For as long as they’ve existed, conspiracy theories have been laughed off by the mainstream for being too ‘far-fetched’. But actually, many of them haven’t been fetched from very far away at all. In fact, lots of the biggest ones have been lifted straight from pop culture. Bupe Bhima looks at the books, films, shows and songs that have been giving conspiracy theorists sleepless nights for decades.
BDSM (short for bondage, dominance, submission, and masochism) is being used by some in the kink community as a tool for healing trauma. VICE meets Rebecca and Steph, a couple who uses BDSM to process their individual traumatic experiences and heal from their painful past.
Orlando, FL Pastor Rich Vera has become famous in the Chrisitan community for healing the incurable with just his hands. But 4 years ago he became famous for his political vision. While sleeping, God sent him a vision of Donald Trump running through a field wearing a sweater with an R on it, and the next morning Pastor Vera told his congregation, and the world, Donald J Trump would become the next President of the United States. Years later when COVID19 hit, he again answered God’s call and set up a tent revival in the parking lot healing people from all over the world, working miracles, and curing blindness, cancer, covid19, paralysis, etc. We visit Pastor Vera time where the country is at it’s most divided - the day before the election- to see if this miracle worker is capable of bringing healing to a nation that seems set on tearing itself apart.
On September 9th 2020 a video began circulating on social media of police in Bogota hitting and tazing Javier Ordóñez, a father of two, who was abused to death in police custody. The event triggered a wave of protests around Colombia that ended with the killings of 13 protestors by the police.
The once-feared Japanese mob is on the verge of extinction. Targeted by new laws, rapidly ageing, and unable to find fresh blood, the yakuza has dropped from a height of 180,000 members to less than 30,000. But for some, a life of crime isn't something you can just leave behind.
The internet has been accused of wrecking many things over the years – print media, Blockbuster and privacy, for instance. One thing it definitely hasn’t killed, though, is the antisemitic conspiracy theory. In fact, the internet is breathing new life into ideas that have been doing the rounds – sometimes causing mass murder – for centuries. In this episode of Truth Hurts, we look at how today’s biggest conspiracy movements are just recycling the same old, evil lies.
If you live in Houston, you probably know Jim McIngvale as his alter-ego "Mattress Mack." For almost four decades, Mack has been selling furniture in the greater Houston area through his business Gallery Furniture. Known for his energetic local TV commercials where the natural born huckster unleashed his famous tagline that Gallery Furniture would "Save you money," Mack grew his business from being a series of tents along a highway into multiple, massive locations employing hundreds of people.
For many university students, paying £9,000-a-year tuition fees doesn’t seem fair when you’re stuck inside halls and can’t attend any lectures. Using self-filmed footage from people studying at the University of Manchester, we follow the lives of several students as they embark on their first term of university since COVID-19. From parties to protests and even an occupation, we discover what it's like for students during this challenging time.
VICE follows the story of Trimarco, a 17-year-old currently serving time at a Washington State youth jail, and who is about to be released on house arrest (along with the majority of the youth in that facility) in light of the dangers of COVID-19. Community activists who have long argued for juvenile criminal justice reform believe that if Trimarco and the other youth can demonstrate positive changes while out on house arrest, there is hope they will be able to convince the judge to keep these kids out of detention when they go back for their hearing in June.
Female homicide is a national crisis in South Africa. According to the government, a woman is killed every 3 hours, and South Africa has a femicide rate which is five times the global average. The murder of two friends, Popi Qwabe (24) and Bongeka Phungula (28) is representative of the country’s gender based violence issue. On the 12 May 2017, the two young women got into a taxi in Soweto, heading for a night out. Three days later, their bodies were found on the side of a road. Two men were arrested in connection with the murders but were released due to a lack of evidence. In this film, we hear from the families of Popi and Bongeka, who believe that the police investigation was full of mistakes because of corruption and lack of will. We also hear from representatives of Amnesty International, who are campaigning to bring an end to gender based violence in South Africa, and to get justice in the case of Popi and Bongeka.
Thirty years ago, Bryce Cleary donated sperm to OHSU's fertility clinic with the understanding that the donation would result in 5 children born on the opposite coast. DNA testing has since revealed that promise was not kept and Bryce has at least 14 children in the Oregon area and even more out of state. Bryce might have never known this if it weren't for the detective work of his donor children, several of whom have formed a close bond. VICE met with these donor siblings to hear their story and the shocking lack of regulation in the fertility industry that resulted in their births.
What’s the difference between someone who’s into conspiracy theories and someone who’s so influenced by them they become a mass shooter? From white supremacist Anders Breivik to jihadist Tamerlan Tsarneav, some of the perpetrators of the worst acts of mass killing around the world have been enthralled by certain conspiracy theories. In this episode of Truth Hurts, we look at the tipping point in the conspiracist mindset that can turn people violent.
In 2017, three terrorists driving a van ploughed into people in central London before taking to the streets to randomly attack anyone they came across. At the same time, Ignacio Echeverría was having a typical Saturday Night out skateboarding with his friends. We hear how those two separate events came together with horrifying consequences.
It’s been well established that belief in conspiracy theories is related to a disbelief in actual science. The whole toxic frustration of conspiracy theorists is that they can never be proven wrong – all evidence against their ideas just becomes part of the conspiracy. This is largely why, even though they seem obsessed with science, they always get actual science so wrong. From the moon landing to flat earth to 5G, there has been a constant battle in modern times between science and conspiracy. In this episode of Truth Hurts, we look at how science denial has been fueling conspiracy theorists for decades.
Forgery is one of the greatest challenges the art world faces today, with fakes and misattributions estimated to be as high as 50% of all works in the market. Before his arrest, Billy “The Brush” Mumford forged over 1000 pieces that made their way across the globe. His best friend David Henty had equally thrived selling his fakes on eBay, with one of his Picasso copies recently going up for auction at £1 million. Sydney Lima meets the two convicted forgers as they work to create a knock-off piece of art that could be accepted as real. Then she takes the piece to a forensic lab to see whether they can tell it’s a fake.
