VICE SEASON 4 EPISODES
Shane Smith Hosts; Shane Smith, Eddy Moretti, BJ Levin and Bill Maher Executive Produce; Fareed Zakaria is a Consulting Producer.
Show #54 (season 4, edition 18/season finale)
Debut: FRIDAY, JULY 1 (11:00–11:30 p.m. ET/PT)
Other HBO playdates: July 1 (12:30 a.m.), 2 (3:50 a.m.), 4 (12:40 a.m.), 5 (5:30 p.m.) and 6 (7:15 p.m.)
HBO2 playdate: July 6 (1:30 a.m.)
The show is also available on HBO NOW, HBO GO and HBO On Demand.
“The New $pace Race”
Decades after the Apollo missions, a new era of manned spaceflight is dawning, and this time, the destination is Mars. NASA and a growing community of private companies have set their sights on the Red Planet and are developing the technologies to get there. Thomas Morton reports on the preparations for humanity’s next great adventure.
Additional Clips:
VICE on HBO: The New $pace Race #2
VICE on HBO: The New $pace Race #3
“Closing Gitmo”
The American prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, is one of the most controversial issues of the post-9/11 era. President Obama promised to close the facility, but months from the end of his presidency, the facility remains open — and the reality of life there remains a mystery. Gianna Toboni meets with ex-detainees who survived Gitmo, and with the general who built it in the first place, to find out what really happens behind the camp’s walls.
Additional Clip:
VICE on HBO: Closing Gitmo #2
Show #53 (season 4, edition 17)
Debut: FRIDAY, JUNE 24 (11:00–11:30 p.m. ET/PT)
Other HBO playdates: June 24 (12:30 a.m.), 25 (4:25 a.m.), 27 (3:00 a.m.), 28 (6:15 p.m.) and 29 (7:00 p.m.)
HBO2 playdate: June 29 (1:25 a.m.)
The show is also available on HBO NOW, HBO GO and HBO On Demand.
“Student Debt”
Americans owe $1.3 trillion in student loans, a total second only to home mortgages. The rise in student loan borrowing is tied to skyrocketing tuition rates, which are up 226% since 1980. Gianna Toboni reports from America’s college campuses on how a spigot of easy money from the federal government is jacking up the cost of higher education and even threatening the country’s international competitiveness.
Additional Clip:
VICE on HBO: Student Debt Clip #2
“Fecal Medicine”
For years, medical science was powerless against one of the most severe intestinal infections. Now, a new treatment shows tremendous promise — if patients aren’t too squeamish to try it. Fecal transplants use stool from a healthy person to repopulate life-sustaining bacteria in the colon of the patient. This technique is so effective that researchers are testing its potential to treat disorders far beyond the digestive tract, pointing to breakthroughs for a broad range of the most stubborn diseases. Thomas Morton reports from the labs and lavatories where this medical revolution is taking place.
Additional Clips:
VICE on HBO: Fecal Medicine Clip #2
VICE on HBO: Fecal Medicine Clip #3
Show #52 (season 4, edition 16)
Debut: FRIDAY, JUNE 17 (11:00–11:30 p.m. ET/PT)
Other HBO playdates: June 17 (12:30 a.m.), 18 (2:35 a.m.), 20 (3:35 a.m.), 21 (4:15 p.m.) and 22 (6:30 p.m.)
HBO2 playdates: June 19 (6:00 p.m.) and 22 (1:30 a.m.)
The show is also available on HBO NOW, HBO GO and HBO On Demand.
“Die Trying”
The 2014 Ice Bucket Challenge raised millions of dollars for ALS, a fatal neurodegenerative disease. But while the social media wave gave new life to ALS research, there is still no viable treatment and access to experimental drugs is limited. Battling ALS herself, VICE editor Angelina Fanous meets with patients and top researchers across the U.S. to find out what’s being done to tackle this devastating disease and explore the regulatory hurdles faced by ALS patients and drugmakers.
