clrunchuck Lisa Ling is an excellent reporter! I have followed her career trajectory since she was first introduced on the View for a season or two. Not content to simply interview celebrities, she left to do some actual journalism. Oprah Winfrey wisely snatched her up and gave her a series: "Our America" which gave in depth portraits of some of the often hidden or marginalized populations in our country. This included heroin addicts, and women in prison. Any good reporter or someone who puts together a documentary, tries to give an objective and non judgmental look at their subjects. People aren't black and white and Lisa Ling has always manged to show a glimpse of people in their seemingly unconventional lives and let them tell their own stories. A good reporter though will ask questions (hopefully in a unbiased way), about the subjects and how they live their lives as a way to learn and not exploit them. I've always admired how Ms. Ling seemingly jumps right in and yet is unobtrusive, educating herself as well as the viewers. Her shows have always come across as thought provoking as well as entertaining. When Lisa moved to C.N.N . for her "This is Life" series, I was pleased to see that the quality of the program continued with it's no hold barred approach. I am always educated by these glimpses of other lives that are presented with all the subjects portrayed in the episodes. I was hoping that when Lisa Ling moved to C.N.N. she would find a bigger audience because her program should not be missed!

jan oconnell I would have to disagree with a few comments...I totally got what she's doing as a filmmaker. She's become the filmmaker, not just someone interviewing and walking away from a set...it becomes more intimate.No huge crews, just her a camera, sound person and another camera. The viewer doesn't understand once you bring on a huge crew, etc...it takes away the intimacy with the interviewer...it allows the person who is being interviewed to become relaxed, very docu-style...indie filmmakers get this...I work with filmmakers who request small crews and very little people onset to focus on the filmmaking process.Smaller cameras, easier lighting, small sound equipment is allowing filmmakers to get a better performance and more intimate setting.I was taken in with all the episodes, so much, I binged watched a few in a roll.Kudos---

heidilaws-99512 Lisa Ling takes a look at the lifestyles, joys, challenges and realities of people who have chosen a path that is different from the norm. For these people, "this is life" and we are being given a glimpse into it.What I appreciate most about the show is how she doesn't present these stories with any sort of bias based on her own beliefs. It would be very easy to lead an audience to the same conclusions that she personally drew. However, she chose the route of letting the viewer draw their own conclusions. She treated every single person with decency, non-judgment and respect. Very well done... and I look forward to the next season.

Penny Anne THIS is life? Lisa Ling is supposedly exploring "dangerous subcultures and alternate communities" in this series, as per the Netflix description, but it really seems she's chiefly obsessed with the world's oldest profession in all its forms, promoting it and legitimizing it. Girls, you can make more money than you ever dreamed of! On websites like Seeking Arrangements, in boom towns like Williston North Dakota, and you don't even have to touch those guys, you can just strip and gyrate on web cam! Ling does an admirable job of standing back and looking slightly disturbed at the "freaks" she tracks down to exploit, but the clear takeaway from each of these episodes is that selling your body is a lucrative business and you ain't gonna make more with that degree, so go for it! Highly recommended.