Shinichi Morohoshi is Tokyo's self-made Lamborghini king, a man who built an empire on the back of repeated tragedies. His heavily customized supercars capture the over-the-top style of Kabukichō, winning him fans and detractors worldwide. But a prison sentence, a horrible accident, and bankruptcy nearly cost him everything. VICE visits Morohoshi’s Fighting Star garage to see how he rose to fame by consistently going against the grain.
Black musical artists, cosplayers, and designers sat down with Caity (@morbidtheclown) to reflect on their experiences in the Anime, Cosplay & Nerd scene.
What happens when a Quaker and a Methodist Reverend break into a secure weapons factory to cause billions of pounds worth of criminal damage? Anti-arms and peace activists Sam Walton and Samuel ‘Woody’ Woodhouse attempted to disarm state-of-the-art eurofighter typhoon jets that were being sold to Saudi Arabia to be used in the Yemen Civil War. After being caught in the act, arrested and charged with criminal damage, the pair expected to go to jail for up to 10 years. But, extraordinarily, the judge found them both not guilty. This is their story. Using intimate interviews, documents and objects, ‘Investigators’ relives shocking and fearless crime stories through the eyes of those involved.
“She only lets us sleep four hours, we have to wake up at 5AM.” Amy Carlson leads a group called Love Has Won. The web-savvy New Age outfit uses daily livestreams to recruit followers from around the world to join their house in Colorado. While her followers believe she is a divine being, the group is facing accusations that it is a cult. Former members are alleging stories of abuse, fraud and brainwashing. We hear from members and former members of the group to try and get to the bottom of it.
After the long postponements couples in India are downsizing their weddings, or choosing online ceremonies, shaking up the estimated 50 billion dollar industry out of its COVID limbo. Restrictions and regulations mean that everyone - from vendors to vow-takers- had to learn how to adapt. We meet couples who have walked down the aisle in the middle of the pandemic, to know how they managed their socially distanced weddings. We also meet wedding planners, venue owners and other industry experts to see how the Indian wedding has gotten a makeover.
Lebanon, a country that has been illegally exporting cannabis for decades, has become the first Arab country to legalize the plant for medicinal export. Despite a collapsing economy, COVID-19 and an explosion that devastated Beirut in 2020, investors are flocking to Lebanon to capitalize upon the new laws. VICE’s Rony Karkar explores the nuanced relationships between investors and drug lords in an unprecedented time for the country.
From Margaret Thatcher seances to promising to eliminate North Korea, Happy Science is a controversial new religious movement with over 12 million members in 90 countries. Led by its charismatic leader, Ryuho Okawa, the group’s followers believe he is a divine being, but others have accused him of leading a cult. We hear from journalists who have been investigating the group to try and get to the bottom of it.
Faced with soaring real estate prices and an increasingly desperate housing crisis in Paris, a squatting collective has been formed to find spaces of residence in buildings that have remained unoccupied for years. We followed them as they searched for a new place, occupied it, and used their knowledge of French law to negotiate with the owner and the city's local administration.
From teaching that children living with disabilities (or who’ve been sexually abused) are being punished for their errors in a previous life to carrots being as dangerous as heroin, Serge Benhayon's teachings may seem incredible, outlandish and dangerous. But to his followers, he is a god-like figure with healing powers. Despite an Australian Court finding that it was true to say his organisation, Universal Medicine, was “a socially harmful cult”, it has continued to attract followers around the world and tear families apart. We hear from Esther Rockett who was taken to court by Universal Medicine and Robin Clifford whose family was destroyed by his ex-wife joining the group.
Thailand’s pro-democracy protests are a uniquely iconic sight and there is a deeper meaning to the symbols the protestors use. Cultural anthropologist, Edoardo Siani, explains a little known world of symbolism and divine astrology that runs beneath the surface of Bangkok’s protest movement.
Almost 200 people, mostly women, have been murdered in the northeastern Indian state of Assam, accused of witchcraft and sorcery. Witch-hunting is a prevalent practice in Assam and neighbouring states among many indigenous communities. To try and decode the complex reasons behind why some people become scapegoats in land disputes, crop failures or even ostracised for their own religious practices, we meet women who were branded as witches and local activists who are trying to rehabilitate them.
In this episode of Speed Daemons, we explore how Miami's natural environment and complex history led to its love affair with speedboats. We met with the racers, manufactures, and stuntmen who are the center of Miami's speedboat obsession. Our host manages to get to the heart of the story but loses his shirt in the process.
Experts estimate there are 2 million South Koreans who are followers of fringe churches, but the exact figures are unknown. Shincheonji has allegedly become one of the most dominant fringe christian groups in recent years. Currently, it is estimated that there are over 250,000 Shincheonji Church followers within South Korea and internationally.
Residents of the protected Leuser National Park in Aceh struggle to keep Sumatran tigers away from their livestock and homes. Once a rarity, these kinds of attacks are now on the rise in North Sumatra. Between 2019 and 2020, Sumatran tigers killed at least 20 cattle in this region alone. The attacks are also an economic strain on the region’s farmers, costing around $10,000 in lost cattle. But there’s another, more concerning outcome of the rise in attacks—an environment of fear amongst those who call the forest borderlands their home.
After several episodes exploring the underground car scenes across the U.S., VICE finally heads to the birthplace of sideshow culture -- the Bay Area (specifically Oakland & Vallejo) -- to meet the new generation of sideshow enthusiasts keeping the roots of the movement alive in Bay Area streets.
NOT MY SHAME is a documentary exploring the truthful reality of housing inequality and young people using the transformational power of creativity and activism to take their power back.
