How would you live if you knew when you were going to die? I sat down with the former Republican senator Ben Sasse to hear how he is facing his own mortality after receiving a terminal cancer diagnosis. For Sasse, cancer brings pain, but also clarity, sharpening his focus on the state of our politics, his wife and three children, and the God he expects to shortly meet.

0:00 - Intro
01:51 - Ben Sasse’s terminal diagnosis
07:14 - Oncology navigation and clinical trials
16:10 - Sasse’s career in the Senate and reflections on politics
32:55 - What could a civic-minded Senator achieve?
38:15 - Reforming academia and liberal arts
54:49 - Facing mortality: The “final enemy”
59:27 - Advice for the living
1:01:10 - The “prayer of pancreatic cancer”

(A full transcript of this episode is available on the Times website.)

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Ben Sasse on How to Live While Dying

Interesting Times with Ross Douthat