Tim Shriver—educator, author, and longtime Chairman of Special Olympics—joins Kate for a tender, funny, deeply practical conversation about dignity: what changes when we decide everyone matters, how relationships (not information) do the real work, and why service is more than “being nice.” Together they trace a family story from Rosemary Kennedy to Eunice Kennedy Shriver to millions of athletes, swap hospital-and-gymnasium epiphanies, and offer a simple lens for disagreeing better. It’s an invitation to the “really real,” where joy and sorrow live together and love makes people—and communities—more fully alive.

SHOW NOTES:

• Special Olympics — The global movement founded by Eunice Kennedy Shriver and now led by Tim.
• Dignity Index — A practical tool for scoring how we speak across difference, helping us learn to disagree without contempt.
• Unite — A bridge-building initiative founded by Tim Shriver to foster common ground and shared dignity.
• CASEL — The pioneering framework for social and emotional learning Tim helped develop.
• Fully Alive: Discovering What Matters Most — Tim’s memoir on faith, family, and the pursuit of a life that really matters.
• Subscribe to Kate’s Substack for blessings, essays, and reflections that hold what’s hard and beautiful.