A cancer diagnosis turned Kate Bowler’s world upside down. Now, the Duke professor, author and podcast host exemplifies optimistic realism. She’s The News & Observer’s Tar Heel of the Month.

MARTIN: Kate Bowler is a New York Times bestselling author, professor at the Divinity School at Duke, and she is the host of the podcast "Everything Happens." Kate, thank you so much.

MARTIN: Yeah. BOWLER: And now I'm an efficiency monster, and I can't undo it. KELLY: You can hear more of that conversation with Kate Bowler on the Wild Card podcast.

SALISBURY — Catawba College is bringing Dr. Kate Bowler, bestselling author, to campus as part of its Clergy Days programming on Oct. 26. Bowler will provide the keynote address at 11 a.m. in ...

MARTIN: Kate Bowler is a New York Times bestselling author, professor at the Divinity School at Duke, and she is the host of the podcast "Everything Happens." Kate, thank you so much.

KATE BOWLER: I think it's something I write about all the time, 'cause I'm always really struggling with it, is that cultural insistence that we always have to be getting better.

MARTIN: Kate Bowler is a New York Times bestselling author, professor at the Divinity School at Duke, and she is the host of the podcast "Everything Happens." Kate, thank you so much.

Duke Divinity School professor Kate Bowler was 35 years old when she was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer. She wrote a best-selling memoir about that experience, titled "Everything Happens For A ...

MARTIN: Kate Bowler is a New York Times bestselling author, professor at the Divinity School at Duke, and she is the host of the podcast "Everything Happens." Kate, thank you so much.

Duke divinity professor Kate Bowler was 35 years old when she was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer. And she started noticing all the ways people tried to show up for her when something bad happens.