The Islamic State - Vice

August 2014 on Vice

The Islamic State, a hardline Sunni jihadist group that formerly had ties to al Qaeda, has conquered large swathes of Iraq and Syria. Previously known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), the group has announced its intention to reestablish the caliphate and has declared its leader, the shadowy Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, as the caliph.

The lightning advances the Islamic State made across Syria and Iraq in June shocked the world. But it's not just the group's military victories that have garnered attention — it's also the pace with which its members have begun to carve out a viable state.

Flush with cash and US weapons seized during its advances in Iraq, the Islamic State's expansion shows no sign of slowing down. In the first week of August alone, Islamic State fighters have taken over new areas in northern Iraq, encroaching on Kurdish territory and sending Christians and other minorities fleeing as reports of massacres emerged.

VICE News reporter Medyan Dairieh spent three weeks embedded with the Islamic State, gaining unprecedented access to the group in Iraq and Syria as the first and only journalist to document its inner workings.

BBC Panorama: From Jail to Jihad

First broadcast May 12, 2014 on BBC One

The Muslim prison population in England and Wales has doubled in the past ten years to nearly one in seven inmates. This rise is five times faster than the increase in the overall jail population.
Evidence shows most Muslims are not radicalised, but the prison system is also home to the UK's greatest concentration of Islamic terrorists and extremists. Many more are converted or radicalised behind bars. 

Reporter Raphael Rowe follows one radical convert as he leaves prison, interviews some convicted terrorists and extremists about their experiences inside and asks if the authorities are doing enough to prevent the increasing threat of radical Islam inside prison.

Origins Of Us | Dr. Alice Roberts | BBC Documentary

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

Origins of Us tells the story of our species, homo sapiens. In every one of our bodies is the evidence of how we evolved away from our ape cousins to become the adaptable, successful species we are today.

Anatomist and physical anthropologist Dr Alice Roberts reveals the key adaptations in our body that has contributed to our extra-ordinary success. Far from being inevitable, the evolution of our species is a product of pure chance. And with each anatomical advantage comes a cost, which many of us are still paying today. Bad backs, painful childbirth, impacted wisdom teeth are all a by-product of our evolutionary success.

This is a journey through your own body, 6 million years and 300 000 generations of our family, from a tree dwelling ape in the forests of Africa, to you and the six billion other humans on Earth today.

Teenage Exorcists | VICE

From VICE

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?

In our new film, the girls and Reverend Bob give us exclusive access to their tour of Ukraine, during which they attempt to save the souls of recovering drug addicts and exorcise people's "sexually transmitted demons."

The March of Reason: A New Age

Part 3 of 5 in the March of Reason Series

It isn't necessary to have seen the first two, since each film stands on it's own. This third episode touches on New Age beliefs, psychics, alternative medicine, religion's treatment of women, and a few other topics.

The March of Reason: Ridicule the Ridiculous

Part 2 of 5 from the March of Reason Series

The March of Reason: Introduction to Reason and Atheism

Part 1 of 5 from the March of Reason Series

David Attenborough: First Life | BBC

Part 1


Part 2

In more than fifty years of broadcasting, Sir David Attenborough has travelled the globe to document the living world in all its wonder. Now, in the landmark series First Life, he goes back in time in search of the very first animals.

David Attenborough’s First Life is told with stunning photography, state of the art visual effects and the captivating charm of the world’s favourite naturalist. It was first broadcast as a two-part series in the UK on BBC Two in November 2010, and as a two-hour special by Discovery Channel in the US. It is now being shown by broadcasters around the world, including the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

Filmed over the course of a year, the companion film Attenborough’s Journey is a remarkable portrait of the world’s leading natural history broadcaster as completes his latest series. As he faces the challenges of a complicated filming shoot, David Attenborough revisits parts of the world that have had special meaning for him throughout his career.

How to Get to Heaven with the Hutterites - BBC

Aired March 7, 2013 on BBC Two

An intimate insight into the world of the Hutterites, a Christian community who believe living communally and separate from what they call 'the world' is the route to heaven. But living like this is not easy. With exclusive access, the film follows one young man secretly running away from his community.

The Lord is Not on Trial Here Today

"The Lord is Not On Trial Here Today" is a Peabody Award-winning documentary by Jay Rosenstein that tells the compelling personal story of Vashti McCollum, and how her efforts to protect her ten-year-old son led to one of the most important and landmark First Amendment cases in U.S. Supreme Court history — the case that established the separation of church and state in public schools.

Fault Lines: Evangelism in the US Military - Al Jazeera

January 23, 2013 on Al-Jazeera English:

The United States is a deeply religious country, over 90% believe in god and 80% believe in miracles. For the US military, dealing with its own religious identity has become an internal battle.

Growing evidence points towards a rising influence of evangelical Christianity, and with two wars still raging in Muslim countries with significant religious overtones, there could be serious consequences for the US mission.

Pentagon officials say incidents are isolated, aberrations occur, but others closely tied to the military and its religious leadership say a transformation is taking place with dire costs. On this weeks episode of Fault Lines, we look at the battle over the religious soul of the US military.

