Life Will Break Your Heart
Setup
Kate Bowler, a young scholar of Christianity, had just written a book called Blessed, about the Christian idea that good things happen to good people, when she was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer at the age of 35. Suddenly confronted with this devastating news, and people’s well-meaning but often lacking responses to it, Bowler wrote a book, launched a podcast, and became a leading voice in a national conversation about suffering. David Brooks joins Bowler for a conversation about human frailty, why optimism can sometimes be a burden, and the dangers of worshiping at the altar of success.
Explore More
Arts
The nature of beauty, and whether it’s objective or subjective, is the subject of timeless philosophical debate. Do perceptions of beauty vary culturally and generationally, o...
Psychologist Marisa Franco explains the biggest misconceptions that are hurting our friendships, how relationships shape our personalities and sense of self, and why friendshi...
From the Supreme Court's ruling on abortion rights to public health's role in addressing gun violence to the devastating human toll of the war in Ukraine, this year's Aspen Id...
Today's kids are coming of age against a backdrop of political, social, technological, and economic upheaval. While these circumstances are shaping a precocious generation tha...
For people with post-traumatic stress disorder, therapy assisted by the drug MDMA may provide lasting relief, with a new way of seeing their trauma and themselves. Rachel Yehu...
The highest court often seems distanced from our day-to-day lives, but the rulings that come out of the Supreme Court are woven into the fabric of the nation. Though it aims t...
Gen-Z for Change's Aidan Kohn-Murphy on youth-led movements, his advice for young activists, and why it's impossible to lose hope.
Music and dance are humanity’s hallmarks, a shared ritual of communities the world over. Over the millennia, we’ve created some highly specialized forms, but at its root, musi...
On a weekly basis, 32 million Americans spend 2 hours at one of 30,000 laundromats across the country. What if that time and space could be used to meet people where they are...
Jessica Cruel, Editor-in-Chief of Allure, discusses why certain beauty buzzwords are banned from the magazine, reflects on the evolution of the industry, and shares her vision...
