In this episode of the podcast, Sam Harris speaks with Jonathan Haidt about the maintenance of a healthy society. They discuss the problem of orthodoxy, the history of political polarization in the US, the breakdown of public conversation, remaining uncertainty about Covid-19, motivated reasoning, the 2020 election, the future prospects for Gen Z, the effect of social media on the mental health of girls, Jonathan’s experience with psychedelics, positive psychology, loss of self, the experience of awe, and other topics.

Jonathan Haidt is the Thomas Cooley Professor of Ethical Leadership at New York University’s Stern School of Business. In his work as a social psychologist, he uses research on moral psychology to help people understand each other and to help important social institutions work better. He is the co-developer of Moral Foundations theory, and of the research site YourMorals.org. He also co-founded Ethical Systems to help companies improve their ethical cultures, Heterodox Academy to help universities improve their ability to pursue truth, and the OpenMind Platform to help all groups function better in an era of rampant and destructive political polarization. He is the author of The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom and The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion. His latest book (with Greg Lukianoff) is The Coddling of the American Mind: How good intentions and bad ideas are setting a generation up for failure.

Website: jonathanhaidt.com

Twitter: @JonHaidt