The News Bender

Kacey Montoya is a reporter and does the weather at KTLA in Los Angeles. She joined the station in 2013 after working in Oregon, Palm Springs and West Virginia. The Orange County native spent her childhood in Dallas but returned to LA to go to Cal State Northridge for her broadcast journalism degree. Kacey uses her platform to help dogs with her Fix' n Fidos Non-Profit Spay/Neuter program. She's won awards for her reporting on the Pawsitive Change inmate/canine program. And what's a conversation with Liberté Chan's best friend without some yoga talk!https://twitter.com/kaceymontoyahttps://www.instagram.com/kaceymontoya/https://www.facebook.com/kaceymontoyaTV/https://www.fixnfidos.comhttps://www.instagram.com/pawsitivechangeprogram/https://www.facebook.com/pawsitivechangeprogram/•••You can hear The News Bender Podcast host Aron Bender on The Tim Conway Jr Show weeknights 6-10 on KFI AM 640 in Los Angeles and on the iHeartRadio app.The News Bender Podcast bloghttp://newsbender.com/https://twitter.com/aronbenderhttps://www.instagram.com/aronbenderhttps://www.facebook.com/newsbenderpodcast•••Support The News Bender Podcast by supporting our sponsors:Don Francisco's Coffeehttps://www.donfranciscos.com/shop•••Jingle courtesy of Bradley & Jammie Hamptonacappellaizer@gmail.com

Ralph Garman is an actor, comedian and impressionist who hosts The Ralph Report Podcast, co-hosts the Hollywood Babble-On Podcast with Kevin Smith, was on Kevin & Bean on KROQ for nearly 20 years, hosted The Joe Schmo Show, and has a bunch of movie and TV credits -- including all kinds of voices on Family Guy. Ralph's originally from Philadelphia, and way back when drove to Los Angeles to pursue his acting career. He eventually fell into radio, and his fill-in gig with Kevin and Bean lasted 18 years. We cover his love for all things Batman (especially the original, Adam West), balancing work and family, how he and his wife dealt with the loss of one of their prematurely born twins, being thrust into 9/11 coverage, why he doesn't turn down any requests for impressions (his Arnold Schwarzenegger is legendary!), and how podcasting saved his life.Subscribe to The Ralph Report Podcasthttps://theralphreport.comThe Hollywood Babble-On Podcast with Ralph Garman & Kevin Smithhttps://www.smodcast.com/channel/hollywoodbabbleonFollow Ralph on social media:https://www.instagram.com/ralphgarman/https://twitter.com/ralphgarman•••You can hear The News Bender Podcast host Aron Bender on The Tim Conway Jr Show weeknights 6-10 on KFI AM 640 in Los Angeles and on the iHeartRadio app.The News Bender Podcast bloghttp://newsbender.com/https://twitter.com/aronbenderhttps://www.instagram.com/aronbenderhttps://www.facebook.com/newsbenderpodcast•••Support The News Bender Podcast by supporting our sponsors:Don Francisco's Coffeehttps://www.donfranciscos.com/shop•••Jingle courtesy of Bradley & Jammie Hamptonacappellaizer@gmail.com

Fritz Coleman does weather at NBC4 in Los Angeles. He joined Channel 4 in 1982 after being discovered while doing stand-up comedy. Fritz grew up in the Philadelphia area, went to Temple University in Phillie and Salem College in West Virginia, studying radio, TV and film. He used that education while in the US Navy. During his FM DJ days in Buffalo he tried comedy at an open mic night, and was hooked! A little while later Fritz picked up and drove out to Los Angeles to pursue his stand-up career, and ended up doing the weather on Channel 4 for nearly 40 years! His popularity exploded in the 1980's during NBC4's marketing campaign for his forecasts, "Fritz said it would be like this!" But he didn't forget about comedy. He was on The Tonight Show several times, still performs on stage, and is doing a one-man show "Defying Gravity" October 13th at Garry Marshall Theatre to raise money for The Toluca Lake Chamber of Commerce and the nonprofit Garry Marshall Theatre. Yes, Fritz is just as nice as you'd think he is! It was such an honor to talk with THE Fritz Coleman!Tickets for Fritz Coleman LIVE Sunday October 13th at Garry Marshall Theatre in Toluca Lake https://www.garrymarshalltheatre.org/fritzhttps://www.facebook.com/FritzNBCLA/•••You can hear The News Bender Podcast host Aron Bender on The Tim Conway Jr Show weeknights 6-10 on KFI AM 640 in Los Angeles and on the iHeartRadio app.The News Bender Podcast bloghttp://newsbender.com/https://twitter.com/aronbenderhttps://www.instagram.com/aronbender•••Support The News Bender Podcast by supporting our sponsors:Don Francisco's Coffeehttps://www.donfranciscos.com/shop•••Jingle courtesy of Bradley & Jammie Hamptonacappellaizer@gmail.com

