correct about establishment Dems needing to think bigger. And get the fckn $$ out of politics!

[@mangaas]

The intellectual heavyweight, Sam Harris!

[@joshuacornelius25]

He's married.

[@hofdass]

23:54 "Poor kids are just as bright as white kids."

[@SaintKines]

Sounds like someone was assuming that white kids are all above the poverty line

[@stewy0013]

Love the podcasts. One suggestion: change the lighting used for Sam.

[@johnstewart7025]

Sam is endorsing class focused programs that help the poor. LBJ had a name for that: The Great Society. Thomas Sowell and his ilk call that "communism."

[@chrisocony]

I feel so bad for the numerous billionaires, and multi-millionaires, and the Fortune 500 Companies, that have been laboring for 60 years in this wretched Communist society that also happens to be the wealthiest country on earth.

[@matthewjohnston1400]

Thomas Sowell is correct.

[@tpearl109]

I agree. If the democrats say they’re class focused then they’ll be called radical socialist communist Marxist.

[@benadams1826]

Shocked when Sam said “some random CEO”. Random, really? Whoa.

[@TheBruceKeller]

I think we've gotten too big. Need to have more states' rights instead of a big central government. All the countries we admire have one thing in common, they have populations much smaller than the US as a whole, which then makes their politicians much more accountable. I think once you get much more above Japan's population, it becomes difficult to really hold leaders accountable and the power becomes too much for corruption to not take hold. Actually even with 'just' 125 million, it's kind of amazing how Japan is able to keep things pretty fair, I think a lot of that just speaks to their culture. Probably another much more controversial reason too, but don't want to get into that one lol.

[@mindlander]

I think most people are good with California being its own country, whether you live here or not. America would suffer, but fuck em.