AUSTIN (KXAN) — NBC Nightly News anchor Lester Holt anchored live from Austin on Monday for his “Across America” series. The special coverage in Austin focused on the city’s growth.

KXAN reporter Tahera Rahman joined Holt to discuss Austin’s tech industry boom.

News anchors Robert Hadlock and Britt Moreno discussed the importance of journalism with Holt in an interview that aired on KXAN News.

They touched on how the pandemic changed local and national newscasts alike.

“Advanced technology allowed us to broadcast from home,” Holt said. “I did Nightly News — a lot of people don’t know this — from the spare bedroom in my home for about a year.”

“There was one day I knew I hit rock bottom. I looked down, I realized I was anchoring Nightly News barefoot,” Holt laughed. “It just somehow felt wrong.”

Hadlock asked Holt what moment or event in his career has impacted him the most.

Holt recalled the 2010 Haiti earthquake. He says he came away from that experience seeing how the world can band together during dark times.

“I remember thinking, man, if we could somehow corral this kind of response to bad things happening in the world, where everybody was on the same team, that would make my job more enjoyable,” Holt said.

When asked what stands out about Austin, Holt said, “I think it’s the content-ness” people have with the city.

“It also seems a city that people are kind of craving, what’s the next thing, what’s the new thing, and how do we embrace it and make it work for us,” Holt said.

Holt will also be reporting from the ground in St. Louis, Washington, D.C., Nashville and Phoenix.

The series will take an in-depth look at how the pandemic has impacted the cities’ real estate markets, school structures, crime rates and political systems.