Listen Again: Everyone’s From Somewhere with Erin & Ben Napier

Everything Happens with Kate Bowler

Kate Bowler

Society & Culture, Religion & Spirituality, Health & Fitness

4.8 • 5.1K Ratings

🗓️ 12 May 2026

⏱️ 32 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Erin and Ben Napier didn’t plan on becoming household names. They were just trying to build a beautiful life in their beloved hometown of Laurel, Mississippi, one house, one neighbor, one Main Street at a time. In this heartwarming conversation, Kate talks to the stars of HGTV’s Home Town about what happens when our plans fall apart and something even better takes root. They reflect on the surprising twists that led from political aspirations and magazine dreams to woodworking, parenting, and a television show that celebrates belonging. Along the way, they explore how creativity is born out of necessity, making a home, building a community, and loving the place where you are. In this episode, they discuss: The ache and joy of making a home in the place that raised you How small acts of community build a life The beauty of third places and why talking to strangers still matters If you liked this episode, you may also like: Angela Williams on The Caring Power of Community Sharon McMahon, Drops Make an Ocean Priya Parker on The Art of Gathering This episode originally aired June 2025.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Lemonada.
0:02.7	Sometimes home is where you're born, and sometimes it's where you end up, and sometimes it's where you begin again.
0:20.5	I'm Kate Bowler, and this is Everything Happens.
0:24.2	Today's conversation is with Ben and Aaron Napier.
0:27.1	They are HGTV stars of hometown, small business owners, devoted Mississippians,
0:33.7	and two of the kindest, funniest, most down-to-earth people I know.
0:38.5	Together, they've built a life rooted in Laurel, Mississippi,
0:41.8	a town they've helped restore house by house, neighbor by neighbor,
0:46.0	soda by soda bottle.
0:47.5	You'll see.
0:48.7	This is a conversation about community and what it really takes to belong somewhere.
0:53.4	You are going to love them. I sure do.
0:57.4	We're excited. You're a really big deal. Like, yeah, yes, yes, Ben, thank you. I'm serious.
1:05.6	We have so many friends when we were talking about doing this and they were like,
1:09.0	oh, loves. Yay. Well, this is my time to be crazy, nosy about your lives. Let's start with
1:16.6	you, Ben. I imagine this is exactly what you pictured for your life, this, that you would have a
1:22.2	television show. Yes. So Methodist Preachers Kid from South Mississippi with a Duke alum as a father and an
1:32.0	Emery Canler alum as a mother. Oh my gosh, that's a lot of ministry. Yeah, it is. I'm steeped in it.
1:39.8	And this which is maybe why I'm not one.
1:47.1	But now I did youth ministry for 10 years,
1:53.1	and I honestly thought I was going to go into politics because I was going to make a difference.
1:55.2	And that didn't work out. And the producer who discovered us told us, she told me,
	...

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