In short
Lester Holt launches Dateline’s “Before & After,” focusing on what happens after life-altering, sudden moments—especially near-death experiences and the road to recovery. He frames stories as “a moment that arrives without warning,” including violence and trauma, and asks how people move on afterward.
Guest backgrounds
Jeremy Renner (Dateline guest; referenced via “more” in promo), Colin Kaepernick (former NFL quarterback), Gabby Giffords (former U.S. representative and shooting survivor).
Key claims
people don’t want to die alone; survival can hinge on a single moment; public exposure (“if your photo is on the internet”) can make danger personal.
Notable examples
collapsed lung/struggling for air; tracheotomy scar; bullet through the head; “giant, enormous boom and blast”; “bombs to our house”; “get back to my family.”
Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Transcript
Automatic transcript. May contain errors.0:02What's it like to die? If you're going to die, you don't want to die alone. Over the years, I've reported on people whose lives were changed forever in a single moment. Actors. Everything was collapsed in my lung and I had like no way to get air. It was like this breath, it was like it was just everything. Professional athletes. It was just, hey, I'm going to get mine. I would have never protested. I would have never took a D. Public figures of tracheotomy scar. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yes. The bullet. Went through your head. Yeah, yes. And ordinary people suddenly pulled into a nightmare. Essentially, if your photo is on the internet, it could happen to you.
0:43A moment that arrives without warning. I heard a giant, enormous boom and blast. I didn't know if I was alive or dead. We know the headlines. But what I've always been curious about is what happens after. That's when the rest of the story begins. We have people try to send bombs to our house. I got to get back to my family. Is sitting down for this podcast, is this part of your road back? I hope so. And what does it take to move on? I wanted to turn my life into something a little bit more meaningful.
1:22I'm Lester Holt, and this is Before and After, a new podcast from Dateline. My conversations with Jeremy Renner, Colin Kaepernick, Gabby Giffords, and more premiering on Monday, September 14. Early access for Dateline premium subscribers begins Monday, September 7. Follow and subscribe now wherever you get your podcasts.
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From the publisher
Hey Dateline fans! As a bonus for you, we’re sharing the trailer for Before & After with Lester Holt, an all-new original podcast series from Dateline.
Before & After with Lester Holt is a deeply personal interview series about moments that divide a life into before and after. In each conversation, Lester sits down with someone whose life was transformed in an instant by an unexpected twist of fate. The episodes explore what it takes to endure the unimaginable, rebuild a life, and find meaning and purpose in the aftermath.
Follow now to get the first episode on Monday, September 14 completely free. Or subscribe to Dateline Premium on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or DatelinePremium.com. Subscribers receive ad-free listening and early access to subsequent episodes. swap.fm/l/fdtw
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