About this episode

Ben Sasse discusses mortality, friendship, family, and faith in a conversation reflecting on what matters most in life.

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…

People in this episode

Host: Cherie Harder

Guest: Ben Sasse

Topics covered

• mortality
• friendship
• family
• faith
• attention
• flourishing life

Keywords

• Ben Sasse
• Cherie Harder
• mortality
• faith
• friendship
• flourishing life
• Trinity Forum

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Trinity Forum

Books & works: Democracy in America, Brave New World, The Federalist Papers, The Origins of Totalitarianism

Places: Harvard, Washington, DC

More episodes of Trinity Forum Conversations

• What Does Citizenship Require of Us? with Russell Moore · September 4, 2026 · 52 min
• Bringing Meaning to Your Work, with Barry Rowan · August 18, 2026 · 47 min
• Baptizing Our Imaginations, with Mia Chung and Malcolm Guite · August 4, 2026 · 34 min
• Practices of Hope: Antidotes to Confusion, Cynicism and Nihilism, with Curt Thompson and David French · July 21, 2026 · 26 min
• Beauty + Justice: Why We Need Both, with Makoto and Haejin Fujimura · July 7, 2026 · 57 min
• Cultivating Christian Resilience · June 23, 2026 · 47 min

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Trinity Forum Conversations podcast page.