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SEASON 10 | EPISODE 14
The Luckiest Unlucky Person
with Tig Notaro
How do you live knowing life can just come undone at a moment’s notice? In the span of a few months, Tig Notaro received three life-threatening illnesses, unexpectedly lost her mom, and went through a breakup. Tig is a brilliant comedian whose real life informs her comedy and has a lot to teach us about living honestly in the face of reality.
SEASON 10 | EPISODE 13
Life Worth Living
with Miroslav Volf
What makes a good life? How would you answer that question? Not just life in the abstract… but what makes YOUR life good? Professor Miroslav Volf teaches a popular class at Yale University which guides students through these kinds of questions and might help us all think a little more deeply about what our lives are adding up to be.
SEASON 10 | EPISODE 12
To Be Loved Like That
with Kwame Alexander
Our most precious relationships are often our most complicated, aren’t they? Poet and bestselling author Kwame Alexander wrote an honest book of poems and essays that name the difficult and beautiful and heart-wrenching conversations we have (or should be having) with the people we love and with the ones who love us.
SEASON 10 | EPISODE 11
Clear Eyes, Full Hearts
with Minka Kelly
How do we stay soft in a world that has taught us to be tough? Actress Minka Kelly is known for her roles as Lyla Garrity on Friday Night Lights or as Samantha in HBO’s Euphoria. Despite her fame on the big screen, one might not realize the chaos that surrounded her childhood. Being raised by a single mom who worked as a stripper and struggled with addiction, Minka had to learn how to take care of herself and the adults around her, and, eventually, to forgive her mom.
SEASON 10 | EPISODE 10
The Art of Presence
with John Swinton
Some people are the LEAN IN sort. They lean into your unsolvable problems, show up on your impossible days, and walk with you all the way to the end. How do we become them? How do we create belonging when the people we love experience such uncertainty? Practical theologian and mental health nurse John Swinton knows a thing or two about this kind of love.
SEASON 10 | EPISODE 09
This Place Could be Beautiful, Right?
with Maggie Smith
Maggie Smith (poet and author of books like Keep Moving and You Could Make This Place Beautiful) chronicles the aftermath of a painful divorce she didn’t see coming. How do we raise our kids in the wake of such change? And how do we reconcile who we are and who we are becoming?
SEASON 10 | EPISODE 08
No More Do Overs
with Mary Louise Kelly
What happens when the people we built our lives around stop needing us? Or when we have to pick between our meaningful careers or our family? And what do we do with the ambiguous grief that comes with every expected and unexpected change? Today, Kate takes an honest look at juggling the demands on our time and on our heart with NPR’s Mary Louise Kelly.
SEASON 10 | EPISODE 07
Don’t Come Out Empty Handed
with Rabbi Steve Leder
How should you show up for people in grief? What do you say? What should you do? Why is it that beauty can exist alongside deep suffering? What can be said at funerals when the person who died was complicated? These are just a few of the questions I wanted to ask Steve Leder—a bestselling author and a rabbi who has presided over a thousand funerals with wisdom and kindness.
SEASON 10 | EPISODE 06
Where We Turn for Meaning
with Michael Ignatieff
Historian and Canadian politician Michael Ignatieff explores the cracks in our seamless worldviews… or at least the worldviews we thought were seamless until we’re faced with tragedies of all kinds. In this wide-ranging exploration, Kate and Michael probe humanity’s enduring attempt to console ourselves and construct meaning from our pain.
SEASON 10 | EPISODE 05
Complicated Grief and Complicated Love
with Paulina Porizkova
Supermodel Paulina Porizkova has been in the public eye all her life. But it has been a rollercoaster of soaring successes and deep heartache. Grief and pain comes to us all, and in those moments, we need our shared humanity (and not our super-anythingness) to build a bridge back to others.
SEASON 10 | EPISODE 04
Number Our Days
with Tom Long
The Reverend Tom Long wrote the book on funerals. No, really. When grief threatens to swallow us whole, Tom reminds us of our place in a bigger story of hope and faith, of interdependence and the importance of community. He describes the necessity of ritual to pull us into a wider, truer story than the trite version our culture likes to tell.
SEASON 10 | EPISODE 03
Love Pulls You Forward
with Elaine Pagels
Over thirty years ago, Elaine Pagels’ young son and husband died within the same year. In this tender conversation, Kate and Elaine discuss surviving the aftermath of such devastation, the painful explanations religion often offers, and how we love and keep loving even after so much tragedy.
SEASON 10 | EPISODE 02
Adapting to Loss
with Frank Bruni
Every problem New York Times columnist Frank Bruni faced had a simple fix. Doctors offered reasonable solutions for reasonable problems. Preventative care guaranteed future health. That is, until he woke up one morning without vision in his eye. This experience forced him to rethink how much of life is in our control and how to live fully in the face of unfixable problems.
SEASON 10 | EPISODE 01
Back to the Beginning
with Beth Moore
Beth Moore has been in the limelight for almost thirty years, but during that time, she revealed very little about her formative family history. Now, this world-famous Bible teacher is ready to tell her story for the first time.
SEASON 10 | EPISODE 00
Blessing our ACTUAL Lives
with Kate Bowler & Jessica Richie
Kate and Jessica talk about their work on the Everything Happens Project and podcast over the past 10 seasons. They also talk about their new book The Lives We Actually Have, which is a book of blessings. Blessings are more than prayers, they also help give you language to describe where God is in real life situations.
SEASON 09 | EPISODE 17
Here’s to the Happies
with Kelly Corrigan
As we approach the New Year, we might need a minute to look backward. What even happened this year? Who was I? What went well? What didn’t? Before we start making those New Year’s Resolutions, maybe we could have a second of honesty together.
