What do we do when the world feels unbearably heavy—and no one is coming to save us?

To kick off Season 16 of Everything Happens, Kate Bowler sits down live with beloved author and truth-teller Anne Lamott for a luminous, funny, and deeply honest conversation about shame, joy, faith, aging, love, and what it means to keep showing up anyway.

Recorded in front of a packed house at the historic Carolina Theatre in Durham, Kate and Anne talk about the shame that follows us from childhood, the relief of putting down our armor, and the small, ordinary acts of love that still matter. This is a conversation for anyone who feels tender, overwhelmed, skeptical of easy answers—and still hungry for hope.

Show notes:

• Anne Lamott on Substack

• Pre-order Joyful Anyway by Kate Bowler

• Tour dates & tickets: katebowler.com/joyfulanyway

• Watch the live conversation on YouTube

• Kate Bowler on Substack: katebowler.substack.com

• Anne Lamott

  • Bird by Bird

  • Operating Instructions

  • Traveling Mercies

  • Good Writing (with Neil Allen)

• Maggie Smith, "Good Bones"

• Naomi Shihab Nye, “Gate A-4”

• William Blake, “We are here to learn to endure the beams of love”