Between eight and 14 percent of people hear voices, often linked to a personal trauma. Conventional psychiatry treatment regularly resorts to hospitalization or too strong medication that often prohibits sufferers from living a normal life. In France, for the past ten years, the Voice Hearer Network (REV), chaired by Vincent Demassiet, has been organizing discussion groups to help people learn to live with the voices in their heads and share their best coping techniques. The goal is to reduce the use of medication and even, in the long run, completely stop using it.
Have you ever wondered whether it is ever safe to take nude selfies? Or how much you risk when you leave your Insta profile open? We chat to ethical hacker Zoe Rose to find out how vulnerable we really are online.
Yogi Adityanath is a high priest and extreme Hindu nationalist. He believes that India is a Hindu country for Hindu people, and his anti-Muslim hate speeches have divided the country. Critics have called him everything from a “fire-breathing monk” to a “warrior priest”, but Adityanath is still being tipped as the next Prime Minister of India. Adityanath is a prominent member of the BJP, India’s ruling party, and the Chief Minister of the state of Uttar Pradesh. It is the biggest state in India, and is seen as the golden goose of Indian politics.
In August 2020, Thai university students called for reform of the monarchy, breaking a longstanding taboo in a country where the King has a God-like status. A year later, despite the arrests of key leaders and hundreds of detainments, the social movement continues to burn as protesters and police clash over a war of ideas. It all started following a 2014 coup that saw general Prayut Chan-ocha take control of the country. He then rose to Prime Minister after a disputed election in 2018. The military re-wrote the nation's constitution while the king moved to further entrench his influence and power. Today, this youth-led movement hopes to reduce those powers while demanding the resignation of Prayut for allegedly failing the country from all directions. Their demands have resurfaced even stronger as the pandemic deteriorates.
For most, ATV’s are recreational vehicles, used in touristic four-wheeler tours and backyard shenanigans in rural parts of the country. But for others, they are a means to pay the bills or, if lucky enough, hit it big and live a life of excess. In this episode of ‘High Octane’, we’ll embed with an underground crew of ATV riders who set up illegal races on the highways that run near the Florida Everglades. Participants and spectators gamble gobs of money on who they think is going to win, leading to tense competition between rival crews hoping to get a piece of the prize.
In some North Indian towns and villages, it’s an age-old tradition for unmarried boys to live in a room outside of the home called the "baithak", separated particularly from the women of the family. The boys, aged between 6 and 20 years old, enter their own houses only for meals and hang out in these "baithaks" during the day. VICE World News travels to Rajasthan and Haryana in India, to see why some villages follow this system of separating families on the basis of sex and understand the rarely documented "Baithak" System.
Panna, a district in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh is known for its dynamic dry forests, its grasslands, deep gorges with waterfalls and the Ken river, which cuts through the forest and is its lifeline. Nestled in these forests is Panna Tiger Reserve, an eco-paradise and safe haven for animals, especially tigers. It is a tourist attraction, and a great place to learn about conservation efforts. But Panna Tiger Reserve also hides a secret that tourists often don’t notice — illegal diamond mining.
Every Wednesday, Dr. Turner marches for reparations through Tulsa, Oklahoma. It was here, a century ago on May 31, 1921, that an affluent Black community was violently destroyed in the Tulsa Race Massacre. The historic Vernon American Methodist Episcopal Church, where he preaches, is the only edifice that survived the massacres in his Greenwood District neighborhood. Dr. Turner marches rain or shine weekly for reparations intended to help heal the community that has been hurting for generations.
Demystifying the housing crisis in the UK in partnership with Shelter, we take it back to basics to help you understand the complex and systemic nature of the housing emergency.
The sex industry in Singapore exists in a legal grey area. While legal brothels in red light districts are permitted to operate, many other aspects of the industry - such as street and online soliciting and pimping are illegal.
In May 2019, the skateboarding industry was left devastated by the news that British pro skater Ben Raemers had died by suicide at the age of 28. Ben’s approach to skateboarding – with his unique blend of transition and street skating – meant that he was one of a small number of British skaters to gain an international reputation over the past decade. In this film, friends and family reflect on Ben’s rise to US sponsorship, and the struggles that came later as his mental health deteriorated. His tragic death sparked a mental health reckoning within the skate community, with other pro-skaters now questioning their assumptions about mental health and sharing stories of their own. The Ben Raemers Foundation was founded in an attempt to end the stigma that prevents skaters from discussing mental health issues and to provide much-needed education about suicide prevention.
In the Philippines, we see that HIV infections equate to sin and immorality, making sex education highly challenging. The result: an HIV infection rate that is the fastest in the world. But Dr Vinn Pagtakahan is on a mission to eradicate fear and guilt surrounding the issue, even if the problem is too big for one man to solve. VICE World News finds out how Dr Vinn helps patients rise above the stigma and uncovers what it takes to fight a neglected epidemic.
"Why am I in jail? For denouncing what they are doing to the rivers, defending what little is left?” Bernardo Caal Xol, a Q'eqchi' Maya Indigenous Leader and Guatemalan human rights defender, has been unjustly imprisoned for alleged acts of violence against contractors of a hydroelectric plant in Guatemala. A crime he didn’t commit. Bernardo’s incarceration is representative of the wider problem of human rights abuses against Indigenous people across the Americas. They safeguard 80 percent of the world’s remaining biodiversity, but their safety is often at risk from big corporations looking to exploit natural resources. As of November 2021, Bernardo has been imprisoned for a total of three years and nine months.
Polish skater and artist Gonzi has been vocal about his fight against depression and borderline schizophrenia. Gonzi picked up a skateboard at the age of five and started hanging out with older skaters in his hometown of Łódź, exposing him to a life of parties and drug use at a young age. He smoked his first joint at 13, and was 17 when he experienced a psychotic break due to drug use and was diagnosed with borderline paranoid schizophrenia. He thanks skateboarding, his friends, and art for still being here today.
