This is a compilation of transcripts from the podcast of the same name.

The main subjects covered in this book: a look at consciousness, questioning the nature of humanity, Artificial Intelligence, and happiness vs suffering. There were some aspects of the book that I really found fascinating and which I thought about long after I had read them. However, much of it came across as rather preachy and pompous which was a major turnoff and had me rolling my eyes. Additionally, a lot of the same ground was covered again and again and it felt rather repetitive.

Another big gripe: All of the guests featured in this book are men! Am I meant to believe that there are no women who are experts in these fields that could have been consulted and interviewed? This is already a somewhat niche interest and it doesn't make a lot of sense alienating your readership straight out of the gate by only featuring one gender. [Note: This is perhaps a contributing factor to why I felt rather insulted and patronized.]

I liked this overall. I haven't heard Harris' podcast but heard of him. This is a book for "thinkers" and contains a wide range of conversations from deep thinkers (some deeper than others). It's little disappointing in that the discussions often touch on subjects without doing a deep dive, so it can be unsatisfying. However, readers will likely still learn something or get another perspective. Those with an interest in philosophy may enjoy this the most, but anyone that wants to expand their horizons may also like it.

I really appreciate the ARC for review.

I should have read the description better - didn’t realize this was essentially interview transcripts. Somewhat disappointed because I love SH and his philosophy on life and learning. .

I've never listened to Harris' podcast (I tend to lean towards reading content rather than listening to it), but the topics broached in this book were fascinating. To be completely honest, I'm sure some of the information went over my head - I am not a philosopher, and one of my gripes with this book is that I don't think it's user friendly for the vast majority. I took philosophy courses in college which give me some background to speak of, but there were many concepts and thought processes that were discussed in this book without being properly introduced, in my opinion. I also felt it was a little bit strange to be essentially reading a transcript of his podcast. I thought there would be additional content (and there were little intros at the beginning of each chapter, but they didn't really flesh out the topics being discussed, and I think that could've been valuable). Maybe this is the type of book that's meant to only be fully enjoyed by those with a deeper background in philosophy, I don't know, but I was ultimately disappointed by how little I got from it. I am so interested in the topics of conversation in this book, they're things I discuss and contemplate regularly, but I repeatedly felt like a child trying to keep up with an adult conversation - and that is NOT something I'm used to. That being said, while it was a challenge, I did learn at least one thing from each chapter, I just wish it had been less of a struggle and more of a conversation including the reader rather than one where I constantly felt one step behind. This book is called Making Sense, but I don't know that it made enough sense of itself to be a truly enjoyable experience for most readers.

This is basically a transcription of various interviews from Sam Harris' podcast. Don't get me wrong, I loved many of the topics discussed and experts featured here, but was disappointed that it seemed to be a monetization opportunity for his platform, rather than offering readers something new or innovative that they don't already get from his audio cast.