- Economics
- Middle East
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- Politics, Institutions, and Public Opinion
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- Answering Challenges to Advanced Economies
- Revitalizing History
Six months into a stage-four pancreatic cancer diagnosis that gave him 90 days to live, Ben Sasse sits down with EconTalk's Russ Roberts for a conversation that refuses easy comfort. The former US senator and University of Florida president is candid about his physical challenges but the heart of this exchange is elsewhere: what actually matters when time is short. Sasse reflects on faith and mortality, the "shattering of idols" like his own workaholism, and his pride in his marriage. Along the way, he offers sharp diagnoses of Congress's abdication of responsibility, the crisis inside American universities, and a republic distracted by the "digital casino" in its pocket. Funny, unflinching, and deeply human, it closes with a meditation on raging against the dying of the light while walking with your head bowed.
Listen to the episode here.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Ben Sasse is a former US senator from Nebraska and former president of the University of Florida. He represented Nebraska in the Senate from 2015 to 2023, after previously serving as president of Midland University and as an assistant secretary in the US Department of Health and Human Services. A native of Nebraska, Sasse earned his bachelor’s degree from Harvard University, a master’s degree from St. John’s College, and a PhD from Yale University.
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