SEASON 09 | EPISODE
Cheers to The Crappies
with Kelly Corrigan
This time of year can be rough. Somehow we are supposed to wrap it up or feel complete, but, more often than not, we can look back at a year that, well, sucked.
SEASON 09 | EPISODE 15
Why Your Creativity Matters
with Elizabeth Gilbert
The indomitable Liz Gilbert (of EAT, PRAY, LOVE fame) joins Kate for a live conversation on the courage to create. Listen as Liz helps us expose our exhausting American need to make everything useful and lets us embrace beauty as a way of really living.
SEASON 09 | EPISODE 14
Love Mercy
with Bryan Stevenson
Bryan Stevenson (founder of the Equal Justice Initiative) is committed to ending mass incarceration and excessive punishment, to challenging racial and economic injustice, and to protecting basic human rights for the most vulnerable among us.
SEASON 09 | EPISODE 13
The Season of Waiting (And Waiting…And Waiting)
with Kate Bowler
Christmas should feel different. Shouldn’t it? It is the symbol of plenty, of fulfillment, of more-than-enough-ness, and of the expectation that perhaps while we wait for Christ’s birth, we might practice being a little more loving, more forgiving, more patient. Advent is a chance for us to wait for the kingdom of God to break in together.
SEASON 09 | EPISODE 12
Music That Makes Us
with Fred Penner
Fred Penner is a Canadian sensation whose television show and hit songs were part of so many of our childhoods, but I didn’t realize the heartache he experienced that led him to this work. His gentle wisdom and songs have invited us—children and adults alike—to stay curious and kind in a hard world.
SEASON 09 | EPISODE 11
Every Family Has a Story
with Julia Samuel
Julia Samuel is a psychologist in the UK who specializes in working with families who have experienced complicated stories of loss and love. So often we can feel overwhelmed by our histories – our family histories – and need a boost to confront dysfunction, speak the truth, and find trusted people to help us look back and look forward.
SEASON 09 | EPISODE 10
The Art of Gathering
with Priya Parker
How do we gather in meaningful ways? After the pandemic took apart so many of our favorite ways of hanging out, we might be out of practice. Or too tired or overwhelmed. Listen in to hear Priya Parker share about how to show up for other people and ourselves in creative ways.
SEASON 09 | EPISODE 09
Wounded Healers
with Jay & Katherine Wolf
In the face of impossible circumstances, sometimes the best we can do is learn to love what must be done. Listen in to hear Katherine and Jay Wolf’s tender story of hardworn hope.
SEASON 09 | EPISODE 08
More Life, Fewer Explanations
with Stanley Hauerwas
Why doesn’t God fix our pain? Listen in to hear world-renowned theologian Stanley Hauerwas’ thoughts about why Christians are not exempt from difficult circumstances and why people need fewer explanations.
SEASON 09 | EPISODE 07
Worthy of Boundaries
with Melissa Urban
How do you know when a boundary is needed? This episode offers practical wisdom on boundary setting in order to manage our limited capacity—especially for those of us navigating chronic pain or illness or caregiving.
SEASON 09 | EPISODE 06
Full Circle Faith
with Jeff Chu
How do you find grace for people who believe things very different than you? And what does it look like to make communities a place where you don’t actually have to “fit in” to belong?
SEASON 09 | EPISODE 05
Everybody Has Something
with Mary Laura Philpott
Why is it that so much love makes us afraid for all we have to lose? And how does recognizing that everyone has something they are dealing with help us hold our love and fear together?
SEASON 09 | EPISODE 04
A Good Funeral
with Thomas Lynch
What do you learn standing so close to the edge with so many people? Listen for wisdom on mortality and hope—like how the habits of love are hard to break and what makes a ‘good funeral’ directly from a thoughtful and funny funeral director himself.
SEASON 09 | EPISODE 03
When Success Isn’t Success
with Arthur Brooks
Might success or happiness be redefined after life has forced us off the productivity train? For those of us who find ourselves wondering if we could be more than the sum of our jobs, this conversation is for you.
SEASON 09 | EPISODE 02
Wrestling With the Faith We Love
with Randall Balmer
If you miss the church of your childhood and are trying to figure out what pieces of your faith to keep and which to leave behind, this episode is for you.
SEASON 09 | EPISODE 01
Showing Your Scars
with Ibram X. Kendi
A terrible diagnosis at any age often creates a sense of urgency. Ibram and Kate discuss how their shared diagnoses put them to work and allows them to honor the fragility of life.
SEASON 08 | EPISODE 14
Suspicious of Joy
with Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby
How do you pray when you’ve run out of words? In this funny and poignant conversation, the Archbishop shares about seasons of grief when God has carried him and other times when he has felt alone.
SEASON 08 | EPISODE 13
Survival of the Kindest
with Susan Cain
How is it that joy and pain seem to coexist at once? If you ever feel like you didn’t have a word for the sweetness of longing (and why your compassionate heart is a gift), this conversation is for you.
SEASON 08 | EPISODE 12
Embracing the Complexity of Pain
with Haider Warraich
If you are someone (or loves someone) who suffers from chronic pain, this episode is for you. Haider talks with such gentleness about when your pain isn’t believed and how doctors can do a better job at treating their patients in pain.
SEASON 08 | EPISODE 11
Remaking Home
with Tara Westover
How do you navigate the baggage of our childhoods? Tara speaks so honestly about why people aren’t “doing their best” and why that fact restores some dignity.