Okinawa is known to many as a postcard perfect paradise. In 2019, before the pandemic stopped travel, the island welcomed 10 million tourists. But despite mass tourism, Okinawa is also the poorest prefecture in Japan.
Tassie tigers, otherwise known as thylacines, were thought to have become extinct after the last known specimen “Benjamin” died in a Hobart zoo in 1936. But new evidence and a growing civilian movement are challenging that belief, with the Thylacine Awareness Group of Australia (TAGOA) boasting 10,000 members Australia-wide. In this episode of Australiana, we embed with its president, Neil Waters, a retired gardener who commits his life savings to an epic two year search for the ancient marsupial. As Neil edges closer to a tantalising ‘re-discovery’, the search brings him hope and meaning, but we also learn the price of this obsession.
In August 2019, Thailand became one of the first countries in Asia to legalize medical cannabis. But some patients in need of cannabis medication still turn away from this legal channel, and go underground for stronger doses to treat their condition.
Seung-Woo Yang entered the universe of the Korean Yakuza in his teens. The death by suicide of his friend drove him to start capturing the world, to cement his memories with his friends, some of whom are still active members of organized crime in South Korea.
Buddhiswar Boro was in his early teens when he started poaching elephants and rhinoceros to sell their trunks and horns to make a living. Back in the 80s he joined a political revolution, got a gun, and started smuggling countless tusks and horns from India to Bhutan.
Jenny Schauerte was a world-ranking downhill skateboarder before her father's death sent her into a downward spiral of depression that left her homeless.
In early 2020, Thailand was in shock when a clip of a school Director molesting a 12-year-old student appeared on social media. A month later, it emerged that two teenage female students were gang raped by five teachers and two former students for a year. Legal proceedings are ongoing. Nalinrat was a former sex abuse survivor. Currently a model, she speaks to VICE World News about her own experience in Thailand’s school system.
Rahul Jadhav is a rising star in India’s marathon community. He has competed in many events and he also runs for charity. Rahul is also a vocal advocate of sobriety and is a counsellor by profession. However, this isn’t what his life looked like a decade back. Rahul was introduced to the infamous Mumbai underworld in his teens and he quickly rose up the ranks of crime. From laundering vast sums of money, to criminal intimidation, and arms’ dealing, he did it all. His name was associated with some of India’s most dreaded gangsters. How did this man, who was also an addict, change his life? This is the story of this episode of Bad Blood, VICE Asia’s ongoing series looking at crime and criminals via a unique lens.
Women in Beed, an impoverished, drought-hit district in the western Indian state of Maharashtra are resorting to getting their uterus removed. Married off at an early age, these women have become a part of the unorganised labour economy, earning as little as 3 dollars after working for 18 hours in sugarcane fields every day, seven days in a week. The fields lack access to basic amenities and this often leads to infections that go untreated for years. When these women seek medical assistance, they are told that a hysterectomy is their only way out. In order to pay for these surgeries they take loans and then end up spending years paying off their debt. In this episode of Politics of Sex, VICE meets some of these women along with social activist Manisha Tokle to figure out how this cycle is trapping them and how medical malpractice is a factor in it as well.
At first glance, Aliia Roza is a millionaire L.A. fashion PR mogul and actress. But before this, she says she was a Russian spy handpicked for an elite espionage academy in Moscow where she was trained to seduce enemies of the state for secrets. After falling in love with one of her targets, she was forced to flee the country. But when VICE’s Sydney Lima visits her in L.A. she discovers that things might not be all that they seem.
Energy companies have secretly begun to infiltrate governments, courts and banks to ensure that society will always be powerless to stop the oil. A highly paid network of politicians, lobbyists and investors are conspiring from the shadows to block climate action, sacrificing humanity itself for short term profit. These people are the biggest threat to our planet right now and they’re winning. Under the cover of anonymity, four whistleblowers have agreed to reveal to us how these dark arts work, and how they’ve changed the fabric of reality itself in order to keep selling us fossil fuels.
India’s northernmost state Himachal Pradesh is in the grips of a heroin crisis, with double the number of illegal opioid users per capita as compared to the rest of India. VICE World News’ Esha Paul meets drug peddlers, recovering addicts, and the police on Himachal’s borders to see how a rural state known for being a tourist paradise spiralled into an opioid epidemic.
Yasuda Hidetoshi’s tryst with Rajinikanth’s movies also began with Muthu, released in Japan as Muthu-The Dancing Maharaja. Yasuda is one of Rajinikanth's biggest fans; running a Japanese fan site dedicated to the superstar, travelling to Chennai for the release of every new Rajinikanth movie, organising events that celebrate the superstar’s birthday and new movie release in Japan with other fans. He can often be seen zipping around in an autorickshaw that he imported from India to Japan, in honour of one of Rajinikanth’s characters from Baasha who was an autorickshaw driver. VICE met Yasuda in Osaka, Japan to understand how he became a Rajinikanth fan, stories and experiences from his travels to India, what it was like to meet Rajinikanth in person and what it means to be a fan of the superstar.
As a Japanese of North Korean descent, Magomi Hashimoto or Honchi Kim was initiated into the world of the Yakuza as a child. His mother married six times, out of which five of them were Yakuza. Magomi has been in and out of prison as a Yakuza but has now decided to take a different path to run for office and fight for the rights of ethnic Koreans like him. He takes VICE World News inside his world of business, politics and online YouTube fame.
Isabella Barrett is fifteen and a self-made millionaire. Actually, she’s been one since she was six after achieving international fame through the pageant world, featuring on the popular show “Toddlers and Tiaras.” She did, however, leave the show after saying that her rival’s mother dressed her daughter up “as a hooker.” Now, at the tender age of fifteen, she owns three fashion brands, with plans to become the next billionaire. VICE’s Sydney Lima spends a couple of days with her in Rhode Island and New York to discover how she has dealt with fame and money at such a young age.