Additional Clips:
VICE meets an ALS patient
VICE visits the ALS Therapy Development Institute
VICE learns about late-stage ALS care
Show #51 (season 4, edition 15)
Debut: FRIDAY, JUNE 10 (11:00–11:30 p.m. ET/PT)
Other HBO playdates: June 10 (12:30 a.m.), 11 (4:45 a.m.), 13 (4:30 a.m.), 14 (6:15 p.m.) and 15 (8:00 p.m.)
HBO2 playdates: June 12 (5:50 p.m.) and 15 (1:55 a.m.)
The show is also available on HBO NOW, HBO GO and HBO On Demand.
“Flint Water Crisis”
The water crisis in Flint, Mich. horrified the nation: A once-thriving industrial city had fallen on such hard times that residents couldn’t trust the water from their own taps. More shocking still were revelations that city and state officials knew about the water problems, but failed to take action or warn the public. Ahmed Shihab-Eldin reports from Flint on the realities of life in a city poisoned by its own government.
Additional Clips:
VICE explores the Flint Water Crisis
“Libya on the Brink”
When the Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi was killed during the 2011 revolution, it seemed like good news for democracy in the Muslim world. But in 2012, the American ambassador and three other Americans were killed in a bloody attack in Benghazi, and today, a split between government factions has ceded large portions of the country to ISIS fighters and other extremists. Simon Ostrovsky reports from the front lines, where rival militias fight to save Libya as we know it.
Additional Clips:
VICE explains the Libya conflict
VICE reports on the fight against ISIS in Libya
VICE goes to the frontlines in Libya
Show #50 (season 4, edition 14)
Debut: FRIDAY, JUNE 3 (11:00–11:30 p.m. ET/PT)
Other HBO playdates: June 3 (12:30 a.m.), 4 (5:40 a.m.), 6 (4:40 a.m.), 7 (6:45 p.m.) and 8 (8:00 p.m.)
HBO2 playdates: June 5 (6:30 p.m.) and 8 (1:10 a.m.)
The show is also available on HBO NOW, HBO GO and HBO On Demand.
“New Age of Nukes”
Twenty-five years after the end of the Cold War, America’s vast nuclear arsenal is beginning to show its age, and the government has embarked on the largest nuclear modernization effort in our history, costing American taxpayers as much as $1 trillion. Kaj Larsen goes aboard a ballistic missile submarine and visits the facilities on the front line of the country’s nuclear weapons program to see why the military wants to upgrade its nukes — and why that might be a dangerous idea.
Additional Clip
VICE shows you America’s new nuclear weapons
“Heroin Crisis”
America is facing the worst drug epidemic this country has ever seen. More people now die from overdoses than from car accidents, and an explosion in heroin use is at the center of the crisis. Thomas Morton traces its causes and effects, from the poppy farms of Mexico to the hills of West Virginia, and investigates how users, first responders and government officials are responding to the new reality of American drug use.
Additional Clip:
VICE visits Mexican poppy farms
Show #49 (season 4, edition 13)
Debut: FRIDAY, MAY 27 (11:00–11:30 p.m. ET/PT)
Other HBO playdates: May 27 (3:40 a.m.), 28 (3:00 a.m.), 30 (1:50 a.m.) and 31 (7:00 p.m.), and June 1 (8:00 p.m.)
HBO2 playdates: May 29 (6:00 p.m.) and June 1 (12:40 a.m.)
The show is also available on HBO NOW, HBO GO and HBO On Demand.
“State of Surveillance”
Edward Snowden leaked details of massive government surveillance programs in 2013, igniting a raging debate over national security, privacy and civil liberties. That debate came to a head this year, when Apple fought an FBI court order seeking to access the iPhone of alleged San Bernardino terrorist Syed Farook. Meanwhile, journalists and activists are under increasing attack from foreign agents.
