This week we're introducing you to a show we love called A Slight Change of Plans with Dr. Maya Shankar. Kate was actually a guest on the show, where she joined to talk about how her entire belief system was thrown into question when she was diagnosed with Stage IV cancer at age 35. 

If you want to hear more conversations like this one, listen to A Slight Change of Plans wherever you get your podcasts. Plus, the show has new episodes coming on November 11.

This week we're introducing you to a show we love called <a href="https://www.pushkin.fm/podcasts/a-slight-change-of-plans">A Slight Change of Plans with Dr. Maya Shankar</a>. Kate was actually a guest on the show, where she joined to talk about how her entire belief system was thrown into question when she was diagnosed with Stage IV cancer at age 35. 
If you want to hear more conversations like this one, listen to A Slight Change of Plans wherever you get your podcasts. Plus, the show has new episodes coming on November 11.

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.

Sales and Distribution by Lemonada Media https://lemonadamedia.com/

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.
Sales and Distribution by Lemonada Media <a href="https://lemonadamedia.com/" data-stringify-link="https://lemonadamedia.com/" data-sk="tooltip_parent">https://lemonadamedia.com/</a>

Honest conversation about life's less-shiny moments.

Everything Happens with Kate Bowler

Does Everything Happen for a Reason? From A Slight Change of Plans

We live in a world that wants life to be fair. Work hard, make good choices, believe the right things—and things should turn out okay. But what happens when they don’t? In this live conversation, Kate talks with sociologist Mark Rank, author of The Random Factor, about the role of chance in our lives. From the lottery of birth to the timing of a missed phone call, Mark’s research shows how much of what we call success—or failure—comes down to forces we never chose.

SHOW NOTES:


Mark Rank,The Random Factor: How Chance and Luck Profoundly Shape Our Lives and the World Around Us


Mark Rank – Washington University in St. Louis


Christian Tomasetti et al., research on random mutations and cancer risk (Johns Hopkins)


Every Cure (founded by David Fajgenbaum)


Tour dates & tickets: katebowler.com/joyfulanyway


Watch the live conversation on YouTube


Join Kate Bowler on Substack for the season of Lent: katebowler.substack.com

We live in a world that wants life to be fair. Work hard, make good choices, believe the right things&mdash;and things should turn out okay. But what happens when they don&rsquo;t? In this live conversation, Kate talks with sociologist Mark Rank, author of The Random Factor, about the role of chance in our lives. From the lottery of birth to the timing of a missed phone call, Mark&rsquo;s research shows how much of what we call success&mdash;or failure&mdash;comes down to forces we never chose.
<hr>
SHOW NOTES:
<ul data-pm-slice="3 3 []">
<li data-list-indent="1" data-list-type="bulleted">
Mark Rank,<a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-random-factor-9780190861478"> The Random Factor: How Chance and Luck Profoundly Shape Our Lives and the World Around Us</a>
</li>
<li data-list-indent="1" data-list-type="bulleted">
<a href="https://csd.wustl.edu/people/mark-r-rank/">Mark Rank &ndash; Washington University in St. Louis</a>
</li>
<li data-list-indent="1" data-list-type="bulleted">
Christian Tomasetti et al., <a href="https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/news/media/releases/bad_luck_of_random_mutations_plays_predominant_role_in_cancer_study_shows">research on random mutations and cancer risk</a> (Johns Hopkins)
</li>
<li data-list-indent="1" data-list-type="bulleted">
<a href="https://everycure.org/">Every Cure</a> (founded by David Fajgenbaum)
</li>
<li data-list-indent="1" data-list-type="bulleted">
Tour dates &amp; tickets:<a href="https://katebowler.com/books/joyfulanyway/">&nbsp;katebowler.com/joyfulanyway</a>
</li>
<li data-list-indent="1" data-list-type="bulleted">
Watch the live conversation on&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/@katecbowler">YouTube</a>
</li>
<li data-list-indent="1" data-list-type="bulleted">
Join Kate Bowler on Substack for the season of Lent:&nbsp;<a href="https://katebowler.substack.com/">katebowler.substack.com</a>
</li>
</ul>

The Randomness of Everything with Mark Rank

Kate Bowler invites two of her sharpest friends—Ross Douthat and Molly Worthen—to help her make sense of the current American religious landscape: why the long “decline” story may be shifting, why religious curiosity is popping up in unexpected places, and why the loudest forms of Christianity often feel more online, more political, and more embarrassing. Together they sort through what people mean by “Christian nationalism,” how much of it is symbolism versus policy, what weak institutions and internet incentives are doing to faith, and what still gives them hope for the church.

