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He asked George W. Bush if he was smart enough to be president., confronted Dick Cheney about his lesbian daughter and gay rights mid-campaign, and gave Gavin Newsom both his best and worst interviews.

This week on Life After News, Jason sits down with legendary San Francisco political reporter Hank Plante for a wide-ranging, conversation about power, politics, the AIDS crisis, and why both of them chose a new chapter in Palm Springs. 🌴🎙️

Hank Plante is an Emmy- and Peabody-winning journalist who spent 25 years at KPIX in San Francisco. An openly gay reporter covering AIDS from ground zero in the 1980s and ’90s, Hank’s work helped shape national understanding of the epidemic and the LGBTQ community. Today, he’s “retired” in Palm Springs (doing everything but sitting still), writing, volunteering, and staying deeply engaged in local journalism and civic life.

🎧 In this episode

Jason and Hank dig into:

• 🔥 The Bush & Cheney moments: asking George W. Bush point-blank if he was “bright enough” to be president and what happened after the cameras stopped rolling. Pressing Dick Cheney on running on a platform that discriminated against his own lesbian daughter.
• 💥 Gavin Newsom’s best and worst interviews: why Hank believes he did both Newsom’s strongest and weakest on-camera moments. How tone and intention can make or break a politician on TV. What Hank thinks of Newsom’s evolution and his obvious presidential ambitions.
• 🦠 Covering AIDS from the front lines: what it was like to report on AIDS in San Francisco when the federal government wouldn’t even say the word. Nurses taking care of patients without knowing how the virus was spread. The discrimination, the funerals, the fear and the PTSD Hank believes many in his generation still carry. How activism and groups like ACT UP forced change and saved lives.
• 📰 Why local news is the future: Hank’s first gig taking over Bob Woodward’s old job at a chain of weeklies. Why both Hank and Jason believe local journalism is more important than ever and how the business model still hasn’t caught up. The role of organizations like the Coachella Valley Journalism Foundation in funding real reporting on school boards, city councils, and communities like the Coachella Valley.
• 🌵 Life after news in Palm Springs: how Hank and his husband ended up in Palm Springs and why it just “felt meant to be.” The pace, the beauty, the nonstop events and why being in a deeply gay-friendly town matters at this stage of life. The joy of doing work that mostly doesn’t pay… and why that’s made him “very popular.” 😉

👀 Next week on Life After News

Jason sits down with Randy Lovely, president of the Coachella Valley Journalism Foundation and longtime Gannett editor and executive, to talk about:

• What the future of local news really looks like
• How communities can step up and fund the reporting they say they want
• And what’s at stake if we don’t

👉 Listen, follow, rate & review Life After News on your favorite podcast app.
👉 Share this episode with someone who cares about journalism, LGBTQ history, or Palm Springs.
👉 Consider supporting a local journalism nonprofit in your community.

Your rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐, review 💬, and share 🔁 help keep these conversations and this mission alive.

Let Life After News inspire your next chapter. Because leaving the news doesn’t mean the story’s over—it means a new one’s just beginning.

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In this episode of Life After News, Jason Ball sits down with his longtime friend Richard Ayoub, the CEO of Project Angel Food, as Richard celebrates his 10th anniversary leading the organization.

From the control rooms of KCAL 9 to the bustling kitchen that now prepares over 1.5 million medically tailored meals a year, Richard shares how his television producing skills, storytelling, deadlines, and people management, have fueled his success in the nonprofit world.

🕊️ From Newsroom to Nonprofit

Jason and Richard trace his remarkable journey from El Paso, Texas, through TV newsrooms in Tucson, Orlando, and Los Angeles, to the moment he traded breaking news for a mission-driven life. He reflects on how the same instincts that made him a strong producer, curiosity, compassion, and hustle, helped him revive a struggling organization and lead it into a new era of service.

🍽️ The Project Angel Food Story

Richard recounts the origins of Project Angel Food, founded by Marianne Williamson in 1989 during the AIDS crisis to ensure no one died alone or hungry. When Richard arrived a decade ago, the nonprofit was financially fragile “upside down a million dollars.” He describes how he and his team turned it around, reinstating staff benefits, paying off the building’s mortgage, and launching an ambitious $51.5 million capital campaign that will triple their capacity to 4.5 million meals annually.