On January 17th 1968, 31 North Korean special force members crossed into South Korea to kill the President. Kim Shin Jo is one of two survivors who lived to share their story.
South Korea’s 550,000-member military is considered one of its most hierarchical and male-dominant institutions. In a survey conducted by the Defense Ministry in 2019, fewer than 1/3rd of those who said they had experienced sexual assault reported it to the authorities, as most of them felt “nothing would happen.” In 2021, a 22-year-old female Korean soldier, Lee Yaeram, committed suicide after being repeatedly sexually assaulted by her male colleague. Her death incited national outrage, prompting an amendment of the Military Court Act. The proposal calls for limiting military court to first trials and transferring appeals to civilian courts. VICE World News speaks to Bang Hyelin, a survivor of sexual violence and former Captain at the ROK Marines about her experiences in South Korea’s military. VICE World News reached out to South Korea’s Ministry of Defence for comments. We did not receive a response at the time of publication.
The National University of Singapore, one of Singapore’s oldest universities known for its academic reputation, has come under fire for its handling of sexual abuse cases on campus. According to an official report published by the National University of Singapore, complaints against sexual misconduct peaked in 2019 at 25 cases, almost doubling the number in 2018. While the university has repeatedly reassured its students that the school will adopt a tougher stance against sexual misconduct, many students and survivors find these measures inadequate.
As Japan’s centuries-old national sport, Sumo has long been a part of the national identity. Yet over the years, the sport has been rocked by numerous cases of abuse, even murders, which have been too prominent for the public to ignore. Hanako Montgomery for VICE World News speaks with former and current wrestlers to find out why this persists in the sport.
Sexual assault cases have been dominating Indonesian headlines, including incidents at Islamic boarding schools, otherwise known as pesantren. In 2021, 19% of reported sexual assault cases took place in Islamic boarding schools, making it the second most common location for sexual violence, after universities. The persistence of sexual abuse within schools has prompted massive public outcry and calls for better oversight. In April 2022, Indonesia’s parliament finally passed an anti-sexual violence bill, a long-awaited legal framework aimed at providing sexual abuse victims justice and protection. The final draft of the law includes prison terms of up to 12 years for crimes of physical sexual abuse, 15 years for sexual exploitation, 9 years for forced marriage, which includes child marriage, and 4 years for circulating non-consensual sexual content.
Photographs of over 100 Muslim women were put up on sale on an Indian app called ‘Sulli Deals’. The target included Muslim women across age groups - including prominent journalists, activists and lawyers. The app is a clone of 'Sulli Deals', which had triggered a row last year by offering users a 'sulli' - an insulting term used by right-wing trolls for Muslim women.
Against the backdrop of a brutal war, thousands of young Ukrainian hippies gathered in the mountains for a giant party: the annual Shypit Festival. Nudity, psychedelics, and dancing around the fire chanting “**** Putin” ensued. For many, this was their last chance to party before being conscripted to the front lines. But then the Ukrainian military showed up and began drafting the young revelers. While it may have ruined the party for some, these hippies are mostly keen to fight. In fact, they may be the first hippies in history who WANT to go to war…
In Japan, Catholics make up less than 1% of the population. Despite the small numbers, allegations of sexual abuse have surfaced against Catholic clergymen in recent years. Mrs Harumi Suzuki is one of the first few in Japan to speak out against the sexual abuse she experienced when consulting with a priest at the church back in 1977. In September 2020, she filed an official lawsuit against the Sendai’s Catholic Church, seeking around $77,000 in damages, along with an official apology. She speaks to VICE World News about her experience and the impact the incident has had on her mental health.
Is that a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s the Filipino Superman! Fashion designer-turned-superhero Herbert Chavez has a unique claim to fame—he has the largest Superman memorabilia collection in the world, certified by Guinness World Records. He has even had over 20 facial surgeries to look more like his idol, Superman. Guess you could say he’s a… super fan? For the past few years, Chavez has been standing as Superman in Manila Ocean Park. His superpower? Making people happy. He spends his day entertaining adults and children alike and donating to charity, all in the spirit of truth, justice, and a better tomorrow.
On his way to a big date, an affable 30-year-old man's digestive system turns on him as he races to find an ever-elusive bathroom on the streets of New York City.
Micchi is only 9 but she has already had double eyelid surgery. Japan is ranked 4th in the world for having the most number of plastic surgery procedures. Hostess Nonoka has had more than one hundred surgeries, and plans to have more.
Danny Lambo claims he is the UK’s flashiest playboy. As a multimillionaire hotelier so obsessed with his supercar collection that he has officially changed his surname to “Lambo,” he may just be in the running.
42 years old Mukesh from India is going to break his legs to grow taller. He will be operated on using the Ilizarov method which had been used in the past to correct limb deformity. Now, it is popular among those who want a cosmetic height increase. 6 weeks later, he is having second thoughts.
Conspiracy theories take many forms but belief in reptilian conspiracy theories—that the world is controlled by extraterrestrial lizards—has played a role in a series of bizarre and tragic crimes over the last 20 years. Since 2017, at least six murders have been tied to lizard-people theories. In this episode of ‘Alternate Reality’, we break down the connection between alleged outer-space lizards and these crimes.
In Thailand, an unregulated cosmetic enhancement industry is thriving. Botched procedures undertaken by unlicensed practitioners are leaving patients disfigured and forced to spend thousands on reconstructive surgery.
Is there a conspiracy to shrink men’s penises, destroy their sperm, and feminize America’s macho dudes? Well, a range of right-wing conspiracists claim “traditional men” are under attack, poisoned, and brainwashed in a plan to weaken them. According to them, the vehicles of this alleged mass emasculation vary widely, from soy products to COVID vaccines.