Veronica Miracle is a reporter and fill-in anchor at ABC7 in Los Angeles. Before moving to Southern California in 2017 she worked at KFSN ABC30 in Fresno and KLEW-TV in tiny Lewiston, Idaho. The Washington State University alum was born in Japan but raised in the Seattle area. While Veronica was in high school her parents divorced, and then her dad went to federal prison for running a Ponzi scheme. He was released in early 2019. We talk about the challenges she's faced because of that experience, how it inspired her to pursue journalism, her story that helped a wrongly-arrested woman get out of jail, the news gathering app she's developing, getting her Master's from Syracuse, we swap "Fresno life" storiesg in Fresno, and how she adopted a rescue pup!https://www.facebook.com/ABC7Veronicahttps://www.twitter.com/abc7veronicahttps://www.instagram.com/abc7veronicaHear more about Veronica in her episode of The Career Stories Podcast with Natalie Brunell: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/veronica-miracle-kabc-reporter-anchor/id1451439126?i=1000430337655•••You can hear The News Bender Podcast host Aron Bender on The Tim Conway Jr Show weeknights 6-10 on KFI AM 640 in Los Angeles and on the iHeartRadio app.The News Bender Podcast bloghttp://newsbender.com/https://twitter.com/aronbenderhttps://www.instagram.com/aronbender•••Support The News Bender Podcast by supporting our sponsors:Don Francisco's Coffeehttps://www.donfranciscos.com/shop•••Jingle courtesy of Bradley & Jammie Hamptonacappellaizer@gmail.com

Ellen K hosts mornings on KOST 103.5 in Los Angeles, and hosts her own nationally syndicated weekend show. Before getting her own show in 2015 she spent more than a decade as Ryan Seacrest's co-host on 102.7 KIIS FM, and alongside hall of famer Rick Dees for more than a decade before that! Ellen -- who initially went to Purdue University to become a veterinarian -- has done radio in Indianapolis, Modesto, San Diego and San Francisco. We talk about work-life balance as a new mom working early morning shifts while trying to breastfeed or pump, the challenges of being married to a former radio executive, the transition from working with Rick to mentoring Ryan, and the pressure of now having her name on the marquis. We get into what it's like being on KOST 103.5 around Christmastime, and we play Ellen K or Nay! Such a fun, feel good episode!https://www.instagram.com/officialellenk/https://twitter.com/officialellenkhttps://www.facebook.com/officialellenk/https://kost1035.iheart.com/featured/ellen-k/https://kost1035.iheart.com/featured/ellen-k-weekend-show/Ellen K featured in Ventura Blvd magazinehttps://venturablvd.goldenstate.is/meet-7-women-who-are-making-our-world-a-better-place/•••You can hear The News Bender Podcast host Aron Bender on The Tim Conway Jr Show weeknights 6-10 on KFI AM 640.https://twitter.com/aronbenderhttps://www.instagram.com/aronbender•••Support The News Bender Podcast by supporting our sponsors:Don Francisco's Coffeehttps://www.donfranciscos.com/shop•••Jingle courtesy of Bradley & Jammie Hamptonacappellaizer@gmail.com

