Learning to Be Joyful, Anyway: A Big Announcement

Learning to Be Joyful, Anyway: A Big Announcement

Joy won't cure you, but it will carry you.

After surviving a stage-four cancer diagnosis, Kate Bowler knew she was supposed to be grateful. Alive. Blessed. But she still ached—for more connection, more surprise, less resentment on an ordinary day.

So she went looking for joy. Not the toxic positivity kind. Not a 5-step plan. But the type that sneaks in unexpectedly, seemingly out of nowhere. A lemur sunbathing. A belly laugh at a funeral. A dive into the Atlantic with a shark wrangler.

In Joyful, Anyway, Bowler takes us on a hilarious and tender journey through big questions and small delights. With wry wit and deep honesty, she explores how joy can surprise us even in the middle of pain, boredom, and longing.

This is not a book about fixing your life. It is about how we can all find more—feel more—by making room for small extraordinary moments. For anyone who has ever felt stuck, who is achy for meaning, who feels undone by loss, who feels that joy is just out of reach, who wants, simply, to have more fun, Joyful Anyway is a delicious, insightful tour through the questions that sit in the deepest part of our souls. It proves that for every time we ask: Is this it? Joy will answer: there is more.

Joyful, Anyway releases on April 7, 2026, but you can pre-order now from all of your favorite retailers.

Check out that gorgeous cover!

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episoder(279)

Listen Again: Clear Eyes, Full Hearts with Minka Kelly

Listen Again: Clear Eyes, Full Hearts with Minka Kelly

How do we stay soft in a world that has taught us to be tough? Actress Minka Kelly is known for her roles as Lyla Garrity on Friday Night Lights or as Samantha in HBO’s Euphoria. Despite her fame on t...

3 Feb 37min

Listen Again: Life After Dark with Barbara Brown Taylor

Listen Again: Life After Dark with Barbara Brown Taylor

Author and Episcopal priest Barbara Brown Taylor is no stranger to darkness. After experiencing devastating loss, Barbara explores our culture’s pursuit of the sunny side of life. But perhaps there ar...

27 Jan 32min

Listen Again: Loving Mercy with Bryan Stevenson

Listen Again: Loving Mercy with Bryan Stevenson

Bryan Stevenson (founder of the Equal Justice Initiative) is committed to ending mass incarceration and excessive punishment, to challenging racial and economic injustice, and to protecting basic huma...

20 Jan 1h 1min

Listen Again: Living with the End in Mind with Kathryn Mannix

Listen Again: Living with the End in Mind with Kathryn Mannix

What if you started thinking really concretely about small, hard choices? That’s exactly what palliative care physicians do every day. They help us think about what we really want—knowing that we have...

13 Jan 57min

Listen Again: Oliver Burkeman on New Year, Same Me

Listen Again: Oliver Burkeman on New Year, Same Me

Does life ever feel like an endless to-do list? Like if you could just wake up tomorrow with a little more discipline, you’d finally master your schedule, achieve balance, and feel…enough? On today's...

6 Jan 44min

Third Annual Happy Crappy: Let’s End with the Happies

Third Annual Happy Crappy: Let’s End with the Happies

What happens when joy shows up anyway? In their third annual Happy Crappies, Kate and her dear friend Kelly Corrigan dare to name what went right in 2025 — personally, professionally, and globally — w...

30 Des 202554min

Third Annual Happy Crappy: Let’s Start with the Crappies

Third Annual Happy Crappy: Let’s Start with the Crappies

What happens when the things you tried to fix turn out to be forever? In their third annual Happy Crappy, Kate and her dear friend Kelly Corrigan wade into the personal, professional, and global losse...

23 Des 202554min

Advent: Love Comes Down

Advent: Love Comes Down

By this point in December, love has been merchandised within an inch of its life. It jingles in ads that say if you really love someone, you should buy them a luxury car with a bow the size of a house...

22 Des 20254min

Populært innen Samfunn

rss-spartsklubben
giver-og-gjengen-vg
aftenpodden
konspirasjonspodden
aftenpodden-usa
popradet
lydartikler-fra-aftenposten
rss-nesten-hele-uka-med-lepperod
rss-henlagt-andy-larsgaard
alt-fortalt
grenselos
wolfgang-wee-uncut
min-barneoppdragelse
fladseth
synnve-og-vanessa
rss-dette-ma-aldri-skje-igjen
rss-dannet-uten-piano
krisemoter
198-land-med-einar-trnquist
rss-frekvens-med-anine-olsen