To find out the government’s real capabilities, and investigate whether any of us can truly protect our sensitive information, founder Shane Smith heads to Moscow to meet Snowden in the next edition of VICE, debuting FRIDAY, MAY 27 (11:00–11:30 p.m. ET/PT), exclusively on HBO.
Show #48 (season 4, edition 12)
Debut: FRIDAY, MAY 6 (11:00–11:30 p.m. ET/PT)
Other HBO playdates: May 6 (12:30 a.m.), 7 (3:00 a.m.), 9 (1:10 a.m.), 10 (4:30 p.m.) and 11 (9:00 p.m.)
HBO2 playdates: May 8 (6:30 p.m.) and 11 (4:45 a.m.)
The show is also available on HBO NOW, HBO GO and HBO On Demand.
“The End of Polio”
Pakistan is the last battleground in the fight to eradicate polio: Since the late ’80s, new cases of the disease have dropped from hundreds of thousands per year to just hundreds. But in Pakistan’s poorest areas, there is widespread distrust of vaccinators, and the Pakistani Taliban has openly condoned violence against them, especially after the CIA used a vaccinator to help track down Osama bin Laden. Ben Anderson travels to Karachi to meet the health workers putting their lives on the line to finally eradicate this disease.
Additional Clips:
VICE Shows the Danger Vaccinators Face in Pakistan
VICE Meets a Polio Victim in Pakistan
“Collateral Damage”
Land mines are deadly weapons of war that remain a threat years after fighting ends. But although international pressure has helped limit the use of land mines, unexploded cluster munitions are still in use, killing and maiming civilians every day. Kaj Larsen travels to Myanmar and Laos to see the devastating effects of unexploded ordnance and meet the trained disposal teams working to clean up these weapons before they claim more lives.
Additional Clips:
VICE Shows How Unexploded Bombs are Detonated in Laos
VICE Meets Civilians Impacted by Land Mines
Show #47 (season 4, edition 11)
Debut: FRIDAY, APRIL 29 (11:00–11:30 p.m. ET/PT)
Other HBO playdates: April 29 (12:30 a.m.) and 30 (2:25 a.m.), and May 2 (1:50 a.m.), 3 (5:15 p.m.) and 4 (9:00 p.m.)
HBO2 playdates: May 1 (6:00 p.m.) and 4 (1:00 a.m.)
The show is also available on HBO NOW, HBO GO and HBO On Demand.
“The Deal”
Since the 1979 hostage crisis, Iran and the United States have been bitter enemies. Last year, however, the U.S. and other major world powers reached an unprecedented agreement with Iran, lifting economic sanctions in exchange for Iran’s agreement to limit its nuclear capabilities. VICE founder Shane Smith travels to Tehran to gauge attitudes about America and see the reactor that started Iran’s nuclear program, and meets with key dealmakers — and critics — in Washington, D.C.
“City of Lost Children”
The disparity in global wealth has reached record levels in recent years, creating pockets of unimaginable affluence and huge populations that are falling farther and farther behind. Nowhere is this more apparent than in India, whose most prominent victims of poverty and inequality are children. Correspondent Thomas Morton reports from Kolkata, where tribes of homeless children run rampant along the tracks of Howrah Station.
Show #46 (season 4, edition 10)
Debut: FRIDAY, APRIL 22 (11:00–11:30 p.m. ET/PT)
Other HBO playdates: April 22 (12:30 a.m.), 23 (4:30 a.m.), 25 (1:05 a.m.), 26 (5:30 p.m.) and 27 (9:00 p.m.)
HBO2 playdate: April 27 (12:05 a.m.)
The show is also available on HBO NOW, HBO GO and HBO On Demand.
“Trump in Dubai”
The United Arab Emirates, and Dubai in particular, are often described as paradise in the Middle East. But the 5 million migrant workers who live there, making up more than half the population, have an entirely different experience. They live in appalling conditions, and regularly end up with nothing, even after years of hard work — and now, as VICE Correspondent Ben Anderson investigates, many of them are employed on a project bearing the name of a man who might be our next president.
