#488 — Ego, Ecstasy, and Equanimity

In a rare role reversal, Sam Harris is the one answering questions as Neal Brennan interviews him about the experiences that shaped his life and work. The conversation ranges from Harris's childhood—his mother's television career and absent father—to college-era experimentation with MDMA, dropping out of Stanford, and the decade of meditation retreats that followed. Later turns touch on the illusion of self, the limits of pacifism, the pull of spiritual charisma, and Harris's decision to delete Twitter, all woven into a broader reflection on politics, hypocrisy, and the future of American democracy.