SEASON 08 | EPISODE 10
Hard Topics, Softer Conversations
with Anna Sale
What do we lose when we don’t talk about hard things? And what might we gain if we do?
SEASON 08 | EPISODE 09
Mythbusting Parenting
with Cammie McGovern
We often have very romantic expectations about parenthood. Parenthood is about a mythical child who will be perfect in a way we haven’t quite put our finger on, and the journey to love them to teach us something reasonably easy about ourselves. But what if we are not the parents we thought we’d be? Or our kids are not the kids we thought we’d have?
SEASON 08 | EPISODE 08
Counting your Somethings
with Mitch Albom
How do we count our blessings without imagining that God is teaching us a cosmic “lesson”? Mitch Albom walks right up to the edge with the complicated questions around grief, loss, and hope.
SEASON 08 | EPISODE 07
Behold, These Precious Days
with Ann Patchett
This conversation offers you permission to look at the fullness of your life not in how many days you live, but in something else entirely.
SEASON 08 | EPISODE 06
Peace for Our Anxious Selves
with Taylor Harris
Everyone loves to get VERY BOSSY when it comes to our fears. “Don’t worry, be happy!” Just be brave! But maybe ‘being brave’ doesn’t mean ignoring our fears but living alongside them. After all, we live in a world that offers us few guarantees, don’t we?
SEASON 08 | EPISODE 05
Being Church on Our Worst Days
with Liz Tichenor
This episode will restore your hope for communities of faith that can show up for our most tender moments.
SEASON 08 | EPISODE 04
Tolerating Imperfection
with Kate Baer
Poet Kate Baer found herself inundated with the demands of motherhood, and little time to write. Nothing was easy and then, at a breaking point, it felt impossible. If she wanted a creative life, she was going to have to redefine “perfection” (perfect mom! perfect woman!) and learn to tolerate a lot more imperfection instead.
SEASON 08 | EPISODE 03
Giving Up on Perfect
with Kate Bowler & Jessica Richie
Good Enough became a little permission slip for us. A little shrug that takes us off the hook for perfection and reminds us that we are human. Again today. Inside fragile bodies and contingent relationships and a whole web of love.
SEASON 08 | EPISODE 02
Proud of Absolutely Everybody
with Rick Mercer
This episode is sure to make you laugh (even if the Canadian references go over your head) and feel proud to be where you’re from—no matter how obscure.
SEASON 08 | EPISODE 01
The Courage to Try (and Wisdom to Know When to Let Go)
with Katie Couric
Katie has so much to teach us about what happens when our problems cannot be easily solved—no matter how hard we try. In this vulnerable conversation, Katie shares candidly about the lengths she went to avoid grief, but why she had to learn to face it nonetheless. We need the courage to try (and the wisdom to stop).
SEASON 07 | EPISODE 16
Never, Ever Enough
with David Brooks
How do we reach for wisdom instead of self-help solutions? Much to their embarrassment, New York Times columnist David Brooks and Kate Bowler often find their books in the “Self-Help section.” David sat down with Kate at the historic Sixth & I Synagogue in Washington, D.C. to talk about her book, No Cure For Being Human, and the twisty-turny journey of living without easy answers.
SEASON 07 | EPISODE 15
Loving a Stranger
with Sarah Sentilles
We’re given a story of birds and bees where two people fall in love and out of their love blooms a perfect little creature. But far too often and for far too many, that isn’t the case.
SEASON 07 | EPISODE 14
A Special Kind of Brave
with Cindy McCain
What does courage look like in the face of the impossible? Cindy McCain had a front row seat to history, as wife of Arizona Senator and presidential candidate John McCain.
SEASON 07 | EPISODE 13
Learning to Hold On, Learning to Let Go
with Richard Rohr
Life is painful. Period. But are there some aspects of our faith or our posture toward the world that can change how we experience it?
Father Richard Rohr is everyone’s favorite preacher of love. Love for each other. Love from God.
SEASON 07 | EPISODE 12
Staying Awake to Our Pain
with Alexi Pappas
When she was a child, Alexi Pappas lost her mother to suicide. So when Alexi faced a season of deep depression she knew had to find a different way forward. That’s when her training as an Olympic runner became invaluable.
SEASON 07 | EPISODE 11
Life After Loss
with Jerry Sittser
How do you move forward after an incalculable loss?
Jerry Sittser lost his wife, young daughter, and his mom in one horrific accident. But even as his world stopped, the world kept spinning. He had to learn how to parent his three surviving children in the wake of such grief.
SEASON 07 | EPISODE 10
Toxic Positivity
with Susan David
Do you ever feel a pressure to be positive? Harvard psychologist and bestselling author of Emotional Agility, Dr. Susan David studies the psychological skills critical to thriving in times of complexity and change. Spoiler alert: we don’t need to force ourselves to think happy thoughts. Perhaps there is a better way.
SEASON 07 | EPISODE 09
Simple Pleasures. Small Joys.
with Stanley Tucci
Stanley Tucci is a total foodie—of course, he starred in Julie and Julia and brought us the mouth-watering CNN special, Searching for Italy. But when he was diagnosed with oral cancer, his ability to enjoy food might be ruined permanently.
SEASON 07 | EPISODE 08
The Scandal of Grace
with Philip Yancey
Philip Yancey is well-known for his bestselling books like What’s So Amazing About Grace and Disappointment with God. But behind all of that spiritual wisdom was a family secret: his sick father left the hospital against the doctor’s advice, trusting in God to heal him. He wasn’t healed. Out of this experience, Philip has wrestled with deep questions of faith and doubt and suffering.