VICE World News goes on a journey to uncover why so many young Indian men are going for hair transplants, and how some end up with botched jobs.
The dry and arid Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region – home to the mighty black scorpion – has emerged as the epicentre of a rare drug culture. People in Pakistan’s borderlands are no strangers to narcotics; the Soviet-Afghan war in the ‘80s made sure of that. But scorpion venom is a wildcard drug ripping through communities that no one knows what to do with. People who have smoked it say the high is powerful and can last for days. Its side effects, however, seem too heavy a cost to bear. VICE travelled across Peshawar, Mattani and Dir to speak to users, researchers, a former narcotics-control officer and a journalist to understand why people smoke scorpion venom and how it’s changed their lives.
Teen gangs have been targeting members of the public at random in what’s known locally as Klitith. Now, local residents are organising watch groups mobilising over a thousand volunteers and police have ramped up night patrols to curb the deadly wave of violence.
Although a fringe figure, Romana Didulo, a woman who has declared herself the Queen of Canada, has amassed tens of thousands of followers on Telegram. Preaching a mixture of QAnon and sovereign citizen beliefs, she claims she’s fighting a secret, all-powerful cabal of pedophiles that controls both the US and Canadian governments. She also subscribes to a number of bogus, arcane legal theories that say her followers have immunity from existing laws, and that all current governments are secretly illegitimate. Members of her following have described abuse inside the group, including their leader threatening to execute them.
If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is. There’s a long history of people selling random pills, lotions, and gadgets that claim to cure all known diseases. One of the latest examples is mythical healing devices called “Med Beds.” In online conspiracy circles, videos discussing these devices weave together tales of aliens and secret government cover ups. But beyond the conspiracy theories are vulnerable people falling for unproven treatments or bogus medical devices.
Dubbed ‘the world’s oldest Japanese adult video star,’ 86-year-old Yuko Ogasawara has no plans to slow down. Over the past six years, she’s ventured on a path of self-discovery – a housewife turned bar owner turned international sex symbol, pushing the boundaries of what people think a grandma can do.
Using the cutting-edge exploration and research vessel, the OceanXplorer as a base, top marine scientists from around the world converge upon the Red Sea, searching for clues to address the escalating climate crisis. Employing subs, divers, and remotely operated vehicles, researchers visit depths approaching 10,000 feet to extract secrets from one of the most unspoiled marine ecosystems on Earth.
We follow the inspiring journey of 18-year-old Zosya Rosenfeld, a refugee from Kharkiv, Ukraine, who is rebuilding her life as an art student in Düsseldorf. The film is in collaboration with Varvara Mozhaieva, the winner of VICE News' film competition Education In Motion, who also fled from Ukraine herself.
While Autumn Fry wasn't born with two glocks in her hands, she might as well have been - she learned to shoot shortly after she learned to walk! Now, at 10 years old, she's a social media sensation with over 200k subscribers on her gun YouTube channel, "Autumn's Armory." In this episode of Child's Play, we learn about Autumn, her home life, and her extraordinary abilities with one of America's most controversial items - guns.
VICE travels to Nebraska to meet the 6-year-old boy behind Lulu LovelyTwirls, the world’s youngest drag queen, to understand how his parents, community, and politicians are reacting to his controversial passion for drag.
The Bialecki brothers began boxing as young as 8 years old, their gloves barely bigger than their tiny bodies. Recently retired from MMA, their father, Tyler, has built his own gym to coach his kids like professional adults. However, children's boxing is highly controversial — the American Academy of Pediatrics discourages any child from boxing due to concussions and bodily harm. Despite the risks, the Bialecki family believes it's worth it, as the best way to avoid getting hurt is to become the best. In this episode of Child's Play, we follow the family as they prepare for a big fight in their new town.
The UK prison system is broken. Far from working to deter or rehabilitate, 80% of criminals who receive cautions or convictions are reoffenders. Many prisoners are caught in an endless cycle of brutal sentences, facing a lack of housing or job opportunities once they get out.
The UK prison system has a rich and thriving black market, with its own micro-economy based on tinned fish. Drugs, food, iPhones, and games consoles are everywhere – if you know where to look (and who to ask). VICE speaks to former prisoner and filmmaker Chris Atkins, author of ‘Time After Time’ and ‘A Bit of a Stretch’, about how prisoners get contraband and chicken stew inside their cells.
Meet Atlanta’s most unlikely heroes, the Boot Girls. Masked vigilantes by day, sugar babies by night, the Boot Girls zip around town armed with plastic ghost keys, taking parking boots off your car for a small fee. A welcome service for a parking enforcement industry that’s been described as “predatory” by residents, city officials, and even state senators.
There's a race to save a dozen small cetaceans, the last in the world of their species. They're caught as bycatch in nets set to trap a fish with a huge demand in China. Can anything be done?
Meet Jeremy Fragrance, the number one fragrance icon that follows the teachings of Jesus, as he lands in New York City to smell strangers, share his wisdom, and make it big. Will Jeremy Fragrance break America or will America break him?
In this episode of Fresh Powder, we embed with local drug traffickers to see the cocaine refinement process firsthand, visit with an autodefensa militia group, and meet a local Amazonian community currently under attack.
Rouketopolemos "ROCKET WAR" is a Greek tradition held annually during Orthodox Easter in the town of Vrontados on the island of Chios. While most places celebrate with fireworks during church services at midnight before Easter Sunday, Vrontados takes it to another level. Two rival church congregations engage in a "rocket war," launching tens of thousands of homemade rockets at each other's bell towers. These rockets, crafted from wooden sticks and packed with gunpowder are fired from specially designed grooved platforms by drunken "Rocketeers." The event draws tourists from around the world despite being completely illegal.
