Ambition is the air we breathe—but what is it costing us? In this episode, Amy Julia Becker and theologian Miroslav Volf discuss his latest book, The Cost of Ambition. They unpack the hidden damage of a culture obsessed with competition and invite us to imagine a new way of being, for ourselves and our society, rooted not in achievement, but in love, mutuality, and genuine abundance. They explore:

• Striving for superiority in American culture
• The dark side of competition
• Longing for what we have
• Striving for excellence vs. striving for superiority
• The illusion of individual achievement
• Practices for embracing love and generosity
• Reimagining human relationships beyond superiority

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MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

• The Cost of Ambition: How Striving to Be Better Than Others Makes Us Worse by Miroslav Volf
• Abundance by Ezra Klein
• The Sabbath by Abraham Heschel
• Luke 18:9-14, Philippians 2, 1 Corinthians 12:21-26, Mark 10:35-45
• The Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55)
• Works of Love by Søren Kierkegaard
• Subscribe to Amy Julia's newsletter

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WATCH this conversation on YouTube by clicking here. READ the full transcript and access detailed show notes by clicking here or visiting amyjuliabecker.com/podcast.

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ABOUT:

Miroslav Volf (DrTheol, University of Tübingen) is the Henry B. Wright Professor of Theology at Yale Divinity School and founding director of the Yale Center for Faith and Culture in New Haven, Connecticut. He has written or edited more than two dozen books, including the New York Times bestseller Life Worth Living, A Public Faith, Public Faith in Action, and Exclusion and Embrace (winner of the Grawemeyer Award in Religion and selected as among the 100 best religious books of the 20th century by Christianity Today). Educated in his native Croatia, the United States, and Germany, Volf regularly lectures around the world. CONNECT with Miroslav Volf on X at @miroslavvolf.

Photo Credit: © Christopher Capozziello

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