Fringes

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From criminals to cults to conflict zones and everything in between, FRINGES examines the outliers whose stories often fall out of the field of vision of the mainstream.

20121 season

HDCC

Season 1

41 episodes

1. How to Sell DrugsEver wonder how to sell $100,000 worth of drugs in a week? We learned the secrets of a drug dealer in NYC - a man who will deliver any substance you want, 24/7. He told us everything - from where he gets his drugs to how his crew operates. Come with us as we take a rare look into the dangerous life of a NYC drug delivery-man.CC21minJun 2, 2012
2. The Last Real Circus FamilyWe spent some time with one of America's last great circus families. Lions and tigers and bears and breastfeeding chimps, oh my!CC20minAug 30, 2012
3. Life of a New York Subway PerformerWe met up with Joe Crow Ryan, a well known NYC subway musician who has used his music to overcome struggles with homelessness and the law.CC20minSep 14, 2012
4. Death of the American HoboNo synopsis available yet.CC21minOct 17, 2012
5. Uganda's Moonshine EpidemicUgandans are the hardest drinking Africans in the motherland, both in terms of per capita consumption and the hooch they choose to chug. Waregi, or "war gin," is what they call the local moonshine, and it makes the harshest Appalachian rotgut taste like freaking Bailey's.CCNov 9, 2012
6. The Real Rebels of Congo: Searching for Joseph Kony and M23The Democratic Republic of Congo is now home to more than a dozen militant groups, factions of the national army, and scores of rebel combatants. We rode along with US Special Forces and followed the path of Kony and the LRA into the jungle. In the process we learned that the greatest threat to regional security were rebels that no one wanted to talk about: M23.CC54minDec 6, 2012
7. Getting High Injecting Snake VenomWe met with a guy who's been injecting himself with snake venom for 20 years and he looks better than ever.CC23minJan 17, 2013
8. The Man Who Eats RoadkillMeet 73-year-old Arthur Boyt, notorious resident of remote Bodmin Moor in Cornwall, and connoisseur of cooking and eating roadkill - nothing is too far fetched or fanciful to end up on his plate. In this film we take a trip into Arthur's universe and learn how to cook a cracking badger casserole, as well as find out how best to prepare polecat meat before cooking...CC20minMar 15, 2013
9. Crossing Mexico's Other BorderWhen traveling from Central America to the United States through Mexico, immigrants are forced to battle drug cartels, corrupt police officers, and human traffickers, all before they even come close to the US border.CC23minMar 29, 2013
10. Mexican Vigilantes Stand Up Against CrimeThe state of Guerrero (which means "warrior") is one of the poorest in Mexico and the site of some of the worst violence in the battle between the drug cartels and Mexican authorities. As a result of the violence, hundreds of civilians have armed themselves with machetes, rifles, and shotguns, put masks on, and decided to police their own communities as vigilantes, effectively taking justice into their own hands.CC21minApr 29, 2013
11. Life in the Deportee Slums of MexicoAbout 40 percent of Mexican immigrants deported from the US are sent back through Tijuana. Many of the deported border crossers have established a makeshift shantytown inside a dry, concrete riverbed where the Tijuana River once flowed—called El Bordo.CC32minJun 5, 2013
12. Africa's Cowboy CapitalistsFor maverick entrepreneur Ian Cox, Africa is the last frontier of free enterprise. The former small-time hustler has been busting his ass on the continent for years, selling and moving merchandise. In 2012 he nabbed a lucrative United Nations contract to transport equipment from South Africa to South Sudan, a country on many countries' embargo list. The other problem: the journey north entails passing through countless checkpoints and dealing with bribe-happy officials and their nonsensical paperwork and regulations.CC38minJul 12, 2013
13. A Day with a Russian Billionaire: Sergey VeremeenkoTo see how the .00001% lives, we met up with infamous Russian oligarch Sergey Veremeenko and spent quality time hog-hunting and helicopter-joyriding at his private estate outside Moscow.CC20minJul 15, 2013
14. Teenage Exorcists (Part 1/2)Sick of taking responsibility for the shitty things that have happened to you in your life? Help is on the way, in the virginal and strangely vacant form of three Bible-thumping teenage exorcists from Phoenix, Arizona. Eighteen-year-old Brynne Larson and her friends Tess and Savannah Sherkenback (18 and 21, respectively) claim to be able to confront the demons lurking inside traumatized people and draw them out using nothing more than a crucifix and a few choice words. But are these teenage exorcists really empowered by the Almighty, or merely by Brynne's father, a failed televangelist named Reverend Bob?CC20minAug 12, 2013
