I’m pleased to share that my book, Crucibles: How Faith and Science Help Us Navigate Suffering, is set to release on Sept. 8, 2026. One of the best ways to stay in touch about it as it moves toward that release is by subscribing to my Substack.

The backstory for this book goes back thirteen years to my almost year-long military deployment in Kabul, Afghanistan. The U.S. Navy provided me with that all-expenses-paid trip by recalling me from reserve to active duty a few years into my first professor job, and as a social scientist, I had many observations and experiences that I thought would lend themselves well for a book.

I returned a few days before Christmas 2013, and shortly thereafter, started writing. The book idea at that time included a bit about resilience, a bit about the complexities of working in a multinational wartime environment, and …. yawn, I’m boring myself just thinking about it.

So that project fizzled, appropriately. But the seeds of writing a book and doing so in a way that integrates my personal experiences with what we know from various other sources of accumulated wisdom were planted in my brain.

After the November 2020 tragic accident that took the life of my little 7-year-old son, Vincent, I began writing in earnest again. Those efforts also fizzled after a bit; however, the reason this time was that I simply had to work through my own mess of thoughts and emotions to get through to something useful.

But eventually things clicked. I wrote the whole manuscript—about 68,000 words—and found a great home for it at Scepter Publishers. Since September 2025, I’ve been working with them as they’ve done their magic including editing and related items.

Now, things are starting to move quickly.

But first, what is Crucibles?

I wrote Crucibles as an honest, hopeful appraisal of how we humans might better navigate the unavoidable suffering of our lives. It’s not a grief memoir—in fact, I only mention my family tragedy briefly a few times. Instead, it’s an integration of the social science (including psychology, sociology, and communication studies) on resilience amid adversity with the accumulated wisdom of faith.

Most books about adversity and suffering take one of three general approaches: (1) all psychology, (2) all spirituality, or (3) all philosophy, notably from the Stoics. That’s a problem because effectively navigating suffering likely benefits from all of these sources of wisdom—and that’s the void that Crucibles attempts to fill, at least in part.

Why does the message of Crucibles matter?

As long as we’re alive, we will have to deal with hardship, so in that sense, the matters I address in Crucibles are timeless.

At the same time, it seems to me that as a society we increasingly have numbing mechanisms including myriad distractions at our disposal to dull the pain of life. And that’s not the best path forward if we’re to fully grasp and appreciate the simultaneous pain, joy, ugliness, beauty, uncertainty, and adventure of this life.

So the message of Crucibles might be timeless, but it matters quite a bit especially now.

With all that being said, I think my wonderful editor put it well in what she wrote for the book’s back cover:

“Life’s trials can break us—or they can forge us.

“When tragedy struck his family, Ben Baran was forced to confront suffering in its rawest form. In the aftermath, Baran—a Navy admiral, organizational psychologist, Catholic, husband, and father—sought answers to the questions all of us eventually face: How do we endure the unendurable? What purpose might suffering serve? Can faith and science together show us a way through?

“Crucibles is his honest and hope-filled response. Baran weaves insights from psychology and sociology with the Catholic tradition, especially the teachings of St. John Paul II. He explores how adversity can both wound and transform. Drawing on stories from Antarctic explorers, Holocaust survivors, soldiers, saints, and parents, he shows how life’s crucibles are unavoidable but also potentially redemptive—clarifying who we are, forging resilience, and binding us together in solidarity.

“A guide for anyone facing hardship or preparing for it, this candid and compassionate book is full of raw beauty and unvarnished hope, reminding us that even in our deepest trials, we are never alone.”

I invite you to join me on this journey.

Between now and the release date of Sept. 8, 2026 (and after), I’ll be putting together a variety of speaking events and other related promotional activities. So stay tuned for that, as I’d love to see you around.

Thank you for being a part of my community. I truly appreciate it, and I invite you to be a part of my book’s journey. If you’re so inclined, consider the following:

• Share my news about the book as things move forward. You can share my Substack newsletter posts, my posts on social media (here are my channels on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube), or all of the above.

• Let me know if you know of any well-known people who might be able to offer an endorsement or otherwise help me market the book. I’ll be working on this part more specifically in late April and early May 2026, as that’s when I’ll have digital copies for such people to review.

• Invite me to speak to your group! I’ve done a fair amount of public speaking over the years—and I’ve been told I’m good at it, so I suppose that might be true.

• Keep me in your prayers, as I’d like to do all of this in the best way possible for everyone.

As appropriate, I’ll be sharing various updates as things continue to evolve. Thanks again.