Sam Harris speaks with Peter Bergen about the US exit from Afghanistan, the resurgence of the Taliban, and his new book, "The Rise and Fall of Osama bin Laden." They discuss the Neo-isolationist consensus on the Right and Left, the legitimacy of our initial involvement in Afghanistan, our ethical obligations to our Afghan allies, Biden's disastrous messaging, the weakness of the Afghan army, the advantages of the Taliban, the implications for global jihadism, the relationship between the Taliban and al-Qaeda, how Osama bin Laden came to lead al-Qaeda, bin Laden's sincere religious convictions, our failure to capture bin Laden at Tora Bora, the distraction of the war in Iraq, the myth that the CIA funded al-Qaeda, bin Laden's wives, his years of hiding in Pakistan, his death at the hands of US Special Forces, and other topics. If the Making Sense podcast logo in your player is BLACK, you can SUBSCRIBE to gain access to all full-length episodes at samharris.org/subscribe. Learning how to train your mind is the single greatest investment you can make in life. That's why Sam Harris created the <a href="http://wakingup.com/">Waking Up</a> app. From rational mindfulness practice to lessons on some of life's most important topics, join Sam as he demystifies the practice of meditation and explores the theory behind it.

Episode details and artwork are published by the show’s own feed. Sentinel plays short cited excerpts and links every episode back to its publisher.

← All episodes from Sam Harris

#258 — The Fall of Afghanistan

Search the Record

Sam Harris Episodes Around August 23, 2021

#245 — Can We Talk About Scary Ideas?

#246 — Police Training & Police Misconduct

#247 — Constructing Minds

Special Episode: Engineering the Apocalypse

#248 — Order & Freedom

#249 — Distance & Arrival

#250 — Broken Conversations

#251 — Corporate Cowardice

#252 — Are We Alone in the Universe?

#253 — Corporate Courage

#254 — The Mating Strategies of Earthlings

#255 — The Future of Intelligence

#256 — A Contagion of Bad Ideas

Ask Me Anything #17

#257 — The State of the World

#258 — The Fall of Afghanistan

#259 — The Reckoning to Come

#260 — The Second Plane

Ask Me Anything #18

Absolutely Mental Season Two

#261 — Belief & Identity

#262 — The Future of American Democracy

#263 — The Paradox of Death

#264 — Consciousness and Self (Rebroadcast)

#265 — The Religion of Anti-Racism

#266 — The Limits of Pleasure

#267 — The Kingdom of Sleep

#268 — The Limits of Self-Knowledge

#269 — Deep Time

#270 — What Have We Learned from the Pandemic?

#271 — Earning to Give

Summary