Philanthropy is prime time TV material?

Oprah has a new show that is coming out on abc (Oprah’s Big Giveaway) where she sends out 10 ordinary people across the US with a load of cash that they have to give away. Every week, the public vote off the person that the viewers perceive to be the least philanthropic.

So, is philanthropy the new trendy thing in the US? Or is it genuine?

Doctor Brilliant

clipped from www.guardian.co.uk He helped beat smallpox and saved 3m people’s sight. Now the first techno-philanthropist has an even more ambitious task. Spending $2bn of Google’s money Larry Brilliant has a habit of solving big problems. As a doctor working for the World Health Organisation (WHO) in the late 1970s, he turned his energies towards one of the planet’s most destructive diseases: as a result, he is one of those credited with eradicating smallpox. These days Brilliant might be approaching retirement age, but he’s set himself some new challenges, among them lowering the cost of renewable energy, spotting pandemics before they happen and creating jobs in Africa. This time around, however, he’s not going it alone. In fact, he’s got the backing of one of the most powerful companies in the world. It is two years since Dr Brilliant took over Google’s philanthropic foundation, Google.org, and two weeks since the announcement of an ambitious slate of projects.