There’s an ache at the center of being human. The kind that doesn’t go away with a fresh to-do list or a good night’s sleep. It’s the longing for more. The grief of what wasn’t. The quiet ache of ordinary life—school pickups, grocery runs, scan results, and the slow accumulation of things we didn’t choose.

In this tender and deeply wise conversation, Kate Bowler speaks with Father Ron Rolheiser—beloved Roman Catholic priest, theologian, and bestselling author—about the ache that lives in all of us... and why it might be the most holy part of who we are. This episode is for anyone who feels a little restless, a little disappointed, or just plain tired—and is looking for a spirituality big enough to hold the beautiful, unfinished life they’re living.

In this conversation, Kate and Ron discuss:

• Why we all have an ache inside of us (and why that’s okay)
• The convalescence you may need from church communities that have hurt you
• How living in six-month intervals can teach us what really matters

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

• Nadia Bolz-Weber, “The Insight of Outsiders”

Richard Rohr, “Learning to Hold On, Learning to Let Go”

 

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 seasons when everything feels a bit undone. A marriage ends. A child grows up. A job shifts. And suddenly, we’re no longer who we were…and not yet who we’ll become.

Melinda French Gates has lived through some of life’s biggest transitions. In this conversation, she reflects on what it means to stay open when life is changing—quietly or all at once. To hold your own hand when everything feels uncertain. To lean on the people who tell you the truth. And to remember that good enough is more than just survival—it can be a way forward.

If you’re in the middle of something—grief, reinvention, or a season that feels like wandering—this conversation is a soft place to land.

In this conversation, Kate and Melinda discuss:

• Why transitions—chosen or not—ask us to be braver than we feel
• How to listen to the inner voice that won’t go quiet
• The beauty of being a “good enough” parent, partner, or person
• Why our friendships might be the most sacred thing we have
• What it means to be held—by community, by love, by something even bigger

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

• Nicholas Kristof, "Hope is a Muscle"
• Sharon McMahon, "Drops Make an Ocean"
• Gregory Boyle, "The Case for Hope"

 

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.

What happens when the faith that once held you starts to unravel? When the certainty you clung to turns to dust? Sarah Bessey knows what it’s like to watch faith fall apart—and somehow find something more honest, more spacious, more real on the other side. In this Holy Week conversation, Kate and Sarah talk about what it means to sit in the wilderness of uncertainty, to be in the company of unanswered prayers, and to discover that faith was never about having it all figured out. If you’ve ever felt like you don’t belong in the faith you once knew, if you’ve ever wondered whether there’s still room for you here—this conversation is for you. In this conversation, Kate and Sarah discuss:

• Why faith is meant to evolve–and why certainty was never the goal
• The grief of spiritual disillusionment and what comes after
• The beauty (and cost) of trying to be faithful together
• Why God is not just in the light, but in the dark, too.
  
  

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.

What happens when the person you love is called to something that takes them away? Again and again and again. Journalist Simone Gorrindo never expected to become a military wife. Raised in a liberal anti-war family, she had her whole life mapped out–until she fell in love. And love, as it turns out, isn’t just about saying yes. Sometimes it asks for waiting. For loneliness. For a life built around someone else’s calling. For making a home inside a world you never planned for. 

In this episode, Kate and Simone talk about:

• What it means to build a life that constantly asks for more—more patience, more sacrifice, more resilience than you ever thought you had.
• When your partner’s job becomes an identity—and you’re expected to adapt.
• The loneliness of waiting, the friendships that save us, and the pressure to be “strong.”

If you liked this episode, you may also love:

• Cindy McCain
• Willie Jennings 
• Priya Parker
  
  

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.

What happens when a journalist-turned-seminarian finds God in a pile of rotting vegetables? You get Jeff Chu—writer, pastor, and accidental theologian of compost.

In this tender and funny conversation, Jeff and Kate talk about what it means to be changed—by grief, by love, by the kind of calling that makes zero practical sense. They talk about complicated families, appropriate smallness, and what it means to belong to one another in just-because texts, foreign potato chips, and a rice cooker packed in a suitcase. Sometimes resurrection doesn’t look like a clean slate. Sometimes it looks like compost. Hope grows slowly. But oh, it grows.

In this conversation, Kate and Jeff discuss:

• Why God’s call often doesn’t add up (and still won’t leave us alone)
• The theology of compost: how death, rot, and loss make way for new life
• How to live like we are beloved—even when life doesn’t feel that way
• Why small, ordinary graces are how we build the world we want
  
  

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.

