Bald and Bankrupt

Rich's content has attracted coverage in various national media, particularly publications in the towns and regions he visits. New Delhi publication The New Learn reported on Rich's travels in India in January 2019. They praised his visits to refugee camps for Hindus in North Delhi stranded following the crisis in Pakistan, and described his videos as "introducing the world to an India that is real and authentic, where people still open up their lunch boxes to strangers, where tea is the beginning of lifelong associations, where trust means more than money and where there is vibrancy everywhere".

In June 2019, Rich was discussed in the Slovak press for his visit to Luník IX, which he described as "Europe's largest poor Roma neighborhood". The article describes how, despite warnings about the estate being among the most dangerous in Europe, he was welcomed by local people who spoke fluent English and invited him to their surprisingly modern and clean homes, which he described as "better than [his] apartment in Britain".

Swedish YouTube personality PewDiePie stated in a July 2019 podcast that Bald and Bankrupt is his favourite YouTube channel.

Afisha Daily journalist Lyubava Zaitseva wrote about Rich's interesting choice of Russian destinations in September 2019, stating that even its Russian readers had "not seen such Russia" and praising him for "trying to distance himself from tourist places" and showing cities "from the inside, communicating with local residents".

Following a November 2019 video filmed in Chechnya, Rich was criticised on the Radio Free Europe website Caucasus Realities for referring to a local woman as "chick" (цыпочками) and for laughing about sharing a train compartment with her. He apologised, stating that he now understands that his language was "not accepted here [...] it's not beautiful" but that he did not intend to offend Chechnya. Later that month, Russia Beyond named Rich's channel in its list of six YouTube vlogs "where foreigners show you real Russia". It noted his "openness to local people and unpredictability". That month, Hindustan Times reported on how he exposed scams against tourists in Delhi Airport, from inflated prices to rickshaw drivers and false claims.

On 12 April 2018, Rich released the book The Burning Edge: Travelling Through Irradiated Belarus, under the pen name Arthur Chichester, which describes his experiences travelling through the parts of Belarus affected by the Chernobyl disaster..

Rich joined YouTube under the username "bald and bankrupt" on 12 June 2018. His first video, uploaded that same day, was titled "I ♥ India's Policewomen". He predominantly films on a small Sony FDR X3000 and his smartphone. He is noted for aiming to "show the lives of real locals, away from the tourist spots and Starbucks coffee". Rich and his Youtube channel were featured in The Daily Express' June 2019 article "World War 3: The secret underground nuclear bunkers hiding below forest revealed".

Benjamin Rich (born 1 July 1974), better known by his YouTube channel name Bald and Bankrupt, is an English travel vlogger and author. He began his YouTube channel in June 2018, documenting the Indian subcontinent and the post-Soviet states. As of May 2020, his channel has more than 1.8 million subscribers and over 229 million total views.

Born in Brighton on 1 July 1974, Rich had a long history of travelling before his YouTube channel became popular. In March 1993, he went on a backpacking trip to India, flying into Delhi's Indira Gandhi Airport for what was supposed to be a one-month backpacking journey, but became so interested in Indian culture that he stayed there for four years and opened up a small hotel. He has expressed his admiration for the post-Soviet states. He has stated that his admiration started with an interest with Belarusian gymnast Svetlana Boginskaya during his adolescence, but it was during a two-month long stay in Moscow in 1993 that his interest in the place started, as he was there to witness the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis.