Brian Cox: How the Other Half Live on SBS – sees Brian Cox go on a personal quest as he explores our complicated relationship with money and wealth.
Throughout the programme he will tell his own story, from growing up in poverty to becoming a highly paid Hollywood actor, playing one of the richest and most bloodthirsty capitalists on TV. This is his mission to remove his fear of poverty and to untangle the knotty issue of money and happiness.
With his wry humour and intrepid curiosity, Brian rolls up his sleeves in a soup kitchen in the Bronx, mingles with supermodels on Miami Beach, and drops in on a billionaire in London’s most expensive house.
His blunt questioning and passionate anger exposes a world in which the richest one percent own half of the world’s wealth and the safety net for the poorest is being swept away on both sides of the Atlantic.
The series will shine a light on one of the most misunderstood and mysterious aspects of our everyday life – money.
Series One, Episode Two:
Brian Cox turns his lens on his adopted country, America. He wants to find out whether the American dream – that anyone can make it big if they work hard enough – is a myth or a reality. In Miami Brian meets Caroline, a highly successful ‘influencer’, who is posing for a photo shoot. Caroline is not just living the American dream – she’s selling it.
Brian worries that she may be promoting a fantasy that is out of reach for most Americans. Brian tells us how he came to America believing in it as the land of opportunity, but now he’s not so sure.
He is incensed to discover the difference in pay between typical CEOs in America and their workers, and meets labour activist, Chris Smalls, who has spearheaded a campaign to start a union at an Amazon warehouse on Staten Island, NY. Brian’s blunt questioning and passionate anger expose a world in which the richest one percent own half of the world’s wealth.
Brian Cox: How The Other Half Live – Final Episode – Wednesday, 3 May at 8.35pm on SBS and SBS on Demand (2 Parts)
TV Central SBS content HERE