What does it mean to live alongside people you don’t agree with? And love them anyway? Pádraig Ó Tuama is a poet, theologian, and conflict mediator from Ireland, where belonging has always been complicated and peace is fragile at best. In this conversation, Kate and Pádraig explore what it takes to live together in the midst of disagreement—the beauty, the cost, and the messy, sacred hope of it all.

In this conversation, Kate and Pádraig discuss:

• Why peace is exhausting, fragile, and still worth fighting for

• The surprising role of curiosity in transforming division

• How belonging can comfort us—and cost us

If you liked this episode, check out:

• Safiya Sinclair on Rewriting Roots

• Nadia Bolz Weber on the Insight of Outsiders

• Lanecia Rouse on When Hope Seems Lost

 

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.

We all carry stories. Some smooth over the past, making things easier to bear. Others—the truer ones—break us open. Amy Griffin knows what it’s like to hold a secret so tightly, it starts to define you. As a child, she was sexually assaulted by a teacher—a painful truth she buried for years. But eventually, staying silent became harder than telling the truth. So what happens when the person who spends all their time championing others realizes they need to tell their own story?

In this conversation, Kate and Amy talk about: 

• The relentless churn of perfectionism—and what happens when we finally let some of it go
• How psychedelic-assisted therapy helped Amy unlock long-buried trauma 
• The surprising joy of telling the truth—even when it feels impossible
• Why healing isn’t about erasing the past—it’s about learning to carry it differently  

If you liked this episode, you may also enjoy: 

• Charles Spencer on Confronting the Past
• Rachel Denhollender on The Pursuit of Justice
• Our support guide for processing a painful childhood
• As well as our episodes with Minka Kelly, Beth Moore, Maggie Smith, and Wilma Derksen

 

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.

What happens when someone believes in you–before you’re even ready to believe in yourself? In this powerful conversation, Kate sits down with legendary basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski (Coach K) to talk about trust, leadership, and the important work of calling out greatness in others. From his storied career at Duke to coaching Team USA, Coach K shares what he has learned about the power of honest feedback, why trust is the foundation of meaningful relationships, and how four simple words–”I believe in you”–can change everything. There’s even a story where he hangs up on a player. Twice. (It worked.)

In this humorous and heartfelt conversation, Coach K and Kate discuss:

• Why trust (not talent) is what makes a team great.

• The courage it takes to offer honest feedback—even when it’s uncomfortable.

• How to call out the best in others (and yourself).

 

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.

Lent is here—the season we stop pretending we’re fine and admit that life is…a lot. It’s forty days of naming what’s fragile, walking toward the hard truths, and resisting the urge to skip straight to the happy ending.

In this special Ask Kate Anything episode, Kate answers your biggest, messiest questions: How do we stay soft in a brutal world? How do we practice Lent when life is already exhausting? What do we do when faith unravels? And because sometimes words aren’t enough, singer-songwriter Katelyn Tarver stops by to perform her song “Sh*t Happens,” an anthem for all of us who know that life doesn’t always make sense.

In this episode, Kate discusses:

• Why Lent is for the weary, the doubting, and the grieving.
• How to hold both grief and hope.
• A faith that doesn’t demand you have it all figured out.

You’re invited to join us for lent—ashes, doubts, imperfections, and all. Download The Hardest Part Lent Guide for free at katebowler.com/lent.

 

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.

Loneliness is more than just a feeling—it shapes how we see ourselves and the world around us. It can make us withdraw, hesitate to reach out, or convince us that connection is for other people. But Dr. Vivek Murthy has spent years reminding us of what is most true: we are meant to hold each other up.

As U.S. Surgeon General (twice!), Vivek confronted some of the biggest public health challenges of our time—addiction, youth mental health, the opioid crisis. But at the heart of it all was something deeply human: our need for each other. In this conversation, Kate and Vivek talk about what actually makes a life full—not perfect, not endlessly productive, but anchored in love and belonging. 

Together, they discuss:

• The quiet ache of loneliness and why so many of us feel it

• Why relationships, purpose, and service are the real building blocks of a fulfilled life

• Small, practical ways to reach out, even when it feels awkward

• How asking for help might bring us closer, not pull us apart.

If you liked this conversation, you might also enjoy: 

• Made to Belong - Vivek Murthy & Jon Scheyer

• Hope is a Muscle - Nikolas Kristof

• The Art of Gathering - Priya Parker

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.