A Conversation With Ben Sasse

In a culture shaped by distraction, anxiety, and constant noise, how do we focus on what matters most?

In this special episode, we're sharing a conversation from a recent Trinity Forum event featuring Ben Sasse—former U.S. Senator, university president, husband, and father. Following a terminal cancer diagnosis, Ben has embraced a new vocation: helping us think more clearly about the questions that matter most, and the things that endure.

In this conversation with Cherie Harder, our Trinity Forum president who’s known him since their undergrad days at Harvard, Ben joins a room full of family, friends, and colleagues to reflect on mortality, friendship, family, faith, and the kind of attention required for a flourishing life.

What follows is a lightly edited version of that conversation. If you'd like to watch the full video of the interview, you can find a link to the YouTube livestream here.

Recommended Trinity Forum Readings

• Democracy in America by Alexis de Tocqueville (with an introduction by Ben Sasse)
• Brave New World by Aldous Huxley 
• The Federalist Papers
• The Origins of Totalitarianism by Hannah Arendt

Here are Cherie and Ben from the live recording at National Community Church in Washington, DC: