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Soledad O’Brien on Turning 60, Chasing Firsts and the Power of Optimism

The award-winning journalist and filmmaker opens up about grief, risk and building a career on her own terms

Steven Petrow,

AARP

En español

Published September 15, 2026

Soledad O'Brien smiling for a professional portrait, wearing a navy blue long-sleeved top

Soledad O’Brien, photographed at the screening of her documentary film “The Perfect Neighbor” at the Sundance Film Festival in 2025. The film was later nominated for an Oscar.

Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times via Contour RA

Soledad O’Brien, who turns 60 on Sept. 19, just keeps showing the world how it’s done.

Raised on Long Island by immigrant parents (her mother from Cuba, her father from Australia), O’Brien went to Harvard University and quickly rose through the competitive world of journalism to coanchor NBC’s Weekend Today show in 1999. She coanchored American Morning at CNN and later anchored the network’s morning show, Starting Point.

Then it was time for a pivot: O’Brien launched her own production company in 2013, and two of its documentaries were nominated for Academy Awards this year.

How does she do it?

“I am nauseatingly optimistic,” she told AARP. “I feel so lucky all the time.” O’Brien shared how turning 60 feels, what she has learned along the way and how her ballroom lessons are going.

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This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Both of your production company’s documentaries, The Perfect Neighbor and The Devil Is Busy, were nominated for Oscars this year. You now have a project on PBS called She Was First, with one episode focused on Misty Copeland, the first Black female principal dancer at the American Ballet Theatre. Why this topic?

The sad thing is that we’re still finding firsts all the time. It’s crazy to me that in 2026 there are some people who are the first fill-in-the-blank. But I believe it’s important to mark that. With Misty, we talk about the things that she had to overcome. The journey is the story.

How personal is this series to you, especially since you became the first Afro-Cuban American to anchor a major national morning news program?

It is amazing to me the number of times young women of color come up to me and say, “Oh, there’s this person who kind of looks like me, and that means that I could do it.” Maybe that sounds like a cliché, but it is really true.

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Why is storytelling so important to you?

One of the things I loved about working at CNN was that we did many stories where you get on a plane, show up, talk to people and then go on TV and explain their situation to the rest of the country. If you could tell the story, people could understand loss, they could understand grief, they could understand opportunity, they could understand joy. If you have the ability to tell the story well, you can move people to get it, to understand it.

You left CNN in 2013 to start your own production company. Was that scary?

I’d been anchoring Starting Point when Jeff Zucker, then president of CNN Worldwide, wanted a couple to anchor the show. He liked “younger woman, older guy” teams [O’Brien was in her mid-40s at the time], and he told me, “You can stay. We’ll have you fill in.” I remember thinking, I have accomplished things and won a handful of awards and been recognized for my work. I’m good at my job. I don’t think I have to be the fill-in. It felt more risky to pick staying and being a “fill-in.” I felt that would really kill my career.

Soledad O'Brien, Liz Balmaseda and Francesco Quinn posing as a group in 2001

During her tenure as coanchor for NBC’s “Weekend Today,” O’Brien (left) presented Cuban American journalist Liz Balmaseda with the 2001 Hispanic Heritage Award for Literature at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. Actor Francesco Quinn looks on.

Linda Spillers/Getty Images

What scares you now?

I’m so much less scared than I was at 30. It’s nice to wear what you want, do your hair as you want, go on vacation where you want. Still, as CEO of Soledad O’Brien Productions, I’ve got people’s livelihoods in my hands — that’s scary. And as a parent, I’m always afraid. [O’Brien has four children: Sofia Elizabeth, 25, Cecilia 24, and twin sons Charlie and Jackson, 22.] I’ll say, “You should be getting in at midnight — make sure you call me.” Nobody calls me. I’m constantly anxious for them.

You’re about to turn 60. What are you thinking?

I’m in better shape than I’ve ever been, because I’m not doing a crazy job [and] traveling nonstop. I eat so much better. I exercise so much better. I’m not afraid of a lot of stuff.

What advice would you give to young Soledad?

The number one thing would be, “You have very thick, curly hair. You cannot have a bob cut. Stop trying. It will never work. Grow your hair long.”

Both of your parents died in 2019. How did you process the grief?

Grief is a funny thing. Some days it just hits you. The other day, someone did something that reminded me of my dad, and it just brought me right back. I never recorded them, so a lot of my first year was remembering things I didn’t do. I used to want to chase grief away. But at some point you’ve got to make that turn. You just kind of sit with it, and then it passes until it happens again.

I hope I’ve had an impact on people’s lives — not necessarily through journalism, but through existing, being there for somebody, being helpful. I believe I’ve been a good parent. I’ve really enjoyed having kids. I believe I’ve been a good spouse. We’ve been married 31 years. If I had to pick a thing I’d love people to say, it would be, “Gosh, she just invested in me. She believed in me. She helped me get from point A to point B. She was a good friend. She knew when I was down and knew how to be helpful.”

Soledad O'Brien speaking into a microphone while seated during an event

“It is amazing to me the number of times young women of color come up to me and say, ‘Oh, there’s this person who kind of looks like me, and that means that I could do it,’” O’Brien says. Here, she speaks after a screening of “The Perfect Neighbor” in 2025.

Arturo Holmes/Getty Images

What brings you joy?

I am nauseatingly optimistic. I feel so lucky all the time. I get up every morning and hop on two horses, one mine, one my daughter’s. That brings me so much joy. I also have bees and make honey that I give out as gifts. I’ve started taking ballroom dance classes. I’m very bad, which is unfortunate. They have a step called the Cuban Walk. I’m like, “Oh, I’m Cuban. This should be a piece of cake for me.” And my teacher said after watching me, “Maybe don’t tell anybody you’re Cuban.” Even when I go in in a bad mood, when I come out, I’m just so happy. All those things bring me joy.

Steven Petrow is a longtime contributor to The Washington Post and The New York Times. His most recent book, The Joy You Make, is published by Maria Shriver’s imprint, The Open Field.

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