Soledad O’Brien is joining fellow Today show alum Bryant Gumbel at HBO’s Real Sports. HBO said Wednesday that O’Brien will be a reporter on the monthly magazine show, which is anchored by Gumbel. Her first story, due this month, is about war veterans who use martial arts to help cope with post-traumatic stress disorder. “It’s exactly what I’ve been doing for a long time - telling stories about human beings and their struggles,” O’Brien said. She most recently was a morning-show host on CNN, but the news network has given the program an overhaul that will debut next week. O’Brien was replaced by the anchor team of Kate Bolduan and Chris Cuomo. O’Brien’s experience with sports has been limited, although she did play rugby while studying at Harvard. She will be a visiting fellow at Harvard’s Graduate School of Education during the next school year. The deal with HBO also gives the network the first look at projects done by O’Brien’s production company, Starfish Media Group. She’s making a business out of creating and selling documentaries to networks and has a separate deal with CNN to continue the Black in America series that she has been doing for the past couple of years.

The singer and dancer known as Big Freedia is taking his hyper sexual, booty-shaking moves from the streets of New Orleans to cable television with a reality show on the Fuse network. The performer’s real name is Freddie Ross but his Big Freedia stage persona is a woman. Big Freedia: Queen of Bounce will focus on Ross and the New Orleans music scene known as “bounce” - a fusion of hip-hop and quick, repetitive dance beats with heavy bass. Bounce music often includes call and-response vocals, a nod to early rap and New Orleans Mardi Gras Indian roots music. Big Freedia is one of the few bounce artists with international exposure, having toured in the United States, Europe, Australia and other countries. He says he’s thrilled with the opportunity to expand his audience and share his story about his rise to stardom in the largely underground genre. “I’m very excited to have the spotlight on bounce music and culture,” Ross said. “I won’t lie though. Having cameras on you all the time is stressful, and this show is not short on drama.” The eight-episode series premieres Sept. 18. Big Freedia also is scheduled to tour this summer with the electronic pop music group The Postal Service. That tour starts July 16 in Vancouver.

Front Section, Pages 2 on 06/13/2013