Vanguard

Vanguard is an award-winning documentary series on Current TV that explores some of the most shocking and controversial political and social issues facing the modern world. Vanguard aims to uncover stories that are often overlooked, and journalists Adam Yamaguchi, Kaj Larsen, Christof Putzel and Mariana van Zeller travel to all corners of the globe to capture these stories on handheld (and sometimes hidden) cameras. Currently in its fourth season, Vanguard is widely praised for its investigative reporting style while venturing into territory often avoided by mainstream news outlets. Whether it's exploring the reasons behind the shockingly high occurrences of rape on Native American reservations, or why the violent pirate lifestyle is so seductive to young, impoverished Somalis, Vanguard explores the questions that other programs are afraid to ask. Traveling to highly dangerous destinations to cover these stories doesn't come without risk, and in March 2009, former Vanguard journalists, Laura Ling and Euna Lee were detained in North Korea for allegedly crossing the North Korean-China border while covering a story on human trafficking. The journalists were eventually sent home in August 2009, after former U.S. president, Bill Clinton arrived in North Korea to negotiate their release. Though Laura Ling and Euna Lee are no longer a part of the Vanguard team, Laura shares her experience in a 30-minute interview with Mariana van Zeller that aired on Current TV on May 19th, 2010. MORE