What Makes Life Worth Living? Atul Gawande on Mortality, Medicine, and Meaning
Description
In this episode, Kate speaks with surgeon, writer, and public health leader Dr. Atul Gawande about the deeply human questions that surface when medicine meets its limits. What does it mean to be a good doctor when a cure isn’t possible? What do people really mean when they say they want “quality of life”?
Together, they talk about caregiving, end-of-life decisions, and how the most honest conversations in healthcare begin—not with answers—but with better questions.
For anyone living with chronic illness, caring for someone they love, or wondering what it means to live a good life with limits, this conversation won’t offer easy fixes. But it might offer something just as rare: clarity, compassion, and the courage to ask what really matters.
Watch the full episode on YouTube: Kate C. Bowler on YouTube
Subscribe to Kate’s Substack: katebowler.substack.com
Show notes:
-
Organizations for further action: World Food Programme, UNICEF, American Red Cross
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
United States
