Dan Harris, podcast host, author of 10% Happier and former ABC News anchor, shares his journey from covering war zones to discovering mindfulness and meditation. He discusses the toll of high-stress journalism on mental health, including his on-air panic attack, and how meditation became a transformative tool. Harris also addresses misconceptions about meditation, its benefits for managing anxiety, and why it doesn’t mean losing your edge.

Harris opens up about leadership and entrepreneurship, reflecting on the challenges of co-founding a business, managing adversity, and learning to lead with greater emotional awareness. He explains how tools like therapy, mindfulness, and building strong relationships have helped him navigate life’s ups and downs, both personally and professionally.

The conversation also explores modern masculinity, the epidemic of loneliness, and the importance of friendships. Harris shares insights on how vulnerability and connection can improve well-being and why relationships are the key to a healthier, happier life.

 

Episode chapters:

(00:04:34) - Dan Harris on his early journalism journey

(00:09:06) - Ambition, anxiety and success as a young reporter

(00:13:32) - War reporting, big-T vs. little-T trauma, and industry support

(00:20:19) - From panic attack to discovering meditation

(00:25:35) - Misconceptions about meditation

(00:30:25) - Meditation and maintaining your edge

(00:37:57) - The pantheon of no brainers: Other tools for mental health and well-being

(00:44:23) - Never worry alone

(00:48:56) - Navigating the split with the Ten Percent Happier app co-founders

(00:55:25) - Handling criticism as a leader

(01:02:37) - Maintaining your team’s well being

(01:06:53) - Masculinity, male friendships and emotional openness

(01:15:39) - Rapid-fire questions

 

Listen to the episode here: Links:

• Show notes

• Dan Harris: Website, LinkedIn, Twitter

• Mentioned

• ABC News

• Good Morning America

• PBS NewsHour

• Writing Broadcast News — Shorter, Sharper, Stronger by Mervin Block

• New England Cable News (NECN)

• World News Now

• No Time to Panic by Matt Gutman

• The Myth of Normal by Gabor Maté

• Gabor Maté on 10% Happier

• Mark Epstein

• Jeff Warren

• Amishi Jha

• Your Brain on Art by Susan Magsamen and Ivy Ross

• After the Ecstasy, the Laundry by Jack Kornfield

• Sister True Dedication

• Brené Brown

• Harvard Study of Adult Development

• Esther Perel

• Lewis Howes

• Reboot by Jerry Colonna

• Local recommendation (New York)

• Hotel Chelsea

• Local News Matters: Website, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn

• Colorado Press Association: Website, Twitter, Facebook

• Tim Regan-Porter: Bio, Twitter 

For show notes, transcripts, newsletter sign-up and past guests on the Local News Matters podcast, please visit localnewsmatterspodcast.com or lnmpod.com.

Past guests on the Local News Matters podcast include: Samantha Ragland (American Press Institute), Randy Picht and Andrew Finlayson (RJI Burnout Report), Laura Frank (COLab), Jennifer Larino (Lede New Orleans), Katherine Ann Rowlands (Bay City News), Jim O’Rourke (O’Rourke Media Group), Teri Finneman, Nick Mathews and Pat Ferrucci (Reviving Local News), Nic Dawes (THE CITY), Allison Taylor Levine (Local News Initiative Delaware), Crystal Good (Black by God),  Lisa Snowden (Baltimore Beat), Karen Rundlet (INN), Jim Brady (Knight Foundation), Candice Fortman (Exit interview, Outlier Media), Jean Friedman-Rudovsky (Resolve Philly), Jay Rosen (NYU), Sue Cross (Exit interview, INN), Mary Margaret White (Mississippi Today), Amy Kovac-Ashley (Tiny News Collective), Michael Shapiro (TAPinto), Kenny Katzgrau (redbankgreen and Broadstreet), John Garrett (Community Impact), Shannon Kinney (Dream Local Digital), Larry Ryckman (The Colorado Sun),  Frank Mungeam (Local Media Association), Kelly Ann Scott (Alabama Media Group), Sara Lomax and S. Mitra Kalita (URL Media), Elizabeth Hansen Shapiro (National Trust for Local News), Mike Rispoli and Richard Young (via When the People Decide), Sarabeth Berman (American Journalism Project), Rabbi Hillel Goldberg and Shana Goldberg (Intermountain Jewish News),  Lyndsay C. Green (via The Journalism Salute), Rashad Mahmood and Mark Glaser (New Mexico Local News Fund), Christian Vanek and Barbara Hardt (The Mountain-Ear), Dan Grech (BizHack), Zack Richner (Easy Tax Credits), Tracie Powell (Pivot Fund), Dan Oshinsky (Inbox Collective), Linda Shapley (via What Works), Yehong Zhu and Jake Seaton (Zette, Column), Charity Huff (January Spring), Joaquin Alvarado and Dave Perry (Aurora Sentinel), Steve Waldman (Rebuild Local News), Maritza Félix (Conecta Arizona), Michael Bolden (American Press Institute), Jeff Roberts and Corey Hutchins (CFOIC, Colorado College), Eve Pearlman and Erica Anderson (Spaceship Media), Jennifer Brandel (Hearken, Democracy SOS), Corey Hutchins with Bay Edwards, Todd Chamberlain and Raleigh Burleigh (Sopris Sun).