15. Inside the Homemade UFO Welcome Center in South CarolinaJody Pendarvis is a kooky southern gentleman who has built a ramshackle UFO welcome center in his backyard in rural Bowman, South Carolina. If aliens happen to land around Bowman, they'll be greeted by Jody, who claims he'll be able to talk to them, and his homemade alien spacecraft full of clutter. We recently flew down to Bowman to meet Jody and see the welcome center for ourselves.CC20minAug 12, 2013
16. Teenage Exorcists (Part 2/2)Sick of taking responsibility for the shitty things that have happened to you in your life? Help is on the way, in the virginal and strangely vacant form of three Bible-thumping teenage exorcists from Phoenix, Arizona. Eighteen-year-old Brynne Larson and her friends Tess and Savannah Sherkenback (18 and 21, respectively) claim to be able to confront the demons lurking inside traumatized people and draw them out using nothing more than a crucifix and a few choice words. But are these teenage exorcists really empowered by the Almighty, or merely by Brynne's father, a failed televangelist named Reverend Bob?CC20minAug 13, 2013
17. Meet The Mushroom ComposerBy the time he received his calling from God, Václav Hálek was already firmly established as a concert pianist and composer in the Czechoslovakian classical music scene. Fortunately for Hálek, the Lord didn't want the fervently Catholic maestro to join the priesthood or lead his fellow papists in arms against the godless communist state. Hálek's calling was a simple, occupationally aligned act of devotion. Listen to the music that mushrooms make and write it down for those of us who can't hear their songs. Which mushrooms, exactly? Every single damn one of them.CC20minSep 18, 2013
18. Heroin Holiday in the Czech RepublicEvery August, while Europe's bankers, lawyers, and other desk jockeys shut off their phones and head to the beach, the junkies of Prague set up camp in the poppy fields outside the city for a vacation of their own.CC20minOct 8, 2013
19. Creating a New 'State' Within GermanyFormer chef and martial arts trainer Peter Fitzek has founded his own micronation called the Kingdom of Germany. It consists of several properties around the city of Wittenberg, south of Berlin. It has 25 citizens, its own currency, an official state limousine, and passports. VICE Germany visited Peter back in June to find out how serious he is about this whole starting-a-new-nation thing.CC24minOct 15, 2013
20. Black Bike WeekBlack Bike Week is an annual bike rally that takes place in South Carolina over Memorial Day weekend. Up to half a million predominantly African American bikers and revelers descend on the seaside vacation town of Myrtle Beach for several days of riding and partying. Each year the traffic comes to a standstill as the streets fill with brightly customized sports bikes, their riders taking advantage of the state's "no helmet" law to perform burnouts and stunts up and down the main strip along the seafront.CC20minOct 17, 2013
21. Welcome to Hell... In NorwayHell is a quaint little village in Norway that's the resting place of 1,600 souls. There are red-roofed houses, a post office, a grocery store, even a church. It literally freezes over during the winter, which is yet another example of why its pun-friendly name draws tourists throughout the year. Weirdly enough, hell means "luck" in Norwegian, but the locals play up their association with the netherworld. When you pull into the train station, there's a sign that reads HELL GODS -- EXPEDITION, and the town's most famous native, Mona Grudt, who won the 1990 Miss Universe beauty pageant, proudly called herself "the beauty queen from Hell."CC20minOct 25, 2013
22. The Warrior Women of AsgardaKaterina Tarnovska is a Ukrainian preschool teacher, a kickboxing world champion and a self-proclaimed descendent of the legendary warrior women of the Amazon. In 2002 she founded Asgarda, a martial art exclusively for women that is inspired by the tribal traditions of the Scythian Amazons. In the past decade, more than 1,000 ladies have been entrusted with the teachings of the Asgarda, which Katerina says is the only fighting style specifically tailored to the female form.CC20minOct 25, 2013
23. The Wine MagicianIn this episode of Fringes, Victor goes to the Loire Valley to meet the Wine Magician, aka Nicolas Joly, the soft guru of biodynamic agriculture in France. This winemaker produces a mythical Anjou wine enjoyed by French Kings for almost a century. He'll teach Victor how to make some wine using obscure druidic potions and following convoluted cosmic rules.CC20minNov 7, 2013