George Noory hosts the late night radio talk show Coast to Coast AM, heard on 600+ stations and the iHeartRadio app every night 1am-5am EST / 10pm-2am PST. The show covers all kinds of topics, especially the paranormal, near death and out of body experiences (including George's own), extraterrestrials, conspiracy theories, Bigfoot, climate change, remote viewing ... you name it! George has done it all: reporter, anchor, talk show host, executive producer, author, US Naval Reserve lieutenant, restaurateur. The Detroit native has hosted Coast to Coast AM since 2003, and for years before that was the go-to C2C fill-in while he was "The Nighthawk" on KTRS in St. Louis. In this episode we dive into George's childhood in Michigan, his ventures down the paths of dentistry, public relations and running restaurants. We even talk about politics ... even though he rarely talks politics! What a treat to talk to THE George Noory!https://www.coasttocoastam.comhttps://www.gaia.com/series/beyond-beliefhttps://twitter.com/coasttocoastam/https://www.instagram.com/coast2coastam/https://www.facebook.com/coasttocoastam/•••You can hear The News Bender Podcast host Aron Bender on The Tim Conway Jr Show weeknights 6-10 on KFI AM 640.https://twitter.com/aronbenderhttps://www.instagram.com/aronbender•••Support The News Bender Podcast by supporting our sponsors:Don Francisco's Coffeehttps://www.donfranciscos.com/shop•••Jingle courtesy of Bradley & Jammie Hamptonacappellaizer@gmail.com

Doug Gottlieb hosts weekday afternoons 3pm-6pmET/12pm-3pmPT on Fox Sports Radio, is an analyst on FS1 and hosts the All Ball Podcast on the Colin Cowherd Podcast Network. He grew up in Orange County, played basketball at Notre Dame, but then had to leave school after he was caught using other students' credit cards. Looking back, Doug figures he was clinically depressed while he was in South Bend, and started seeing a therapist when he got back to Orange County. He went to Golden West College for a minute, then got back on the basketball court for Oklahoma State -- and still holds the school record for assists. After college Doug dabbled in radio while also playing professional basketball in the US and internationally -- including Oklahoma, Kansas, France, Israel and Russia. In 2003 he was hired by ESPN Radio, quickly became an analyst on SportsCenter and other ESPN and ESPN2 productions. Doug left ESPN for CBS Sports in 2012, then joined Fox Sports in 2017. He's most recently known for tweeting about Andrew Luck as the Colts quarterback announced his retirement: "Retiring cause rehabbing is "too hard" is the most millennial thing ever." We cover it all in this episode of The News Bender Podcast!https://twitter.com/gottliebshowhttps://www.instagram.com/gottliebshow/All Ball with Doug Gottliebhttps://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/all-ball-with-doug-gottlieb/id1358843497•••You can hear The News Bender Podcast host Aron Bender on The Tim Conway Jr Show weeknights 6-10 on KFI AM 640.https://twitter.com/aronbenderhttps://www.instagram.com/aronbender•••Support The News Bender Podcast by supporting our sponsors:Don Francisco's Coffeehttps://www.donfranciscos.com/shop•••Jingle courtesy of Bradley & Jammie Hamptonacappellaizer@gmail.com

Josh Mankiewicz is a correspondent with Dateline NBC, covering stories for the news magazine since 1995. He was born in California but spent a lot of his childhood in Peru and Washington, DC, and saw his father, Kennedy Press Secretary Frank Mankiewicz, announce the death of Senator Robert Kennedy in 1968. Josh started as an intern with ABC News, worked local news in DC before rejoining ABC News as a correspondent in 1982, hooked up with WCBS-TV in New York City, moved to Los Angeles to work at the relatively new KCAL 9 News, and before joining Dateline NBC spent a minute reporting for the short-lived "Front Page" news magazine on the upstart Fox network. The Mankiewicz family is well known in the entertainment industry but Josh explains why he was never interested in the family business. We talk about how ABC News wasted their money sending him to a world-renowned voice coach. Let Josh be Josh, people! We talk about how all that traveling he did all those decades as a correspondent finally paid off when he met his wife ... at the airport! And we get into what makes a good Dateline NBC story, plus why he's so snarky on Twitter. Enjoy!https://twitter.com/joshmankiewiczhttps://www.facebook.com/JoshMankiewiczhttps://www.nbcnews.com/dateline•••You can hear The News Bender Podcast host Aron Bender on The Tim Conway Jr Show weeknights 6-10 on KFI AM 640.https://twitter.com/aronbenderhttps://www.instagram.com/aronbender•••Support The News Bender Podcast by supporting our sponsors:Don Francisco's Coffeehttps://www.donfranciscos.com/shop•••Jingle courtesy of Bradley & Jammie Hamptonacappellaizer@gmail.com