VICE’s longtime creative partner, Jake Burghart has helped to craft over 100 documentaries in more than 70 countries. Over 15 years, he worked on many of the films that came to define the sort of hard-hitting, courageous, and mind-boggling stories that VICE traded in, including “The VICE Guide to Iran,” Dennis Rodman’s visit to North Korea, and on-the-ground coverage of the 2011 Arab Spring. On these expeditions, he always shot photos for keepsakes, using whatever camera he had with him at the time: a 35mm, medium format, DSLR, or a cheap point-and-shoot. We asked Burghart to sift through his hard drives and share the stories behind some of these monumental moments.
Back in 2016, VICE visited a Hillary Clinton dominatrix who punished remorseful Trump voters. Following the 2016 Presidential election of Donald Trump, professional dominatrix Mistress Couple started posting Backpage ads as “Madame Hillary” as a joke. After receiving an onslaught of responses, many from remorseful individuals who had voted for Trump, she decided to take the role more seriously, and began offering politically-charged dom sessions intent on humiliating and punishing Trump voters.
In the aftermath of the US presidential elections, a cast of influencers, streamers, comedians, and podcasters claimed they’d helped Donald Trump and the Republican Party return to the White House by securing the votes of a crucial cohort: Gen Z males.
Let’s break down how the rich live above the law, set up systems to do it, and **** over the rest of us. Welcome to Offshore.
In this episode of ‘The Set Up’, directed by Lee Adams, we hang out with Eagle to learn about the process behind his stand and see all of the work , sacrifice, and failures that go into making a room full of strangers laugh for 15 minutes.
They say we’ve never been lonelier. That society is divided and circling the drain of toxic individualism. We are told nothing can bring us together, but some events are still worth coming together for. In our series GATHERINGS, we explore the communities and events that make people feel like they belong.
In the North of England, an underground fight club is pushing violence to new extremes. Spartan Bare Knuckle Fight Club is the UK’s only licensed 8x8ft bare-knuckle pit fighting promotion. Its fights are short and brutal, and often end in knockouts.
In part two of our series SPARTAN BARE KNUCKLE, we follow several fighters in the build up to the main summer event, Fight Fest. Billed as a ‘real-life Fight Club,’ Spartan has become a lifeline in difficult times, turning into a form of community for men battling addiction and poor mental health.
In the final part of our series about the UK’s only licensed bare knuckle pit fighting syndicate, Spartan Bare Knuckle, we follow the combatants into battle at Fight Fest—the biggest event of the year.
On December 9, 2018, Gerald Cotten, CEO of QuadrigaCX, died suddenly in India. With him, $215 million vanished in an instant. Gerry was a man of many secrets - one of them being the sole access to the currency’s wallets. But what if he never died at all? What if his death was just the beginning of an elaborate, globe-spanning con?
Since the 1990’s Mexico’s Narco Pilots have risked life and limb transporting drugs for the Cartels. It’s a risky game but many are attracted to it by the upwards of $12,000 they can earn with every flight. In this new VICE documentary, we speak with these daredevils about the risks and rewards for a modern day drug smuggler.
VICE host Zach Shucklin goes in search of Route 36, the world’s only known ‘cocaine bar.’ Located in the mountains outside of the Bolivian capital La Paz, the notorious lounge bar promises high purity coke by the gram—served up on a silver platter, along with a delicious cocktail of the patron’s choice.
In this episode of Gatherings, VICE host Jackson Garrett explores the sudden rise of online clown culture, and how the new generation of clowns are trying to change the perception from scary and creepy to sexy and accepting.
For over 40 years, New York's most creative characters have been gathering in Coney Island to participate in the Mermaid Parade. There's no ethnic, religious, or political connection between participants, but locals call it the official opening of summer in the city.
For years, New Zealand’s suburbs have been terrorized by the power ballads of Céline Dion and Mariah Carey. Since 2010, self-proclaimed Siren Kings have been strapping sirens ordinarily used for tsunami warnings onto their bikes and cars to play music as loud as they can. While they say their love of sounds is a form of creative self-expression and community building, their neighbors say it’s 3am and they can’t sleep.
VICE and Popeyes linked up with Femi Koleoso - drummer, bandleader, and the beating heart of Ezra Collective - back where it all began: Enfield, North London. From local youth clubs to global stages, Femi takes us through the spots that shaped him and the band’s rise to Mercury Prize glory, their first BRIT Award, and the ultimate milestone - taking to the stage at Glastonbury. But this isn’t just a nostalgia trip. At Jubilee Youth Club, Femi shows us how he’s paying it forward, championing the same community spaces that sparked his journey. With help from Popeyes - who are committed to empowering young people and supporting talent across the UK - it’s a love letter to youth clubs and a rallying cry to keep them alive.
In this new documentary on VICE, host Danny Sewell and filmmaker Jake Dowsett travel to Norway to meet the fearless athletes behind one of the world’s most extreme sports — and uncover what drives them to risk it all.
Mathilda “Mayhem” Wilson is the first professional women’s bare knuckle boxer in the whole of Scandinavia. She’s from Sweden, where the sport is still illegal. To compete, she has to travel across Europe to follow a hard-fought career as a @BKFC fighter.
In the first episode of Naked Truths, we meet Bunni, a 21-year-old streamer who made her name in the world of financial domination. Growing up behind a screen, she spent her teens gaming and streaming before stepping into “spicy content” on her eighteenth birthday. We spend an evening in her company as she opens up about the hidden rules of her trade, the psychology of her clients, and the reality of living a life that’s equal parts performance, hustle and control.
For 137 years, Italian Catholics in Brooklyn have carried on a powerful tradition: lifting a 4-ton statue of Saint Paulinus and parading it through the neighborhood. Through heatwaves, rainstorms, wars, and pandemics, this community has kept the Giglio Feast alive across generations.
