The "mysterious vaping illnesses" seemed to disappear as soon as they came. But what caused these illnesses and should we still be afraid of vaping? VICE producer Zeke Spector goes down the rabbit hole, retracing the story to investigate if the hype was media hyperbole or a legitimate concern in this series premiere of "Should You Be Afraid."
On this episode of "Should You Be Afraid," producer Zeke Spector heads to "anarchist jurisdiction" of Portland, Oregon searching for this elusive group that have allegedly been burning the city down for more than 100 straight days. Over the last few years, the political movement of "antifa" has become the media's favorite boogeyman. Conspiracy theories abound claiming they're financially backed by left-wing billionaires to train "super soldiers" with an intent to kill conservatives.
For VICE's Zeke Spector, putting a piece of tape over the webcam was just good practice; one never knows who may be looking in. But with the seemingly endless amount of digital meetings for work and family hangouts, Zeke had become somewhat complacent putting back on the tape after every use. So he was absolutely terrified when he received an email that claimed it had been recording him in a compromising situation and would release the video to all his contacts unless he paid a ransom in Bitcoin.
On this episode of "Should You Be Afraid?" producer Zeke Spector heads to the Canada-US border hunting for both the murder hornet and the truth behind the hype. In May, headlines that the Asian Giant Hornet had been discovered in the Pacific Northwest of North America seemed to double down on the chaos that had engulfed the year 2020. Colloquially known as the "murder hornet," the news inspired both memes and facepalms.
Facebook has long been the "cool" social media platform outlasted its peers from the mid-2000's. It was the central hub for a whole generation to meet, plan events, and archive their youths. But somewhere along the way, Facebook turned into a toxic, political wasteland filled with hate speech and disinformation. How did this platform go from an innocuous social networking site to tearing apart the social fabric of society? VICE producer Zeke Spector goes down the rabbit hole to ask if we should be afraid of Facebook.
Sperm rates have been declining in Western countries for the past half century. VICE producer Zeke Spector sets out to see what's causing the trend, if we should be afraid, and how many sperm he has left.
The collapse of society is coming. It’s inevitable. That is at least if you’ve read all the headlines about climate change, war, insurrection, nuclear tensions, the dying oceans, falling sperm counts. It’s a lot to handle. Zeke Spector travels to the Ozarks to meet with a religious prepping community to see what it takes not to be afraid of the world.
VICE producer Zeke Spector tries to conquer his own fear of death by attempting to recreate the conditions of an NDE in order to try and understand what death might teach us about life itself. It's a question as old as human consciousness: what happens after we die? While we may never have a full answer, there are plenty of first-hand accounts from individuals who have perhaps touched the boundaries between life and the great unknown via near death experiences (NDEs). In this episode of Spiraling,
Gun sales soared during the pandemic. Not wanting to feel left out, VICE producer Zeke Spector set out to understand why Americans decided to buy their guns and decided whether or not he should purchase one himself.
VICE Producer Zeke Spector spirals down the rabbit hole to investigate his own fascination with crime while exploring what communities and the media industry can do to reduce the crime rate. Pretty much anywhere you look these days, there's going to be some sort of story about crime. Whether it's about the climbing murder rate on the news, a cop show on TV, or a true crime podcast, humans are intrigued by these gruesome stories.
VICE Producer Zeke Spector spirals down the rabbit hole to understand where these conspiracy theories come from and expose what the rich are allegedly hiding. Conspiracy theories have run wild over the past few years. Many of these theories propose a common theme that a shadowy elite is in control and the chaos of living in the 2020's is all a part of the plan. It doesn't help that wealthy individuals often isolate themselves into exclusive communities of other rich people.
Recently, there's been a lot more male frontal nudity in pop culture. But is what society is being shown an accurate representation of the average size of the male genitalia? VICE Producer Zeke Spector spirals down the rabbit hole to figure out how the depictions of penises in the media vary from the average and how these higher beauty standards can create conflict in society.
Cryptocurrencies, NFT’s, and blockchain have attracted a lot of attention in the last few years. Bitcoin evangelists say it’s the way of the future; that it will replace central banks and become the world’s currency, divorced from corrupt politicians and hegemonic monetary policies. Sceptics say it’s a ponzi scheme akin to tulip mania and is destined to fail.