The best episodes of VICE
Ranked by viewer rating, highs first. Vote on a placement to back it or contest it. Fewer than 10 rated episodes — treat this ranking as provisional.
- 01
When the Earth Melts & The Displaced
When the Earth MeltsCorrespondent: Ben AndersonWith climate change warming the Arctic at an alarming rate, the frozen earth that covers almost a quarter of the Northern Hemisphere's landmass is beginning to thaw. There are more greenhouse gases trapped in these deep layers of permafrost than all human fossil fuel emissions released since 1850 combined. Now that trapped carbon is escaping into the atmosphere. If this thaw continues unchecked, scientists warn we could awaken "a sleeping giant" of climate change. VICE travels across the Arctic to see the devastating impact of thawing permafrost, and the astonishing solution that might keep it frozen.The DisplacedCorrespondent: Gianna Toboni2016 was the deadliest year yet for refugees making the dangerous journey across the Mediterranean Sea in the hopes of reaching Europe. And as borders tighten across an increasingly nationalist Europe, the prospects of building a new life are growing darker for the more than 180,000 refugees who arrived in Italy alone this past year. From an emerging underground railroad at the Italian border to the demolition of France's largest refugee settlement, VICE follows the journey of these refugees left in limbo.
- 02
Having grown up in Brooklyn's Vanderveer projects, emmy-nominated actor Michael Kenneth Williams has seen first-hand how family and close friends have been swept up in the criminal justice system at an early age. In "Raised in the System," Williams meets with his nephew Dominic, who was sentenced to 25 years in prison for second-degree murder at age 19, and his cousin Niven, who entered the prison system age 14, was released with restrictions preventing him from returning to his family, and ultimately fell back into crime. In Baltimore, Williams reunites with Felicia "Snoop" Pearson, his former co-star on the HBO series "The Wire," who describes how her life was transformed after being sent to a maximum security facility for adult women as a teenager.
- 03
Black and Blue & Our Bionic Future
In St. Louis, activists and police officers talk about race and policing; recent advancements in bioengineering bring about scientific breakthroughs in rehabilitation for people with disabilities.
- 04
India Burning & Russia's Fight Factory
With India's leaders ramping up Hindu nationalist rhetoric, there is growing fear among the nation's 200 million Muslims; the tiny Russian Republic of Dagestan is a modern-day fight factory.
- 05
Massive factory farms are springing up to meet the world's meat demand. But they also dish out enormous environmental harm. Isobel Yeung travels to where our meat is made, to see the true costs of our burger habit; Water is the most vital resource we have--but it's also one of the most threatened. Vikram Gandhi reports from California and Sao Paulo on the depths of the crisis.
- 06
When California enacted the End of Life Option Act amid fierce debate last October, the number of terminally ill Americans with the right to a doctor-assisted death effectively quadrupled. But in parts of Europe, euthanasia is also administered to people other than the terminally ill, including those with autism, depression and personality disorders. VICE explores the moral, political and personal questions raised by how and when we end our lives.
- 07
At the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris last December, world leaders agreed that climate change is an urgent threat, cementing green energy production's place as a new frontier of innovation. VICE founder Shane Smith takes an in-depth look at the future of how we make and use energy, and how we can meet growing demand as we cut carbon emissions.
- 08
Kings of Cannabis & Into the Darkness
Two strain hunters scour the Democratic Republic of Congo searching for one of the rarest species of cannabis; nuclear physicist Taylor Wilson meets the scientists working to unlock the secrets of the Universe.
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