SEASON 07 | EPISODE 07
BOOK LAUNCH DAY: No Cure For Being Human (and other truths I need to hear)
with Kate Bowler
The bestselling author of Everything Happens for a Reason (And Other Lies I’ve Loved) asks, how do you move forward with a life you didn’t choose?
SEASON 07 | EPISODE 06
Gentleness for Our Awkward, Anxious Selves
with Tony Hale
What if we never fit in? Or always miss the script that everyone else seems to so easily understand? From Arrested Development’s Buster Bluth to Veep’s Gary Walsh or Toy Story 4’s Forky, Emmy Award Winning actor Tony Hale is an expert in awkward.
SEASON 07 | EPISODE 05
Taste Like Love
with Antoni Porowski
What kind of food tastes like love to you? Food has a beautiful way of making us feel less lonely in our pain or in our isolation or in our grief. Star of Netflix’s Queer Eye, Antoni Porowski understands the power of a delicious meal to bring us together and remake us with love.
SEASON 07 | EPISODE 04
Can We Be A Tiny Bit Happier?
with Gretchen Rubin
Is it possible to be happier? Bestselling author Gretchen Rubin wondered if she could discipline herself to take tiny steps in order to be more content with her actual life. But what about those of us facing something daunting or insurmountable or tragic? Is it possible for us to be happier?
SEASON 07 | EPISODE 03
What Your Childhood Means for Your Health
with Nadine Burke Harris
Can trauma you experienced as a kid still affect you now? What about the traumatic experiences of our parents and grandparents? Is there a way to undo what California Surgeon General Dr. Nadine Burke Harris calls the “toxic stress response”?
SEASON 07 | EPISODE 02
Embracing the Yes/And
with Cecily Strong
Can hilarity and sorrow co-exist? Comedian and actress Cecily Strong (of Saturday Night Live fame) is professionally funny. But after a series of losses, she was forced to discover how devastation and love sometimes exist at the same time—both in great measure.
SEASON 07 | EPISODE 01
Can People Change?
with Malcolm Gladwell
The Self-Help Industry would like to convince us that everyone is capable of change. Just drink this! Read this book! Pick up this daily habit! Follow these 5 Steps! But how much change are we really capable of?
SEASON 06 | EPISODE 19
Bonus Episode: Debunking “Everything Happens for a Reason” with Kelly Corrigan
with Kelly Corrigan
The Everything Happens team is still on a bit of a summer break, but don’t worry! We’ll be back in August with all new episodes. We thought it might be fun to surprise you with this bonus episode. Kate spoke with her friend, the brilliant and hilarious bestselling writer Kelly Corrigan on Kelly’s Podcast: Kelly Corrigan Wonders. Together, the two debunk conventional wisdom like the notion that “Everything Happens for a Reason.”
SEASON 06 | EPISODE 18
Season Finale: How Far We’ve Come
with Kate Bowler
In our season six finale, Kate takes us back to the very beginning. In this episode, you’ll hear the unlikely beginning of the Everything Happens podcast, the most terrified Kate’s ever been (for fun reasons), and how love and beauty can surprise us in some of the most unlikely of spaces.
SEASON 06 | EPISODE 17
Julianna Margulies: Getting Unstuck
with Julianna Margulies
Chaotic childhoods can leave us feeling stuck. Stuck in the roles and relationships and chaos that once felt familiar. Actress Julianna Margulies (best known for her roles in ER and The Good Wife) found incredible success, but nothing seemed to free her from living into past, traumatic dynamics.
SEASON 06 | EPISODE 16
You Are Not The Bad Thing (Part Two)
with Suleika Jaouad
There is a strange tension when we want so badly for the people we love to support us, but want to shield them from the pain at the same time. This is a beautiful, terrible kind of love.
SEASON 06 | EPISODE 15
The Kingdom of the Sick (Part One)
with Suleika Jaouad
There are two different worlds people inhabit. In one world, people feel infinite bounce. They can see every silver lining and believe in their bones things will always get better and that any set back is probably temporary. But then, there’s the other world. These people know what it feels like to live scan-to-scan and hold their breath when the doctor’s number shows up on their phone. Bestselling author of Between Two Kingdoms, Suleika Jaouad knows what it means to carry this dual citizenship between the kingdom of the well and the kingdom of the sick.
SEASON 06 | EPISODE 14
Leaning into Uncertainty
with Adam Grant
Everything is in flux. Nothing is the same anymore. How do we live amid all of this uncertainty? Well, psychologist and bestselling author Adam Grant believes we may have to do some re-thinking.
SEASON 06 | EPISODE 13
Be Where You Are
with Heather Havrilesky
How do we find “enough” in a life that keeps getting…. harder? Our lives are shrinking. We are shrunk by the pandemic or by illness or by age or by any number of losses. And it can be difficult to feel satisfaction and enjoyment again, especially in the midst of a self-help culture that tries to tell you “EVERYTHING IS POSSIBLE.”
SEASON 06 | EPISODE 12
Beautiful, Terrible, and Everything In-Between
with Mari Andrew
How do we navigate the life in-between? In-between relationships or jobs or friends. In-between independence and dependence. In-between the life we have and the life we’ve always wanted.
SEASON 06 | EPISODE 11
Our Bodies Keep Score
with Bessel van der Kolk
When something truly awful happens, we can’t forget. That memory isn’t just stored in our brains. Our bodies keep the score too. Researcher and psychiatrist Bessel van der Kolk has spent his life studying the effects of trauma on adults and children.
SEASON 06 | EPISODE 10
Weddings, Divorces, and Loves That Carry Us
with Jamie Lee
Comedian Jamie Lee is now Netflix’s The Wedding Coach where she’s on a mission to help couples survive the craziness of planning a wedding. A wedding is an event, but a marriage is not an event. During the filming of the show, Jamie’s own relationship began to unravel.
