Basketball in the Last 60 Seconds: Ben Sasse on Mortality, Meaning, and the Future of America Peter Robinson Hoover Institution

In December 2025, former US Senator Ben Sasse announced that he had been diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer. That’s the primary topic for this far-reaching conversation about mortality, faith, and what truly matters when time is short. Sasse reflects on “redeeming the time”—holding ambition lightly, loving family more deliberately, and resisting the urge to make politics or professional success the center of life. The discussion also covers Sasse’s thoughts on the failures of Congress; the dangers of a fragmented, attention-starved republic; the crisis of higher education; and the moral challenges of technological abundance. Sasse speaks candidly and movingly about regret, forgiveness, prayer, and suffering—arguing that while death is a real enemy, it does not get the final word. Recorded on February 9, 2026.

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Basketball in the Last 60 Seconds: Ben Sasse on Mortality, Meaning, and the Future of America Peter Robinson Hoover Institution is an episode from Uncommon Knowledge by Hoover Institution.

This episode is 59:56 long.

This episode was published on Feb 17, 2026.

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