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.

Sign up for our “Try January” Newsletter today, weekly prompts for a gentler New Year: katebowler.com/newsletter

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 or visiting katebowler.com/podcasts.

Follow Kate on Instagram, Facebook, or X (formerly known as Twitter)—@katecbowler. Links to social pages and more available at linktr.ee/katecbowler.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kate and Kelly Corrigan (Kelly Corrigan Wonders) wrap up the year with a heart-to-heart about the ups, downs, and everything in between. From the thrill of unexpected friendships to the tenderness of saying goodbye to loved ones, they reflect on the beauty and complexity of it all. Along the way, they share stories of resilience, connection, and the ways we find light—even in the darkest moments. This episode reminds us that life is always a mix of happy and crappy—and it’s better when we face it together.

 

Watch clips from this conversation, read the full transcript, and access discussion questions by clicking here or visiting katebowler.com/podcasts.

Follow Kate on Instagram, Facebook, or X (formerly known as Twitter)—@katecbowler. Links to social pages and more available at linktr.ee/katecbowler.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's that time of year—reflection season, where the "happy" and "crappy" moments rise to the surface. Kate and Kelly Corrigan (Kelly Corrigan Wonders) dive headfirst into the messiness of life: chronic struggles that won’t budge, the ache of missing loved ones, and the tension of unmet expectations. Along the way, they wrestle with the unyielding pressure to optimize everything (thanks, wellness monsters), the quiet pain of loneliness, and the beauty of being truly seen. This heartfelt conversation explores what it means to make space for both the bitter and the sweet.

 

Watch clips from this conversation, read the full transcript, and access discussion questions by clicking here or visiting katebowler.com/podcasts.

Follow Kate on Instagram, Facebook, or X (formerly known as Twitter)—@katecbowler. Links to social pages and more available at linktr.ee/katecbowler.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Writer and poet Safiya Sinclair describes her childhood growing up in a Rasta family in Montego Bay, Jamaica. In this live conversation, Kate and Safiya explore what it is like growing up in more fundamental families, with worldviews we didn’t get to pick, and how—through it all—we become ourselves…somehow. 

In this conversation, Kate and Safiya discuss:

• The intertwining of personal and national history

• The power of poetry as a means of self-discovery and resistance

• How Safiya broke free from familial and societal expectations

If you liked this conversation, you’ll also love: 

• Tara Westover on navigating complicated families

• Minka Kelly on learning to love your parents for who they are

• Support Guide for When Families are Complicated

 

Watch clips from this conversation, read the full transcript, and access discussion questions by clicking here or visiting katebowler.com/podcasts.

Follow Kate on Instagram, Facebook, or X (formerly known as Twitter)—@katecbowler. Links to social pages and more available at linktr.ee/katecbowler.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year here at Everything Happens. And you're invited to join along.

Advent is a season that leads us up to Christmas. And it is all about living with eyes wide open—seeing the world as it is, with all its cracks and flaws, and still holding on to the hope that everything wrong will one day be made right.

And if that sounds like your sort of thing, we made a free daily Advent guide just for you. It's filled with:

• daily reflections

• questions to mull over

• response activities

• opportunities to dive deeper

So, for today’s episode, I’m excited to share with you an excerpt from this year’s Advent guide. We’ll be exploring one of the days to give you a taste of what’s inside. Whether you’re following along with the guide or just listening in today, I hope this reflection speaks to you and brings a little more light into your day. 

Download your free Advent guide at katebowler.com/advent.

 

Watch clips from this conversation, read the full transcript, and access discussion questions by clicking here or visiting katebowler.com/podcasts.

Follow Kate on Instagram, Facebook, or X (formerly known as Twitter)—@katecbowler. Links to social pages and more available at linktr.ee/katecbowler.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today’s conversation is dedicated to the many loves that make up our lives—especially that of our friends. Dolly Alderton is a Sunday Times and New York Times bestselling writer and memoirist. She recognizes the great gift of the friends who have walked with her through many seasons of life—all the highs and lows and inbetweens. 