SEASON 06 | EPISODE 09
The Art of the Absurd
with Jenny Lawson
Our culture’s obsession with hyper-instrumentalization has meant everything has to be FOR something. But when you are facing unfixable or chronic problems, maybe it’s better to do something for no reason whatsoever. Depression, anxiety, and a grab bag of auto-immune diseases have made humorist Jenny Lawson an expert in the art of the absurd.
SEASON 06 | EPISODE 08
What Good is Prayer?
with Father James Martin
We don’t always know how to move through this strange, distended season. The season before the cure or the vaccine or the answer. Before the money comes through or the job opens up or the heartbreak is over. The season where this is hope for someday, but someday is not now. Perhaps here, we need to learn how to pray. In this episode, Kate and Jesuit priest Father James Martin discuss how prayer is for everyone — believer, doubter, or no-thank you-er.
SEASON 06 | EPISODE 07
Belonging
with Willie Jennings
Our bodies tell a story, and we find ourselves having to live inside it. At home. At work. At church. At school. But what happens when the places we love don’t always love us back?
SEASON 06 | EPISODE 06
Family Lore
with Nicole Chung
What if the story you’ve been given about your family isn’t the whole truth? Writer Nicole Chung had been told a story like so many adoptees. Your parents wanted a better life for you. God chose you to be part of our family. But then she found out the truth was far more complicated than that.
SEASON 06 | EPISODE 05
Stories We Tell Ourselves
with Matthew McConaughey
Sometimes there are stories about ourselves that just need to be true, even if they aren’t. Stories about our ancestors or younger selves that help to explain who we are and offer us a little purpose. When it comes to telling a good story, no one does it better than our guest today: Academy Award winner and author Matthew McConaughey.
SEASON 06 | EPISODE 04
Loved and Chosen
with Anne Lamott
What do you do with a world that is full of things to fear? People we won’t please. Kids who die. Parents who don’t change. Writer Anne Lamott doesn’t sugar-coat a single terrible thing, but knows that we also need the kinds of truths we can stand on.
SEASON 06 | EPISODE 03
Family Secrets
with Dani Shapiro
Who are we when we can’t answer where we’re from? Who are we when we can’t locate ourselves on family trees or on familiar religious traditions or among genetic traits? How do we live after we thought what was true about our identity is totally upended?
SEASON 06 | EPISODE 02
The Case for Hope
with Father Greg Boyle
There are some people who see need and, rather than feeling stuck by the magnitude of the world’s pain, they move toward it. Today’s guest is one of those kinds of people. Father Greg Boyle has worked with former gang members in Los Angeles for over thirty years with Homeboy Industries, which employs and trains former gang members and offers free services to facilitate healing.
SEASON 06 | EPISODE 01
Love Big
with Priyanka Chopra Jonas
Today’s episode is all about love, the loves that constitute us, the loves that break our hearts, and the loves that keep us going. Actress, producer, and entertainer Priyanka Chopra Jonas is one of the most recognizable people in the world.
SEASON 05 | EPISODE 34
Ask Kate Anything: Season Five Finale
with Kate Bowler
How do you get through a terrible day? What should you not say to someone with cancer? What keeps you believing in God? We thought it might be fun to have you, dear listener, interview Kate for today’s episode, instead. Kate offers gentle ideas for how to be a good friend to struggling loved ones, how she has found pockets of productivity in this dumpster fire of a year, and what she is hoping for in the New Year. Plus, she ends with a benediction for a year that didn’t turn out like we thought it should.
SEASON 05 | EPISODE 33
A Not-So Hallmark Christmas
with Nikki DeLoach
The pandemic has introduced many to living with uncertainty. But for some, uncertainty has always been their norm. Actress Nikki Deloach has starred in several Hallmark Christmas movies, but her life hasn’t matched the happily-ever-after plot-lines of her characters. Nikki’s dad was diagnosed with an aggressive form of dementia and her son was diagnosed with congenital heart defects in utero… all in the same week.
SEASON 05 | EPISODE 32
Beauty in the Breaking
with Michele Harper
Emergency Rooms are the theater of life itself. For ER Dr. Michele Harper, work has become a calling—to bear witness to people’s problems both large and small, to advocate for better care, to catch those who fall through society’s cracks, to stand up against discrimination, to remind patients that the pain they have endured is not fair… it was never supposed to be this way. In this episode, Kate and Michele talk about the importance of radical honesty when it comes to advocacy as well as the racial and socio-economic disparities that keep people disproportionately affected by the pandemic… and the anxiety and stress that follows. And still, even after all she has seen and all she has walked through, Michele finds great hope in being broken. Yes, we are shattered, but yes, we will be made into something new.
SEASON 05 | EPISODE 31
Bless the Nurses
with Christie Watson
At the core of nursing is the ability to love a stranger, to care indiscriminately. Christie Watson was a nurse in the UK for 20 years before she began teaching nurses. But when COVID-19 hit, she knew she needed to stand with her colleagues. So she put on her scrubs once again. In this moving conversation, Kate and Christie discuss the cost of COVID on healthcare workers, chaplains, and those who can’t be by their loved ones’ side when they need it most. If you are a nurse, know a nurse, or have been cared for by one before, this one is for you.
