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Tele-Kinetic Explorer
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GS: It's much more hectic we take it.
LL: Much more hectic. But I like that. It's not that routine 9-5 thing. When I was at The View I had to be back in New York every Sunday night because Monday morning we had a show.
Lisa Ling
PHOTO LAWRENCE CUMBO © NGT&F

GS: So you have less time for a personal life now?
LL: Much less, much much less.

GS: Give us a picture of one of your new workdays.
LL: When I'm not on an airplane... For example, one of my days in Columbia. I was with the Columbia anti-narcotics forces. We were flying around in Blackhawk helicopters and having to jump out of helicopters and bust cocaine laboratories in the middle of some of the densest jungles on earth. The next day I had an interview with the president of Columbia. As I was waiting for the interview, his helicopter started getting fired on by the guerillas. So we were kinda dodging bullets. But even though we thought we lost that interview, later that evening we ended up getting four hours of him at his house in Medellin. That's a window into two of my days in Columbia.

GS: We'll have to see that one!
LL: It's airing November 16.

GS: It is said that the process of landing the Yao Ming interview for Ultimate Explorer's debut segment took two years. How is that possible?
LL: When I first heard about Yao Ming, I got in touch with his agent and I said I don't care where I am but I want to interview Yao Ming. I don't know for what yet, but I just want it to be known that I'm really really wanting to interview this guy because I just had so much hope and enthusiasm for him. I just kept up a really good relationship with his people and as soon as I got the gig with National Geographic, I capitalized on that relationship.

GS: So The View might have capitalized on that if you had still been there?
LL: Yes, but they still might have him on the show.

GS: What did you discover to be the most remarkable thing about Yao Ming?
LL: There's so many things. He's such a lovely guy. He is under more pressure than anyone I've ever known. He's got not only the pressure of being an NBA star but he's got the pressure of a billion people watching his every move and praying that he will do them right, if you know what I mean. He's a kid after all, he's only 22 years old, now 23. It's just a lot of pressure. A guy like that when you're 7-foot-6 you can't exactly take a week off and go to Hawaii without people knowing.
GS: Do you think he'll eventually lead the Rockets to a championship?
LL: I sure hope so. I think there are only positive things to come from Yao Ming. Certainly the Rockets are hoping that he will do so too but there's also a huge pressure. They just built this multi-million dollar stadium because they're hoping Yao will help fill the seats.

GS: Do you think he may decide “to heck with this” and go back to China?
LL: I don't think he'll do that, but he did confess to me on tape that, “You know, I have to ask, do you sometimes regret coming?” and he said, “Sometimes.” He just feels like he has no time for himself. Really I've never known anyone who's under more pressure than Yao Ming.

GS: Share with us some other highlights since taking on your new NGUE job.
LL: I've loved every single story that I've worked on whether it's the drug war story in Columbia or Yao Ming or women in Indian prisons or Mexican immigration. Every single story has been so intellectually stimulating for me so I can't exactly say I have a favorite. What I love the most about my job is that every assignment allows me to stretch my mind and learn more about a different culture or phenomenon.

GS: Share some of the low points, downers.
LL: When I was in India for example, I developed these really close attachments to these Indian kids who grew up prison. In India women have the option of bringing their kids to prison, thus raising a generation of prison kids. Having to develop a relationship with them and having to say goodbye is an extremely difficult thing to do.

GS: Any negative aspects of your job that you find difficult?
LL: It's very hard to meet someone and to have a substantive relationship because I'm literally in a new town every couple weeks. [laughs] But that's also the fun of it too. [Ling interrupts to let us know that her cellphone battery is running down and gives us a landline number to call in 20 minutes. It turns out to be her father's home.]
     Oh yes, we were talking about how lame my social life is! [laughing] PAGE 3

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"It's very hard to meet someone and to have a substantive relationship because I'm literally in a new town every couple weeks."