'Good Morning America' Anchor Plots Return After 13-Year Retirement
Thirteen years after he retired from ABC News, former Good Morning America and World News anchor Charlie Gibson is back to work! Gibson, along with his daughter Kate Gibson, returned to the spotlight on May 2 with the debut of their new literary podcast, The Book Case, for ABC Audio.
Produced by ABC Audio, the new weekly podcast officially launched on Monday, May 2. Each episode of the podcast highlights a local independent bookstore discussing what books are selling in their region. The podcast also features special guests. After the debut episode saw Gibson and his daughter joined by Oprah Winfrey, following and upcoming episodes have featured or will feature special guests including authors, book industry insiders, and others, including Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden, and novelists John Irving and Sue Miller.
A 35-year veteran of ABC News before his retirement in 2009, Gibson was prodded back into the public eye by his daughter, who, after quitting her job in public television in the fall of 2019, quickly grew "stir crazy" and was "desperately looking for a job." Kate said it was as she was "reading every book I could" and also missing spending time with her parents that her husband, David Canada, "pointed out that my father and I were always talking about books, and that our conversations were compelling. 'How about I put together some gear and we make a podcast?,' he said." Although Kate initially spent several months blowing off the idea "as completely bonkers," her husband "was persistent, we made a pilot and here we are." Speaking to ABC News, Kate shared that when she first brought the idea of the podcast to her father, he readily agreed.
"Kate and I share tremendous regard for those who succeed in the craft of writing," Gibson -a Good Morning America host from 1987 to 1998 and later 1999 to 2006 and also a World News Tonight anchor from 2006 until his retirement in 2009 – said. "Add to that the fact that almost without exception, I found in the years at Good Morning America that authors are wonderful talkers and that makes for a good podcast. In each podcast episode we hope listeners will get insights into the minds of accomplished writers and that they or their book club might consider our recommendations for their next read."
The Book Case podcast is available for free on all major audio platforms. New episodes debut weekly. The podcast is also featured on the GMA channel within Apple Podcasts. Liz Alesse is the director and executive producer for ABC Audio.