SEASON 05 | EPISODE 30
I’m Doing My Best (Life Now)
with Samantha Irby
Though magazines and movie stars try to convince us otherwise, we aren’t all living our BEST LIFE NOW. When humor writer Samantha Irby lost both of her parents at 18, she developed the perfect coping mechanism: finding the absurd in everything. In this conversation, Kate and Samantha have a wide-ranging conversation about topics like grieving their Sweet Valley High life goals, and how losing your parents as a child is the worst form of losing agency, and how important it is to speak honestly about our bodies and love them still.
SEASON 05 | EPISODE 29
Stubborn Hope
with Jan Richardson
What does it mean to be blessed? If you were to scroll through social media, you’d assume that “blessed” are the ones with gorgeous, matching families living in open style floor plans. But Jesus had other things in mind. When the Reverend Jan Richardson lost her husband, she continued to write counterintuitive blessings like “A Blessing for the Brokenhearted.” In this episode, Kate and Jan talk about the ways grief cracks us open and the ways blessing invites us to stubborn hope.
SEASON 05 | EPISODE 28
Extraordinary Empathy
with Abigail Marsh
Are some people more empathetic than others? By studying those on the opposite end of the compassion spectrum–those with psychopathy–researcher Dr. Abigail Marsh discovered something surprising. In this episode, Kate and Abigail talk about the use of fear, what it really means to be brave, and how we can all learn to better belong to one another.
SEASON 05 | EPISODE 27
The Power of Ordinary Love
with Bishop Michael Curry
Sometimes it feels like the world is irreparably broken. A climate crisis leading to more hurricanes, fires, warming oceans, a political season that has ripped families and friends apart. A pandemic that has left us more isolated than ever and even more delicate than before. Even the strongest among us may wonder, “What hope is there? Is love enough to save us?” My guest today is someone who believes in the kind of love that can change everything. In this episode, Kate and Bishop Michael Curry talk about the power of ordinary and extraordinary love to remake ourselves and our communities along with us.
SEASON 05 | EPISODE 26
Bless This Body
with Susan Burton
There are some secrets we’d rather not tell, but that eat us alive anyway. Writer Susan Burton was trapped in an eating disorder with no good name. Today’s conversation is not a victory story. Issues with our bodies are not ones we overcome because our bodies are, you know, living things. Kate and Susan discuss how we struggle against shame and learn to have compassion for ourselves and our fragile, beautiful bodies.
SEASON 05 | EPISODE 25
Medicine with a Soul
with Victoria Sweet
How do doctors, nurses, and other caring professionals keep their hearts soft when there are forces that make it hard to stay that way? With her radically compassionate approach to medicine, Dr. Victoria Sweet calls us to slow down in a world that loves quick fixes. In today’s conversation, Kate and Victoria give us more language about what helps us all stay connected to the people we serve.
SEASON 05 | EPISODE 24
Your Work is a Calling
with Will Willimon
What does it mean to be called to something? What if that job wears you thin? What if you think you’ve aged out of your vocation? In this episode, Kate and the Reverend Dr. Will Willimon talk about what to do when the roles we play cost us more than we’re willing to pay and how aging invites us to take a new look at our purpose. (Also, you’ll hear about the time Kate offered Will a bit of necessary… perspective.)
SEASON 05 | EPISODE 23
When Hope Seems Lost
with Lanecia Rouse Tinsley
What do you do when all hope feels lost? Abstract artist Lanecia Rouse Tinsley is no stranger to the hopelessness that comes with grief. In extended isolation, a nationwide reckoning with race, and our own personal losses, we could all use a bit of what Lanecia calls, holy seeing. In this episode, Kate and Lanecia discuss how creativity can be an act of resistance and the hope she discovers on a blank canvas.
SEASON 05 | EPISODE 22
The Art of Aging
with Mary Pipher
Who are we as we age? Our culture has such poor language for the who-we-are-ness across time. The ways we grow and the things that threaten to diminish us. Clinical psychologist and bestselling author, Mary Pipher knows a lot about the opportunities and costs embedded in aging. In this episode, Kate and Mary offer us a non self-helpy roadmap for how to age beautifully.
SEASON 05 | EPISODE 21
Blessed Are The Mirrors
with Morgan Harper Nichols
We have thick cultural scripts for what is deemed inspirational and it usually goes like this: You can do it. Never give up. Everything you need is inside of you today. But what do you really need to hear when life is coming apart? Morgan Harper Nichols is someone whose words of encouragement gently lift our chins toward hope. In this episode, Kate and Morgan discuss how important it is to reflect truth and hope and beauty back to one another.
SEASON 05 | EPISODE 20
Spread Too Thin
with Shauna Niequist
Our lives have shrunk and our choices have been dramatically restricted. But the obligations never stopped, did they? How do we get off the achievement train and build a beautiful life within constraints? Writer Shauna Niequist was on the fast track to burnout when she received advice that changed the pace of her life entirely. Kate and Shauna talk about the productivity myths we believe and how to embrace a slower, smaller life marked by delight.
SEASON 05 | EPISODE 19
Living Alongside Fear
with Ken Carter
What does it feel like to really live? Some people jump out of airplanes. Others prefer for their feet to stay on the floor. Some seek out the feeling of riding the edge of what is possible, and the rest of us are too tired to think about it right now in this pandemic season. Clinical psychologist Dr. Ken Carter studies thrill-seekers. In this episode, Kate and Ken discuss fear—how we manage it and how we live alongside it.
SEASON 05 | EPISODE 18
World’s Okayest Mom
with Kristen Howerton
Parenting isn’t always Instagram-worthy, but the American myth of perfectionism rarely shows that messy middle. Kristen Howerton, mom of four, therapist, and author of Rage Against the Minivan, gives us the permission slip we all need. The one that says you can opt out of greatness. There is no winning in parenthood.
