Nikki Grimes on Complicated Childhoods, Forgiveness, and Extraordinary Grace
What happens when childhood teaches you more about survival than safety? Poet and author Nikki Grimes joins Kate to talk about growing up with profound instability—and still choosing to see beauty, feel joy, and offer forgiveness. In this moving conversation, they explore memory, trauma, faith, and the small pockets of belonging that shape a life. SHOW NOTES: Books by Nikki Grimes: Ordinary Hazards – A memoir in verse chronicling Nikki’s traumatic childhood; Glory in the Margins – A collection of Sunday poems exploring faith and resilience; A Cup of Quiet – A children’s book about the sweet bond between a grandmother and granddaughter; The Road to Paris – A semi-autobiographical novel inspired by Nikki’s experience in foster care. Poems read in this episode: Holy Architecture – from Glory in the Margins, Habitation – from Glory in the Margins Support guides: When You’ve Been Hurt as a Child, When Your Family is Complicated Subscribe to Kate’s Substack for blessings, essays, and reflections that hold what’s hard and beautiful. Join us for Advent over on Substack! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
--------
33:16
--------
33:16
More Happier: Do Holidays Leave You Exhausted, Not Restored? Priya Parker, Francis Lam & Kate Bowler on Celebration
Today, we’re sharing a conversation from the More Happier podcast between Kate, Gretchen Rubin, Priya Parker, and Francis Lam. It’s easy to get swept up in a cycle of holidays that feels more like a relentless to-do list than a source of joy. In this Celebration Roundtable, we talk about how to embrace the holidays as opportunities for intentional connection and meaning.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
--------
36:23
--------
36:23
Through the Lens of Love with Tim Shriver
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. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
--------
54:08
--------
54:08
Small Talk Survivors with Sarah Wildman
What happens when you live on a planet where grief rewrites the language of everyday life? Kate Bowler speaks with writer and New York Times editor Sarah Wildman about her daughter Orli’s incandescent life and staggering courage while living with terminal cancer. Together they explore the limits of positivity culture, the fierce tenderness of caregiving, the sacred discomfort of truth-telling, and the love that carries us when nothing adds up. This is a conversation for anyone who has lived inside the ache—and chosen joy anyway. Show Notes: Sarah Wildman’s award-winning writing at The New York Times Leonard Cohen’s “Who By Fire” Jewish practices of grief (shiva) and care (bikur cholim) Blessing for Life After Loss Support Guides: Parenting a Medically-Complicated Child, When Your Child is in Pain, When You’ve Been Diagnosed Orli, in all her joy: @orli_halpern on TikTok For those of us who live on a different planet now: Small Talk Survivor Tee | Mug Kate’s Substack – blessings, reflections, and our tender corner of the internet See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
--------
47:43
--------
47:43
Relentless Tenderness: A Conversation on Healing with Sophie Grégoire Trudeau
It’s tempting to be a very serious person in a very serious world. But what if staying soft was the most loving thing we could do? In this vulnerable and playful conversation, Kate sits down with Sophie Grégoire Trudeau—mental health advocate, speaker, and writer—to talk about childhood wiring, the masks we wear, and how we begin the lifelong work of coming home to ourselves. If you’re navigating heartbreak, trying to live in your body again, or just craving a little lightness without losing depth—this one's for you. SHOW NOTES: Gabor Maté – on trauma, addiction, and the pain beneath our coping mechanisms “Innocence is one’s ability to be found by the world.” – A reflection on David Whyte’s invitation to stay open Maslow, Indigenous wisdom, and the reminder that community is what makes us feel safe Support Guides: When Your Child is in Pain, When You've Been Hurt as a Child, Those Who Give and Need Support Come hang out in our new favorite corner of the internet: Kate's Substack. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Are you living your best life now? Not always? This is a podcast for you. Duke Professor Kate Bowler is an expert in the stories we tell about success and failure, suffering and happiness. She had Stage IV cancer. Then she didn’t. And since then, all she wants to do is talk to funny and wise people about how to live with the knowledge that, well, everything happens. Find her online at @katecbowler.
Sales and Distribution by Lemonada Media https://lemonadamedia.com/
Listen to Everything Happens with Kate Bowler, Nothing much happens: bedtime stories to help you sleep and many other podcasts from around the world with the radio.net app
USA