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Lisa Ling            

Award-Winning Journalist & Producer for CBS News

Lisa Ling is is an American journalist, television personality, and author. Ling joined CBS News in 2023 after 15 years with CNN. Ling hosted "This Is Life with Lisa Ling" on CNN from 2014-2022.

For five seasons prior, Ling EP’d and hosted "Our America" on OWN. She was also a field correspondent for "The Oprah Winfrey Show" and contributor to ABC News' "Nightline." For these shows she reported from dozens of countries; covering stories about gang rape in the Congo, bride burning in India and the Lord's Resistance Army in Uganda, among other issues that are too often ignored.

Ling was the first female host of National Geographic’s flagship show "Explorer" which sent her to cover the phenomenon of female suicide bombing, the spread of the MS-13 gang—considered the world’s most dangerous gang, and the humanitarian crisis inside North Korea.

She got her start in journalism as a correspondent for Channel One News where she covered the civil war in Afghanistan at 21 years of age. She later went to become a co-host of ABC Daytime's hit show "The View," which won its first daytime Emmy during her time at the show.

Ling is the co-author of "Mother, Sister. Daughter, Bride: Rituals of Womanhood," and "Somewhere Inside: One Sister’s Captivity in North Korea and The Other’s Fight to Bring Her Home" that she penned with her sister Laura.

In 2014, President Obama appointed Ling to the Commission on White House Fellows. She is an advisory board member for Fostering Media Connections, The Amani Project, and a Baby2Baby angel.

Ling lives in Santa Monica with her husband Paul Song and daughters Jett and Ray.

Speech Topics


Open Heart Open Mind

In today's culture of sound bite news, many important issues get overlooked, if they get covered at all. Lisa Ling has dedicated herself to shedding light on stories impacting the world in which we live. In her presentations, complete with a lively Q&A session, Lisa shares stories from her over 20-year career in media that have profoundly affected her outlook on life. Her hope is that through her experiences people may be provoked to think about things differently and allow themselves to expand their horizons.

The Importance of a Global Perspective

Lisa recounts stories that profoundly changed her life and talks about how travel and going beyond one's comfort zone is wholly transformative, making one smarter, more well-rounded, and more marketable.

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