Zembla - Season 2025 (2025)

Existing recreational parks and campsites are a popular investment project for project developers. If such a park is taken over by a new owner, existing residents will have to move. People who have been holidaying there for generations, but also people and families who are forced to live in such a park permanently in times of housing shortage. In Zembla we follow the residents of the Westeinder campsite in Rijsenhout. This campsite was bought last year. Since then, the new owner has been dismantling the park piece by piece. In the broadcast we reconstruct the year in which the residents had to deal with intense conflict situations, threats and intimidation, based on unique source material. Zembla investigates the force field of conflicting interests. Who will help the vulnerable residents who have been living on the campsite for years? And why doesn't the government intervene before things get out of hand?

Conservative Christian organizations worldwide are fighting for traditional family values, even if that comes at the expense of basic democratic rights. For example, President Trump draws on a detailed strategic plan to transform America into a Christian conservative state: Project 2025. Key organizations behind Project 2025 are also active in Europe, where they support like-minded people with lawsuits, political influence and millions of dollars in financial support. In ‘God’s lobbyists’, Zembla journalists map international money flows and track down Dutch members of a network that wants to restore the ‘natural order’ by introducing strict anti-gay laws and banning divorce.

The number of asylum applications in the Netherlands has risen sharply in recent years. It is not only about adults and families who flee their country because of war or poverty, but also about thousands of minors who travel to the Netherlands without a family. These young people come directly under the authority of the reception organization Stichting Nidos. From that moment on, a youth protector must help young people in their development towards independence and monitor their well-being. But what care and guidance can these young people really count on? We asked that question to those involved in the reception. They paint a staggering picture.

Fifteen years ago, Zembla journalists discovered that the health of pedigree dogs was very poor. They were bred to meet certain aesthetic requirements, which gave them external characteristics that were very harmful: from flat snouts that made it difficult for them to breathe, to chronic headaches due to skulls that were too small. After this research, new legislation was passed to improve the welfare of pedigree dogs. What has this legislation achieved? Has health now become a priority within pedigree dog breeding? Zembla is once again investigating whether pedigree dogs have a future.

The world has watched as President Trump weakens NATO, disparages European allies and hands Ukraine over to Russia since taking office. Trump calls Putin a “reliable future business partner” who wants to end a “nasty war” and has a right to parts of Ukraine. It is a radical change of course in the White House. How much influence does Putin have over Trump? Could the radical change of course in the White House be linked to an operation that was started forty years ago by Russian intelligence? Operation Trump: How the Kremlin got a foot in the door of the White House.

Two years ago, Zembla revealed how PFAS producer Chemours (formerly Dupont) has known for decades that the PFAS they use is dangerous to humans and the environment. The commotion is huge: hearings follow in both the House of Representatives and the Provincial States, thousands of local residents file a mass complaint and the Public Prosecution Service starts a criminal investigation. Zembla follows the PFAS trail and ends up at a factory in Helmond. Zembla investigates how the pollution in Helmond could get so out of hand and why supervisors did not intervene. When the trail leads back to Chemours, sensational discoveries follow.

More and more children in the Netherlands are being given a dyslexia certificate. These are children who have a serious deficit in reading and spelling. From group 3 in primary school, the language development of children is closely monitored. If dyslexia is suspected, strict protocols are then followed. Before this diagnosis can be issued, the school must first demonstrate that the pupil has received extra help for a longer period. But how are these diagnoses made in practice? Do we measure dyslexia or inadequate education? Zembla investigates the diagnosis of dyslexia.

Elon Musk has been promising self-driving cars that drive more safely than people for years. Tesla took the first step ten years ago with the introduction of the Autopilot system. The cars were considered green and innovative, but were involved in serious accidents in the United States and Europe. This led to sharp criticism, investigations and lawsuits. Nevertheless, Musk perseveres and he hopes to receive approval for the introduction of Full Self Driving in Europe this year. Zembla investigates how it is possible that Tesla's Autopilot system has been linked to accidents for years, and what role the Dutch National Road Traffic Service plays in this.

For a long time, the number of young people smoking was declining, and a nicotine-free generation seemed within reach. Until vaping arrived. Vaping is becoming increasingly popular, and nicotine use among young people is rising again. Experts are calling it a vaping epidemic that must be stopped as quickly as possible. Young people are ending up in the hospital with symptoms such as shortness of breath, pulmonary hemorrhages, and collapsed lungs from excessive vaping. Zembla delves into the current vaping culture and discovers a new type of vape that is gaining popularity among schoolchildren. This vape is causing significant concern among schools, parents, and addiction treatment centers.

A new treatment method for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has become incredibly popular in a short time: high-intensity trauma therapy. Over a period of just a few days, patients are guided through various exercises to revisit their worst memories: sexual abuse, physical assault, neglect, or other shocking events. The creators of the therapy claim remarkably good results: almost ninety percent of patients reportedly feel better after the treatment. But is this true? We investigate the claims of providers of high-intensity trauma therapy.

In the Netherlands, approximately 420,000 people have long-term complaints after a Covid infection. When entrepreneurs and self-employed people turn to their disability insurance due to long Covid complaints, things often go wrong. We see how dozens of patients end up in a battle with their insurer. According to the insurers, the disease is between the ears. How do insurers deal with long Covid, a new disease with a wide variety of symptoms? And do the insurance doctors who examine these patients know enough about it? We investigate the battle between long Covid patients and their insurer.

In protected areas of the internet, a shadowy network is growing. Online chat groups where young people incite sadistic violence. Vulnerable children are being abused and mistreated, sometimes driven to suicide. Zembla shows that the network has also reached the Netherlands. But who is behind it?

Fast food on every street corner, supermarkets full of processed food and candy machines in every canteen. Due to the enormous range of unhealthy food, many Dutch people continue to thrive. By 2050, more than 60 percent of the population will be too heavy, the RIVM expects. But stopping the obesity epidemic suddenly seems within reach due to a new generation of medicines. A weekly injection affects the endocrine balance of users. They feel satisfied more quickly, are barely hungry anymore and therefore eat less. We investigate the consequences of the slimming injection. Is it indeed as spectacular a breakthrough as it seems?

Healthcare workers, conductors, and customer service representatives: they all face intimidation, aggression, and violence on a daily basis. As a result, frontline workers are threatening to quit. For over fifteen years, politicians have been calling for "Hands off our healthcare workers." Perpetrators were supposed to be punished more severely and cases prioritized. Yet, aggression rates are historically high. At the Dutch Railways (NS), Rijnstate Hospital, and housing association Woonstad, the limit has been reached: violence there is now reaching disruptive levels. What impact is this aggression having? And how are employees and organizations coping with increasingly serious incidents?