SEASON 05 | EPISODE 17
The Pursuit of Justice
with Rachael Denhollander
What do we do when the institutions that are supposed to protect us, fail? As a child, Rachael Denhollander was sexually abused by USA Gymnastics team doctor, Larry Nassar. When she came forward with her story, over 300 other women came forward too—eventually bringing him to justice. In this episode, Kate and Rachael talk about how love must be the motivation behind justice and how our worth cannot be taken away, no matter what happens to us.
SEASON 05 | EPISODE 16
The Sun Does Shine
with Anthony Ray Hinton
Ray Hinton spent 30 years on death row for a crime he didn’t commit. With the help of justice lawyer Bryan Stevenson, Ray won his release in 2015. In this episode, Kate and Ray discuss the experience of not being believed, a justice system that works against you because of the color of your skin, and the sustaining power of unconditional love.
SEASON 05 | EPISODE 15
The Magic of WE
with Justin Yopp and Don Rosenstein
When a group of young moms died around the same time, clinicians Justin Yopp and Don Rosenstein wanted to refer their widowed spouses to a grief support group… but none existed. So they started their own. Kate, Justin, and Don discuss the loss of imagined futures and the particular needs of young, widowed parents. Together, they uncover the magic of we.
SEASON 05 | EPISODE 14
Whole and Holy
with Heather Lanier
What if your life hasn’t turned out like you thought it would? When writer Heather Lanier’s daughter was born with a rare genetic syndrome, she learned that the world will not always see her beloved as good. In this conversation, Kate and Heather discuss how maybe it’s okay that we are not summed up on bell curves. Perhaps the exact bodies in which we dwell are whole enough.
SEASON 05 | EPISODE 13
Flying Buttresses
with Timothy Omundson & Joel McHale: Flying Buttresses
Timothy Omundson knows what it feels like to make something, then have well-made plans come apart after he suffered a massive stroke at the height of his acting career. Kate speaks with Tim and Joel McHale about the power of hard work and friendship.
SEASON 05 | EPISODE 12
Blank Space
with Jason Rosenthal
When Jason Rosenthal’s wife died, she left him a gift that he couldn’t even have known to ask for—in the form of a viral Modern Love article. Today’s episode is about the kind of love that walks us to the very edge and charts a way forward. Even when forward seems impossible to imagine.
SEASON 05 | EPISODE 11
Ordinary Miracles
with Sarah Bessey
Sarah Bessey speaks right to the soft spot where our deepest pain and deepest hope meet. The place where in the bleakest of nights we whisper, What if this doesn’t get better? If you find yourself in that tender spot today, this conversation is for you.
SEASON 05 | EPISODE 10
Living Inside Our Bodies
with Hillary McBride
Is fear avoidable? What does this emotion do to our bodies and minds? In this episode, Kate speaks with psychologist Hillary McBride on the importance of fear, practicing embodiment, and ways we can better live alongside the things we’re afraid of.
SEASON 05 | EPISODE 09
Community as a Verb
with Mia Birdsong
There’s a story we’re told about how we should save ourselves through sheer grit. But many fall on the other side of that success metric. In this episode, Kate and writer and activist Mia Birdsong discuss expanding our definition of family and how to show up when our community needs us—both locally and nationally.
SEASON 05 | EPISODE 08
Fork in the Road
with Wes Moore
Wes Moore had a rough childhood growing up in Baltimore. His father died when he was a child, he struggled in school and was arrested for vandalism before something shifted. Moore grew up to be a Rhodes Scholar, White House fellow, and published writer. And along the way, he learned of another man who shared his same name, but is serving a life sentence in prison. He talks with Kate about what he learned from “the other” Wes Moore.
SEASON 05 | EPISODE 07
Joy is the Oxygen
with Gary Haugen
Certain people decide to make other people’s pain their own. Gary Haugen, founder and CEO of International Justice Mission, is one of those people. In this episode, Kate and Gary talk about how even in the darkest places, joy and goodness can be found.
SEASON 05 | EPISODE 06
Make Me A Gardener
with Wajahat Ali
Wajahat Ali was about to give a TED talk on the global case for having more kids, when he received news no parent should ever hear. Kate and Waj speak about parenting amid fear, unexpected kindness, and how kids really are our greatest act of hope.
SEASON 05 | EPISODE 05
Hope Wears Sneakers
with David Fajgenbaum
This is the story of one young doctor’s race against the clock as he searches for a cure for his own rare disease that brought him to the brink of death too many times to count. In this episode, Kate and David Fajgenbaum speak about facing impossible odds and how love can turn hope into action.
SEASON 05 | EPISODE 04
Does My Pain Count?
with Lori Gottlieb
How do we find joy and connection when tragedy surrounds us? In this episode, Kate speaks with bestselling author and psychotherapist Lori Gottlieb about creating daily rhythms, living in the both/and, and grief in the time of COVID19.
SEASON 05 | EPISODE 03
The Love Bridge
with Glennon Doyle
We need guides to walk with us when life goes a little off-script. In this episode, Kate speaks with bestselling author Glennon Doyle about unlearning the roles we’re stuck inside even when it costs us and what’s better than being perfect–being human.
SEASON 05 | EPISODE 02
The Uncertainty Specialist
with Sunita Puri
Pain is like a geography—one that isn’t foreign to palliative care physician, Dr. Sunita Puri. Kate and Sunita speak about needing new language for walking the borderlands and how we all might learn to live—and die—with a bit more courage.