SHOW NOTES
Ross Douthat

Bad Religion
Believe
The Deep Places
Molly Worthen

Apostles of Reason
Spellbound


Pre-order Joyful Anyway by Kate Bowler


Tour dates & tickets: katebowler.com/joyfulanyway


Watch the live conversation on YouTube


Join Kate Bowler on Substack for the season of Lent: katebowler.substack.com

Kate Bowler invites two of her sharpest friends&mdash;Ross Douthat and Molly Worthen&mdash;to help her make sense of the current American religious landscape: why the long &ldquo;decline&rdquo; story may be shifting, why religious curiosity is popping up in unexpected places, and why the loudest forms of Christianity often feel more online, more political, and more embarrassing. Together they sort through what people mean by &ldquo;Christian nationalism,&rdquo; how much of it is symbolism versus policy, what weak institutions and internet incentives are doing to faith, and what still gives them hope for the church.
<hr>
SHOW NOTES
<ul>
<li data-list-indent="1" data-list-type="bulleted">Ross Douthat
<ul>
<li data-list-indent="1" data-list-type="bulleted"><a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/bad-religion-how-we-became-a-nation-of-heretics-ross-douthat/3a983aa6cd8812a8?ean=9781439178331&amp;next=t">Bad Religion</a></li>
<li data-list-indent="1" data-list-type="bulleted"><a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/believe-why-everyone-should-be-religious-ross-douthat/8251dbe4f8b763a7?ean=9780310367581&amp;next=t">Believe</a></li>
<li data-list-indent="1" data-list-type="bulleted"><a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-deep-places-a-memoir-of-illness-and-discovery-ross-douthat/a07c0e44937042fc?ean=9780593237366&amp;next=t">The Deep Places</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li data-list-indent="1" data-list-type="bulleted">Molly Worthen
<ul>
<li data-list-indent="1" data-list-type="bulleted"><a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/apostles-of-reason-the-crisis-of-authority-in-american-evangelicalism-assistant-professor-of-history-molly-worthen/3be26eb8fa5bb6a2?ean=9780199896462&amp;next=t">Apostles of Reason</a></li>
<li data-list-indent="1" data-list-type="bulleted"><a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/spellbound-how-charisma-shaped-american-history-from-the-puritans-to-donald-trump-molly-worthen/6a6d5fab5cfeaec4?ean=9780593729007&amp;next=t">Spellbound</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li data-list-indent="1" data-list-type="bulleted">
<a href="https://katebowler.com/books/joyfulanyway/">Pre-order&nbsp;Joyful Anyway&nbsp;by Kate Bowler</a>
</li>
<li data-list-indent="1" data-list-type="bulleted">
Tour dates &amp; tickets:<a href="https://katebowler.com/books/joyfulanyway/">&nbsp;katebowler.com/joyfulanyway</a>
</li>
<li data-list-indent="1" data-list-type="bulleted">
Watch the live conversation on&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/@katecbowler">YouTube</a>
</li>
<li data-list-indent="1" data-list-type="bulleted">
Join Kate Bowler on Substack for the season of Lent: <a href="https://katebowler.substack.com/">katebowler.substack.com</a>
</li>
</ul>

The New Shape of American Religion with Ross Douthat and Molly Worthen

What does it mean to live well when danger, loss, and grief are never far away?

Kate Bowler talks with theologian, pastor, and writer Patrik Hagman, whose life has been shaped by profound loss—including the death of his father, his young son, and later his wife. Raised in Finland and now living in Sweden, Patrik brings a distinctly Nordic perspective on happiness—not as constant joy or self-optimization, but as contentment, trust, and gratitude that survives close proximity to fragility.

This is a conversation about living with fewer explanations and more honesty. About faith that refuses easy answers. About the strange clarity that comes when life gets very small and very bright at the same time. And about learning to be less surprised by tragedy—and more surprised by goodness.

If you’re trying to hold grief and gratitude at once, this episode is for you.

SHOW NOTES


Babettes Kulturhus (Linköping, Sweden) – community space for conversation, fika, and culture


Stanley Hauerwas – theologian often referenced in the conversation


Patrik Hagman – theologian, pastor, writer, and translator of Stanley Hauerwas’s work


Pre-order Joyful Anyway by Kate Bowler


Tour dates & tickets: katebowler.com/joyfulanyway


Watch the live conversation on YouTube


Join Kate Bowler on Substack for the season of Lent: katebowler.substack.com

What does it mean to live well when danger, loss, and grief are never far away?
Kate Bowler talks with theologian, pastor, and writer Patrik Hagman, whose life has been shaped by profound loss&mdash;including the death of his father, his young son, and later his wife. Raised in Finland and now living in Sweden, Patrik brings a distinctly Nordic perspective on happiness&mdash;not as constant joy or self-optimization, but as contentment, trust, and gratitude that survives close proximity to fragility.
This is a conversation about living with fewer explanations and more honesty. About faith that refuses easy answers. About the strange clarity that comes when life gets very small and very bright at the same time. And about learning to be less surprised by tragedy&mdash;and more surprised by goodness.
If you&rsquo;re trying to hold grief and gratitude at once, this episode is for you.
<hr>
SHOW NOTES
<ul>
<li data-list-indent="1" data-list-type="bulleted">
<a href="https://babettes.se">Babettes Kulturhus (Link&ouml;ping, Sweden) </a>&ndash; community space for conversation, fika, and culture
</li>
<li data-list-indent="1" data-list-type="bulleted">
<a href="https://katebowler.com/podcasts/more-life-fewer-explanations-2/">Stanley Hauerwas &ndash; theologian often referenced in the conversation</a>
</li>
<li data-list-indent="1" data-list-type="bulleted">
Patrik Hagman &ndash; theologian, pastor, writer, and translator of Stanley Hauerwas&rsquo;s work
</li>
<li data-list-indent="1" data-list-type="bulleted">
<a href="https://katebowler.com/books/joyfulanyway/">Pre-order&nbsp;Joyful Anyway&nbsp;by Kate Bowler</a>
</li>
<li data-list-indent="1" data-list-type="bulleted">
Tour dates &amp; tickets:<a href="https://katebowler.com/books/joyfulanyway/">&nbsp;katebowler.com/joyfulanyway</a>
</li>
<li data-list-indent="1" data-list-type="bulleted">
Watch the live conversation on&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/@katecbowler">YouTube</a>
</li>
<li data-list-indent="1" data-list-type="bulleted">
Join Kate Bowler on Substack for the season of Lent: <a href="https://katebowler.substack.com/">katebowler.substack.com</a>
</li>
</ul>

Does Everything Happen for a Reason? From A Slight Change of Plans

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