The “1%” – the super elite who hold a disproportionate amount of global wealth – have been the subject of reality TV, protests, media speculation and best-selling books in recent years.

Private jets, multi-million-dollar apartments and cars worth the value of most people’s homes: these are the symbols we associate with them, but is there really a defining culture of the super rich?

And are the extremely wealthy to blame for growing inequality? Or do our own aspirations make us complicit in their dominance of politics and commerce?

Dallas Rogers speaks with Ilan Wiesel from the University of Melbourne and the City University of Hong Kong’s Ray Forrest about the impact the super rich have on our cities and culture.

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Additional audio

• CNBC: “Secret Lives of the Super Rich - Gil Dezer”

Music

• Audioblocks - frontiers-full-01.html">“New Frontiers”

• Audioblocks - rmx-60sa.html">“eCommerce (remix)”

• Free Music Archive - Ars Sonor, “The Spring Drone”

• Free Music Archive - Ars Sonor, “Runsten”

• Audioblocks – 99028.html">“Technology Circuits”

Dallas Rogers receives funding from the Community Broadcasting Foundation to produce short academic interviews for SoundMinds Radio (http://www.soundminds.com.au/author/dallas/). Segments of this interview were played on community radio in July 2016.