Sam Harris

In 2004 he published his first book, The End of Faith, arguing that in the presence of weapons of mass destruction humanity can no longer expect to survive its religious differences indefinitely, and that religious “moderation” is itself dangerous because accommodating faith blinds us to its role in perpetuating conflict.⁠[1]

Reviews were divided: The Economist credited the breadth of its analysis, David Honigmann in the Financial TimesFinancial TimesThe Financial Times (FT) is a London-based English-language business and financial news organization, known for its salmon-pink newspaper and its motto “Without Fear and Without Favour.” It was owned successively by the British Pearson group and Japan’s Nikkei Inc., and today digital subscriptions are its main source of revenue.Open the full entry said its central case might apply equally to the book itself, and Daniel Lazare in The Nation faulted the author’s feel for politics and history.⁠[2]

The book became a New York Times bestseller.⁠[3]

The book earned him a place alongside Richard DawkinsRichard DawkinsRichard Dawkins is a British evolutionary biologist and science writer whose 1976 book The Selfish Gene set out a gene-centred view of evolution and coined the word meme; he was the first Simonyi Professor of the Public Understanding of Science at the University of Oxford from 1995 to 2008 and, through books such as The God Delusion, became a prominent advocate of atheism.Open the full entry, Christopher Hitchens and Daniel Dennett as one of the “Four Horsemen” of New Atheism.⁠[4]

The End of Faith won the 2005 PEN Award for Nonfiction; his work has been published in more than 20 languages.⁠[5]

After receiving a torrent of argumentative mail from Christians over The End of Faith, he wrote Letter to a Christian Nation in 2006; reviewing it in Christianity Today, David Aikman noted that he is even harsher on Islam and that many historians would dispute his linking of Hitler’s crimes to Christianity.⁠[3]

He earned a degree in philosophy from Stanford UniversityStanford UniversityStanford University is a research university in California founded by Leland and Jane Stanford in 1885 and opened in 1891.Open the full entry and, in 2009, a doctorate in neuroscience from the University of California, Los Angeles.⁠[6]

On October 1, 2009, he was lead author, with UCLA colleagues, of a PLOS ONE paper using fMRI to compare brain activity in fifteen committed Christians and fifteen nonbelievers as they evaluated religious and nonreligious statements, finding that the difference between belief and disbelief appears to be content-independent.⁠[7]

His 2010 book The Moral Landscape argues that objective moral truths exist and that morality should be considered an undeveloped branch of science; reviewing it in The New York Review of Books, H. Allen Orr noted that the project must contend with a long tradition holding that facts can never justify values.⁠[6]

On January 29, 2011, he published a long reply to critics that discussed Kwame Anthony Appiah’s review and Colin McGinn’s objection that one cannot derive an ought from an is, and set out to answer the strongest criticisms.⁠[8]

On March 6, 2012, he published the short book Free Will, arguing that free will is an illusion because our seemingly chosen actions result from chains of causes over which we have no ultimate control; Kirkus Reviews called it provocative enough to arouse outrage and rebuttals and described him as co-founder of Project Reason.⁠[9]

On September 9, 2014, Simon & Schuster published his Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion, which argues that the conventional sense of self is an illusion and that spirituality largely consists of ridding oneself of it; Kirkus Reviews predicted criticism from both scientific and religious camps.⁠[10]

On December 31, 2014, astrophysicist Adam Frank reviewed the book on NPR.⁠[11]

In October 2014, on Real Time with Bill Maher, he argued that criticism of Islam was being conflated with bigotry toward Muslims; actor Ben Affleck countered that this stereotyped more than a billion non-fanatical Muslims by painting the whole religion with the same brush, calling his remark “ugly.”⁠[12]

His podcast was selected by Apple as one of iTunes’ Best of 2015.⁠[5]

On October 6, 2015, Islam and the Future of Tolerance: A Dialogue, written with Maajid Nawaz, a former Islamist and co-founder of the counter-extremism group Quilliam, was published; Kirkus Reviews called the exchange civil and marked by mutual respect.⁠[13]

Publishers Weekly found that while Harris directed the conversation, Nawaz gave it shape with nuanced analysis; a review in openDemocracy judged that the book fails to convince.⁠[14][15]

