The Gooner Interview

This investigative documentary goes deep into the Costa Rican jungle to explore the hidden world of off-grid communes, meeting the people who have completely rejected modern Western society—and uncovering the unexpected, troubling reality they’ve created for their children.Ben Zand, who has been called the next Louis Theroux, secures unprecedented access to a highly isolated community of people who have cut all ties with the West. He meets Tamsin, a British mother who fled what she describes as the "slowly dying" culture of the 9-5 grind in search of ultimate freedom, choosing instead to raise her son in the wild.Ben expects to find a peaceful, utopian rejection of a broken, billionaire-rigged system. Instead, he discovers a startling generational divide. While the parents revel in their escape from the modern world, he finds a generation of isolated, unschooled children who actively crave the very society, structure, and connection their parents ran away from.To understand the full spectrum of what it means to leave society behind, Ben pushes further into the extremes. He tracks down a hermit living in total isolation for months at a time, and meets another man attempting to find a modern middle ground through remote work—weighing the real-world pros and cons of complete freedom.Ultimately, Ben brings the commune’s parents face-to-face with an uncomfortable truth: the reality of their children's desires. This sparks a profound and tense re-evaluation of whether completely detaching is the answer, or if escaping one system just creates another.HUMAN is a new digital original series presented by Ben Zand. The world feels more divided than ever. HUMAN takes you inside real lives at the heart of the biggest - and often most uncomfortable - conversations. Challenging perceptions, bridging divides, and getting to truth.If you want to gain access to exclusive content and help support our fully independent journalism, you can now join us at Zand.land/join. Members also get 15% off our merch!New episodes of HUMAN drop every month.zand.land | @zandland

This investigative documentary goes inside the manosphere, the world of the red pill and black pill in an era of modern dating apps and rising male loneliness to explore the hidden world of rent-a-girlfriend services and the online belief systems shaping a generation of young men.Ben Zand meets an anonymous British man in his 20s speaking publicly for the first time about why he rents girlfriends — a pursuit that has cost him more than £50,000.Ben Zand meets “T” expecting to uncover isolation and heartbreak, but instead finds something more unsettling: a worldview influenced by the blackpill ideology, born in incel forums and online manosphere communities, where resentment towards women has hardened into a belief that modern dating is fundamentally “broken.”Convinced that women’s freedom of choice in the age of dating apps has left him locked out of what he calls the “sexual marketplace,” T turns to paid companionship in search of what he feels he is owed — a partner who won’t say no. His story exposes the psychology behind transactional intimacy, entitlement, and the commodification of connection in the digital age.To understand the global economy behind the so-called “girlfriend experience,” which even T believes can be exploitative, Ben travels halfway around the world to meet a woman who sells intimacy on her own terms. She argues the income helped her escape an abusive past — even as she believes many of her clients are struggling with deep emotional and psychological wounds.Returning to London, Ben brings T into a conversation he has never had before: a transparent and uncomfortable dialogue with real women, confronting the impact of online radicalisation, algorithm-driven isolation, and the question at the heart of today’s dating culture — can resentment be challenged before it hardens into ideology?HUMAN is a new digital original series presented by Ben Zand. The world feels more divided than ever. HUMAN takes you inside real lives at the heart of the biggest - and often most uncomfortable - conversations. Challenging perceptions, bridging divides, and getting to truth.If you want to gain access to exclusive content and help support our fully independent journalism, you can now join us at Zand.land/join. Members also get 15% off our merch!New episodes of HUMAN drop every month.zand.land | @zandland

In this investigative documentary looking inside the Manosphere, journalist Ben Zand meets a committed gooner to understand how the red pill, the black pill, extreme pornography use, loneliness, and online subcultures are shaping a generation of men.This is one of a series of documentaries in which we look at the red-pilled and black-pilled worlds of the manosphere, masculinity, and modern internet culture.HUMAN is a new digital original series presented by Ben Zand. The world feels more divided than ever. HUMAN takes you inside real lives at the heart of the biggest - and often most uncomfortable - conversations. Challenging perceptions, bridging divides, and asking what it means to be human today.If you want to gain access to exclusive content and help support our fully independent journalism, you can now join us at Zand.land/join. Members also get 15% off our merch!New episodes of HUMAN drop every month.zand.land | @zandland

