What Would Happen If You Gave a Homeless Man $100,000?
Our American Stories
iHeartPodcasts
4.6 • 817 Ratings
🗓️ 27 April 2026
⏱️ 20 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On this episode of Our American Stories, on a city street in California, a man who had nothing discovered something unimaginable: a briefcase filled with $100,000 in cash. His name was Ted Rodrigue, and it was all part of a Showtime documentary experiment designed to answer a simple question: what would happen if a homeless man were suddenly given a second chance? At first, it looked like the beginning of a new life. With guidance available, including access to a financial advisor, the path forward seemed within reach.
But what followed was far more complicated.
Simon Whistler, from the Today I Found Out YouTube channel and its sister podcast, The Brain Food Show, shares the story.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is an I-Heart podcast. |
| 0:02.6 | Guaranteed Human. |
| 0:14.0 | This is Lee Habib, and this is Our American Stories. |
| 0:19.0 | What would a homeless person do if they were given $100,000? You to answer |
| 0:24.2 | that question is Simon Whistler from the Today I Found Out YouTube channel and its sister, |
| 0:30.6 | The Brain Food Show podcast. Let's take a listen. My name is Ted Rodriguez. I'm from Sacramento, |
| 0:37.4 | California, 45 years old. |
| 0:40.3 | I'm now homeless in Pasadena, California, and I reside under a bridge. |
| 0:45.3 | In 2005, a homeless man called Ted Rodriguez stumbled upon a briefcase filled with crisp $20 |
| 0:51.3 | and $50 bills totaling $100,000, which is about $123,000 |
| 0:57.0 | today. |
| 0:58.0 | Ted was then told by screenwriter Wayne Powers that the money was to keep and do with as he wished, |
| 1:02.4 | so long as he would allow a film crew to document the result. |
| 1:05.6 | Rodriguez, understandably, jumped at the opportunity, leading to a somewhat controversial |
| 1:09.8 | documentary, which was called Reversal |
| 1:11.7 | of Fortune. |
| 1:12.2 | I don't want much. |
| 1:14.8 | A little one-bedroom apartment, able to pay the rent. |
| 1:20.4 | A place to lay my head down and be safe, and a nice hot shower and everything. |
| 1:25.6 | Probably two or three times a day. That's all I want. |
| 1:29.3 | According to Powers, the genesis of this documentary stemmed from his time in LA, where he was |
| 1:34.3 | frequently asked to money by the homeless, prompting him to ponder, what would a homeless |
... |
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