Life After News

Send us Fan Mail 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 Shoes Off Inside . ✨ May shares her remarkable journey: From small-market local news to becoming CNN’s “disaster queen” covering global crises 🌍 Breaking into Japan...

Send us Fan Mail 🎙️ 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 learn 🧭 How to plan your pivot years before you need it The real difference between reporting news and making news How to operate inside big orgs where buy-i...

Send us Fan Mail 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 , and all-around gadget guy. ⚡ We dive into how off-the-shelf tech like AI, Canva, and Riverside.fm makes it possible for anyone to create their own podcas...

Send us Fan Mail 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 honest, funny, and full of heart. 💛 What you’ll hear 🚨 “I’m still just telling stories.” Why the news muscle never leaves 🏕️ Boy Scout tour → WWL legend. Byron’s...

Send us Fan Mail 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, Emily has seen firsthand how local journalism has changed and why its survival depends on innovation, collaboration, and nonprofit support. 🤝 Now retire...

Send us Fan Mail 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 conversation you won't want to miss. The Shocking Layoff at Trader Joe's 🤯 🎧 Sharon opens up about the moment her 13-year career at KC...

Send us Fan Mail 📺 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 the Radio and Television Business Report , to break down the big changes shaking up the television station business. 🔑 What You’ll Hear: 📉 Consolidation Natio...

Send us Fan Mail 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 his own media company, the Morrison Media Group 🚀. Tony’s journey is anything but traditional. He started as a business major who couldn’t pass finance 📉, discovered phot...

Send us Fan Mail 🎙 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 TV station Buffett owns. In this bonus episode of Life After News , Jason talks with Adam R. Jacobson , editor-in-chief of the Radio + Television Busin...

Send us Fan Mail 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 channel teaching English to Vietnamese speakers (100K+ subs!)  ✨ And now, her true calling: building Van May Financial and helping people plan smarter for retire...

Send us Fan Mail 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 — trusted, beloved, and known for making complicated science easy to understand. Now, a year and a half into retirement, Tom is proving life afte...

Send us Fan Mail Tracy McMillan on Reinvention, Unprisoned & Writing What Hurts What do TV news deadlines, Paris heartbreaks, and Oprah have in common? Tracy McMillan. In this deeply honest, wildly inspiring conversation, bestselling author, TV host, and Unprisoned creator Tracy McMillan sits down with Jason Ball to talk about her journey from local news writer to viral sensation to Hollywood...

Send us Fan Mail 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 Jason the questions: Why did you really leave news? What were you chasing—or escaping? Who are you without the title? Jason opens up about: 📺 Leaving KTLA at the t...

Send us Fan Mail 💄 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-droppingly honest conversation, Jason Ball interviews JD during his full transformation into Anita Doll — lashes, foundation, and all. Together...

Send us Fan Mail 🎙️ 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 (🎬 stream it on Hulu), Barbara’s 2008 memoir Audition , and her complex, groundbreaking legacy in the news business. 🔍 Topics covered in this episode: ·       🛫...

Send us Fan Mail 🎙️ God, Gossip, and Getting Real: Dorothy Lucey on Life After Morning TV 🎧 Episode Summary In this wide-ranging conversation, Jason Ball sits down with Good Day LA alum Dorothy Lucey to talk about fame, faith, fire—and finding purpose after live TV. Best known for her role in the iconic morning trio with Steve Edwards and Jillian Barberie, Dorothy gets candid about the real dynam...

Send us Fan Mail Guest: Carlos Amezcua Host: Jason Ball Run Time: ~43 min Watch on YouTube: Life After News YouTube Channel Website: lifeafternews.com 🧭 Episode Summary Carlos Amezcua was there at the beginning of the KTLA 5 Morning News — a show that changed not just local TV, but the entire morning news landscape. In this candid, never-before-shared conversation, he opens up to Jason Ball about...

Send us Fan Mail 🎙️ Life After News  – Christina Pascucci: From Anchor Desk to Fire Zones, Senate Runs, and Global Impact Buckle up. Christina Pascucci doesn’t play small. 💥 In this episode of Life After News , former Los Angeles anchor and reporter Christina Pascucci returns with a vengeance—and a mission. Less than two years after leaving TV news, she… ⚡ Ran for U.S. Senate while 5 months preg...

Send us Fan Mail 📺 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 episode: What it felt like to return to KTLA as a guest The moment Jason knew it was time to leave TV news The idea that sparked Life After News How the podcast...

Send us Fan Mail 🎙️ 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 for making a bold career move without losing your identity—or your paycheck. 🚨 Aundrea Cline-Thomas did it. So can you. She left WCBS. She launched her own agency.  She...

Send us Fan Mail 🎙️ 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-year broadcast career to champion a long-overdue conversation: menopause, midlife, and women's health . 🔔 Tamsen opens up about her on-air health scare in 2019...

Send us Fan Mail 🎙️ Rewriting the Script: Michaela Pereira on News, Grief, and Growth 📝 Show Notes Episode Summary In this deeply personal episode, Michaela Pereira joins Jason to reflect on her transformative journey through the world of broadcast journalism. From a serendipitous start in media to major roles at KTLA, CNN, HLN and Good Day LA, Michaela’s path has been defined by curiosity, conne...

Send us Fan Mail 🎙️ When Breaking News Hits Home: Ellen Leyva on Surviving the Eaton Fire Veteran news anchor Ellen Leyva spent nearly 30 years reporting breaking stories — but nothing prepared her for when breaking news struck her own home. In this conversation, just weeks after her retirement from KABC, Ellen opens up about surviving the Eaton Fire , the emotional toll of seeing her community th...

Send us Fan Mail 🎙️ Breaking News: Why Jackie Johnson Left TV & Started The Weather Chef What happens when a lifelong dream collides with a life-altering reality? In this episode, Jason Ball talks with Jackie Johnson McBride , a former broadcast meteorologist whose journey took her from high-intensity newsrooms to the peaceful rhythms of small-town life and seasonal cooking. From her childhood...

Send us Fan Mail 🎙️ Life After News — Second Acts in Palm Springs 🧵 Episode Summary In this conversation, Jason Ball sits down with fellow boutique hotelier David Rios to Palm Springs’ hospitality scene. David opens up about his journey from interior design to working on The Trixie Motel and renovating his own hotel The Velvet Rope.  Jason shares his journey from the newsroom to owning and operat...