Erin and Ben Napier didn’t plan on becoming household names. They were just trying to build a beautiful life in their beloved hometown of Laurel, Mississippi, one house, one neighbor, one Main Street at a time. In this heartwarming conversation, Kate talks to the stars of HGTV’s Home Town about what happens when our plans fall apart and something even better takes root.

They reflect on the surprising twists that led from political aspirations and magazine dreams to woodworking, parenting, and a television show that celebrates belonging. Along the way, they explore how creativity is born out of necessity, making a home, building a community, and loving the place where you are.

In this episode, they discuss:

• The ache and joy of making a home in the place that raised you
• How small acts of community build a life
• The beauty of third places and why talking to strangers still matters

If you liked this episode, you may also like:

• Angela Williams on The Caring Power of Community
• Sharon McMahon, Drops Make an Ocean
• Priya Parker on The Art of Gathering

Watch clips from this conversation, read the full transcript, and access discussion questions by clicking here or visiting katebowler.com/podcasts.

Follow Kate on Instagram, Facebook, or X (formerly known as Twitter)—@katecbowler. Links to social pages and more available at linktr.ee/katecbowler.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When Stacey Heale’s husband, Greg, was diagnosed with terminal cancer, life became a blur of caregiving, grief, and trying to hold a family together with two small children and no time to waste. Overnight, Stacey became a caregiver, medical advocate, emotional buffer, and the person holding all the impossible pieces.

In this tender and fiercely honest conversation, Stacey and Kate talk about what it means to love someone all the way to the end, and then somehow keep living. They explore the invisible labor of caregiving, the loneliness of anticipatory grief, and the weird sacredness of the small things that break you. There are no perfect endings here. Just the beauty and brutality of trying to live inside a love that doesn’t get to last.

Heads up: There’s some strong language in this episode—because sometimes life is just too much for tidy words.

In this conversation, Kate and Stacey discuss:

• Why we grieve the ordinary things like school plays and grocery store noodles
• What it means to love someone without believing in soulmates
• The quiet devastation of living in the “before and after”
• The strange glow of early grief and what happens when it fades

If you liked this episode, you’ll also like:

• John Green: Chronic not Curable
• Clover Stroud: The Rituals of Grief
• Tembi Locke: Grief of the Almosts

Watch clips from this conversation, read the full transcript, and access discussion questions by clicking here or visiting katebowler.com/podcasts.

Follow Kate on Instagram, Facebook, or X (formerly known as Twitter)—@katecbowler. Links to social pages and more available at linktr.ee/katecbowler.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When Kimberly Williams-Paisley’s mother was diagnosed with a rare form of dementia, life became a long stretch of uncertainty, grief, and surprising moments of delight. There were dinners to make. Kids to raise. A thousand tiny losses tucked inside ordinary days.

In this tender and funny conversation, Kimberly reflects on the long goodbye of her mother’s illness, what she regrets, and what she’s still learning. She shares how her father’s openness to his own diagnosis reshaped the way she wants to live now—with more transparency, more humor, and more love. Together, Kate and Kimberly explore how love and loss keep unfolding, long after the moment you thought goodbye had already come.

In this conversation, Kate and Kimberly discuss:

• How secrecy during illness can isolate the people who need connection most
• The absurd moments that helped their family survive the hardest days
• What it means to keep finding someone, even after they’re gone
• Parenting teenagers with more curiosity and less control

If you liked this episode, you might also like:

• Rabbi Steve Leder on showing up for people in grief
• John Swinton on the art of presence

Watch clips from this conversation, read the full transcript, and access discussion questions by clicking here or visiting katebowler.com/podcasts.

Follow Kate on Instagram, Facebook, or X (formerly known as Twitter)—@katecbowler. Links to social pages and more available at linktr.ee/katecbowler.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.