SEASON 05 | EPISODE 01
The Emergency Button
with Joel McHale, Nora McInerny, Beth Moore, and Karen Bowler
When fear is overwhelming, sometimes you need to press the button—the emergency button. In this special episode, Kate gets real with the people that she calls when she needs to push the button. You’ll hear from comedian Joel McHale, writer Nora McInerny, preacher Beth Moore, and Kate’s mom for a little dose of courage (and a lot of yelling by one of these people) in these uncertain times.
SEASON 04 | EPISODE 07
More Than Enough
with Ari Johnson
Sometimes everything is possible. Sometimes nothing is possible. How do you know the difference? Dr. Ari Johnson works to change the infant and mother mortality rates in Mali. Kate and Ari speak about how when other people are suffering, we must act, even when the problems seem insurmountable. Because your pain is mine too.
SEASON 04 | EPISODE 06
Finding the Margins
with Angela Duckworth
Psychologist Angela Duckworth studies the significance of grit. There are those who experience a difficult circumstance and scrape by, and there are those who thrive in the aftermath. Together, Angela and Kate explore what makes the difference and how we can develop resiliency in ourselves and our kids.
SEASON 04 | EPISODE 05
The Loneliness Epidemic
with Vivek Murthy
US Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy embarked on a listening tour to determine what was ailing Americans. The answer surprised him. In this soulful conversation, he speaks with Kate about loneliness as a public health crisis and how the experience of disconnection affects our ability to weather life’s most difficult storms.
SEASON 04 | EPISODE 04
The Preacher’s Wife
with Jen Hatmaker
Author and speaker Jen Hatmaker ruled the Christian marketplace as the evangelical darling. But when her theology shifted, she learned how harsh the penalties could be. Kate and Jen speak about what it means to lead faithfully when you lose certainty.
SEASON 04 | EPISODE 03
The Face of Love
with Sister Helen Prejean
Sister Helen Prejean didn’t know what she was getting into when she became pen pals with an inmate on death row, a story told in the film, Dead Man Walking. Now, she’s a fierce advocate against the death penalty. Sister Helen and Kate talk about finding purpose as a discovery that often begins with gentle nudges and tiny yeses.
SEASON 04 | EPISODE 02
It’s Okay to Laugh
with Nora McInerny
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 when you may feel like you might never “get over” what happened, love is there somehow. Nora shows us why it’s time to reframe how we think about a happy ending.
SEASON 04 | EPISODE 01
How Do We Talk to Kids about Hard Things?
with Sesame Street & Sherri Westin
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 with Sherrie Westin, the President of Global Impact and Philanthropy at the Sesame Workshop on how to tell our kids the hard truths in age appropriate ways.
SEASON 03 | EPISODE 08
The Stories of Who We Are
with Andrew Solomon
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? Andrew and Kate discuss what it’s like to be different from our family, find our people, and love our kids across difference.
SEASON 03 | EPISODE 07
We Belong to Each Other
with Jerome Adams
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 broken heart helped him understand his job as “America’s doctor.”
SEASON 03 | EPISODE 06
The Speed of Love
with John Swinton
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.
SEASON 03 | EPISODE 05
Loving What Is
with BJ Miller
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 learn to love them, but not in a Pollyanna way. Kate and BJ discuss how living with the end in mind actually makes life… richer.
SEASON 03 | EPISODE 04
Chronic Not Curable
with John Green
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 John talk about finding identity amid chronic illness and how love just might save us all.
SEASON 03 | EPISODE 03
Tell Me More
with Kelly Corrigan
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 and everyday sayings. Together, Kate and Kelly explore the phrases we cling to in order to find deeper connection and meaning during difficult times.
SEASON 03 | EPISODE 02
How to Grieve Well: A Special Conversation
with Reverend Dr. Susan Dunlap
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 minds, bodies, and hearts respond to deep loss and the best practices for allowing ourselves space to grieve well.
SEASON 03 | EPISODE 01
The Language of Grief
with Jayson Greene
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 to love in the face of fear, especially as parents.
SEASON 02 | EPISODE 03
True Believers
with Mark Lukach
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 the true believers who will love through it all.
SEASON 02 | EPISODE 02
Life After Dark
with Barbara Brown Taylor
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 learn in the light. Kate and Barbara discuss the two halves of our lives and how to practice courage even in the scariest of circumstances.
SEASON 02 | EPISODE 01
There’s No Good Card for That
with Emily McDowell
Why is it so hard to say the right thing to those going through difficult circumstances? Artist Emily McDowell has been on the receiving end of some terrible responses after her own diagnosis. Now, she creates kind and irreverent greeting cards that teach us all how to be a little more human. She speaks with Kate about the best and worst things to say and do when our loved ones are hurting.
SEASON 01 | EPISODE 05
Can You Hear Me Now?
with Alan Alda
Alan Alda is best known for his prolific acting career. But he has also spent years learning about, and teaching, communication. The Emmy-winning actor and star of television’s M*A*S*H teaches doctors and scientists to communicate more effectively and wrote the recent book, If I Understood You, Would I Have This Look on My Face?. He talks with Kate about why human beings are so bad at talking about sickness– and about what helps them improve.
SEASON 01 | EPISODE 04
Joyful, Anyways
with Margaret Feinberg
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, despite everything.
SEASON 01 | EPISODE 03
Awkward
with Alexandra Petri
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, building up your ability to embrace awkwardness can be a kind of superpower during difficult times… if you know how to use it
SEASON 01 | EPISODE 02
Costly Love
with Lucy Kalanithi
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 high cost of love and how all the best things in life are those you are afraid to lose.
SEASON 01 | EPISODE 01
The Insight of Outsiders
with Nadia Bolz-Weber
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, good company and a delightfully inappropriate sense of humor.