The character arc of Dan Harris
A life drawn by Character Arc from the public record
Born on 26 July 1971 to a radiation oncology professor and a pathologist. Between then and now sit a degree at Colby College in 1993, anchoring jobs at local stations in Maine, four years at a regional cable news channel, ABC News from 2000, coverage of a hurricane, combat zones, mass shootings and forty eight hours in solitary confinement for a story, a panic attack live on air in 2004, meditation, a number one bestseller in 2014, an app, a network career given up in September 2021, and a podcast he now owns outright. The line below draws the story so far, in order.
Drag along the line to move, pinch or use the buttons to look closer. Tap the line to pluck it, or any mark for its card. Drawn from the public record of his life; the sources are at the foot of the page.
Who is Dan Harris?
He fell apart on live television. Then he went and fixed it.
He is the son of two doctors, a radiation oncology professor and a pathologist who is an expert on lymphomas, and he graduated from Colby College in Maine in 1993. He started as an anchor at a station in Bangor, moved to Portland as an anchor and political reporter, spent three years at a regional cable news channel, and joined ABC News in 2000.
What followed was a serious network career. He anchored the Sunday evening news from 2006 to 2011 and frequently anchored the flagship bulletins and the late night programme. He covered a hurricane, natural disasters, several mass shootings and multiple combat zones. He led the network's reporting on religion. He once spent forty eight hours in solitary confinement for a story about criminal justice. In 2010 he was made a weekend co-anchor of the morning programme, and in 2013 a co-anchor of the late night one.
In 2004, in the middle of all that, he had a panic attack live on air. He has said that the self examination, the abandonment of drugs and the adoption of meditation all came from that moment. He learned to meditate by watching the breath, which is the least glamorous technique there is.
In March 2014 he published 10% Happier, an account of the whole thing written for people who find self help embarrassing, and it went to number one on the New York Times list. Its central question is whether you can be calm and still be competitive enough to do a job like his. A how to book followed in 2017, and a meditation app launched in 2015.
In August 2021 he announced he was leaving the network to do this full time, and departed on 26 September 2021, giving up an anchor chair that most journalists spend a career trying to reach. He left the app company in September 2024 over differences he said could not be resolved, took full ownership of his podcast on 1 March 2025, and launched a new app in December 2025.
The moments
Dan Harris's timeline.
The 1990s
Colby, then Bangor
Milestone. Two doctors for parents, and he went into local news in Maine.
Local news, four years
Everyday, and it changed his direction. Four years of small markets, learning the job properly.
The 2000s
ABC News
Milestone, and it changed everything. Out of regional news and into the network.
A panic attack on air
Setback, and it changed everything. It happened live, in front of the whole country, and he could not stop it.
Hurricane, and combat zones
Milestone, and it changed his direction. Forty eight hours in a cell, voluntarily, for one story.
The Sunday anchor chair
Milestone, and it changed his direction. His own bulletin, at thirty five.
He learns to meditate
Milestone, and it changed everything. Watching the breath, which is the least glamorous technique there is.
The 2010s
Co-anchor of Nightline
Milestone, and it changed his direction. Two of the jobs every network journalist wants.
10% Happier
Milestone, and it changed everything. A number one bestseller, written for people who find this stuff embarrassing.
An app, and a how to book
Milestone, and it changed his direction. The book became an app, and the app became a company.
The 2020s
Keep the anchor chair
Crossroads, decided.
The paths laid out: leave the network, taken, or stay on air. He now owns the podcast outright and has launched a second app.
He leaves the network
Milestone, and it changed everything. He gave up a network anchor chair to talk about meditation.
He owns it outright
Milestone, and it changed his direction. He walked away from the company and kept the thing he actually made.
The podcast goes out every week, and he owns all of it now. What he set moving is a particular kind of permission: a sceptical, competitive, sweary television journalist saying out loud that he meditates, which made it possible for several million people like him to try it.
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Dan Harris: frequently asked questions
What people ask about his line.
What is Dan Harris's character arc?
What happened to Dan Harris on air?
What is Dan Harris's book about?
Why did Dan Harris leave ABC News?
What did Dan Harris report on?
What does Dan Harris do now?
Where does this timeline of Dan Harris's life come from?
More character arcs
Lives that rhyme with his.
Sources
- Dan Harris (journalist), English Wikipedia biography, filed under living people.
- His own 2014 book, as summarised there, for the 2004 panic attack and what followed.
- New York Times bestseller listings for March 2014.
- ABC News records for his anchoring roles and his September 2021 departure.