He had earlier hosted The Bell Curve co-author Charles Murray on his podcast in an episode titled “Forbidden Knowledge,” saying he did so because Murray had been shouted down at Middlebury College; in March 2018 Vox’s Ezra KleinEzra KleinEzra Klein is an American journalist, columnist and podcast host who founded the Wonkblog vertical at the Washington Post, co-founded the explanatory news site Vox in 2014, and since 2021 has been an opinion columnist at The New York Times and host of The Ezra Klein Show. He wrote Why We’re Polarized and co-wrote Abundance with Derek Thompson.Open the full entry criticized the conversation.⁠[16]

In April 2018 the two held a conversation released in full: Harris argued the criticism was a moral panic driven by identity politics, while Klein argued that contemporary IQIQIQ is a blockchain project that grew out of the online encyclopedia Everipedia. It runs IQ.wiki, an encyclopedia of blockchain and crypto assets, and launched the IQ token in Seoul in 2018; in 2025, IQ and Frax launched KRWQ, a stablecoin pegged to the South Korean won.Open the full entry results are inseparable from the past and present of racism in America and that the discussion lacked expert voices from affected communities.⁠[17]

In 2018 he founded the Waking Up meditation app to extend the ideas of his book Waking Up; the company says it donates at least 10% of its profits to effective charities. He says he has practiced meditation for over 30 years, studying with Tibetan, Indian, Burmese and Western teachers.⁠[18]

On June 5, 2019, he discussed Conscious, the new book by his wife, the author Annaka HarrisAnnaka HarrisAnnaka Harris is an author and an editor and consultant for science writers specializing in neuroscience and physics; she wrote the bestseller Conscious: A Brief Guide to the Fundamental Mystery of the Mind and wrote and produced the audio documentary on consciousness Lights On, and has long taught mindfulness to children.Open the full entry, on Making Sense episode 159.⁠[19]

He appeared on episode 185 of the Lex FridmanLex FridmanLex Fridman is a Soviet-born, US-raised computer scientist and podcast host who works as an MIT research scientist on human-AI interaction and autonomous driving. His Lex Fridman Podcast is known for hours-long conversations with guests including heads of state and technology leaders.Open the full entry Podcast, whose description calls him an author, podcaster and philosopher; topics included where thoughts come from, consciousness, psychedelics, the nature of reality, free will, ego, AI, UFOs, Brazilian jiu-jitsu and love.⁠[20]

In August 2022, on the TRIGGERnometry podcast, he said he would not have cared what was on Hunter Biden’s laptop; the clip went viral and sparked controversy. He later said many people had not watched the whole clip, and that anyone who cared about the laptop because it suggested corruption by Joe Biden should care more about the corruption known to be true of Donald Trump.⁠[4]

In November 2022, days after criticizing Elon MuskElon MuskElon Musk is an entrepreneur who founded SpaceX and has long served as chief executive of Tesla; he also took part in creating PayPal, OpenAI, Neuralink, The Boring Company, and xAI. He acquired Twitter in 2022, and his businesses span spaceflight, electric vehicles, energy, artificial intelligence, and social media.Open the full entry’s reinstatement of Donald Trump’s account, he deleted his own Twitter account.⁠[21]

He returned for episode 365 of the Lex Fridman Podcast, discussing empathy and reason, Donald Trump, the military-industrial complex, Twitter, COVID, Kanye West, platforming, Joe RoganJoe RoganJoe Rogan is an American podcaster, stand-up comedian and UFC commentator whose long-form interview podcast The Joe Rogan Experience, launched in 2009, is among the most listened-to podcasts in the world; he hosted the NBC reality show Fear Factor, and his show’s content and political statements have repeatedly drawn controversy.Open the full entry, Bret Weinstein, Elon Musk, artificial intelligence, UFOs and free will.⁠[22]

As of October 2026 he describes himself as a neuroscientist, philosopher, New York Times best-selling author, host of Making Sense and creator of Waking Up.⁠[23]

He and his wife, Annaka Harris, have two children.⁠[24]

Personal website: Public link: https://www.samharris.org/ (opens in a new window)⁠[22]

YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is Google’s video-sharing and creator platform, founded in 2005 by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim and acquired by Google in 2006. Built around video uploading, viewing, and creator earnings, the platform has developed Shorts, YouTube Music, Premium, YouTube TV, and products for children, and is headquartered in San Bruno, California, United States.Open the full entry: Public channel: https://www.youtube.com/@samharrisorg (opens in a new window)⁠[22]

Waking Up: Official website: https://www.wakingup.com/ (opens in a new window)⁠[22]