Life After News
What happens when the newsroom lights go out—and life begins again?
Life After News explores the raw, funny, and deeply human stories of journalists who’ve walked away from the adrenaline of breaking news to reinvent themselves in surprising ways. Hosted by former TV news director Jason Ball, the podcast goes behind the headlines to talk with anchors, reporters, producers, and executives about identity, resilience, and what it takes to start over.
From career pivots to personal awakenings, these conversations reveal how the skills learned under deadline pressure translate into entirely new chapters of life. It’s not just about leaving the news—it’s about discovering what comes after.
Whether you’re in media, on the edge of a career change, or just fascinated by reinvention, Life After News is your invitation to listen in, learn, and maybe imagine your own next chapter.
Episodes
34 episodes
🎙️ Lisa Guerrero: Walking Away, Speaking Up, and Becoming a Warrior 💥🎙️
Guest: Lisa Guerrero (investigative journalist, author of Warrior) Host: Jason Ball Link: 👉 lisaguerrero.comEpisode vibe: Courage, accountability, and wh...
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Season 1
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Episode 28
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45:01
🎙️ From Early Web Producer to Change-Maker: Olsen Ebright on How You Can Make a Difference 💻🗞️🏘️
What happens when a millennial “big J” journalist who helped build TV news on the internet trades breaking news for neighborhood impact? In this episode, Olsen Ebright (KTLA/KNBC/CBS) joins Jason to unpack the birth of digital news, the ...
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Season 1
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Episode 27
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41:37
🎙️ From Reporting to Working with Reese Witherspoon: Simone Boyce’s Life After News
This week, Jason sits down with Simone Boyce, former KTLA reporter, MTV News & Access Hollywood host, and the very first anchor of NBC News Signal (now NBC News Now). From those early experimental days of streaming news to hosting...
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Season 1
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Episode 26
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28:57
🎙️ Christina McLarty Arquette on Jumping from Entertainment Reporter to Indie Producer (and Reviving Bozo) 🎬🤹♀️🐄
Christina McLarty Arquette walked away from on-air entertainment reporting to build a prolific producing career across documentaries and scripted features. In this episode, we dig into how she finished her first doc Survivor’s Guide to Pris...
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Season 1
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Episode 25
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52:37
Breaking Barriers, Finding Radical Joy & Redefining Storytelling with May Lee
In this episode of Life After News, Jason Ball sits down with international journalist May Lee. May is a former CNN and ABC News correspondent, anchor, talk show host, professor, and now co-host of the hit podcast Shoe...
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Season 1
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Episode 24
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45:31
🎙️ How You Go from Journalism to PR: Lessons from Josh Rubenstein 🎙️➡️🛡️
🎙️ This episode doubles as your playbook. You’ve told stories on deadline; now you’re thinking about owning the story for an organization. Here’s how to make the jump from newsroom to PR on purpose, not in panic.What you’ll lea...
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Season 1
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Episode 23
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35:33
🎙️ Bonus Episode: Technology for Your Life After News
Feeling stuck in a career rut or ready for a new chapter? This bonus episode of Life After News is for you! 🎙️✨This week I’m sharing a special bonus conversation with my friend Rich DeMuro—tech reporter, host of Rich on Tech
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Season 1
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12:48
“Do you want to be Princess Leia’s assistant?” Byron Lane’s Life After News 🎙️✨
Author/playwright/former TV newsie Byron Lane talks origin stories, on-air anxiety, assisting Carrie Fisher, chasing the Northern Lights, indie films, best-selling novels, big love, and bigger reinventions. This one’s hones...
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Season 1
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Episode 22
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43:48
🎙️ Bonus Episode: Can Nonprofits Save Local News? 📰✨
In this special bonus episode of Life After News, Jason Ball sits down with Emily Barr, longtime media executive and former president of Graham Media Group. With decades of leadership at WLS in Chicago and Graham’s TV stations, Em...
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Season 1
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32:30
🎙️ Sharon Tay on the Good and the Bad of the TV Business.
An anchor from KCBS, KCAL, KTLA, and MSNBC, Sharon, gets candid about the shocking call from HR at Trader Joe's 🛒, the darker side of TV news, and her thriving career selling luxury real estate with the Altman Brothers. This is a convers...
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Season 1
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Episode 21
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39:06
🎙️ Bonus Episode: The Future of the Television Station Business
📺 What’s next for local TV? Consolidation, new technology, and the fight to stay relevant in a streaming-first world.In this bonus episode of Life After News, Jason Ball sits down with Adam Jacobson, Editor-in-Chief of th...
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Season 1
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24:20
🎙️ Tony Morrison is Building the Dream: Life After News
In this episode of Life After News, Jason Ball sits down with Tony Morrison—a media pro whose career path took him from CNN📰 and Good Morning America ☀️ to advocacy work at GLAAD 🏳️🌈, and now to launching h...
