From Apartheid to Atlanta w/ Robyn Curnow

From Apartheid to Atlanta w/ Robyn Curnow

Author: Paul Ollinger January 15, 2026 Duration: 59:38
My guest is Robyn Curnow, a native South African who spent over two decades at CNN, where she hosted CNN’s Newsroom, and anchored The International Desk with Robyn Curnow. Prior to that, she served as the network’s Africa correspondent out of Johannesburg and covered Europe out of CNN’s London Bureau.

If you don’t recognize her name, I bet you’ll recognize her distinctive voice because you likely saw her interviews with some of the most prominent people of our lifetimes, including Nelson Mandela, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Michelle Obama, Oprah Winfrey, and Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

Robyn has covered news stories as diverse and dynamic as Africa’s HIV/AIDS epidemic, the rise of Boko Haram, the 2010 World Cup, and the murder of Jammal Khashoggi. This work earned her and her colleagues multiple Emmy nominations, the Royal Television Society Award, and the duPont-Columbia Award.

On her new podcast, Searching for America—which I love—Robyn explores our society and culture through the eyes of a new-comer. Like a modern-day de Tocqueville, she offers a sincerely interested outsider’s perspective on the quirks of American life, including the Halloween Industrial complex, the obsession with high school graduation and college acceptance, turducken, and—most importantly—our collective love of Dolly Parton.

She lives in Atlanta where she and I serve on a school board together.



Rate and Review Reasonably Happy: https://ratethispodcast.com/paulopod

Read Paul’s Substack essays here: https://words.paulollinger.com/

Listen to Searching for America here: https://open.spotify.com/show/3j83wBMdUQnOcQTfK2pg9I

Get full access to Reasonably Happy at words.paulollinger.com/subscribe

Paul Ollinger has worn a few different hats-stand-up comedian, tech executive, and now, the curious host of Reasonably Happy with Paul Ollinger. This isn't a lecture series or a dry self-help guide. Instead, it feels more like pulling up a chair for a series of genuinely engaging talks that wander into the places where our daily lives, careers, and inner worlds collide. The conversations, which feature authors, thinkers, and various creatives, are refreshingly candid. They dig into the practical and philosophical questions about what it actually means to build a life that feels both successful and satisfying. You'll find that each episode of this podcast approaches big themes-money, purpose, and the pursuit of contentment-with a blend of wit and thoughtful depth. The underlying idea isn't about finding a perfect, Instagram-ready version of happiness, but something more grounded and attainable. It's for anyone who's ever wondered if there's a smarter, more meaningful way to navigate the pressures of business and culture without losing sight of what matters. Tuning in, you get the sense that Paul is figuring it out alongside his guests, making the insights feel earned and relatable. The result is a consistently interesting exploration of how we can all aim for a life that feels reasonably, and authentically, well-lived.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

Reasonably Happy with Paul Ollinger
Podcast Episodes
Soul on Fire w/ John O’Leary (Encore episode) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 52:07
John O’Leary’s life story has just been made into a movie called Soul On Fire, starring William H. Macy and John Corbett. When John was 9 years old, he played with fire and got burned. Like really, really burned, over 10…
Why You Will Never Feel Rich w/ Daniel Crosby [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 56:27
Acclaimed psychologist, behavioral finance expert, and author, Dr. Daniel Crosby, PhD* joins me this week to discuss his new book The Soul of Wealth: 50 Reflections on Money and Meaning. We cover the fun, non-obvious asp…
Why Two Parents Are Better Than One w/ Melissa Kearney (Encore) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 40:55
Melissa Kearney is the author of The Two-Parent Privilege: How Americans Stopped Getting Married and Started Falling Behind. Her book confronts the politically controversial fact that children raised in two-parent homes…
Giving Away Half-a-Billion Dollars w/ Craigslist founder, Craig Newmark [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 41:15
If you had hundreds of millions of dollars, how would you use it? Craigslist founder Craig Newmark faces this exact “problem”—and he’s working hard to give his fortune away to nonprofits tackling some of society’s most u…
Laughing at Death w/ John Kenney [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 53:15
What happens when you mix grief, comedy, and a brutally honest take on life’s hardest moments? You get John Kenney’s new book, I See You’ve Called in Dead. In this episode, I (i.e., me–Paul–the host) sit down with John K…
Rise of Populism w/ Brad Todd [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 48:56
Political strategist, author, and CNN commentator Brad Todd joins Paul Ollinger for a no-BS and eye-opening conversation about what’s really happening in American politics. From growing up in East Tennessee to advising s…
From Prison to Oprah [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 56:52
What happens when a suburban soccer mom falls into heroin addiction, commits felonies, and ends up in prison—only to climb back out and become a four-time New York Times bestselling author? In this unforgettable episode,…
Vote for Jesus! w/ Jonathan Rauch [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 45:20
What happens when someone who grew up Jewish, gay, and atheist finds deep inspiration in the teachings of Jesus? In this fascinating conversation, Jonathan Rauch returns to the podcast to talk about his new book 'Cross-P…
Tribalism is Dumb (w/Andrew Heaton) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:06:10
Andrew Heaton is the author of the new book Tribalism Is Dumb and the host of The Political Orphanage podcast. He sits down with Paul to unpack where tribalism comes from, how it is tearing us apart, and how we might fix…
Puck CEO, Sarah Personette [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 59:05
This week, Paul sits down with Sarah Personette, CEO of Puck, the fast-growing news outlet the New York Times described as “Vanity Fair for the Substack era.” From her ambition to become a CEO at age seven to her senior…