Practices of Hope: Antidotes to Confusion, Cynicism and Nihilism, with Curt Thompson and David French

Practices of Hope: Antidotes to Confusion, Cynicism and Nihilism, with Curt Thompson and David French

From Trinity Forum Conversations by The Trinity Forum

July 21, 2026 · 26 min · Season 13 · Episode 146

About this episode

Curt Thompson and David French discuss practices of hope as antidotes to confusion, cynicism, and nihilism.

We are subjected to the temptations of confusion, cynicism, and nihilism like never before. So many pressures, including new ones, seemingly by the day, push us in these directions. What formative things can we do to help ourselves and our society be a part of a hopeful story instead? Two of our Trinity Forum Senior Fellows, psychiatrist Curt Thompson and columnist David French, come from different disciplines, but in this episode, they provide complementary insights into the hopeful practices of thought and action we're all looking for. This episode was recorded live at the 2025 gathering of the Trinity Forum Senior Fellows in Washington, DC, which was convened with the generous support of the John Templeton Foundation. The moderator is Trinity Forum President Cherie Harder. Go deeper into the topics discussed with these Trinity Forum Readings: The Federalist Papers (with an introduction by David French) The Purchase of a Soul by Victor Hugo Politics, Morality, & Civility by Václav Havel On Friendship by Marcus Tullius Cicero

People in this episode

Host: Cherie Harder

Guests: Curt Thompson, David French

Topics covered

Keywords

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Trinity Forum, John Templeton Foundation

Books & works: The Federalist Papers, The Purchase of a Soul, Politics, Morality, & Civility, On Friendship

Places: Washington, DC

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