CNN’s Bill Weir off to explore the world again

NEW YORK (AP) — Bill Weir’s globe-trotting series “The Wonder List” begins its second season Sunday night on CNN — Donald Trump willing.

The season has already been put off for a couple of weeks due to CNN’s wall-to-wall presidential campaign coverage.

“I’m praying to the news gods that they will leave us alone,” Weir said. During the first scheduled episode Sunday at 10 p.m. EDT, Weir visits Cuba to examine the island nation at the time of a new openness in its relationship with the United States.

Subsequent episodes will show Weir in Iceland, Machu Picchu in Peru, the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan, Botswana and Namibia in Africa, and along the Colorado River and in the Grand Canyon.

The series features some stunning photography, and Weir said his director is especially fond of attaching cameras to drones for bird’s eye views. But Weir likes to have a better reason for visiting an area than pictures; Iceland was booked because he was intrigued by a news report revealing the country has the world’s highest rate of unwed parents.

“I want it to be more than just a travelogue,” he said.

Weir, who has already received a commitment for a third season, carries a small notebook where the inside cover has a handwritten list of potential future destinations. With each trip, he learns how small the world can seem. In Bhutan, a remote country tucked between India and China, he was asked about Trump’s campaign and learned that one of the most popular television shows is WWE wrestling.

“We’ve got this one hour where we can look at the world with wonder and curiosity instead of fear and suspicion,” he said.