In this conversation, Kate and Dolly discuss:

1. The great loves that make up a life

2. The push-pull of loving relationships with your body 

3. The power of witness

If you liked this conversation, you'll also like:

• Liz Gilbert on fostering creative lives

• Sarah Bessey on living inside our (actual) bodies

• Tim Omundson and Joel McHale on being a friend through hard times

 

Watch clips from this conversation, read the full transcript, and access discussion questions by clicking here or visiting katebowler.com/podcasts.

Follow Kate on Instagram, Facebook, or X (formerly known as Twitter)—@katecbowler. Links to social pages and more available at linktr.ee/katecbowler.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How do you stay close to someone whose pain you can’t fix, whose questions you can’t answer? In this episode, Kate sits down with her dear friend, the Rev. Dr. Sam Wells, a longtime advocate of “being with,” a theology that goes beyond advice and into the sacred space of simply staying. Sam–vicar at London’s St.-Martin-in-the-Fields, an astonishingly wise thinker, and one of Kate’s favorite people on Earth–invites us into a deeper courage: to show up without trying to tidy things up. 

In this beautifully honest conversation, Kate and Sam talk about:

• Why love can be so hard

• What it means to let go of the need to “help”

• The surprising beauty of just… showing up 

For everyone exhausted by easy answers, this episode is a hand to hold in the dark.

 

Watch clips from this conversation, read the full transcript, and access discussion questions by clicking here or visiting katebowler.com/podcasts.

Follow Kate on Instagram, Facebook, or X (formerly known as Twitter)—@katecbowler. Links to social pages and more available at linktr.ee/katecbowler.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There are some realities we can never get over. And yet, we keep living. How do we do that well? Wilma Derksen writes and speaks on the topics of victimization and criminal justice. Her wisdom is hardwon. In the mid-80s, Wilma’s daughter, Candace, was murdered. Their family’s response to this tragedy has inspired so many people…and you’ll soon see why.

In this conversation, Kate and Wilma discuss: 

• How we live with the things we cannot change

• What does forgiveness look like in practice

• How to start forgiving yourself

If you liked this episode, you might also like: 

• Malcolm Gladwell on whether people can change

• Jerry Sittser on reflecting on tragedy decades later

CW: murder of a child

 

Watch clips from this conversation, read the full transcript, and access discussion questions by clicking here or visiting katebowler.com/podcasts.

Follow Kate on Instagram, Facebook, or X (formerly known as Twitter)—@katecbowler. Links to social pages and more available at linktr.ee/katecbowler.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How do we stay hopeful in the face of despair and disillusionment—especially when politics threaten to tear us in two? Kate speaks with Parker Palmer, a writer, teacher, and activist. As you’ll hear, he has gone through seasons of deep clinical depression, and has hard-won wisdom to share with us on how to survive, how to regain a sense of agency, how to remain hopeful despite it all. 

In this episode, Kate and Parker discuss:

• finding agency in the midst of depression and despair (including his trick of redefining achievement)

• why it is important to recalibrate our sense of reality—especially in the face of 24-hour news cycles and social media algorithms

• how a broken heart can either shatter or break open into a larger, more compassionate way of being

So on a day like today when we all might be thinking about the state of our nation or the state of our world or the realities at stake for our families and friends (....or perhaps, more tempted to keep our head in the sand to just make it through Thanksgiving), might we pull up close and listen to what Parker has to teach us about how to keep our hearts soft and remain hopeful, still. 

If you liked this episode, you’ll also love: 

• Sharon McMahon on the small differences we can make

• Will Willimon on aging into a new vocation

 

Watch clips from this conversation, read the full transcript, and access discussion questions by clicking here or visiting katebowler.com/podcasts.

Follow Kate on Instagram, Facebook, or X (formerly known as Twitter)—@katecbowler. Links to social pages and more available at linktr.ee/katecbowler.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.