Hello friends, so happy you here today. I am talking to my friend Kate Bowler. I just love her so much. She is a professor of a religious history at Duke Divinity School and if that is not an

interesting enough guest she also was diagnosed with stage four cancer at age

35 and she has written an absolutely mesmerizing book about her experiences

called No Cure for Being Human. And I think this is the second episode that both

me and the guest have cried I think so but

ultimately this is not a sad episode we have so many laughs that's my favorite

kind of conversation where you laugh and cry in the same few moments. So I really

think you're going to fall in love with Kate Bowler. Let's dive in. I'm Sharon McMahon and

welcome to the Sharon Says So podcast.

Oh my goodness, my friend Kate is here today.

Thank you so much for coming.

Oh my goodness. I'm so excited.

Thank you for writing this book and congratulations on no care for being human.

Thanks so much. First of all I just have to say I devoured it in one sitting and at the end of the book I was like oh no it tears are coming and my

daughter walked in the room and I'm reading this book and I just have you know like tears streaming on my face and my

daughter was like what is happening and she's nine and I'm like oh I'm just

reading a book and she's like why are you doing this tears?

Exactly I remember Why are you doing this to yourself? Exactly.

I remember after I was diagnosed with cancer,

I remember my dad introducing what he called

the No Sadness Decree after he had once watched an early 1970s movie about the enslavement of Troy and then after that he was like why do we do this to ourselves?

I took us advice except that I then go on to write things that are medium sad.

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