Also, we sit down with Brent Scowcroft, the National Security Advisor under Presidents Ford and George H.W. Bush. He gives Fault Lines a fresh take on the issue of religion in the military and how it is impacting the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Independent Lens | The Revisionaries | Trailer | PBS

Official Website

The Revisionaries — Scott Thurman's acclaimed documentary about the controversy over the Texas state board of education's efforts to undermine the scientific and historical integrity of the textbooks used in the state's public schools — is airing on PBS<. The Revisionaries will be aired on Independent Lens, the Emmy-award-winning series on PBS airing a different original documentary film every week, starting on January 28, 2013 — but dates and times vary, so check your local listings!

Coming to Toronto on (WNED) on Feb. 3, 2013 at 11pm and on Feb. 8, 2013 at 4am. (via Larry Moran on Sandwalk)

(via RDnet, NCSE, and Sandwalk)

Godless - EQHD TV Canada

Part 1: The Congregation

Part 2: Spreading the Word

Godless takes a compelling look at a growing subculture with no faith or belief in a god and finds many surprising ways in which non-believers are emulating the structures and practices of organized religion: holding services, teaching non-supernatural interpretations of religious texts, proselytizing and even risking their lives for the freedom to express non-belief.

Congregating or spreading the word for a god makes some sense, but why be so active a non-believer, spreading the word of nothing? This two-part documentary explores the many motivations of the godless and asks: IS ATHEISM THE NEXT GREAT RELIGION?

Richard Dawkins: Sex, Death And The Meaning Of Life (Full Series)

Episode 1


Episode 2


Episode 3

Ideas about the soul and the afterlife, of sin and God's purpose have shaped human thinking for thousands of years. Religious rituals remain embedded in the major events of our lives.

In this thought-provoking series, evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins asks what happens if we leave religion behind.

He explores what reason and science might offer to inspire and guide our lives in religion's place. Can science bring understanding in the face of death, help us tell right from wrong, or reveal the meaning of life?

Sex, Death and the Meaning of Life - Episode 1 - Richard Dawkins

Aired October 15, 2012 on Channel 4

Ideas about the soul and the afterlife, of sin and God's purpose have shaped human thinking for thousands of years. Religious rituals remain embedded in the major events of our lives.

In this thought-provoking series, evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins asks what happens if we leave religion behind.

He explores what reason and science might offer to inspire and guide our lives in religion's place. Can science bring understanding in the face of death, help us tell right from wrong, or reveal the meaning of life?

Conspiracy Road Trip: UFOs | BBC

October 15, 2012 on BBC Three

Are we alone in the universe or have we been visited by aliens? If the answer to the last question is yes, have the world's governments been covering up this incredible 'truth'?

Comedian Andrew Maxwell is a logical guy and he is going to tackle these big questions on an American road trip from Los Angeles to Area 51. He is taking five UFO believers who claim to have witnessed spacecraft from other galaxies, been attacked by UFOs, had close encounters with ETs and believe an alien attack is imminent for a close encounter of the rational kind. Andrew takes them to meet experts, eyewitnesses and journalists to see if he can dispel the myths around UFO sightings.

Includes contributions by Seth Shostak of The SETI Institute, PZ Myers and Michael Shermer of Skeptic Magazine.

Holy Thugs of Venezuela

by VICE

Citizens of Caracas, one of the world's most violent cities, bow down and worship statuettes of deceased criminals.

Venezuelans are traditionally Catholic. But in a country where at least 14,000 people were murdered last year, believing in traditional religious figures can sometimes get a wee bit difficult. The Santos Malandros (in English, the Holy Thugs) are an alternative set of saints whose common traits include sideways baseball hats, cigarettes, and guns. We thought it was either kind of perfect or really troubling that in Caracas, the world's most violent city, people are worshipping at the feet of now-dead armed criminals. In this episode, we visit the shrines of the Holy Thugs to find out more.

Conspiracy Road Trip: Creationism | BBC

October 8, 2012 on BBC Three

Comedian Andrew Maxwell takes five British creationists to the west coast of America to try to convince them that evolution rather than creationism explains how we all got here. Stuck on a bus across 2,000 miles of dustbowl roads with these passionate believers, Maxwell tackles some firmly held beliefs - could the Earth be only 6,000 years old, and did humans and T-Rex really live side by side? It's a bumpy ride as he's confronted with some lively debates along the way, but by the end could he possibly win over any of these believers with what he regards as hard scientific fact?

Rosh Hashanah: Science vs Religion

September 12, 2012 on BBC One

Religion and science are frequently set up as polar opposites; incompatible ways of thinking. The Chief Rabbi Lord Sacks begs to differ. For him, science and religion can, and should, work together. To mark Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, he puts his position to the test. He meets three non-believing scientists, each at the top of their field: neurologist Baroness Susan Greenfield, theoretical physicist Professor Jim Al-Khalili, and the person best known for leading the scientific attack on religion, Professor Richard Dawkins. Will the Chief Rabbi succeed in convincing the militant defender of atheism that science and religion need not be at war?

Renegade Jewish Settlers | VICE

Originally aired in 2012 on VICE.com

Israeli settlers have been slowly nibbling away at Palestine's West Bank territory for four decades. 300,000 setllers now occupy outposts that range in size from plywood shacks to full-blown suburban housing complexes. Their abundance has grounded the much-ballyhooed two-state solution to a halt. VICE correspondent Simon Ostrovsky travels from Tel Aviv to the remote West Bank outposts where young Israelis squat for the sake of their heritage. But first, Simon pops in for some quick counter-terrorism training with a member of Israel's Special Forces, just in case.