Norah O’Donnell is launching a fresh project just months after stepping away from the CBS Evening News anchor chair.
The longtime broadcaster is not disappearing from view. Instead, she is returning in a different format, while continuing to work for CBS News as a senior correspondent and contributing to 60 Minutes and other network platforms.
The 52-year-old former Weekend Today anchor will debut the new venture on July 22, giving audiences a side of her work they have not seen before.
Throughout her career, O’Donnell has built her reputation covering Congress, politics, national stories and major issues shaping the day’s headlines.
This time, she is turning her attention to health, aiming to separate reliable information from the noise on a new platform.
O’Donnell has announced Healthful, a project focused on medical and scientific guidance, featuring insights from expert guests.
“Every week I want to bring you the latest science and trusted medical expertise,” O’Donnell said in the trailer for the project. “Our goal is simple … to deliver fact-based information that you can trust.”
The series will be released as a podcast and will include a section called Turning the Tables, where O’Donnell will respond to questions about her own health and daily habits.
“I’m introducing women to the world’s leading experts on all these things that we want to know more about at a time where we have all this access to information, and yet many of us are more confused than ever,” she said.
She also told Women’s Health that she trains weekly with Kira Stokes, focusing on building strength and improving mobility.
On weekends, she plays tennis, takes walks after dinner and starts her mornings with a smoothie that includes ingredients such as blueberries, turmeric, Greek yogurt, almond butter and creatine.
After that, she heads into her workday.
The launch comes at a time when women’s health has become a bigger focus in medical reporting and research, with health organizations and federal agencies continuing to highlight gaps in areas such as menopause, reproductive health, cardiovascular disease and other conditions that can affect women differently.
According to the trailer, new episodes will be released every Wednesday starting July 22.
CBS introduced the podcast as a show “that puts women’s health first”.
Its official Instagram page wrote: “@NorahODonnell brings you the doctors, the scientists and the innovators who are at the forefront of reproductive health, menopause, cancer and more. Forget miracle cures, vague advice and fear-mongering and get real information you can actually use. And yes, Norah will divulge her own wellness secrets (blueberries and Botox among them).”
Fans were quick to react, with many saying they were excited to see her back on screen in a new format.
One person wrote: “I hope she makes this podcast more fun and relatable because why does it start to feel like lectures and college classes again…if it’s for health of the viewers, she should def make it exciting, she’s still so young but this podcast feels like an elderly tv show…hope it goes well, Norah is always awesom!”
Another said: “This sounds fantastic! Congratulations, and thanks for taking a journalistic approach to health. Can’t wait to listen and learn!”
Someone else commented: “Wow!! Love this! Fact based information that you can trust. There is too much out there. Everyone is a health expert these days.”