Lindsay McCormick is a native of Houston, but other than covering sporting events that happened to be in Texas she's spent college and all of her more than decade-long career outside of the Lone Star State. She's now based in Los Angeles. Lindsay was supposed to go to school in Texas but without even telling her parents she applied to Auburn University in Alabama. She played "reporter" as a kid and has sports in her blood -- but it was on the sidelines of an Auburn football game that she fell in love with sports reporting. Lindsay has one of the more diverse résumés of any guest I've had on The News Bender Podcast. She interned and then worked at ESPN, worked for the network that carried the Portland Trailblazers, was a stunt double on TNT's "Leverage," covered the NFL for Esquire Magazine, was NBC Sunday Night Football's Social Host, landed a role in the film "The Bounce Back," covered the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight, hosts Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch and is partnering with ePlay Digital. I also talk with Lindsay about when she became the news instead of just covering it. She came forward in 2017 with a story involving an NFL Network executive asking her during an interview whether she was going to get "knocked up immediately like the rest of them." We go in-depth covering what went into the decision to go public, why she didn't name the executive, and how she survived the backlash. Throw in some listeria and an emergency appendectomy, and we've got ourselves a great episode of The News Bender Podcast!https://www.lindsaymccormick.com/https://www.instagram.com/lindsaymccormicksports/https://twitter.com/lindsaym_sportsEntrepreneur Elevator Pitchhttps://www.entrepreneur.com/watch/elevatorpitchLindsay McCormick on NFL Network Sexism: 'Badass Working Women' Deserve Morehttps://www.newsweek.com/lindsay-mccormick-nfl-sexism-badass-working-women-750872•••You can hear The News Bender Podcast host Aron Bender on The Tim Conway Jr Show weeknights 6-10 on KFI AM 640.https://twitter.com/aronbenderhttps://www.instagram.com/aronbender•••Support The News Bender Podcast by supporting our sponsors:Don Francisco's Coffeehttps://www.donfranciscos.com/shop•••Jingle courtesy of Bradley & Jammie Hamptonacappellaizer@gmail.com

Todd Leitz is originally from the Boston area but he's lived in Los Angeles long enough I'm just going to call him a native. The UC San Diego graduate is the public address announcer at Dodger Stadium. Prior to starting that gig in 2015 the man with the beautiful beard narrowly missed becoming the San Diego Padres PA announcer at Petco Park, he was an EMT (is still certified), press deputy with LA City Councilman Tom LaBonge, spent 10 years as a reporter and anchor at KNX 1070 NewsRadio in Los Angeles, has done voiceover work, acting, a bit at KABC and a little time at the now defunct KFWB News 98. Don't forget his awesome band CORE (he plays harmonica and sings) and the Deadtime Stories podcast! Enjoy!https://www.instagram.com/toddleitz/https://twitter.com/TODD_LEITZCOREhttps://corejams.com/homeDeadtime Stories podcasthttps://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/deadtime-stories/id1467413919MySafe:LA Fire and Life Safety Educationhttp://www.mysafela.org/•••You can hear The News Bender Podcast host Aron Bender on The Tim Conway Jr Show weeknights 6-10 on KFI AM 640.https://twitter.com/aronbenderhttps://www.instagram.com/aronbender•••Support The News Bender Podcast by supporting our sponsors:Don Francisco's Coffeehttps://www.donfranciscos.com/shop•••Jingle courtesy of Bradley & Jammie Hamptonacappellaizer@gmail.com

