Description:

Cancer is a tough topic—hard to discuss, isolating, and disorienting for those facing it. For Tyler Merritt, a beloved voice in the JHBC community, confronting mortality sparked a fresh perspective on life.

Tyler joins Jen to talk about This Changes Everything, his humorous and heartfelt love letter to life after battling cancer. With his signature humor, pop culture nods, and musical theater references (plus a killer playlist), Tyler weaves candid stories of surgery and treatment with playful asides—think a five-page play about his appendix and Taylor Swift-inspired subtitles.

Things may go off the rails when Jen and Tyler debate whether words like “lovers” and “making love” are officially outdated—we apologize in advance.

***

Thought-provoking Quotes:

Because of the way your book is written, in real time and with such urgency, I think 100 people out of 100 will go straight to their phones after finishing the book and Google ”is Tyler Merritt still alive?” – Jen Hatmaker

I found out pretty quickly that I was using a lot of humor to cover my fear. Even in the worst possible scenarios, even though I was sometimes walking with death, it felt like, if I looked around, there was humor. – Tyler Merritt

For people that are in the horrible cancer club, if you have something in your life that has created change in your every day, or something that has made things scary, you’re not alone. You’re blessed to still be here and breathing. – Tyler Merritt

Resources Mentioned in This Episode:

This Changes Everything: A Surprisingly Funny Story About Race, Cancer, Faith, and Other Things We Don’t Talk About by Tyler Merritt - https://amzn.to/3Clgwa2

Jen Hatmaker Book Club - https://bit.ly/40KOQ7U

I Take My Coffee Black: Reflections on Tupac, Musical Theater, Faith, and Being Black in America by Tyler Merritt - https://amzn.to/4hjiPcC

Publisher’s Weekly synopsis - https://www.publishersweekly.com/9781546006961

A Door Made for Me by Tyler Merritt - https://amzn.to/4hvCkPn

Cujo - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085382/

Annie - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083564/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_8_tt_2_nm_6_in_0_q_annie

Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls - https://amzn.to/4gdEbqG

Train - Drops of Jupiter - https://open.spotify.com/track/2hKdd3qO7cWr2Jo0Bcs0MA

Blackberry Farms - https://www.blackberryfarm.com/

This Changes Everything playlist - https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0jFoCxX22lzohvdd2tLfkQ

Sandi Patti - https://www.sandipatty.com/

Taylor Swift - https://www.taylorswift.com/

Prince - https://www.prince.com/

RENT - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0294870/

AUDIOBOOK: This Changes Everything: A Surprisingly Funny Story About Race, Cancer, Faith, and Other Things We Don't Talk About by Tyler Merritt - https://amzn.to/3Cm1YHa

Book People (Austin) - https://www.bookpeople.com/

Parnassus Books (Nashville) - https://www.parnassusbooks.net/

Guest’s Links:

Tyler’s website - https://thetylermerrittproject.com/

Tyler’s Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/thetylermerrittproject/

Tyler’s Twitter - https://x.com/ttmproject

Tyler’s Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/thetylermerrittproject

Tyler’s YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPB48_JfK-VMnYQPTYyMX5Q

Connect with Jen!

Jen’s website - https://jenhatmaker.com/

Jen’s Instagram - https://instagram.com/jenhatmaker

Jen’s Twitter - https://twitter.com/jenHatmaker/

Jen’s Facebook - https://facebook.com/jenhatmaker

Jen’s YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/user/JenHatmaker

The For the Love Podcast is presented by Audacy.

To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices