Common Sense with Dr. Ben Carson

What would you give up to know God more deeply? Dr. Ben Carson welcomes Christian author, minister, and Bible teacher Rick Osborne for a conversation about faith, grace, and a personal relationship with God. Osborne shares his account of stepping away from his publishing and ministry work for a ten-year season of prayer and Scripture study, and what he believes that experience taught him. Osborne describes a conversion just before his 19th birthday and a later period that reshaped his understanding of the Bible. He explains how familiar teachings moved from head knowledge to personal transformation, and why he now emphasizes trusting God rather than trying to earn a relationship with Him. Carson and Osborne explore how parents can help children develop faith of their own, the role of quiet in prayer, and the hope they find in God’s love. Osborne also makes clear that his ten-year retreat was a personal calling, not a prescription for everyone. In this episode: Rick Osborne’s conversion; his account of a ten-year retreat; Bible knowledge and personal transformation; grace and Christian disciplines; nurturing children’s faith; listening in prayer; love and hope

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Dr. Ben Carson welcomes John Stonestreet, president of the Colson Center for Christian Worldview and a voice of BreakPoint, for a conversation about faith, family, and the ideas shaping our culture. They explore how Christians can grow in discernment, help their children think clearly, and put their convictions into practice.

Stonestreet explains why he sees Christianity as a way of understanding all of life. Drawing on Chuck Colson's influence, he describes a worldview as the lens through which we interpret reality, and asks whether we have examined the ideas we have absorbed from the culture around us.

The conversation turns to the home and classroom: how children form their beliefs, why parents matter, and how teaching discernment involves examining both true and false ideas. Carson and Stonestreet discuss their concerns about education, human dignity, and cultural change from a Christian perspective.

They also explore why believers sometimes hesitate to speak, what it takes to develop greater confidence, and how the documentary Truth Rising presents examples of acting on conviction. Stonestreet closes with an invitation to think about what Christians are saved for: helping repair what is broken in their families and communities.

In this episode: Christianity as a worldview; Chuck Colson's legacy; parents and education; discernment and human dignity; courage and Christian confidence; Truth Rising; reconciliation and everyday service.

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What happens when the circumstances in front of you seem to say there is no way forward?

Dr. Ben Carson sits down with author Wally Kassebaum for a conversation about faith, truth, the mind, and the hidden beliefs that can quietly take control of our lives.

Kassebaum, author of Reality Is Not the Truth: Breaking Free from the Idol We Don’t See, argues that the circumstances we see around us may describe where we are today without necessarily determining where our lives must end.

Dr. Carson shares a remarkable story from his years in medicine involving a critically ill child, a mother who did not believe in God and a moment he says changed both of their lives.

The conversation also explores anxiety, addiction, forgiveness, neuroplasticity, renewing the mind, willpower, community and Dr. Carson’s own transformation from an angry teenager into someone who learned to respond differently.

In this episode:

● Reality versus truth

● The hidden “idols” people may not recognize

● Dr. Carson’s remarkable hospital story

● Faith and uncertainty

● Neuroplasticity and changing mental patterns

● Why addiction creates deeply ingrained pathways

● How repetition can help establish new habits

● Forgiveness and letting go of the past

● Dr. Carson on overcoming his violent temper

● Why community matters when change is difficult

● Finding peace when circumstances feel overwhelming

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What happens when programs created to help children and families become buried under federal rules?

Dr. Ben Carson sits down with Assistant Secretary Alex Adams, who leads the Administration for Children and Families at the Department of Health and Human Services, for a wide-ranging conversation about Head Start, foster care, parental authority, family stability, and the proper role of government.

Adams explains why the administration is seeking to move away from prescriptive federal requirements and put parents and local communities back in the driver's seat. He discusses proposed Head Start reforms that he says would reduce regulatory burdens while expanding access, the nationwide Home for Every Child foster-care initiative, efforts to support young adults aging out of foster care, and what he calls the “orphan tax”— the use of foster children's Social Security survivor benefits by states to offset government costs.

Dr. Carson and Assistant Secretary Adams also discuss marriage, fatherhood, work, the “success sequence,” bipartisan welfare reform, and why strong families remain foundational to a strong country.

In this episode:

Head Start and parental control; federal regulation versus outcomes; foster-home shortages; faith-based foster families; support for children aging out of care; Social Security survivor benefits; family stability, marriage and fatherhood; work and welfare reform; and why both men remain hopeful about America's future.

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What keeps a calling alive through success, grief, reinvention, and age? Kathie Lee Gifford joins Dr. Ben Carson for a candid conversation about the dreams planted in childhood and the faith that gave those dreams direction.

Gifford recalls the Billy Graham film that changed her life, the advice that helped her navigate entertainment, her advocacy for children affected by HIV/AIDS, and the biblical stories that continue to shape her work. She also shares the simple conviction behind her next chapter: “If I have a pulse, I have a purpose.

The conversation turns to redemption, hearing God call us by name, and the hope Gifford finds in the promise that all things will be made new. Her comments about the Shroud of Turin, biblical translation, historical events, and public policy reflect her own views and recollections.