Matt Harmon almost died six years ago. He was radically depressed, overweight, and abusing substances and alcohol. In this episode I talk with the Yahoo! Sports football writer, analyst and podcast host about what plunged him down the rabbit hole, how he lost 100 pounds and pulled himself out of the darkness. Harmon is most well known for creating Reception Perception -- the ultimate analysis of NFL wide receivers widely used by fantasy footballers. Prior to joining Yahoo! Sports as a fantasy football expert and influencer he worked for the NFL Network and wrote for The Washington Post. The Game of Thrones fan and University of Lynchburg (then Lynchburg College) graduate grew up in Virginia.https://twitter.com/mattharmon_bybhttps://www.instagram.com/mattharmon_byb/http://receptionperception.comRookie Orientation podcasthttps://sports.yahoo.com/podcasts/rookieorientation/Rookie Orientation trailerhttps://www.instagram.com/p/Bxa9aKPlKNu/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link•••You can hear The News Bender Podcast host Aron Bender on The Tim Conway Jr Show weeknights 6-10 on KFI AM 640.https://twitter.com/aronbenderhttps://www.instagram.com/aronbender•••Support The News Bender Podcast by supporting our sponsors:Don Francisco's Coffeehttps://www.donfranciscos.com/shop•••Jingle courtesy of Bradley & Jammie Hamptonacappellaizer@gmail.com

Ana Kasparian has co-hosted the news and commentary program "The Young Turks" since 2012. She joined TYT as a two-week producer in 2007, and basically refused to leave. We have a couple things in common: we graduated from Cal State Northridge with a Bachelor's in journalism (she in 2007, I in 2001) and have returned to teach at CSUN. And we also worked at KNX news radio in Los Angeles. I was a weekend writer there during college, and Ana was a producer right out of university. Ana went on to earn her Master's degree in political science. We talk about developing her rebel streak at a young age, how in high school she would beat college kids in debate, how Barbara Walters inspired her to get into journalism, how the Armenian Genocide affected her family, and why she eloped!https://twitter.com/anakasparianhttps://www.instagram.com/anakasparianofficial/http://www.anakasparian.com/https://tyt.com/https://www.youtube.com/theyoungturks•••You can hear The News Bender Podcast host Aron Bender on The Tim Conway Jr Show weeknights 6-10 on KFI AM 640.https://twitter.com/aronbenderhttps://www.instagram.com/aronbender•••Support The News Bender Podcast by supporting our sponsors:Don Francisco's Coffeehttps://www.donfranciscos.com/shopRealtor Missak Tokhmanian323-627-8302missak@huntingtongroup.comCA DRE #02037370Alert DropsFast Acting Wake-Up Aidhttps://www.alertdrops.com/use promo code RADIO for 10% off!•••Jingle courtesy of Bradley & Jammie Hamptonacappellaizer@gmail.com

Rob Parker is one half of Fox Sports Radio's "The Odd Couple," a contributor on FS1's "Skip and Shannon: Undisputed," is frequently on "The Herd with Colin Cowherd," hosts the "Inside the (Rob) Parker" baseball podcast and teaches at USC. We talk about what life was like growing up in Jamaica Queens, his work ethic, reading three newspapers a day as a 9-year-old, why he chose to go to Southern Connecticut State University for his Bachelor's in journalism (he also has a Master's from Columbia Journalism School), being the first African-American sports columnist at the Detroit Free Press, the first person hired at what is now the legendary WDFN The Fan sports talk radio in Detroit, writing for New York Daily News and Newsday, the Detroit News, his sudden departure from ESPN, and how he developed his penchant for hot takes!Inside the (Rob) Parker Podcast on iHeartRadiohttps://www.iheart.com/podcast/1091-inside-the-rob-parker-30870008/Inside the (Rob) Parker on Apple Podcastshttps://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/inside-the-rob-parker/id1460750158https://twitter.com/robparkerfs1https://www.instagram.com/robparkerfs1/https://robparkershop.com/•••You can hear The News Bender Podcast host Aron Bender on The Tim Conway Jr Show weeknights 6-10 on KFI AM 640.https://twitter.com/aronbenderhttps://www.instagram.com/aronbender•••Support The News Bender Podcast by supporting our sponsors:Don Francisco's Coffeehttps://www.donfranciscos.com/shopRealtor Missak Tokhmanian323-627-8302missak@huntingtongroup.comCA DRE #02037370Alert DropsFast Acting Wake-Up Aidhttps://www.alertdrops.com/use promo code RADIO for 10% off!•••Jingle courtesy of Bradley & Jammie Hamptonacappellaizer@gmail.com