This investigative documentary explores the reality of modern political polarization, forcing a leftist and a conservative out of their echo chambers and into rival protests on one of the most volatile policing days in recent British history.Ben Zand takes leftist influencer Tilly Middlehurst and conservative influencer Zion Zachary into enemy territory, protests they would never normally attend, to see if crossing the political divide can actually bridge the gap, or if it will just end in chaos.HUMAN is a new digital original series presented by Ben Zand. The world feels more divided than ever. HUMAN takes you inside real lives at the heart of the biggest - and often most uncomfortable - conversations. Challenging perceptions, bridging divides, and getting to the truth.If you want to gain access to exclusive content and help support our fully independent journalism, you can now join us at Zand.land/join. Members also get 15% off our merch!New episodes of HUMAN drop every month.zand.land | @zandland

If you want to buy a copy of Larry’s book then you can by clicking this link: https://www.blurb.com/bookstore/invited/9326600/30431a8c4d44d7a8076b76c56df3fea9eb1241e2This investigative documentary explores the reality of wealth inequality in America, by getting two people living on the complete opposite ends of the divide to meet.Ben Zand steps into the world of a multi-millionaire and a homeless man that live only 15 minutes away in Scottsdale, Arizona.HUMAN is a new digital original series presented by Ben Zand. The world feels more divided than ever. HUMAN takes you inside real lives at the heart of the biggest - and often most uncomfortable - conversations. Challenging perceptions, bridging divides, and getting to the truth.If you want to gain access to exclusive content and help support our fully independent journalism, you can now join us at Zand.land/join. Members also get 15% off our merch!New episodes of HUMAN drop every month.zand.land | @zandland

Nina, otherwise known as the Leigh Witch, claims that her magic spells can actually have real effects.To investigate the rising world of witchcraft, Ben Zand steps into Nina's world alongside his unsuspecting best friend and cameraman, Ben Lister. His goal: to test Nina's magic by casting an 'Obsession' spell on Ben Lister.This is HUMAN by ZANDLAND.--HUMAN is a new digital original series presented by Ben Zand. HUMAN takes you inside real lives at the heart of the biggest - and often most uncomfortable - conversations. Challenging perceptions and getting to the truth.Subscribe for more documentaries from inside the worlds shaping our culture.New episodes of HUMAN drop other week.To get all the behind the scenes, subscribe to our newsletter: newsletter.zand.landzand.land | @zandland

Anya Lacey is a conservative influencer who believes women should submit to their husbands, and give up the right to vote. The catch is she’s also an OnlyFans star.To understand the contradictions at the heart of Anya’s life, and to see what really drives her, Ben Zand spent a day in her life.This is HUMAN by ZANDLAND.--HUMAN is a new digital original series presented by Ben Zand. HUMAN takes you inside real lives at the heart of the biggest - and often most uncomfortable - conversations. Challenging perceptions and getting to the truth.Subscribe for more documentaries from inside the worlds shaping our culture.New episodes of HUMAN drop other week.To get all the behind the scenes, subscribe to our newsletter: newsletter.zand.landzand.land | @zandland--Series Director and PresenterBEN ZANDShooting Digital JournalistsFREDDIE NEWMAN + BEN MULLEYStory LeadAYAZ ALIEditorsBEN TOBIN + AYAZ ALI + FREDDIE NEWMAN + BEN MULLEYProduction ManagerGRACE EVANSProduction SecretaryMEGAN WOOLLEYExecutive ProducersBEN ZAND & JOSH REYNOLDSChapters0:00 Intro1:08 A very Tradwife monster truck4:06 Big guns, big views6:09 How's the love life?7:59 Support our journalism8:23 An honest moment9:16 Is a Tradwife on OnlyFans a contradiction?11:41 Interesting pets12:17 The onlyfans zone12:40 A lonely world14:05 Difficult childhood14:50 Deconstructing Anya's views in the Lego room18:42 Hoodie man arrives19:47 What's the dynamic?23:54 1-on-1 with the hoodie man25:05 One last question at an OnlyFans photoshoot

