Katie Couric reveals rare amnesia episode during Aspen festival

Katie Couric's routine day in Aspen turned alarming when she could not answer basic questions about the month, the year or the president of the United States. The episode began on Saturday, June 27, 2026, during the Aspen Ideas Festival and left her awake but deeply disoriented, matching transient global amnesia, a rare condition that can wipe out short-term memory without causing loss of consciousness.

Couric spent the morning at a farmers market, picking up coffee, peaches, nectarines, kettle corn and a straw hat she joked she did not need. The shift came later on the drive to the festival, when she could not identify the date, believed it was 2024 and thought Joe Biden was still in office. She also did not remember that she had a newborn granddaughter named Virginia.

Her husband, John Molner, first wondered whether dehydration or altitude sickness was to blame. At the hospital, staff activated a stroke protocol before an MRI came back clean and doctors diagnosed transient global amnesia. Doctors have to rule out stroke, seizure and head injury before settling on TGA.

The condition is defined by sudden inability to form new memories while a person remains awake and alert. Repetitive questioning is common, while other neurologic functions generally stay intact. Confusion, memory loss, wakefulness and symptoms lasting no more than 24 hours are central to the diagnosis. The National Institutes of Health cites about 3.4 to 10.4 cases per 100,000 people each year. Incidence rises in older adults, at 23.5 to 32 per 100,000 among people 50 and older. Most cases occur in adults roughly 50 to 70 years old, and a history of migraine may be linked, though the cause remains unclear.