Ben Sasse on How to Live While Dying

本·萨瑟谈如何面对死亡而生

Interesting Times with Ross Douthat

2026-04-09

1 小时 7 分钟
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单集简介 ...

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.) Thoughts? Email us at interestingtimes@nytimes.com. Please subscribe to our YouTube Channel, Interesting Times with Ross Douthat. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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  • I'm Dane Brugler.

  • I cover the NFL draft for The Athletic.

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  • From New York Times' opinion, I'm Ross Douthat.

  • And this is Interesting Times.

  • If you knew when you were going to die.

  • When Ben Sass announced his diagnosis of stage four pancreatic cancer last December, he called it a death sentence.

  • But he noted that he'd had one before the cancer, too.

  • We all do.

  • Sass served the state of Nebraska and the U.S.

  • Senate for eight years as a high-minded and, by his own account, sometimes ineffectual conservative.

  • Then he quit politics to become president of the University of Florida, pursuing a different model of civic reform.

  • Now he's facing mortality.

  • For Sass, the advance of his cancer has brought clarity,

  • sharpening his focus on his wife and three children and the God whom he expects to shortly meet.