24. The Real Walter WhiteWhen AMC's Breaking Bad premiered in 2008, one of Alabama's most successful meth cooks was already knee deep in building a massive meth empire. His name? Walter White. In this documentary, Walter tells us the secret behind his product, how he stacked up thousands of dollars per day, and why his partner is now serving two life sentences.CC20minNov 27, 2013
25. Getting Drunk on GodGod is descending on Minneapolis in the form of invisible spliffs and imaginary lines of coke. The Drunken Glory movement—spawned by events like the Florida Outpouring and Toronto Blessing in the 90s, at which people appeared to be inebriated and high purely off the power of God—is on the rise, as godly YouTube channels find innovative ways of reaching their younger audience.CC28minDec 18, 2013
26. Reborn BabiesA global scene of 20,000 doll makers and collectors has developed around life-like replicas of newborns called Reborn Babies. The price of these dolls is usually anywhere from $250 to $800, depending on their complexity and level of detail. The most expensive doll, made by artist Romie Strydom, was sold to a collector for 22,000 euros—or around $30,000.CC25minFeb 13, 2014
27. The Giants of IcelandDespite its tiny population, Iceland has a reputation in the World's Strongest Man competition that stands higher than perhaps any other country's. This small, black rock in the middle of the ocean has produced a lineage of strongmen dating back to the Vikings.CC20minMar 19, 2014
28. From Psycho Killer to PainterPeruvian artist LU.CU.MA spent 27 years in jail for the murder of his brother, among other crimes. After his release, LU.CU.MA—short for Luis Cuevas Manchego—swore to turn himself around. He traded the machine guns, hand grenades, and knives that he once used to ambush buses for art supplies.CC20minMay 2, 2014
29. The Superhuman World of Wim Hof: The IcemanWim Hof first caught the attention of scientists when he proved he was able to use meditation to stay submerged in ice for 1 hour and 53 minutes without his core body temperature changing. Since then, he’s climbed Mount Everest in his shorts, resisted altitude sickness, completed a marathon in the Namib Desert with no water and proven under a laboratory setting that he’s able to influence his autonomic nervous system and immune system at will.CC40minJul 16, 2015
30. The London Anarchist Group Squatting Mansions to Fight HomelessnessLondon squatting activists ANAL (Autonomous Nation of Anarchist Libertarians) are squatting empty multi-million pound buildings and opening them up to the homeless.CC20minFeb 13, 2017
31. Unidentified Corpses on the Streets of Karachi, PakistanIn an abandoned building on the outskirts of Karachi, a man dies, anonymous and alone. He does not have a phone or any paperwork on his person, nothing at all to indicate his name or address. A passer-by spots this body, slumped lifeless against a wall, and immediately knows who to call: the Edhi Foundation. Within minutes, the organization dispatches an ambulance to collect the corpse, and the work of trying to find out who this anonymous man is can begin.CC23minAug 27, 2019
32. A Punk Bar Takes on BillionairesFaced with the impending closure of their popular pub, the punks of the alternative Berlin scene must dive into the dubious world of offshore companies to find out the names of the mysterious real estate billionaires who want to kick them out.CC20minOct 8, 2019
33. A Day with Florida’s Only Football HooliganDerek 'Diablo' Alvarez wants to transplant British hooligan football violence into America. After being enraptured by grainy 80s videos of football gangs beating the shit out of each other in pubs and movies like Green Street and The Football Factory, Diablo has launched his own squad "The Miami Casuals," defending a soccer team, Inter Miami CF, that doesn't exist yet.CC22minOct 22, 2019
34. Witches Casting Spells on Politicians: A Curse on CorruptionRomania has a thriving witch community that goes back centuries. It’s also one of the most corrupt countries in Europe. Public outrage against the Romanian government has led to the biggest protests since the fall of communism, with up to half a million people taking to the streets.CC20minDec 11, 2019
35. Chaos & Moonshine: The Redneck Rave | FringesOver a single weekend in the Summer of 2021, the local population of Edmonson County, Kentucky was doubled by droves of "rednecks" descending on the area to celebrate five days of mud, music, & mayhem. They came for an event called "The Redneck Rave" - a music festival put on by country rapper, Justin Time, who bills it as the "biggest country party you'll ever go to." What festival goers didn't sign up for, however, was the absolute chaos that would ensue.CC22minMar 13, 2022