Additional Clip:
Hourly wage of migrant workers building Trump International Golf Club
“China in Africa”
China is financing more infrastructure projects and selling more goods to Africa than any other trade partner in the world, with a large share of investments linked to the extraction of resources. Correspondent Isobel Yeung heads to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya and South Africa to meet the characters behind the business deals and explore what this increasingly prominent relationship could mean for the future of global politics.
Additional Clip:
VICE visits a steel mine owned by a Chinese businessman in the DRC
Show #45 (season 4, edition 9)
Debut: FRIDAY, APRIL 15 (11:00–11:30 p.m. ET/PT)
Other HBO playdates: April 15 (12:30 a.m.), 16 (2:55 a.m.), 19 (4:45 p.m.), 20 (9:00 p.m.) and 21 (5:10 a.m.)
HBO2 playdate: April 20 (midnight)
The show is also available on HBO NOW, HBO GO and HBO On Demand.
“The Future of Energy”
At the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris last December, world leaders agreed that climate change is an urgent threat, cementing green energy production 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.
Additional Clips:
Shane Smith Travels to the Anholt Offshore Wind Farm in Denmark
Shane Smith Visits the Premiere Fusion Facility in the U.S. with Taylor Wilson
Show #44 (season 4, edition 8)
Debut: FRIDAY, APRIL 8 (11:00–11:30 p.m. ET/PT)
Other HBO playdates: April 8 (1:00 a.m.), 9 (2:05 a.m.), 12 (5:35 p.m.), 13 (9:00 p.m.) and 14 (3:30 a.m.)
HBO2 playdates: April 10 (6:00 p.m.) and 13 (12:05 a.m.)
The show is also available on HBO NOW, HBO GO and HBO On Demand.
“Afghan Women’s Rights”
When the United States invaded Afghanistan, the liberation of Afghan women was used as a rallying cry to garner public support. Now, after nearly 15 years and hundreds of billions in taxpayer dollars spent, violence and oppression are still a fact of life for the country’s women. With the Taliban gaining ground again, Isobel Yeung reports from Kabul on the fight for dignity and rights in Afghanistan.
“Floating Armories”
Who stops world trade from grinding to a standstill? In many cases, it’s private military contractors and their network of weapons storage ships in lawless international waters. Taking a closer look at who’s protecting global commerce today, VICE co-founder Suroosh Alvi reports from one of these floating armories in the Gulf of Aden.
Show #43 (season 4, edition 7)
Debut: FRIDAY, MARCH 25 (11:00–11:30 p.m. ET/PT)
Other HBO playdates: March 25 (1:00 a.m.), 29 (5:30 p.m.), 30 (9:00 p.m.) and 31 (2:20 a.m.)
HBO2 playdates: March 26 (4:25 a.m.), 27 (6:00 p.m.) and March 30 (1:50 a.m.)
“Palestine Now”
Israel and the Palestinian people have been locked in a cycle of violence for generations. But now, young people in the West Bank are growing so disillusioned with the status quo that they’re turning their backs on their own government. Ahmed Shihab-Eldin reports from Bethlehem, Hebron, Ramallah and East Jerusalem to explore what life is like for young Palestinians today.
“Viva Cuba Libre”
On March 21, President Obama became the first sitting American president to visit Cuba in 88 years. His trip is part of a campaign to prove that engagement with longtime adversaries is effective in renewing dialogue and promoting change. Shane Smith visits the 2015 Summit of the Americas to see the political thawing of relationships between Cuba and the United States, and then travels to Havana, Cuba to speak to Cubans about how music and culture are helping bridge the divide between two former enemies.
