Today, we have a little bonus episode to kick off your weekend. Vivek Murthy, the current U.S. Surgeon General, had so much wisdom to offer us in this week's conversation on combatting loneliness and building better relationships. In this bonus clip, he offers us a little pep talk for connection. It may be just what you need to hear.

Follow Kate on Instagram, Facebook, or X (formerly known as Twitter)—@katecbowler.

Today, we have a little bonus episode to kick off your weekend. Vivek Murthy, the current U.S. Surgeon General, had so much wisdom to offer us in this week's conversation on combatting loneliness and building better relationships. In this bonus clip, he offers us a little pep talk for connection. It may be just what you need to hear.
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Follow Kate on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/katecbowler/">Instagram</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/katecbowler">Facebook</a>, or <a href="https://twitter.com/KatecBowler">X</a> (formerly known as Twitter)—@katecbowler.

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

Made for Connection: A Bonus Heart-to-Heart with Dr. Vivek Murthy

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>

What If Happiness Isn’t What You Think It Is? with Patrik Hagman

When many people hear the word Christian today, it comes with a lot of baggage—power, certainty, exclusion, and culture-war posturing. But there are still people of faith whose lives look nothing like that. People whose beliefs show up as love. Patient, persistent, deeply practical love.

Bishop Michael Curry is one of those people. A priest, pastor, and former Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, Bishop Curry has spent a lifetime reminding people that Christianity is not an argument to win or an identity to defend—it’s a practice of love.

Recorded in front of a room full of pastors, this conversation is a kind of holy pep talk for anyone who feels worn down by a fractured, exhausting world.

Show notes:


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

When many people hear the word Christian today, it comes with a lot of baggage&mdash;power, certainty, exclusion, and culture-war posturing. But there are still people of faith whose lives look nothing like that. People whose beliefs show up as love. Patient, persistent, deeply practical love.
Bishop Michael Curry is one of those people. A priest, pastor, and former Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, Bishop Curry has spent a lifetime reminding people that Christianity is not an argument to win or an identity to defend&mdash;it&rsquo;s a practice of love.
Recorded in front of a room full of pastors, this conversation is a kind of holy pep talk for anyone who feels worn down by a fractured, exhausting world.
Show notes:
<ul>
<li data-list-indent="1" data-list-type="bulleted">
<a href="https://katebowler.com/books/joyfulanyway/">Pre-order </a><a href="https://katebowler.com/books/joyfulanyway/">Joyful Anyway</a><a href="https://katebowler.com/books/joyfulanyway/"> 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/"> </a><a href="https://katebowler.com/books/joyfulanyway/">katebowler.com/joyfulanyway</a>
</li>
<li data-list-indent="1" data-list-type="bulleted">
Watch the live conversation on <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@katecbowler">YouTube</a>
</li>
<li data-list-indent="1" data-list-type="bulleted">
Kate Bowler on Substack: <a href="https://katebowler.substack.com/">katebowler.substack.com</a>
</li>
</ul>

Made for Connection: A Bonus Heart-to-Heart with Dr. Vivek Murthy

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