Bald and Bankrupt
Benjamin Rich makes travel films built around street conversations, local journeys and everyday life, with a long-running interest in the former Soviet Union.
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Benjamin’s happenings, collected from public sources, plus their backstory and Starbook, where fans write.
Known for
- BookThe Burning Edge: Travels Through Irradiated Belarus2018 · Author as Arthur Chichester
- I Visited Every Soviet Republic. Here’s My Rankings2026 · Creator and host
YouTube - 24 Hours In An Abandoned Soviet City2026 · Creator and host
YouTube - E-bookThe Youtube BlueprintTravel vlogging guide · Author
- Mr.Bald’s Language Learning BlueprintLanguage learning guide · Author
E-book
Overview
- Name
- Benjamin Rich, also known as Mr. Bald
- From
- Brighton, England
- Work
- Travel vlogger and author
- Started
- 2018, with videos filmed in India
- Breakout
- India travel videos in 2018 and a PewDiePie shoutout in 2019
- Travel milestone
- Completed filming in all 15 former Soviet republics in 2026
Mini bio
How it started.
Benjamin Rich began Bald and Bankrupt in 2018, aged 44, after years in work he disliked. His earliest videos came from India. In his Radio Prague interview, he explained that a failed business and bankruptcy helped push him into making the channel, and supplied half its name.
Finding an audience.
His India videos drew attention during 2018, including a visit to Dharavi in Mumbai. A 2019 mention from PewDiePie on the Cold Ones podcast brought another wave of interest. Travels through the former Soviet Union became a defining part of the channel.
The people along the way.
Rich told Radio Prague that his interest in the USSR began as a teenager around the fall of the Berlin Wall. Conversations with residents, invitations into homes and remnants of Soviet history became recurring subjects. In 2026, his Turkmenistan film completed his goal of filming in all 15 former Soviet republics.
Beyond the videos.
Writing is part of the story too. His 2018 book The Burning Edge, published as Arthur Chichester, follows travels through Belarus’s Chernobyl-affected borderlands. His official shop also offers The Youtube Blueprint, about building a travel channel, and Mr.Bald’s Language Learning Blueprint, sharing his approach to studying languages.
Creditschronological, newest first
Travel films
- 2026I Visited The Strangest Country On EarthCreator and host, Turkmenistan journey
- 2026I Visited Every Soviet Republic. Here’s My RankingsCreator and host
Books
- 2018The Burning Edge: Travels Through Irradiated BelarusAuthor, writing as Arthur Chichester
Quotes
My channel is not really about me, it is about the people I meetBenjamin Rich, Radio Prague International
Discussing filming conversations with strangers in a September 2020 interview. Source: https://english.radio.cz/prague-most-liveable-city-youtuber-bald-and-bankrupt-his-new-home-and-soviet-8691809
Trivia
- Arthur Chichester is the name on his Belarus travel book, The Burning Edge.
- He told Radio Prague he used to design cities with pen, paper and Lego when he was young.
- Turkmenistan was the final former Soviet republic he needed to film in to complete his channel’s original travel goal.
Find Benjamin
Follow the journeys on YouTube, catch updates on Instagram, or explore the books.
Are you Bald and Bankrupt?
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