Everything Happens with Kate Bowler

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.
In this episode, Kate and Bryan discuss:
The hope that motivates Bryan in this slow, sometimes frustrating work of justice
What it means to be a ‘stonecatcher’ (and why it serves both the one being condemned and the one doing the condemning)
The power of forgiveness, maybe especially toward those who don’t deserve it

CW: discussion of slavery, lynching, and other racist violence, death row
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Looking for some short spiritual reflections and blessings? Check out GOOD ENOUGH: 40ish Devotionals for a Life of Imperfection. Available wherever books are sold.
Introducing THE LIVES WE ACTUALLY HAVE: 100 Blessings for Imperfect Days (releasing February 14, 2023). Learn more, pre-order, and receive a free pennant, here.
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This episode originally aired December 2022.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What if you started thinking really concretely about small, hard choices? That’s exactly what palliative care physicians do every day. They help us think about what we really want—knowing that we have limited time and limited resources. You’re going to love our guest today, Dr. Kathryn Mannix, palliative care physician and cognitive behavioral therapist. She offers practical steps to help people and their loved ones make sense of what limited choices they have, navigate any pain and fear they may experience, and gives the most comforting speech on what the end of a life looks like that we’ve ever heard. (I promise this is not scary at all. It is perfect.)
In this conversation, Kate and Kathryn discuss:
Why we want to keep a lid on the scary things of life

What even is palliative care

How palliative care-type thinking can help us live better

What happens to hope when facing end of life

This is a masterclass in walking right up to the edge with people, in the most gentle, compassionate way.
If you liked this episode, you’ll also love:
Sunita Puri on living in uncertainty

Rev. Tom Long on the importance of the rituals for death and dying


Watch clips from this conversation, read the full transcript, and access discussion questions by clicking here or visiting katebowler.com/podcasts.
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This episode originally aired October 2024.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Does life ever feel like an endless to-do list? Like if you could just wake up tomorrow with a little more discipline, you’d finally master your schedule, achieve balance, and feel…enough?
On today's episode, Oliver Burkeman (bestselling author of Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals) and Kate unravel some of the beautiful lies we cling to about time and control, the fantasy of hyper-efficiency, and what it might look like to embrace the limits that make us who we are.
In this conversation, Kate and Oliver discuss:
Some of the most common self-help myths that stand in our way

Why the relentless pursuit of self-improvement often leaves us feeling empty, anxious, and overwhelmed.

How embracing our limits can lead to more contentment

This is a conversation about limits—not as something to overcome, but as a doorway to something richer, deeper, and (dare I say) more human.
If you liked this episode, you’ll also love:
Katie Couric on The Courage to Try (and Wisdom to Know When to Let Go)

Susan David on Toxic Positivity

Samantha Irby on Doing My Best (Life Now)

Elizabeth Gilbert on Why Your Creativity Matters

Watch clips from this conversation, read the full transcript, and access discussion questions by clicking here.
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This episode originally aired December 2024.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What happens when joy shows up anyway? In their third annual Happy Crappies, Kate and her dear friend Kelly Corrigan dare to name what went right in 2025 — personally, professionally, and globally — without apology or superstition. From deeply human moments that no machine could replicate, to long-overdue reckonings that reframe decades of pain, they trace the quiet ways meaning emerges when people really see one another. Along the way, they explore what joy actually is (and isn’t), why it so often arrives as a surprise, and how naming the cost of love might be one of the most hopeful acts we have.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What happens when the things you tried to fix turn out to be forever? In their third annual Happy Crappy, Kate and her dear friend Kelly Corrigan wade into the personal, professional, and global losses of 2025. From chronic pain that refuses to budge, to families that shrink and institutions under siege, they name the hard things with tenderness, wit, and just the right amount of downer. Along the way, they ask what it means to live with limits—and whether acceptance might be its own kind of hope.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.