Correspondent Mariana van Zeller travels to Uganda, where many question whether the growing influence of American religious groups has led to a movement to make homosexuality a crime punishable by death. As an anti-gay movement spreads across the continent, gay Africans and their families face an increasingly uncertain future of isolation, imprisonment or even execution.

Missionaries of Hate

Vanguard correspondent Mariana van Zeller travels to South Dakota to examine the statistic that one in three Native American women will be raped in her lifetime.

Rape on the Reservation

Vanguard correspondent Adam Yamaguchi travels to India, Singapore and Indonesia to understand why people don't use toilets and what's being done to end the practice of open defecation.

The World's Toilet Crisis

Correspondent Mariana van Zeller explores the dark side to the sport's global popularity, what has been called "the new slave trade.

Soccer's Lost Boys

Correspondent Kaj Larsen investigates the alarming rise in the number of soldiers who have been traumatized by war and are now accused of bringing the violence home. Of the more than 2 million men and women who have served in the recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, as many as a third of them may now have post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. A growing number of these vets are being charged with violent crimes, and Kaj travels to prisons and mental health facilities in Arizona, Colorado and Oregon to hear their stories.

War Crimes

Vanguard correspondent Christof Putzel traces the journey of a small town kid from Alabama to Somalia, where as part of Al-Shabaab he is now recruiting young Muslims from the west to wage jihad overseas.

American Jihadi

Vanguard correspondent Christof Putzel travels to the U.S./Mexico border to investigate one of the most contentious issues in America today: immigration. Meeting with "coyotes," the hired smugglers who offer to take immigrants across the border for a fee, Putzel learns the methods used to evade border patrol and the dangers they face on the journey. Arrest and deportation are inherent risks, but the lack of water and scorching temperatures of the desert crossing are far more deadly. Those who do make it safely across the border face tightening immigration laws and an increasingly hostile public. Putzel ultimately crosses the border with a migrant and coyote.

Life and Death on the Border

Marijuana Wars, Part 1

Marijuana Wars, Part 2

Correspondent Mariana van Zeller investigates how and why OxyContin has fueled a new heroin epidemic in and around Boston.

Gateway to Heroin

Vanguard correspondent Christof Putzel heads to Indonesia, where he exposes Big Tobacco's successful and deadly expansion into that country, and observes the stage being set for a David vs. Goliath battle, as a small, underfunded group of concerned advocates battle Big Tobacco and a government drunk on profits and denial.

Sex, Lies & Cigarettes

Adam Yamaguchi, a ravenous sushi consumer since childhood, examines the cost of the world's insatiable appetite for raw fish, namely the Bluefin tuna.

Sushi to the Slaughter

Vanguard correspondent Mariana van Zeller investigates Brazil's bold new initiative to transform Rio de Janeiro's dangerous slums (called favelas) before the country hosts the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics.

City of God, Guns & Gangs

Vanguard correspondent Adam Yamaguchi goes undercover to investigate China's lucrative black market for tigers and tiger parts, including the business of Asian zoos and breeding centers.

Tiger Farms

Mariana van Zeller explores the personal stories of just some of the more than 2 million college students who are also illegal immigrants and facing uncertain futures as they prepare to graduate.

This (Illegal) American Life

Students attend a public high school outside Boston dedicated to serving drug-addicted teenagers.

Recovery High

Christof Putzel reports from Juarez, Mexico, where US guns are fueling deadly drug wars.

Arming the Mexican Cartels

Adam Yamaguchi examines the rise of Islamophobia across the US and UK, and a new, aggressive network of anti-Muslim alarmists.

Islamophobia

Americans increasingly seek medical care overseas, because they can’t afford it at home. Adam Yamaguchi investigates medical tourism.

Under the Knife Abroad

Christof compares how US cities deal with weed. It’s high times in LA, while NYC cracks down on low-level pot offenses.

The War on Weed

Vanguard's "Two Americas" takes a ground-level survey of the growing economic disparity in America, profiling a month in the lives of two families in very different income brackets.

Two Americas

Christof Putzel moves into Zuccotti Park to explore the Occupy Wall Street movement from the inside. Produced by Brent and Craig Renaud.

The 99 Percent

Mariana van Zeller explores the fastest growing sport in America - Mixed Martial Arts (MMA). MMA is now a billion-dollar industry, watched by millions on national TV. But increasingly, amateurs are stepping onto the mat and drawing blood. Mariana meets male and female cage fighters to understand why they love this violent sport. And she spends time in a church run by "The Fight Pastor," who ministers a flock of young men who fight for Jesus.

Cage Fighting in the USA

Vanguard is a television documentary series broadcast on the Current TV television network. Vanguard reported on such issues as the environment, drugs and the effects of globalization and conflict.

The focus of most Vanguard episodes is to explore and immerse viewers in global issues that have a large social significance. Unlike sound-bite driven reporting, the show’s correspondents conduct interviews with affected peoples and the regions involved usually being led by a guide and translator who facilitates access. Since Vanguard's subject matter often involved exposés about organized crime, drug trafficking and armed revolts, the correspondents can face significant danger because of their reporting due to unstable political or security situations.

Vanguard has received some of the media industry’s highest honors for journalism, including the 69th Annual Peabody Award, given for excellence in electronic media, and the 2010 Television Academy Honor, which recognizes "achievements in programming that present issues of concern to our society in a compelling, emotional and insightful way." Vanguard has also been awarded the 2009 Alfred I. duPont-Columbia Award and the 2009 Livingston Award and was nominated four times for a news and documentary Emmy and for a sports Emmy®.

All Episodes of Vanguard

Browse all episodes of Vanguard

Season 1