Last week, I witnessed something so rare I was unsure if it actually still existed.
“Uncommon Knowledge,” a production of the Hoover Institute hosted by Peter Robinson, featured a one-hour conversation with former University of Florida President and U.S. Senator Ben Sasse. As has been reported, Sasse is facing a terminal prognosis of stage 4 pancreatic cancer. Robinson, who at times during the interview was visibly moved to tears, opened the show asking, “What matters? What really matters?” What followed was a masterclass by the interviewer and his guest as they reasoned together, sifting through the shifting cultural and political sands to the permanent things that lie beneath.
There were no oversimplified soundbite answers or softball questions. Instead, both Robinson and Sasse focused on the meaning of a life well lived through the lens of a man faced with his own mortality, touching upon the bedrock foundations of our republic and Western Civilization along the way.
Robinson, a true journalist, utterly guileless in the best sense of the word, asked deeply substantive and open-ended questions. He allowed Sasse ample time without interruption to coherently develop and cogently express his contemplative answers. Robinson had no agenda but to reveal the inner workings of a brilliant mind.
Sasse, a self-described “nerd” but true statesman and academic, spoke eloquently without notes despite the obvious effect of the pain from his disease and the morphine to ease it. Sasse, now devoid of any political ambitions, sought only to accurately diagnose what ails our body politic, higher education system, and other institutions. But this was not an angry rant about only what is wrong; it was also about what is right—what really matters. Sasse offered, with the unflinching honesty of a dying man unfettered by popular opinion, a prescription for treatment of our societal ills, maybe even a cure.
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Sasse correctly identified the atrophy of congressional zeal to guard its authority from the coequal executive and judicial branches. Moreover, he attributed the waning influence of the branch of government closest to the people to the careerism of members in both parties who aspire to TikTok stardom more than effective policymaking. The solution, expressed by his example throughout the interview, is a call for us to stop settling for wannabe celebrities just because they are on our side of the political spectrum.
Sasse, with a Ph.D. from Yale, may have an exceptional grasp of history, but he must not be the exception that proves the rule that elections are about choosing the lesser of vapid evils.
He evoked Cincinnatus as the inspiration for George Washington to return to Mt. Vernon after two terms. He spoke admiringly of federalism, republican government, our founding fathers, and the Constitution. He did so without the seemingly requisite, modern-day genuflecting caveats about their personal failings or the document’s imperfections. These failings and imperfections seem to be the only common knowledge among many Americans, regardless of their educational credentials.
Calling on his leadership experience at the University of Florida, Sasse insightfully described how the fields of humanities and STEM need not be at odds with each other in our schools. Here, his humility was plain to see because he clearly appreciates the contributions of those less educated than himself or those whose expertise differs from his. Academia may sit in an ivory tower, but every real tower is built by craftsmen.
As I watched the interview draw to a close with Robinson, marveled by the fact that Sasse, in his final days, is launching a podcast, I was struck by two conflicting sentiments.
First, I was saddened by the notion that it took the impending death of a decent, humble, and wise man to see a substantive interviewer inquire about a breadth and depth of issues and a policymaker provide a philosophical and principled response. This should be commonplace in a republic where serious people seek public office for serious reasons. America should be a place where informed voters decide between informed candidates. Discussions like this shouldn’t be “uncommon knowledge.”
But the “better angels” of my nature brought to mind the notion to be grateful it happened and hopeful that it could happen again if “we the people” demand it of those who seek to serve us. We can lament what might have been or set our hearts and minds on what could be. It is clear which choice Sasse has made. If we do the same, then America, like Ben Sasse and his appropriately named new podcast, is “Not Dead Yet.”
Lathan Watts is the vice president of public affairs for Alliance Defending Freedom (@ADFLegal) and its sister organization ADF Action. He earned his juris doctor degree from the University of Mississippi.
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