In the second episode of Naked Truths, we meet Shannon Huxley and Oscar Thickk, a couple who walked away from stable careers in finance to follow their shared passion for creating adult content. Both identify as doms, building their world around fetishes and kinks. We join them inside an S&M house, where they reflect on their personal histories, how their work helps people explore hidden desires, and the realities of balancing intimacy, business, and love under one roof — including the number of subscribers it takes to keep their mortgage paid.
After his messy OnlyFans experiment, Taji Ameen heads to the Caribbean in search of redemption. In this first episode of Island Classified, he sets out to find a Godfather and embraces the wild, emotional path that leads to his baptism. A mix of faith, controversy, and new beginnings as Island Classified x VICEWORLD returns!
On this episode, Taji Ameen steps into the goth scene as part of his ongoing journey of self-discovery after going independent. He visits Necromancy Cosmetics in San Juan for a full transformation by the incredibly talented Luanne Rós, who gives him a dramatic new look. Later, Taji heads to a goth party in Caguas, where the vibe is raw, theatrical, and deeply expressive. It's a glimpse into a subculture that values individuality over everything—and for Taji, it's another unexpected but meaningful stop on the path to figuring out who he’s becoming.
Taji Ameen sets out to better understand the island - its culture, its people, and its most unforgettable stories. In this episode, @TajCam dives into Puerto Rico’s UFO capital of Lajas and explores El Yunque National Forest with UFO investigators who believe extraterrestrials live beneath the rainforest. From strange lights in the skies to tales of alien encounters, he gets an inside look at Puerto Rico’s fascination with the unexplained.
VICE takes you inside one of the most surreal and extreme traditions on earth, El Salvador's Fireball Festival, to witness the battle of the fireballs firsthand. So just why does this one town in El Salvador gather each year to hurls balls of flame at each other, and what inspired this fiery and frightening tradition? Find out as VICE takes you inside the fire and the flames of the latest Fireball Festival to see the incredible action up close and personal.
When he was six, Shawney Cohen’s father bought “The Manor,” a small-town strip-club. Hoping to understand what happened to his nice Jewish family, Shawney spends years filming this intimate tragi-comic family portrait that lays bare the nature of dependence and love.
Oobah Butler is an international prankster/hoaxter/journalist/filmmaker. He is known for his outlandish schemes that expose the nonsense of our modern society. He has created many videos and schemes with vice in the past. Most recently he took on Amazon. Now he is putting out a documentary where he turns his sights on the money making, greedy, get rich quick schemes. He puts aside his usual morals to attempt to make $1 million in 90 days. Spoiler, he pulls it off. He goes through several schemes. Bank loans, asking for money outright, crypto, selling courses, selling outrage, child sweat shops, eventually selling himself and exposing in the end the tax free loop hole that many powerful people in America use known as "buy, borrow, die". He also reflects in this interview on what it means to "Punch up" as a prankster. He talks about pranks that didn't work out, how this all started, and why it's important to grab people's attention.
Childhood poverty in Pakistan can be nearly impossible to escape...but some local gyms are giving the street kids of Pakistan a potential chance to climb their way out into a better life in the world of MMA. So just what goes on inside Pakistan's new teenage MMA circuit...and just what is life like for the street kids turned MMA fighters? Find out as we follow them through life inside and out of the cage in episode 1 of Kids Fight!
We speak with Anthony Fantano, the internet's busiest music nerd. He is one of the last great music critics left. Love him or hate him, people want to hear what he has to say about their favorite bands' music. We get into algorithms and the death of monoculture. Fantano fights back about there not being a song of the summer and crowns a song for 2025. We talk about the end of rap in the billboard top 40, boyband comebacks, hyper pop, and if ska will ever return. Fantano breaks down what it will take for Kanye to come back and be reviewed by him. In the end we play some games. Fantano rates our host’s Spotify wrapped and plays real or fake with music genres.
Childhood poverty in Pakistan can be nearly impossible to escape...but some local gyms are giving the street kids of Pakistan a potential chance to climb their way out into a better life in the world of MMA. So just what goes on inside Pakistan's new teenage MMA circuit...and just what is life like for the street kids turned MMA fighters? Find out as we follow them through life inside and out of the cage in episode 2 of Kids Fight!
Childhood poverty in Pakistan can be nearly impossible to escape...but some local gyms are giving the street kids of Pakistan a potential chance to climb their way out into a better life in the world of MMA. So just what goes on inside Pakistan's new teenage MMA circuit...and just what is life like for the street kids turned MMA fighters? Find out as we follow them through life inside and out of the cage in episode 3 of Kid Fight!
We sat down with Daniella Mestyanek Young she is a Cult Expert, Cult Survivor, U.S. Army Veteran, Harvard grad in the study of organizational psychology and author of two books on cults. Her memoir Uncultured came out in 2022 covering her experience growing up in the Children of God cult & comparing it to her time in the U.S. Army as an intelligence officer. She now has a new book coming out in January called "The Culting of America" where she better defines what a cult is using a 10 part framework.
Childhood poverty in Pakistan can be nearly impossible to escape...but some local gyms are giving the street kids of Pakistan a potential chance to climb their way out into a better life in the world of MMA. So just what goes on inside Pakistan's new teenage MMA circuit...and just what is life like for the street kids turned MMA fighters? Find out as we follow them through life inside and out of the cage in episode 4 of Kid Fight!
VICE is taking you inside the brutal world of Deathmatch wrestling as we follow a father son duo that has been putting their bodies and careers on the line to try and make a name for themselves in one of the most violent and intense sports on the planet.
We took a field trip to the Bone Museum in Bushwick, Brooklyn. Jon & Masha run the museum and gave us an hour of their time to tell us about all the human bones they have on display. We talk grave robbing, medical history, the market for human bones, what to do if you find a skeleton, and we hold an alive man's leg bones that were donated to the museum. We also go deep with some social surveys and listener questions. What do you want done with your body after death? Where do we go when we die? All answers here.