Kate Bowler

"Everything happens for a reason" — and other lies I've loved

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About Kate Bowler

After being diagnosed with Stage IV cancer at age 35, Duke tenured professor and author Kate Bowler launched a national conversation about why it feels so difficult to speak frankly about suffering. She delves into how we live and cope with pain and suffering in Everything Happens for a Reason (and other lies I’ve loved), a NYT bestselling memoir, and in her popular podcast, Everything Happens. She is also the author of Blessed: A History of the American Prosperity Gospel, which received widespread media and academic attention as the first history of a movement based on divine promises of health, wealth, and happiness. She has appeared on NPR and The TODAY Show, Amanpour & CO, as well as in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and TIME Magazine. Her work has also been praised by a wide variety of religious and political publications, from liberal print media to conservative talk radio.

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About This Talk

At 35 years old, Kate Bowler was living the life she always wanted for herself. She had married her high school sweetheart, become a mom for the first time, and landed a dream job in academia. She worked hard, and she felt like those efforts were paying off for her just as they should. After all, good things happen to good people, right?

But that same year, Kate received an unexpected diagnosis of stage 4 cancer. In that moment, her life—and her system of beliefs—was turned upside down. Today, over 3 years later, Kate is working to understand how people can live full lives in the face of pain, suffering, and uncertainty, and she’s sharing her findings with the world. Check out Kate’s emotional 2018 TEDMED Talk to learn what happens when we finally give up control and accept that there may not always be a hidden logic to the chaos of life.


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