36. Inside the Wellness Festival for Millionaires'A-Fest' is an annual super-elite, invite-only festival that promises to radically change your life. Run by MindValley, this is distilled, silicon valley alt-wellness marketed to millionaires and aspirational millionaires across the globe. The man behind the whole business is Vishen Lakhiani. He progressed from selling meditation CDs online to owning a $40 million company with thousands of loyal followers around the world. Although normally over $3000, VICE’s Sydney Lima has been gifted a golden ticket to the event to discover whether she can become less negative and pathetic, setting herself up for a future of spiritual and business success.CC23minNov 27, 2022
37. Inside a Secret Alien SocietyDamanhur is a micro society and Italian ecovillage in the hills of Northern Italy, founded in 1977, boasting its own language, religion, and currency, with over 600 citizens. They believe their leader, Oberto Airaudi Falco, traveled in time to the lost city of Atlantis and learned ancient healing practices, which they still practice today. Each year, they host their annual birthday celebration, where Damanhurians from all over the world return to Damanhur, decked in white robes, and perform ceremonial rituals. VICE's Alessia Camoirano Bruges attends the annual celebration, to learn more about a group who have turned their back on society, intending to create their own utopian paradise.CC23minDec 4, 2022
38. Talking to Dead People in FloridaCassadaga is a small town in Florida that’s just like any other bedroom community except that it’s filled with psychics. Stroll down its streets and you’ll bump into clairvoyants, mediums, and past-life shamans. But it’s not all crystal balls and tarot cards in fact, many of the psychics here don’t use those materials at all. Established in 1894, Cassadaga was one of many camps that sprang up around the U.S. during the Spiritualist movement. It’s said that the town is built around a natural energy vortex, which might explain why people are drawn here. Today, many of its residents still identify as Spiritualists and believe communing with the dead through mediumship is proof of life continuing on after our bodies die. It’s no wonder Cassadaga has garnered a reputation for being a freaky place. But is it all it’s cracked up to be? In this episode of FRINGES, VICE’s Zach Shucklin visits the “Psychic Capital of the World” to investigate.CC23minDec 31, 2023
39. Tantra Island: The Search for Sexual ParadiseOff the coast of Thailand is an island Tantric sex community who claim to have found sexual enlightenment. Travelers from across the globe have come here to discover whether they can heal their trauma, experiment sexually and ultimately find bliss. VICE’s Tir Dhondy spends a week going through a rigorous schedule of Tantric workshops to see whether she can work on her own sexual trauma and achieve a level of spiritual enlightenment. Through her journey, she discovers that alongside the profound healing on the island, there is also an undercurrent of sexual abuse.CC44minDec 31, 2022
40. Drugs, Nudity & World Peace: The Rainbow Family GatheringLast July, thousands of hippies convened in a remote Colorado forest for the 50th annual Rainbow Family Gathering. It started as a counterculture movement whose mission was to establish a utopian society that would last thousands of years. But 50 years later…things have deviated from that plan. In recent times, the Rainbow Family has been plagued with crime, sexual assault allegations, and even suspicious deaths. So which is it—a prayer for peace, or a refuge for vagrants with no oversight? VICE’s Erica Matson trekked out to Routt County National Forest to attend the week-long gathering to see if peace is real, or if it's just an acid trip.CC23minMar 8, 2023
41. Yes, MAGA Rap Is Real And Trump Supporters Love ItIn this episode of Fringes, VICE journalist Erica Matson enters the wild world of MAGA Rap, an underground hip-hop scene that raps about election denialism, anti-vax messaging, and is super pro-Trump. We met the biggest rappers in the scene, and learn what the future of MAGA rap is in 2023.CC47minApr 23, 2023

Fringes

20121 season41 episodesReturning Series

From criminals to cults to conflict zones and everything in between, FRINGES examines the outliers whose stories often fall out of the field of vision of the mainstream.

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