It’s that ancient philosophy that’s become very popular again that says you should basically just accept life’s suffering as an obstacle course that you have to navigate. How did they make sense of their own fragility? Did they turn to religion? Did they turn to politics? Do they turn to the idea of a brighter, better future? So in today’s episode, you’re going to hear me ask about three of these portraits, three of these particular arguments that we turn to to explain our lives. And what did they turn to? In the midst of their own personal losses and griefs and illnesses. Then, Harvard scholar, that you would ask if you wanted to ask enormous existential questions like what is loss and to what do we turn to to find comfort? And in this beautiful book he wrote, he offers various portraits of people across time whose life really broke down. ![]() He had a very cool show in the United Kingdom for a long time, which just made him the cosmopolitan, oh right. He really could have been prime minister, in my opinion. He was the leader of the Liberal Party for a while. He served as a member of parliament in the Parliament of Canada for years. If you wanted to, you know, be the winner of the world’s most incredible brain contest. When I was growing up in Canada, Michael Ignatieff was just absolutely the guy you wanted to be. And yeah, like in that little grab-bag of descriptions, let me just tell you about what an incredible person he is. Michael Ignatieff is a professor and a writer and a politician. And my guest today is very interested in explanations of suffering and what people turn to when their own certainties break down. So I kind of wanted a minute to speak to someone who loves these long-form stories, these historical accounts, as much as I do. I know, you know I love big words, but my guest today wrote a whole book exploring this question, what is consolation? What meaning do people turn to after we experience great tragedy or suffering? And not just today, when so many people turn to science or the therapeutic, but what have great thinkers and leaders turned to for centuries before us? Maybe it’s because I study popular religious culture and, you know, which is to say everything that makes its way into Instagram and cheap paperbacks. I’m Kate Bowler and this is Everything Happens and today we’re going to talk about the whole concept of consolation. And yet, we still want to be on the hunt for glimmers of beauty and joy and hope. Sometimes things just happen for no reason that we can easily understand and no reason we can weaponize against other people. And, of course, as this podcasts title lets you know, something meaningful can’t always be found. We cling to traditions and rituals that make us feel a part of something greater than us. We tell stories to make sense of our lives and our loves. ![]() Kate Bowler You’ve probably heard it said that humans are meaning-making creatures. How do we avoid the extremes of pure self-reliance or the assumption that other people are the solution?
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