Additional Clip:
Obama Aide on Normalization of U.S.-Cuba Relations
Show #42 (season 4, edition 6)
Debut: FRIDAY, MARCH 11 (11:00–11:30 p.m. ET/PT)
Other HBO playdates: March 11 (1:00 a.m.), 15 (7:00 p.m.), 16 (9:00 p.m.) and 17 (3:30 a.m.)
HBO2 playdates: March 13 (6:00 p.m.) and March 16 (12:30 a.m.)
“Return to Yemen”
Last year, Yemen’s Houthi rebels launched a massive military campaign that overthrew the Yemeni government and sent the Arabian Peninsula into turmoil. Now, Saudi Arabia — nervous about the insurrection near its southern border — is trying to push the Houthis back with a ruthless bombing campaign. Ben Anderson returns to Yemen, where he reported “The Enemy of My Enemy” for VICE S2, to witness one of the world’s most bloody and underreported conflicts.
Additional Clip:
Saudi Arabia Uses Cluster Bombs to Destroy Yemeni Civilians
“Church and States”: While many Americans cheered the Supreme Court’s decision to legalize same-sex marriage, the fight for equality is far from over. In many American states, it is still legally acceptable to refuse services, housing or employment to people because they are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender. Gianna Toboni meets some of the families who are navigating this new landscape, and hears from supporters of religious freedom laws, as VICE explores where the battle for equal rights heads from here.
Additional Clip:
Senator Cory Booker discusses the LGBT movement in light of the civil rights battles of the past
Show #41 (season 4, edition 5)
Debut: FRIDAY, MARCH 4 (11:00–11:30 p.m. ET/PT)
Other HBO playdates: March 4 (1:00 a.m.), 5 (3:50 a.m.), 8 (6:00 p.m.), 9 (9:00 p.m.) and 10 (4:35 a.m.)
HBO2 playdates: March 6 (6:00 p.m.) and March 9 (12:40 a.m.)
“Meathooked”
The world is addicted to meat. In developing countries around the world, diets are starting to look more like America’s, incorporating more and more beef and pork. Massive factory farms are springing up to supply that demand, but industrial meat operations produce more than just cheap T-bones — they also dish out enormous environmental harm. Isobel Yeung travels to the feedlots, farms and slaughterhouses where meat is made, to see the true costs of our burger habit.
“End of Water”
Water is the single most vital resource we have, but it’s also one of the most threatened. Around the world, from the American West to China, South Asia, and the Middle East, water is simply disappearing. Vikram Gandhi reports from California’s once-abundant farmland and the heart of Sao Paulo’s reservoir system to assess the depths of the crisis, and what can be done to reverse it.
Show #40 (season 4, edition 4)
Debut: FRIDAY, FEB. 26 (11:00–11:30 p.m. ET/PT)
Other HBO playdates: Feb. 26 (1:00 a.m.) and 27 (5:00 a.m.), and March 1 (5:00 p.m.), 2 (9:00 p.m.) and 3 (3:40 a.m.)
HBO2 playdates: Feb. 28 (6:00 p.m.) and March 2 (11:45 p.m.)
“Beating Blindness”
Doctors and researchers are making incredible strides in the fight against blindness. New assistive technologies and advances in surgical techniques mean that many patients who’ve lost sight entirely can now regain visual perception, and the independence that comes with it, a process that can be as disorienting as it is freeing. Isobel Yeung reports from the front lines of this latest medical frontier.
Additional Clip:
Blind patients in Ethiopia receive sight again: VICE on HBO
“White Collar Weed”: Small-scale weed farmers have been fighting to legalize marijuana for generations, but the closer they get to ending the prohibition on pot, the closer they get to a new threat: corporate takeover of their way of life. VICE’s Hamilton Morris travels to California’s infamous Emerald Triangle to meet struggling mom-and-pop growers, and visits the investors and entrepreneurs eager to cash in on the next big consumer market — even if it could put the small guys out of business
Additional Clip:
VICE on HBO Meets Mom-and-Pop Cannabis Farmers in California
Show #39 (season 4, edition 3)
Debut: FRIDAY, FEB. 19 (11:00–11:30 p.m.)