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Season 1
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Episode 20
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38:06
🎙 Bonus Episode: Is Warren Buffett Right? The Future of the Television Station Business
🎙 Bonus Episode: Is Warren Buffett Right? When Warren Buffett says the network TV affiliation model doesn’t work anymore, people pay attention. His company, Berkshire Hathaway, just dropped ABC after 69 years at WPLG Miami—the only T...
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Season 1
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20:10
🎙️ Leyna Nguyen From Anchor Desk to Financial Powerhouse with
Former KCAL 9 anchor Leyna Nguyen spent 25 years in TV news—Los Angeles, Sacramento, Augusta. What came next? A bold new life filled with reinvention:✨ A not-so-safe-for-work podcast (“Consenting Adults”) ✨ A YouTube chan...
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Season 1
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Episode 19
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48:10
🌦️ Tom Skilling spent 45 years forecasting Chicago’s wildest weather — now he’s sounding the alarm about the future of science.
Beloved for turning complex forecasts into must-watch TV, Tom has traded daily broadcasts for a new mission: protecting the research, truth, and science that keep us safe.For 45 years, Tom Skilling was Chicago’s go-to source for weather ...
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Season 1
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Episode 18
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50:24
🎙️ From the Newsroom to Creating a TV Series Starring Kerry Washington, Life After News:
Tracy McMillan on Reinvention, Unprisoned & Writing What HurtsWhat do TV news deadlines, Paris heartbreaks, and Oprah have in common? Tracy McMillan.In this deeply honest, wildly inspiring conversation, bestselli...
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Season 1
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Episode 17
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1:01:00
🎙️ David Begnaud Interviews Jason: Flipping the Mic on Life After News
In this episode, Life After News host Jason Ball switches seats and lets his longtime friend and former KTLA colleague David Begnaud—Emmy-winning CBS News correspondent—take over the mic. David turns the tables to ask Jas...
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Season 1
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Episode 16
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55:03
🎙️ Drag Saved My Life — The Story of JD Cargill aka Anita Doll, Life After News 💄
💄 What happens when a former CNN entertainment producer trades celebrity interviews for contour palettes and a tour buse? Meet JD Cargill — or as Palm Springs now knows her, Anita Doll.In this wildly fun, deeply moving, and at times jaw-dro...
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Season 1
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Episode 15
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46:27
🎙️ Bonus Episode: Barbara Walters – Legacy, Lessons & That Lewinsky Interview
🎙️ Bonus Episode: Barbara Walters – Legacy, Lessons & That Lewinsky Interview📺 In this special bonus episode of Life After News, Jason reflects on the powerful new documentary Barbara Walters: Tell Me Everything (...
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Season 1
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11:31
🎙️ God, Gossip, and Getting Real: Dorothy Lucey on Life After Morning TV
🎙️ God, Gossip, and Getting Real: Dorothy Lucey on Life After Morning TV🎧 Episode SummaryIn this wide-ranging conversation, Jason Ball sits down with Good Day LA alum Dorothy Lucey to talk about fam...
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Season 1
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Episode 14
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31:56
🎙️From KTLA to BEOND: Carlos Amezcua’s Next Act
Guest: Carlos Amezcua Host: Jason Ball Run Time: ~43 min Watch on YouTube: Life After News YouTube Channel Website:
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Season 1
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Episode 13
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44:08
🎙️ She Quit TV News. Then Ran for Senate, Joined the Guard, & Launched a Company. Christina Pascucci UNLEASHED 🚨🔥
🎙️ Life After News – Christina Pascucci: From Anchor Desk to Fire Zones, Senate Runs, and Global ImpactBuckle up. Christina Pascucci doesn’t play small. 💥In this episode of Life After News, former Los Angeles...
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Season 1
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Episode 12
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39:01
🎙 BONUS EPISODE: Jason Ball returns to KTLA: The Story Behind Life After News
📺 In this special bonus episode, Jason Ball returns to KTLA, not as the news director, but as a guest. He sits down to share the inspiration behind Life After News, his personal journey away from the newsroom.💬 In this episod...
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Season 1
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15:21
🎙️ How To Pivot Out Of Journalism Before You Burn Out with Aundrea Cline-Thomas 🛑🔥
🎙️ How To Pivot Out Of Journalism Before You Burn Out with Aundrea Cline-Thomas 🛑🔥Are you a journalist wondering what’s next? Feeling stuck? Exhausted? Invisible?🎯 This episode is your step-by-step playbook ...
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Season 1
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Episode 11
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47:40
🎙️ Life After News with Tamsen Fadal: Redefining Midlife, Menopause & Media 🎥📚
🎙️ Life After News with Tamsen Fadal: Redefining Midlife, Menopause & Media 🎥📚In this episode of Life After News, veteran journalist and advocate Tamsen Fadal joins Jason Ball to talk about leaving behind a 30-...
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Season 1
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Episode 10
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33:01