💡 Food Is Medicine

Richard explains how the concept of “food is medicine” has transformed the organization’s mission designing meals to help clients manage HIV/AIDS, diabetes, heart disease, and more. With data showing improved health outcomes and reduced hospital visits, Project Angel Food now partners with six healthcare plans to bring medically tailored meals to thousands across Los Angeles.

🎬 Lessons from Life in News

A veteran of KCAL’s groundbreaking Prime 9 News, Richard shares inside stories from his days producing alongside Pat Harvey and Jerry Dunphy and how landing an interview with Henry Kissinger taught him the power of kindness and persistence. His reflections reveal how news instincts translate beautifully into leadership and advocacy work.

🏆 Legacy and Purpose

Richard calls Project Angel Food “the gay community’s gift to all of Los Angeles.” He sees his role as honoring that legacy while expanding its reach—with new facilities, satellite kitchens, and innovations that give clients more choice and dignity in their meals. “If you rewind the tape,” he says, “everything I’ve done in my life led me here.”

🎧 Plus, Jason’s Updates:

• After seven and a half years, Jason has rolled off the Project Angel Food board but continues to support its mission.
• He’s joined the board of the Coachella Valley Journalism Foundation, funding local journalism across the desert.
• And there’s a new Life After News sister podcast: Chasing Faith with Dorothy Lucey, exploring spirituality and belief in today’s world.

Next week’s guest: legendary reporter Hank Plante, one of the first openly gay journalists on television and a leading voice during the AIDS crisis.

Listen now for an inspiring conversation about purpose, reinvention, and how storytelling can change lives—on and off the air.

🎧 Subscribe to Life After News wherever you get your podcasts.

Let Life After News inspire your next chapter. Because leaving the news doesn’t mean the story’s over—it means a new one’s just beginning.

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Guest: Lisa Guerrero (investigative journalist, author of Warrior)
Host: Jason Ball
Link: 👉 lisaguerrero.com

Episode vibe: Courage, accountability, and what it really takes to speak truth to power.

Content note: This episode includes discussion of pregnancy loss and workplace trauma.

What we cover

• Why Lisa chose to leave Inside Edition after 18 years and what that says about a crisis in establishment media 🗞️
• How reclaiming her voice became the turning point that powered award-winning investigations 🔎
• The traumatic year on Monday Night Football and the moment she decided to do the job her way 🏈
• Accountability journalism: confronting scam artists, televangelists, and powerful institutions face-to-face 🎥
• Warrior: the story behind the name, her mother’s legacy, and how bravery can be trained 💪
• From sports to investigations: earning credibility in locker rooms and on national TV 🏟️
• Surviving the Palisades fire, rebuilding, and what real community recovery will require 🔥
• Mosaic art as therapy and metaphor. Making something beautiful from broken pieces 🎨
• What’s next: adapting Warrior for TV and why storytelling about journalism matters now more than ever 📺

Guest links

• 🌐 Website: lisaguerrero.com
• 📖 Book: Warrior (mentioned in-show)

Quotes

“You can’t write a book about bravery and then not live it.”
“Make something beautiful out of broken pieces.”

Next up

Teaser: Tom Sietsema (ex–Washington Post food critic) reveals his face and his plans for life after news. 🍽️

Help us grow!

If this conversation hit you, subscribe on YouTube.com/@ LifeAfterNews, rate the show ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐, and share this episode with one friend who loves real journalism. Your support helps us book more fearless voices. 🙏

#LifeAfterNews #LisaGuerrero #Warrior #InvestigativeJournalism #AccountabilityJournalism #InsideEdition #WomenInJournalism #MediaCrisis #SportsMedia #MondayNightFootball #Bravery #PalisadesFire #MosaicArt #SpeakTruthToPower #JasonBall

Let Life After News inspire your next chapter. Because leaving the news doesn’t mean the story’s over—it means a new one’s just beginning.