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How do you build a strong family in a culture that often pulls families apart? Jim Daly, president of Focus on the Family, joins Dr. Ben Carson to discuss why marriage still matters, what children need from parents and mentors, and how faith can help couples stay on the same team

Daly shares his own story of family instability, foster care, and the coach who modeled trustworthy leadership. He and Dr. Carson explore marriage as a path toward selflessness, the risks of fear-driven parenting, practical boundaries around smartphones and social media, and the importance of giving teenagers room to succeed and fail while they are still at home.

The conversation also addresses premarital counseling, late-life divorce, grandparents, and Daly’s account of Focus on the Family’s Hope Restored marriage intensives. Statistics and program outcomes mentioned in the episode are presented as Daly’s statements and have not been independently verified for this package.

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Therapy is more available and more culturally influential than ever. Yet anxiety, depression, loneliness, political fixation, and fractured relationships remain widespread.

In this episode, Dr. Ben Carson speaks with psychotherapist and Therapy Nation author Jonathan Alpert about the difference between feeling better in the moment and actually getting better.

They also examine what is commonly called “Trump Derangement Syndrome,” or TDS. While Alpert emphasizes that TDS is not an official diagnosis found in the DSM, he discusses the political hyper-fixation, anxiety, restlessness, and damaged relationships that can develop when any political figure becomes the focus of an unhealthy obsession.

Alpert argues for therapy that is goal-oriented, accountable, and designed to build resilience. The conversation explores diagnostic language in everyday life, endless therapy, political polarization, victimhood, faith, personal responsibility, and how Americans can rediscover common ground.

This discussion reflects the participants’ views and is not medical advice.

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Dr. Ben Carson once considered himself the worst student in his class. Then one unexpected moment changed the way he saw himself, and ultimately changed the course of his life.

In this special episode of Common Sense, Reagan Hannus turns the tables and interviews Dr. Carson about how our perception of ourselves is formed, why parents have such an important role in shaping their children's lives, and what decades of operating on the human brain taught him about human potential.

Dr. Carson also discusses the influence of social media on young people, the opportunities and dangers presented by artificial intelligence and virtual reality, how to make difficult decisions without being controlled by fear, and the advice he believes young adults need most today.

From books and education to faith, family, human connection, and the extraordinary capacity of the brain, this conversation is about refusing to allow your circumstances - or other people's expectations - to determine what you can become.

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As America marks its 250th anniversary, an urgent question has emerged: Who is responsible for telling America’s story—and what happens when the nation’s most trusted historical institutions begin interpreting the past through the lens of contemporary political activism?

Dr. Ben Carson is joined by Vince Haley, director of the White House Domestic Policy Council, for a revealing discussion about the Smithsonian Institution, the National Museum of American History, and the administration’s review of how American history is being presented to the public.

Haley argues that the museum has moved away from presenting a coherent account of America’s founding, failures, achievements, sacrifices, and ideals—and toward using history as an instrument for activism and social advocacy.

Dr. Carson and Haley discuss:

● Why patriotism appears to be declining

● How historical knowledge shapes national identity

● What the administration found at the Smithsonian

● The difference between teaching difficult history and promoting national despair

● Slavery, abolition, the Civil War, and America’s struggle to fulfill its founding principles

● The forgotten contributions of Black Patriots during the American Revolution

● The influence of faith and the Great Awakening on America’s founding

● DEI, merit, race, and political division

● How museums and schools shape future generations

● What citizens, parents, and grandparents can do to preserve America’s story

History is more than a collection of artifacts and dates. It tells people who they are, where they came from, and what they have the potential to become.

Watch the full conversation and tell us in the comments:

Should a taxpayer-supported national museum promote contemporary political causes—or present the fullest possible account of America’s history?

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What happens when the institutions entrusted with preserving American history begin advancing a political story of their own?

In this episode of Common Sense with Dr. Ben Carson, Dr. Carson sits down with U.S. Rep. Brandon Gill of Texas to discuss congressional oversight, the Smithsonian Institution, the use of taxpayer dollars, border enforcement, socialism, and the responsibility of young Americans to defend the nation’s founding principles.

Congressman Gill explains why he believes simple questions can expose ideological assumptions inside public institutions. He also discusses a recent SNAP hearing, the dramatic change he sees at the southern border, and why he believes Democratic Socialists are pulling their party, and the country, further left.

The conversation closes on a more personal note: how faith helps Gill withstand criticism, why politics cannot become an ultimate end, and what younger Americans can do to preserve opportunity for their children and grandchildren.

This is a conflict over truth, accountability, and inheritance: will citizens govern their institutions, or will institutions train citizens to distrust what common sense tells them?

In this episode:

● What Rep. Gill says the Smithsonian gets wrong about American history

● Why calling punctuality, civility, and linear thinking “white supremacy” creates backlash

● The common-sense question he asked about soda and SNAP benefits

● Why he views recent border enforcement as a change in political will, not law

● How Democratic Socialists are reshaping the Democratic Party

● Why young Americans must understand socialism’s historical record

● How faith and criticism shape Gill’s approach to public service

If this conversation made you think, share it with someone who wants public institutions to answer to the people they serve.

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