When News Breaks: Carol Lin on 9/11, War Zones, and Finding Herself Beyond the Headlines episode artwork

EPISODE · Mar 22, 2026 · 31 MIN

When News Breaks: Carol Lin on 9/11, War Zones, and Finding Herself Beyond the Headlines

from I Am Refocused Radio · host I Am Refocused Radio

CNN anchor Carol Lin is at the height of her career after becoming the first network journalist to break the news of the 9/11 attacks. A month later, she finds herself in the crosshairs of a Taliban sniper along Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan, a stark reminder of the sacrifices she made to succeed in a white-centric, male-dominated journalism career. For Lin, breaking news and the defining split second when lives change is a drug—and a love that her traditional Chinese mother warned would never love her back. But when devastating news breaks apart her own life, Lin is forced to question a career that demands everything, a marriage marked by infidelity and cancer, and the sacrifices required to become the mother her daughter needs her to be.Told with fierce wit and candor, When News Breaks is the story of a woman who has been places and seen things but still has to discover who she really is behind the headlines.Carol Lin is best known for being the first national anchor to report the first 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center. Carol was a long-time anchor and correspondent for CNN and ABC News. During her career, she covered the war in the Middle East, the aftermath of the Kosovo War, the 2002 Winter Olympics, and every imaginable natural disaster from hurricanes, tornadoes, historic wildfires, and floods. Carol Lin received an Emmy, a Peabody, the Alfred I. Dupont Award, and Greater Los Angeles Press Club Awards for Excellence in both Investigative Reporting and her coverage of the Los Angeles Riots. She lives in Hawai’i and can be found writing, paddleboarding, and teaching her Cavapoo tricks.https://www.carollinnow.com/Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/i-am-refocused-radio--2671113/support.Subscribe now at YouTube.com/@RefocusedNetworkThank you for your time. 

CNN anchor Carol Lin is at the height of her career after becoming the first network journalist to break the news of the 9/11 attacks. A month later, she finds herself in the crosshairs of a Taliban sniper along Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan, a stark reminder of the sacrifices she made to succeed in a white-centric, male-dominated journalism career. For Lin, breaking news and the defining split second when lives change is a drug—and a love that her traditional Chinese mother warned would never love her back. But when devastating news breaks apart her own life, Lin is forced to question a career that demands everything, a marriage marked by infidelity and cancer, and the sacrifices required to become the mother her daughter needs her to be.Told with fierce wit and candor, When News Breaks is the story of a woman who has been places and seen things but still has to discover who she really is behind the headlines.Carol Lin is best known for being the first national anchor to report the first 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center. Carol was a long-time anchor and correspondent for CNN and ABC News. During her career, she covered the war in the Middle East, the aftermath of the Kosovo War, the 2002 Winter Olympics, and every imaginable natural disaster from hurricanes, tornadoes, historic wildfires, and floods. Carol Lin received an Emmy, a Peabody, the Alfred I. Dupont Award, and Greater Los Angeles Press Club Awards for Excellence in both Investigative Reporting and her coverage of the Los Angeles Riots. She lives in Hawai’i and can be found writing, paddleboarding, and teaching her Cavapoo tricks.https://www.carollinnow.com/Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/i-am-refocused-radio--2671113/support.Subscribe now at YouTube.com/@RefocusedNetworkThank you for your time.

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When News Breaks: Carol Lin on 9/11, War Zones, and Finding Herself Beyond the Headlines

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This episode was published on March 22, 2026.

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CNN anchor Carol Lin is at the height of her career after becoming the first network journalist to break the news of the 9/11 attacks. A month later, she finds herself in the crosshairs of a Taliban sniper along Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan, a...

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