Laura Zachary is one of the UK’s most noteworthy tradwife influencers. She believes women should submit to their husbands, and that they can’t be trusted with the right to vote. She also runs an academy teaching women to become the perfect wives.Sabina Trojanova, also known as GirlVsGlobe, is a prominent content creator who makes video about travel, politics, and society. She’s a feminist.So we brought them together – to take Sabina into Laura’s tradwife academy and see if there’s anything they can learn from one another.Along the way, we discovered an interesting insight into Laura’s relationship with her husband, right-wing influencer Zion Zachary.This is a story about bridging divides and trying to find nuance in the extremes.This is HUMAN by ZANDLAND.--HUMAN is a new digital original series presented by Ben Zand. HUMAN takes you inside real lives at the heart of the biggest - and often most uncomfortable - conversations. Challenging perceptions and getting to the truth.Subscribe for more documentaries from inside the worlds shaping our culture.New episodes of HUMAN drop other week.To get all the behind the scenes, subscribe to our newsletter: newsletter.zand.landzand.land | @zandland--Series Director and PresenterBEN ZANDShooting Digital JournalistBEN MULLEYShooting Digital JournalistFREDDIE NEWMANStory LeadAYAZ ALIEditorsBEN TOBIN + AYAZ ALIProduction ManagerGRACE EVANSTeam AssistantELEANOR PHEEProduction SecretaryMEGAN WOOLLEYEdit AssistantJOSH LEVETTExecutive ProducersBEN ZAND & JOSH REYNOLDS

Savanna Stone is one of the internet’s most divisive tradwife influencers. She says women shouldn’t have the right to vote, wives should submit to their husbands, and that her ideal form of government would be a Christian monarchy.So Ben Zand spent a week inside her world.What started as an attempt to understand Savanna quickly became something much bigger. Behind the viral clips was her husband Noah, a team turning controversy into millions of views, and a previously undisclosed millionaire backer who says he helped build Andrew Tate’s War Room.With unprecedented access to Savanna, her inner circle, her supporters and the people behind her rise, Ben tries to understand what is really driving the tradwife movement — and who is funding it.This is HUMAN by ZANDLAND.--HUMAN is a new digital original series presented by Ben Zand. The world feels more divided than ever. HUMAN takes you inside real lives at the heart of the biggest - and often most uncomfortable - conversations. Challenging perceptions, bridging divides, and getting to the truth.Subscribe for more documentaries from inside the worlds shaping our culture.New episodes of HUMAN drop other week.To get all the behind the scenes, subscribe to our newsletter: newsletter.zand.landzand.land | @zandland--Series Director and PresenterBEN ZANDShooting Digital JournalistBEN MULLEYJunior Digital JournalistFREDDIE NEWMANConsultantAYAZ ALIEditorsCARRICK KEATING + BEN LISTER + AYAZ ALI + BEN MULLEYProduction ManagerGRACE EVANSTeam AssistantELEANOR PHEEProduction SecretaryMegan WoolleyAdditional ResearchLloyd GriffithsExecutive ProducersBEN ZAND & JOSH REYNOLDS--Chapters:0:00 Intro1:28 Turning Point USA's Women's Leadership Summit2:52 My not-trad-wife3:47 Inside Savanna Stone's hotel room5:14 Is Savanna Stone a Tradwife?6:38 Meeting Savanna's husband8:06 Support our journalism8:32 Fighting feminism with the main-stream media9:48 The "Good Wife" and her fans11:45 Does she believe it?12:58 The Noah Stone Interview16:21 Savanna's manager reveals the millionaire18:23 Savanna's Speech21:02 A world of wealth22:33 The Tradwife social media factory24:29 Do women want to vote?26:21 A coffee run challenge28:51 Interviewing the millionaire funding a war on women's rights32:14 A very trad photo shoot33:21 So many questions35:51 The first awkward conversation37:19 Getting humbled by a tradwife in the gym on her 21st birthday38:41 Ghosted by the ghost39:39 The good wife podcast42:14 Challenging Cory the millionaire44:33 What happened next

After our documentary on the dark internet subculture of "gooning" got such a huge reaction, we decided to bring our anonymous subject Declan back. In this unfiltered follow-up, we made him face the internet. We put your most brutal, honest, and difficult questions directly to him. Let us know what you thought of his answers in the comments.