When Bad Things Happen to Good People
When historian Kate Bowler was diagnosed with Stage IV cancer, she became fascinated by the ways people try to impose order on events they can't control. She joins us to explore what it means to live fully when life offers no satisfying explanation for the tragedies we may face. Then, in the latest installment of "Your Questions Answered," psychologist Lisa Miller returns to answer listener questions about the relationship between science and spirituality.
- Duration
- 1h 42m
- Broadcast on
- 05 Oct 2026
- Audio Format
- other
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When historian Kate Bowler was diagnosed with Stage IV cancer, she became fascinated by the ways people try to impose order on events they can't control. She joins us to explore what it means to live fully when life offers no satisfying explanation for the tragedies we may face. Then, in the latest installment of "Your Questions Answered," psychologist Lisa Miller returns to answer listener questions about the relationship between science and spirituality.
In our companion conversation for subscribers to Hidden Brain Plus, we take a deep dive into the origins and surprising spread of the prosperity gospel that Kate has studied. If you're a subscriber, that episode is called “The Gospel of Success.” If you're not yet a subscriber, you can access a free seven-day trial at support.hiddenbrain.org or apple.co/hiddenbrain.
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This is Hidden Brain, I'm Shankar Vedanta. In 1759, the French writer and philosopher Voltaire published a satirical novel about a young man and his tutor. Panglas, the tutor, instructs the student, Candide, that they live in "the best of all possible worlds". As the story unfolds, Candide witnesses war, disease, natural disasters, torture and death. Panglas encounters many of these tragedies himself. Yet, no matter what happens, he continues to insist that everything is unfolding exactly as it should. It's from this character that we get the word Panglossian, describing someone who relentlessly maintains that everything is for the best. Most of us are not as optimistic as Panglas. But many of us do carry assumptions in our heads about how life works, that good choices lead to good outcomes, that the world is fair, and that everything will make sense in the end. These assumptions are often unconscious and unarticulated, until something happens to destabilize us. This week on Hidden Brain and in a companion episode on Hidden Brain Plus, when bad things happen to good people. Support for Hidden Brain comes from Instagram. Instagram teen accounts automatic protections limit who can contact teens, the content they can see, and the time they spend on the app. Teens are automatically placed into teen accounts. Teens under 16 will need a parent's permission to change any of those settings to be less strict. Learn more about teen accounts and Instagram's ongoing work to protect teens online at instagram.com/teenaccounts. Support for Hidden Brain comes from Liberty Mutual Insurance. Making smart decisions includes considering how to protect your car and home and how much you're paying to ensure them. Liberty Mutual customizes your car and home insurance to save you money, because when you've worked hard for something, choosing insurance should be easy. Start your quote at libertymutual.com. Support for Hidden Brain comes from Southern New Hampshire University. The brain is fixed, it's flexible. That means we're always capable of transformation. A master's degree from SNHU can help you build the skills to become whoever you want. A leader, career changer, dream chaser. With no set class times and low online tuition, SNHU makes grad school possible, because it's never too late to learn something new. Get started at snhu.edu/brain. Modern life gives us remarkable control over our surroundings. We can navigate unfamiliar cities, communicate across continents, and order almost anything with the touch of a button. Day after day, the world responds to our wishes. It's easy to start believing that life itself works this way, that with enough effort, planning and good decisions, we can shape our destiny. But sooner or later, many of us encounter a reality that refuses to submit to our wishes. At Duke University, historian Kate Bowler has studied the currents that shape people's cultural and religious worldviews when they encounter these unexpected events.
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When historian Kate Bowler was diagnosed with Stage IV cancer, she became fascinated by the ways people try to impose order on events they can't control. She joins us to explore what it means to live fully when life offers no satisfying explanation for the tragedies we may face. Then, in the latest installment of "Your Questions Answered," psychologist Lisa Miller returns to answer listener questions about the relationship between science and spirituality.