Danny Jones Podcast #333 - What Destroyed VICE Media: The Story They NEVER Told | Thomas Morton
Sep 19, 2025
Thomas Morton, a former editor at VICE and a writer and documentarian, shares insider tales from the rise and fall of VICE Media. He recounts his chaotic first day at the company and the unique 'immersionism' style that defined its reporting. Morton dives into his experiences inside cults, the evolution of independent media, and controversial subjects like racism and identity politics. He also critiques the internet's failure to democratize media and discusses the rise of AI's influence in the industry.
AI Snips
Chapters
Books
Transcript
Episode notes
Death Row Reporting And Hank Skinner
- Morton filmed death-row inmates and their wives in Texas, including Hank Skinner, and witnessed the painful bureaucracy around executions.
- He used those shoots to show the human-side of capital punishment and legal uncertainty.
Insider Knowledge Undermines Trust In Systems
- Morton's observation: people who work inside a system (e.g., defense, legal) see how broken processes really are.
- That insider view fuels opposition to irreversible actions like the death penalty.
IQ And Race Are Poor Determinants
- Morton rejects crude genetic determinism and IQ as a single measure of intelligence or racial trait.
- He emphasizes cultural, social, and measurement limits that make such claims unreliable.