Liberté Chan is a meteorologist and reporter at KTLA. She can be seen every weekend morning on the KTLA Weekend Morning News. Liberté was born and raised in Los Angeles, attended Marlborough School for girls, University of Massachusetts Amherst for her Bachelor's Degree, UCLA for a broadcast journalism ceritifcate, and USC for her Master's in Public Health. Her first job in media was as a news writer at KTLA, working her way up to writing for the legend, Hal Fishman. She got a reel together to get a general assignment reporting gig in Santa Maria, then moved to Palm Springs to anchor at KMIR, and back to KTLA to try to find her on-air self. Liberté started as a web producer but used unexpected opportunities to do the weather to push her to get her meteorology degree from Mississippi State University. In addition to her winding path back to Los Angeles we cover her early days as a competitive figure skater, her parents' divorce, dealing with depression in and after college, her discovery and practice of yoga, and how she coped with the deaths of her dog, Shanti, and one of her best friends at KTLA, news anchor Chris Burrous. And we can't forget her recent Alice in Wonderland birthday party! Namaste, friends!https://lifeofliberte.com/https://www.facebook.com/LiberteChan/https://www.instagram.com/libertechan/https://twitter.com/libertechan•••You can hear The News Bender Podcast host Aron Bender on The Tim Conway Jr Show weeknights 6-10 on KFI AM 640.https://twitter.com/aronbenderhttps://www.instagram.com/aronbender•••Support The News Bender Podcast by supporting our sponsors:Realtor Missak Tokhmanian323-627-8302missak@huntingtongroup.comCA DRE #02037370Alert DropsFast Acting Wake-Up Aidhttps://www.alertdrops.com/use promo code RADIO for 10% off!•••Jingle courtesy of Bradley & Jammie Hamptonacappellaizer@gmail.com

"The Career Stories Podcast" host Natalie Brunell is also a SoCal-based freelance correspondent who most recently contributed to ABC News. Her story is fascinating! She was just five-years-old when her family moved from Poland to Chicago. She talks about how watching the news helped her parents learn English, and inspired her to become a journalist. Natalie's super ambitious. She attended Pepperdine University in Malibu, and helped create the Italian major! And if a double major in journalism and Italian wasn't enough, Natalie got her masters degree from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern. After a fellowship at CNN, she worked at KESQ in Palm Springs, KCRA in Sacramento, then joined ABC News as a national correspondent based in Los Angeles. She's also an adjunct professor at USC's Annenberg School. And I pry out of Natalie one of the funniest dating stories ever! Enjoy this fun, insightful, inspiring episode!The Career Stories Podcast with Natalie Brunellhttps://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/career-stories/id1451439126https://twitter.com/natbrunellhttps://www.instagram.com/nataliebrunell/•••You can hear The News Bender Podcast host Aron Bender on The Tim Conway Jr Show weeknights 6-10 on KFI AM 640.https://twitter.com/aronbenderhttps://www.instagram.com/aronbender•••Support The News Bender Podcast by supporting our sponsors:Realtor Missak Tokhmanian323-627-8302missak@huntingtongroup.comCA DRE #02037370Alert DropsFast Acting Wake-Up Aidhttps://www.alertdrops.com/use promo code RADIO for 10% off!•••Jingle courtesy of Bradley & Jammie Hamptonacappellaizer@gmail.com