Kate Bowler — On Being in a Body

<p>We love the theologian Kate Bowler's allergy to every platitude and her wisdom and wit about the strange and messy fullness of what it means to be in a human body. She's best known for her 2018 book <i>Everything Happens for a Reason (And Other Lies I've Loved)</i> — a poetic and powerful reflection on learning at age 35 that she had Stage IV colon cancer. </p><p>From a reset on how to think about aging, to the new reality in our time of living with cancer as a chronic illness, to the telling of truths to our young, this beautiful conversation is full of the vividly whole humanity that Kate Bowler singularly embodies. </p><p>(Also, as you'll hear, if she hadn't become a theologian, she might have been a stand-up comedian.)</p><p>Krista and Kate spoke as part of the 2023 Aspen Ideas Festival.</p><p>Kate Bowler's beloved books include <a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/everything-happens-for-a-reason-and-other-lies-i-ve-loved-kate-bowler/11377507?aid=24198&ean=9780399592089&listref=my-books-c4210dfd-4ea9-4de8-b1e4-26f30a3c499b"><i>Everything Happens for a Reason (And Other Lies I’ve Loved)</i></a><i> </i>and most recently, <a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-lives-we-actually-have-100-blessings-for-imperfect-days-kate-bowler/18517063?gclid=CjwKCAjwwb6lBhBJEiwAbuVUShL6y2lwhZO2ZsA9-EUj5VAn-B_3ALP-5AhAavZcUEnKXW_v-MBMMBoCfUIQAvD_BwE"><i>The Lives We Actually Have: 100 Blessings for Imperfect Days</i></a><i>. </i>She is an associate professor at Duke Divinity School and made an early name in her field of American religious history with her 2013 book <a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/blessed-a-history-of-the-american-prosperity-gospel-kate-bowler/11691448?aid=24198&ean=9780190876739&listref=my-books-c4210dfd-4ea9-4de8-b1e4-26f30a3c499b"><i>Blessed: A History of the American Prosperity Gospel</i></a>. She also hosts the podcast <a href="https://katebowler.com/podcasts/"><i>Everything Happens</i></a>.</p><p><a href="https://onbeing.org/programs/kate-bowler-on-being-in-a-body/#transcript">Find the transcrip