Other HBO playdates: Feb. 19 (1:00 a.m.), 20 (3:00 a.m.), 23 (6:45 p.m.), 24 (9:00 p.m.) and 25 (3:10 a.m.) HBO2 playdate: Feb. 24 (12:15 a.m.)
“Right to Die”
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 doctorassisted 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.
Additional Clip:
Terminally Ill Man Explains Why he Wants the Right to Die (VICE on HBO)
Show #38 (season 4, edition 2)
Debut: FRIDAY, FEB. 12 (11:00–11:30 p.m.)
Other HBO playdates: Feb. 12 (1:00 a.m.), 13 (2:35 a.m.), 16 (5:30 p.m.), 17 (8:30 p.m.) and 18 (5:00 a.m.)
HBO2 playdates: Feb. 14 (6:00 p.m.) and 17 (11:35 p.m.)
“Escape to Europe”
With the war in Syria now in its fifth bloody year, half the country’s population has been displaced, and four million have fled. Many are heading to the safety and relative prosperity of Europe, but getting there is a long, life-threatening journey. New VICE correspondent Ahmed Shihab-Eldin follows the refugee trail from the Syrian border to Europe, meeting Syrians determined to find a better life.
Additional Clip:
Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX) on Syrian Refugees (VICE on HBO)
“Cycle of Terror”
The bloody ISIS attacks in Paris stunned the world. And as rumors circulated that one of the attackers may have posed as a Syrian migrant, politicians in Western countries, including the U.S., raced to declare their territory off-limits to refugees from countries like Syria and Iraq. Gianna Toboni travels to France and around the U.S. to see how the global reaction to the violence in Paris is affecting the fight against terrorism.
Show #37 (season 4, edition 1)
Debut: FRIDAY, FEB. 5 (11:00–11:30 p.m. ET/PT)
Other HBO playdates: Feb. 5 (1:00 a.m.), 6 (5:00 a.m.), 9 (5:30 p.m.), 10 (9:00 p.m.) and 11 (4:25 a.m.)
HBO2 playdates: Feb. 7 (4:30 p.m.) and 10 (12:30 a.m.)
“Boko Haram”
The terrorist group Boko Haram is responsible for thousands of deaths in Nigeria. Now, the government is determined to drive these militants from the country. But is the hunt for insurgents causing as much harm as it’s preventing? Former Navy SEAL and new VICE correspondent Kaj Larsen travels to Nigeria to see what this cat-and-mouse game means for the people caught in the middle of the fight.
“Unnatural Selection”
For centuries, scientists have been working to change the genetic traits of plants and animals. Now, the new gene-editing method CRISPR has made that process astonishingly simple — so simple it could easily be used on humans. Isobel Yeung reports from Brazil, Scotland, China and the U.S. on the technological advances that could reshape evolution as we know it.
VICE is executive produced by Shane Smith, Eddy Moretti, BJ Levin and Bill Maher; consulting producer, Fareed Zakaria; host, Shane Smith.
The series is also available on HBO NOW, HBO GO and HBO On Demand.
VICE is the world’s preeminent youth media company and content creation studio. Launched in 1994, VICE now operates in more than 30 countries and distributes its programming to hundreds of millions of viewers each month across digital, linear, mobile, film and socials. VICE includes: an international network of digital channels; a television and feature film production studio; a magazine; a record label; an in-house creative services agency; a book-publishing division; and a newly announced TV network. VICE’s award-winning programming has been recognized by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, Peabody Awards, Sundance Film Festival, PEN Center, Cannes Lions, Frontline Club, Knight Foundation, American Society of Magazine Editors, LA Press Club and Webby Awards, among others.
Follow @HBOPR for more news and information.
