Katie Couric on Overcoming Anxiety and Making Better Use of Technology

Award-winning journalist, Stand Up to Cancer co-founder and New York Times best-selling author Katie Couric sat down with Arianna Huffington for the latest episode of The Thrive Global Podcast, brought to you by Sleep Number, and touched on an array of different challenges that we all experience in life, as well as celebrated the launch of her new venture, Katie Couric Media.

The Emmy award-winning anchor recently created Katie Couric Media alongside her husband, John Molner, which is actively involved in working with brands that are aligned with it's goal of creating premium content about socially relevant issues. The goal of Katie Couric Media, Couric explained, is to share news and compelling content in a way all can understand. 

“I've been thinking a lot about why I'm doing what I'm doing and I think it's partially because I love communicating with people,” Couric told Huffington during their chat. “I like telling stories; I like interacting with people; I like engaging with an audience and I like distilling and synthesizing complicated stories to help us all understand them better.”

Katie Couric Media most recently launched with a short-form, female-focused online video series called Getting There, which profiled well-known and highly accomplished women.

“I've never really been that entrepreneurial, but I've always wanted to be,” she added. “I thought: I want to be more flexible and be able to do things and not have the restrictions of the giant bureaucracy.”

Social media is a large factor in the way in which people consume news and also, for Couric, a platform she uses and incorporates into her business daily. That said, she also makes sure to take a step back. During her chat with Huffington, Couric touched upon the growing issue of social media induced anxiety. 

“Anxiety has surpassed depression in this country,” she told Huffington during their hour-long chat. “The suicide rate among young girls has tripled I believe between 10 and 14. And you have to imagine that social media is a big factor behind these numbers. And furthermore, loneliness is an epidemic. It's so interesting to me that we're more connected than ever before and yet, we're lonelier than every before. That's why we have to figure out, how can we use technology to foster community instead of just to kind of make people feel anxious and uncertain and bad about themselves?”

Listen back to their full chat in the episode above to hear more. The Thrive Global Podcast with iHeartRadio, hosted by Arianna Huffington, where she speaks with notable leaders, celebrities, athletes and influencers to learn how prioritizing well-being — instead of burnout and overwork — has made them happier and more successful. This podcast provides tips, tools and microsteps to transform your life and go from surviving to thriving.

The Thrive Global Podcast is brought to you by Sleep Number.