What if your life hasn’t turn out like you thought it would? When writer Heather Lanier’s daughter was born with a rare genetic syndrome, she learned that the world will not always see her beloved as good. In this conversation, Kate and Heather discuss how it’s okay that we are not summed up on bell curves. Perhaps the bodies in which we dwell are whole enough.

CW: Difficult labor

For show notes, the transcript, and discussion questions: https://katebowler.com/podcasts/heather-lanier-whole-and-holy/

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Timothy Omundson knows what it feels like to have well-made plans come apart after he suffered a massive stroke at the height of his acting career. Kate speaks with Tim and Joel McHale about the power of hard work and friendship.

CW: Stroke, Chronic illness

For show notes, the transcript, and discussion questions: https://katebowler.com/podcasts/timothy-omundson-joel-mchale-flying-buttresses/

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When Jason Rosenthal’s wife died, she left him a gift that he couldn’t even have known to ask for—in the form of a viral Modern Love article. Today’s episode is about the kind of love that walks us to the very edge and charts a way forward. Even when forward seems impossible to imagine.

CW: Death of a spouse, ovarian cancer

For show notes, the transcript, and discussion questions: https://katebowler.com/podcasts/jason-rosenthal-blank-space/

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Sarah Bessey speaks right to the soft spot where our deepest pain and deepest hope meet. The place where in the bleakest of nights we whisper, What if this doesn’t get better? If you find yourself in that tender spot today, this conversation is for you. 

CW: Miscarriage, car accident

For show notes, the transcript, and discussion questions: https://katebowler.com/podcasts/sarah-bessey-ordinary-miracles/

 

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Is fear avoidable? What does this emotion do to our bodies and minds? In this episode, Kate speaks with psychologist Hillary McBride on the importance of fear, practicing embodiment, and ways we can better live alongside the things we’re afraid of.

CW: Trauma

For show notes, the transcript, and discussion questions: https://katebowler.com/podcasts/hillary-mcbride-living-inside-our-bodies/

 

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There's a story we're told about how we should save ourselves through sheer grit. But many fall on the other side of that success metric. In this episode, Kate and writer and activist Mia Birdsong discuss expanding our definition of family and how to show up when our community needs us—both locally and nationally.

CW: Racism, white supremacy, police violence

For show notes, the transcript, and discussion questions: https://katebowler.com/podcasts/mia-birdsong-community-as-a-verb/

 

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Wes Moore had a rough childhood growing up in Baltimore. His father died when he was a child, he struggled in school and was arrested for vandalism before something shifted. Moore grew up to be a Rhodes Scholar, White House fellow, and published writer. And along the way, he learned of another man who shared his same name, but is serving a life sentence in prison. He talks with Kate about what he learned from “the other” Wes Moore.

CW: Death of a parent, incarceration

For show notes, the transcript, and discussion questions: https://katebowler.com/podcasts/fork-in-the-road-with-wes-moore-s1e6/

 

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Certain people decide to make other people's pain their own. Gary Haugen, founder and CEO of International Justice Mission, is one of those people. In this episode, Kate and Gary talk about how even in the darkest places, joy and goodness can be found. 

CW: First hand account of Rwandan Genocide

For show notes, the transcript, and discussion questions: https://katebowler.com/podcasts/gary-haugen-joy-is-the-oxygen/

 

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Wajahat Ali was about to give a TED talk on the global case for having more kids, when he received news no parent should ever hear. Kate and Waj speak about parenting amid fear, unexpected kindness, and how kids really are our greatest act of hope.

CW: Pediatric cancer, transplant

For show notes, the transcript, and discussion questions: https://katebowler.com/podcasts/wajahat-ali-make-me-a-gardener/

 

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This is the story of one young doctor’s race against the clock as he searches for a cure for his own rare disease that brought him to the brink of death too many times to count. In this episode, Kate and David Fajgenbaum speak about facing impossible odds and how love can turn hope into action.

CW: Death of a parent, chronic illness

For show notes, the transcript, and discussion questions: https://katebowler.com/podcasts/david-fajgenbaum-hope-wears-sneakers/

 

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