The CNN Anchor Who Broke the News of 9/11 | Carol Lin on Grief, Identity & Starting Over

On September 11, 2001, Carol Lin was anchoring CNN’s live morning broadcast when breaking news reached the newsroom. During the final minutes of her broadcast, she became the first journalist to report that a plane had struck the World Trade Center.In this deeply personal conversation, Carol shares what the audience did not see that morning: the woman behind the anchor desk, the life she was building beyond the newsroom, and everything that unfolded after she delivered the news that changed the world.Carol joins Lisa Roche to discuss her memoir, When News Breaks: A Memoir of Love and War, and the experiences that shaped her beyond the headlines. She reflects on building a career as an Asian American woman in a male-dominated industry, losing her husband to cancer shortly after becoming a mother, and discovering who she was when her titles and achievements could no longer define her.Together, Carol and Lisa explore:What Carol remembers about breaking the news on September 11, 2001The woman and mother behind the CNN anchor deskThe pressure to conform in order to feel accepted and safeWhy achievement cannot answer the deeper question of worthMotherhood, caregiving, grief, and rebuilding after lossHow women’s pain is portrayed and commoditizedThe physical consequences of chronic stress and overworkFinding your identity beyond your career and accomplishmentsWhy flow is found in small moments of aweThe resilience and courage required to begin againThis conversation moves beyond the historic broadcast to explore memory, ambition, cultural expectations, womanhood, grief, identity, and the quiet work of creating a new life when the one you knew has fallen apart.Carol’s story reminds us that grief, loss, and even our worst mistakes do not have to define us. Our stories matter, and every ending contains the possibility of another beginning.When News Breaks: A Memoir of Love and War by Carol Lin is available now at https://www.carollinnow.com/Watch the full conversation and subscribe to FIND YOUR FLOW with Lisa Roche for thoughtful conversations about healing, personal growth, resilience, spirituality, nervous system regulation, and finding your way back to yourself.About Carol LinCarol Lin is the author of WHEN NEWS BREAKS, A Memoir of Love and War. She is best known as the first national journalist to break the news of the first 9/11 attack. Carol Lin was a long-time anchor and correspondent for CNN and ABC News. During her career, she received an Emmy, a Peabody, the Alfred I. Dupont Award, and Greater Los Angeles Press Club Awards for Excellence in Investigative Reporting and her coverage of the Los Angeles Riots. She lives in Hawaii and can be found writing, paddle boarding, and playing with her Cavapoo.Followhttps://www.carollinnow.com/