Everything Happens with Kate Bowler
Are you living your best life now? Not always? This is a podcast for you. Duke Professor Kate Bowler is an expert in the stories we tell about success and failure, suffering and happiness. She had Stage IV cancer. Then she didn’t. And since then, all she wants to do is talk to funny and wise people about how to live with the knowledge that, well, everything happens.
Find her online at @katecbowler.
126
Nora McInerny: It's Okay to Laugh
Nora McInerny had a miscarriage, lost her father, and lost her husband all within a few weeks. Much to her surprise, she kept living. But she didn’t “move on.” Nora and Kate discuss how grief is messier and less linear than we imagine. And even...
33 min
127
Sesame Street: How do we talk to kids about har...
How do we prepare our kids for a world we can't always protect them from? Sesame Street creates educational programs to make the most vulnerable among us smarter, stronger, and kinder in the face of difficult realities. On this episode, Kate speaks...
34 min
128
Andrew Solomon: The Stories of Who We Are
Writer Andrew Solomon never felt like he fit in. But studying other communities that celebrate differences transformed his sense of belonging and his parenting. Which aspects of our kids should we attempt to change and which need to be celebrated?...
30 min
129
Jerome Adams: We Belong to Each Other
US Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams is committed to combatting the rising fatalities from opioids because he knows the struggle too well. His brother is one of the millions of Americans who is ensnared by addiction. Jerome talks to Kate about how a...
25 min
130
John Swinton: The Speed of Love
The quality of time depends on our abilities and disabilities, possibilities and limitations. In a world of speed and productivity, Kate speaks with disability theologian John Swinton on how slowing down deepens our ability to love.
32 min
131
BJ Miller: Loving What Is
After an accident left BJ Miller with a serious physical disability, he had to learn how to be patient with his limitations. Now, he’s a palliative care physician who works every day to encourage people to be comfortable with limits and maybe even...
30 min
132
John Green: Chronic Not Curable
Society likes to tell the narrative of sick to healthy. But what if there are things we can’t just get over? In his novel, Turtles All The Way Down, John Green explores what it is like to live with something we can’t control. Together, Kate and...
30 min
133
Kelly Corrigan: Tell Me More
When bestselling author Kelly Corrigan experienced the death of her dad and dear friend back-to-back, she couldn’t shake the feeling that she wasn’t living as gratefully as she wanted to. She reflects on her love and loss through ordinary moments...
32 min
134
How to Grieve Well (Special Conversation)
What can we expect in the first moments of loss? How is it possible to grieve someone we may have never met? How can we best support people who are in mourning? In this special conversation, Kate speaks with Reverend Dr. Susan Dunlap about how our...
14 min
135
Jayson Greene: The Language of Grief
When Jayson Greene’s two-year-old daughter died in a random tragedy, he was forced to find a way forward. What does it look like to hope again after loss? How do you be brave when the world is so terrifying? Jayson and Kate discuss how to stay open...
36 min
136
Mark Lukach: True Believers
Mark Lukach felt like he was hit with a tsunami when his beautiful marriage was upended by mental illness. With one diagnosis, he lost his wife and gained a lifelong patient. Mark and Kate explore the cost of caregiving and the importance of finding...
34 min
137
Barbara Brown Taylor: Life after Dark
Author and Episcopal priest Barbara Brown Taylor is no stranger to darkness. After experiencing devastating loss, Barbara explores our culture’s pursuit of the sunny side of life. But perhaps there are things we learn in the dark that we can’t...
31 min
138
Emily McDowell: There's No Good Card for That
Why is it so hard to say the right thing to those going through difficult circumstances? Artist Emily McDowell was on the receiving end of some terrible responses after her own diagnosis. Now, she creates kind and irreverent greeting cards that teach...
30 min
139
Alan Alda: Can You Hear Me Now?
Alan Alda is best known for his long, prolific acting career. But he has also devoted years to learning about – and teaching – communication. The Emmy-winning actor helped found the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science at Stony Brook...
33 min
140
Wes Moore: Fork in the Road
Wes Moore had a rough childhood growing up in Baltimore. His father died when he was a young child, he struggled in school and was arrested for vandalism before something finally shifted. Moore grew up to become a Rhodes Scholar, White House fellow...
34 min
141
Margaret Feinberg: Joyful, Anyway
Bestselling author and speaker Margaret Feinberg was writing a book about joy when her world fell apart. Suddenly she was fighting for her life and re-writing the book from scratch. Feinberg talks about how she learned how to be happy again,...
29 min
142
Alexandra Petri: Awkward
Washington Post columnist Alexandra Petri is the queen of awkwardness. She didn’t audition for “America’s Next Top Model” and become a yodeling champion without a high tolerance for the sound of people laughing. And as it turns out,...
26 min
143
Lucy Kalanithi: Costly Love
When Lucy Kalanithi fell for another doctor, she couldn't know how much love would teach her about suffering. Lucy Kalanithi is the widow of Dr. Paul Kalanithi, author of the bestselling memoir, “When Breath Becomes Air.” She talks about the...
29 min
144
Nadia Bolz-Weber: The Insight of Outsiders
Before Nadia Bolz-Weber became famous as a foul-mouthed pastor and bestselling author, she was an alcoholic and stand-up comedian. This episode is devoted to the insight of outsiders, and how Nadia learned to confront her own demons with hard truths,...
35 min
145
Everything Happens: Series Preview
Preview: "Everything Happens" with Kate Bowler
1 min