Not Dead Yet

Ricochet

We’re all dying, but some of us have been brought face to face with that reality. Reflecting on this certainty is part of a life well lived. However long we’ve got, it’s up to each of us to redeem the time. In this new podcast, hosts Ben Sasse and Chris Stirewalt talk with their guests about lives lived with gratitude, grit, and joy.

Subscribe Listen in podnod RSS feed Show website

20 episodes
Updated Wednesday

Episodes20

Newest first

Wednesday · 1 hr 5 min
Megan McArdle
Everything’s great and nobody’s happy? Megan joins the guys to talk about affluenza. Each generation has to figure it out — so take some risks, make some bad decisions, and embrace scar tissue.
July 21 · 1 hr 15 min
Ken Burns
History, storytelling, and America, baby! Ken Burns joins the guys to talk about the work he’s done to translate the American experience to a wide audience. What makes a good documentary? What’s the deal with professional historians? Is “The Ashokan...
July 15 · 1 hr 8 min
Dana Gioia
Ok, they’ll bite. What is poetry? Poet and critic Dana Gioia joins the guys to talk about poetry. How do poems reward the reader? What can verse tell us about memory? What’s the deal with poets?
July 7 · 1 hr 5 min
Jeffrey Rosen
As America celebrates 250 years, the guys talk with Jeff Rosen about the pursuit of happiness. Did Ben Franklin and John Adams really see it the same way? Does self-government depend on reading and virtue? How was Milton an influence on the Founders?...
June 30 · 1 hr 13 min
Katherine Boyle
Ben and Chris talk with one of the most interesting people in Silicon Valley who isn’t actually in Silicon Valley. Ben’s got morphine fog. Katherine’s got parenting sleep deprivation. Perfect conditions to talk about intergenerational family life,...
June 23 · 1 hr 6 min
David Zahl
Dave talks with the guys about the problem of replacing faith with the cheap imitations of disordered goods, the need for thick community, the emptiness of striving, and the need for grace. Come for the critique of moral therapeutic deism — stick...
June 16 · 1 hr 14 min
Jack and John Harbaugh
Happy Fathers Day! While Chris is pulled away for journalism stuff, Ben talks about more important things with America’s football family. Jack and John Harbaugh talk about building character, raising families, and living with gratitude. “Who's got it...
June 9 · 1 hr 21 min
Mitch Daniels
Indiana is better than West Virginia, nobody disagrees — except Chris. Ben, Chris, and the former Governor — and reality TV star? — Mitch Daniels talk about higher education, the need to deliver competency for taxpayers, and the looming debt crisis.
June 2 · 1 hr 13 min
William McRaven
Ben can’t do pull-ups anymore, so it’s a great time to talk to Admiral William McRaven. The guys talk about the fine line between swagger and arrogance, the importance of clear communication, and the way McRaven built his teams of Navy Seals. Lots of...
May 26 · 1 hr 9 min
Listener Mail
This Q&A episode has everything. Habits, dispositional conservatism, family bookshelves, Bo Jackson, Viking longboats, Apollo space ships, theology, and more. In an effort to avoid premature elaboration, the gang does a lightning round of false...
May 19 · 1 hr 15 min
Ben Thompson
Ben and Chris talk with tech analyst Ben Thompson about the future. Is AI heaven, or hell, or both? Does the future belong to China or the United States? What’s the deal with Silicon Valley and does American ingenuity require a little insanity?
May 12 · 1 hr 12 min
Clint Black
Singer, songwriter, musician, actor, and record producer Clint Black joins underachievers Ben and Chris. The gang talks about country music, writing, parenting, career choices, and gratitude. How much does art depend on lived-experience and pain, or...
May 5 · 1 hr 8 min
Clayton Anderson
Astronaut and Nebraskan Clayton Anderson joins the guys to talk about all things space. The human desire to explore, the vocation of spacewalking hundreds of miles above the earth, the rigors of NASA’s selection process, and the challenges of getting...
April 28 · 1 hr 18 min
Walter Russell Mead
Renaissance man Walter Russell Mead joins the guys to talk about history and global affairs. This episode has everything: Hamiltonians, Jeffersonians, Jacksonians, Wilsonians, Israel, Iran, tech companies, and the kitchen sink.
April 21 · 1 hr 6 min
Nicholas Eberstadt
Ben and Chris talk a bit about their first jobs and how child labor laws are ruining the country. Then things get super nerdy when Nicholas Eberstadt joins the guys to talk about demographic decline, labor force participation, why men need work.
April 14 · 1 hr 10 min
Drew and Ellie Holcomb
Drew and Ellie join the guys to talk about family, art, and soul. Ben has no rhythm, but the musicians talk about art as ache, embodied prayer, and yearning for home. Also, make your kids listen to the Beatles.
April 7 · 1 hr 19 min
Jonah Goldberg
Jonah joins the boys for their first in-person podcast. Friendship, morphine (higher than average morphine-brain for Ben), note cards, institutions, and journalism. Ben and Chris talk about the why behind the podcast. Wonks have fun too.
March 31 · 1 hr 18 min
Chris Pratt
The guys talk about hard work and hustle, the choices parents make, the ups, downs, and idols of success, and real vs Ned Flanders Christianity. The dude from Avengers, Jurassic Park, and Super Mario Bros. talks about how he wants his kids to...
March 24 · 53 min
Amy Coney Barrett
Justice Barrett joins Ben and Chris. Ben shares his status as the founding member of the ACB for SCOTUS club. The three talk about how she writes her opinions, how parenting slows down the train, the importance of civics, and what horse-race political...
March 17 · 1 hr 10 min
Mike Rowe
Is the Dirty Jobs guy secretly America’s most popular philosopher? Mike Rowe joins the guys. This episode has everything: vomit, Stoics, turkey insemination, philosopher welders, wonder, and the problems with institutionalized childhood.