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Lessons From the Water: Diving with a Purpose

Our next short docs go deep

Our summer series continues with two new short documentaries premiering on Saturday, August 7 @ 9 PM ET.     

• The Bunker Boom: Better Safe Than Sorry: Director Arianna LaPenne profiles middle class families who are uprooting their lives to live in converted military bunkers in response to society’s collective anxieties.

• Lessons From the Water: Diving with a Purpose: Director Charles Todd takes viewers into the intergenerational journey of Black scuba divers who formed the organization Diving With a Purpose, whose goal is to restore the nearly 500 voyages shipwrecked during the slave trade to the historical record.

Watch our second Keep Watching conversation on YouTube for behind-the-scenes insight from both filmmakers.

If you missed the July 31 debuts of our first two short docs, 58 Hours: The Baby Jessica Story and Super Reviewers: Rate, Review, Repeat, you can find them via CNNgo or your cable provider until August 30.  Read more from 58 Hours director Mark Bone here, and check out this interview with Super Reviewers directors Yu Gu and Arianna LaPenne here (especially if you’re looking for more short doc recommendations; they’ve got you covered!). 

What we're reading to feed our history habit 

Are you learning as much as we are with Jerusalem: City of Faith and Fury? Go beyond the episodes with this reading list featuring authors from the Original Series. 

• Jerusalem: The Biography by Simon Sebag Montefiore
• Lawrence in Arabia by Scott Anderson
• The Life and Legend of the Sultan Saladin by Jonathan Phillips 

In the fourth episode of the series, "A Proclamation", World War I finds Jerusalem under Ottoman rule. Prince Faisal leads an Arab revolt, aided and encouraged by Britain. The war ends with the British in control, declaring the Crusades over and setting in motion the city’s next great conflict. Watch history play out on Sunday, August 8 @ 10 PM ET. If you missed earlier episodes, watch them on demand via your cable provider and CNNgo. 

Answering the age-old question: 'Where do we belong?'

The sixth episode of History of the Sitcom is all about upward mobility and the American Dream. In "Movin' on Up", sitcom scenarios helped generations of Americans come to grips with their place in a supposed “classless” society. Watch it on Sunday, August 8 @ 9 PM ET and catch up on past episodes via CNNgo and your cable provider. 

Back-to-school season makes us think about our favorite classroom comedies, and of course “Welcome Back, Kotter” makes that list. But did you know “Kotter’s” 1975 premiere was controversial? Read more here about why this Boston affiliate station banned the sitcom's debut. 

Congrats to our News and Documentary Emmy nominees!

We're thrilled to announce that CNN Films and CNN Original Series have received several News and Documentary Emmy nominations. 

• John Lewis: Good Trouble: Outstanding Historical Documentary, Outstanding Research Documentary, Outstanding Lighting Direction and Scenic Design. Watch it on HBO Max. 
• Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice: Outstanding Arts and Culture Documentary. Watch it on HBO Max. 
• Scandalous: The Untold Story of the National Enquirer: Outstanding Business and Economic Documentary. Watch it on HBO Max. 
• First Ladies: Outstanding Promotional Announcement. Watch the full series on HBO Max or catch select episodes through your cable provider and CNNgo. 

CNN received a network record of 44 nominations, and you can view the full list here. Winners will be announced September 28-29 in a virtual ceremony that will be streamed live at watch.theemmys.tv.

CNN Original Series also earned four Primetime Emmy nominations. Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy and United Shades of America with W. Kamau Bell were both nominated for Outstanding Hosted Nonfiction Series or Special. Sterling K. Brown was nominated for Outstanding Narrator for Lincoln: Divided We Stand and Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy was also nominated for Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Nonfiction or Reality Program. Winners will be announced on Sunday, September 19 @ 8 PM ET.