Welcome to the Making Sense Podcast. This is Sam Harris. Just a note to say that if you're

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Today I'll be speaking with Joshua Oppenheimer, a filmmaker who has made two mesmerizing

films, the act of killing and the look of silence. And as you'll hear from this interview,

I am quite odd by his achievement. He has managed to make films about genocide that are harrowing,

as you would expect, but also remarkably beautiful. And he's created a kind of moral laser with

both of these projects. And it just focuses the relevant emotions of outrage and compassion

in a way that I haven't experienced before in film. As I say at the outset of this interview,

I consider both of these films masterpieces. I highly recommend that you see them if you haven't.

I think you'll be able to enjoy our conversation whether or not you've seen them, but this should

really be a goad to go straight to a movie theater to see the look of silence and to go online

to see the director's cut of the act of killing, which you can see on Netflix. But other than that,

I hope you enjoy this conversation with Joshua Oppenheimer. He's a recent recipient of the MacArthur

quote, genius award, which if you've seen the films, you will recognize is richly deserved.

So without further ado, I'll give you Joshua Oppenheimer.

Hey Joshua, how you doing?

I'm very good. Thanks for having me. Thanks for coming on the podcast. Listen, are you sitting down?

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