This letter is from the summer 2026 issue of VICE magazine, THE SELF-DESTRUCTION ISSUE. Buy it now—or get 4 issues each year sent straight to your door, by subscribing.
Hello and welcome to The Self-Destruction Issue.
Normally we use this page to talk about the issue’s theme, but in this case, it feels fairly self-explanatory. In addition, you might argue that every issue of this magazine since its inception could’ve been titled The Self-Destruction Issue. So instead of dashing off some kind of pompous meditation on the dangers of drink, drugs, and the death drive, I am going to reflect on the 12 months that have passed since we brought VICE back to print, after six years away.
To begin with, I would like to toast the printers who refused to print us, the lawyers who tried to silence us, the puritans who sought to scold us, the PRs who tried to blackmail us, the shops who refused to stock us, and the whiny little babies who get our social media posts taken down. Rest assured, the joy in our hearts is the elixir that will let us outlive you all.
More than anyone else, however, I would like to devote The Self-Destruction Issue to the many people in our Instagram DMs who believe they are being followed by helicopters. Through the long days and longer nights you have been loyal companions on our quest to return VICE to its rightful position in the craw of the dull. Your self-regard and vivid imaginations are an inspiration.
As I write this, Ben Ditto is sleeping on the office sofa three meters away. It is 5AM on a Tuesday morning and we have been working six days straight to get this issue ready on time. Even without recourse to amphetamines, the delirium set in long ago. Upstairs, dozens of football fans are leaping up and down and chanting in Turkish, which isn’t helping. I think I can smell burning. There are tears running down the walls. I’ve been having these dreams about getting down on all fours and lapping water from the pub dog bowl in front of my in-laws. I can’t stop looking at that jazz subway map. People keep opening positions about me on Polymarket.
The sun is rising. I am going to proofread the entire issue now. Hopefully I don’t miss anything important that gets us sued!
Happy hunting,
KEVIN LEE KHARAS
Editor in Chief, VICE Magazine
This letter is from the summer 2026 issue of VICE magazine, THE SELF-DESTRUCTION ISSUE. Buy it now—or get 4 issues each year sent straight to your door, by subscribing.
The post The Self-Destruction Issue: A Letter From the Editor appeared first on VICE.
