Life After News
🎙️ Life After News is the podcast that dives deep into what happens after the headlines fade. Hosted by former broadcast journalist Jason Ball, this series explores the personal journeys, surprising reinventions, and powerful lessons from those who’ve stepped away from the newsroom. Through candid conversations and behind-the-scenes stories, Jason and his guests share what it really takes to find purpose and identity beyond a career in news. If you’ve ever wondered what comes next after chasing the story—this podcast is for you.
Episodes
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 showrunner.
From writing copy for Tom Bro...
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 top of his game—and why the January 6t...
💄 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 they unpack how JD went from chasi...
🎙️ 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:
· 🛫 Barbara’s rise from “Today Girl” ...
🎙️ 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 dynamics behind the scenes, how it all came ...
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 why he really left ...
🎙️ 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 pregnant
⚡ Gave birth, then joined the Ca...
📺 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 is helping others redefine success afte...
🎙️ 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 replaced her income.
And now...
🎙️ 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, how it became the catalyst for a seismi...
🎙️ 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, connection, and reinvention.
She opens u...
🎙️ 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 threatened, and how it redefined her unde...
🎙️ 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 goal of becoming a meteorologist to nav...
🎙️ 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 operating Old Ranch Inn.
The day after th...
🎙️ Life After News
Building a Media Empire: From News Reporter to Social Media Star
📝 Episode Summary (How She Did It)
In this episode of Life After News, Jason Ball dives into the practical playbook behind Lora McLaughlin Peterson’s transformation from local news reporter to digital content powerhouse. Best known for her brand Lorafied, Lora didn’t just pivot careers—she engineered a lifestyle business from the groun...
🎙️ Life After News — Jillian Barberie: Facing Life’s Challenges Head-on
🎧 Episode Summary
In this inspiring episode, Jason Ball sits down with broadcasting icon Jillian Barberie to revisit her remarkable career and the resilience that has shaped her journey. From a cultural awakening in Miami to groundbreaking success on Good Day LA, Jillian shares candid reflections on fame, loss, recovery, and rebirth.
...
🎙️ Life After News: From News to Healing — Brandon Lee’s Transformation
In this episode, Brandon Lee joins us to share his journey from the television news to the healing art therapy. Brandon now leads Art of Our Soul, using art and music therapy to help trauma survivors—including convicted felons—heal through joyful expression.
We explore how the isolation of the 2020 pandemic led Brandon to a pivotal relapse...
🎙️ Life After News
Hosted by Jason Ball
Welcome to Life After News—the podcast where we dive into the extraordinary second acts of people who walked away from a life in local TV news to find something more.
I'm Jason Ball, and after an incredible 30-year career in local television news, I left the newsroom behind and started a new journey of reinvention. Like many others during the Great Resignation—sparked by the ...
🎙️ Life After News
Hosted by Jason Ball
Welcome to Life After News—the podcast where we dive into the extraordinary second acts of people who walked away from a life in local TV news to find something more.
I'm Jason Ball, and after an incredible 30-year career in local television news, I left the newsroom behind and started a new journey of reinvention. Like many others during the Great Resignation—sparked by the ...
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