This is Life with Lisa Ling returns with award-winning journalist and author Lisa Ling as she ventures to the far corners of America, exploring communities that are often unknown or misunderstood. In this CNN Original Series, produced by Part2 Pictures, Ling investigates some of our country's most pressing issues and uncovers some surprising solutions along the way. This season on This is Life, Ling examines how technology is shaping love, sex, and human relationships following the widespread social isolation of the COVID-19 pandemic. Next, she surveys mothers who seek out sperm donors on Facebook and reveals the true motives of a man who has fathered over one hundred children with more on the way. In the backwoods of Arkansas, Ling discovers the fate of hundreds of tigers, bred and held captive by the so-called "kings" of a blockbuster TV series. Ling then journeys to the streets of her hometown of Los Angeles, an area that has become ground zero for America's severe mental health crisis, uncovering the horror but also the hope for those society seems to have cast aside. Later, with racial strife playing out in cities across the country, she communes with the followers of a newer religion that proclaims interracial marriage as a possible pathway to world peace. Finally, Ling travels to Denver, a city often known for its legal pot culture, and finds that another legal substance – alcohol – has become America's worst addiction.

Season 8 of this investigative docuseries follows award-winning journalist Lisa Ling as she travels across America exploring communities that are often unknown or misunderstood. As the country tries to reckon with the events of this tumultuous year, there are two questions on everyone's mind: "How did we get here?" and "how do we go forward?" To help make sense of it all, Ling takes a deep dive into our collective past to uncover hard truths and find some answers.

"History is so often told through the eyes of the victors," said Ling. "It can be dehumanizing to people whose stories are overlooked and leaves out surprising and inspiring events that add dimension to our country's past and give us road maps for the future. In this season of This Is Life, we explore consequential moments in American history that didn't make it into the books. Our hope is that we will become better informed about the contributions of all of our fellow Americans."

The six-part immersive docuseries follows journalist Lisa Ling as she travels across America exploring communities that are often unknown or misunderstood.

In season seven of This is Life, Ling explores the unlikely bond between prisoners and prep school students, how the digital age is affecting boys as they become men, the illicit massage parlor industry, heroin addiction, families affected by gun violence, and the rising popularity of psychedelic healing.

"In these deeply divided and divisive times, never has it been more important to share the stories of the members of our society who are often overlooked and unheard," said Lisa Ling. "Through shining a light on them, we hope it leads to better understanding and a little more compassion for one another."