Ep 1. Episode 1

Who Is America? is a political satire television series created by Sacha Baron Cohen. The first season premiered on Showtime in July 2018. In the first episode, titled "Episode 1," Cohen introduces several new characters he created to impersonate and haze prominent political figures in America, including Bernie Sanders, Ted Koppel, and Trent Lott.

The episode begins with a clip of Bernie Sanders talking about income inequality and the need to address it. Then, the show cuts to a character named Dr. Billy Wayne Ruddick Jr., Ph.D., who claims to be the founder and CEO of Truthbrary.org, a website dedicated to exposing fake news. Dr. Ruddick Jr. conducts a Skype interview with Bernie Sanders, in which he argues that the government should redistribute wealth by giving everyone a million dollars. The conversation quickly devolves into a series of absurd and nonsensical exchanges, with Dr. Ruddick Jr. asking Sanders to provide evidence that he is not a lizard.

The next segment of the episode features another new character, Erran Morad, an Israeli anti-terrorism expert. Morad interviews former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, and asks him about a proposed program that would arm American schoolchildren with guns. Lott offers his support for the idea, and even advocates for teaching young children how to use grenades. The conversation becomes uncomfortable and even disturbing as Lott seems to endorse the idea of arming children, prompting Morad to ask him to participate in a promotional video for the program. The end result is a cringe-worthy ad that looks like something out of a parody film.

The show then cuts to yet another character, Dr. Nira Cain-N'Degeocello, a liberal activist who is trying to teach an affluent Orange County family how to be more sustainable. Cain-N'Degeocello suggests that the family adopt a low-carbon lifestyle by eliminating meat from their diets completely. When the family members explain that they love to eat meat, Cain-N'Degeocello suggests they try "ethical cannibalism" instead - eating only animals that have died of natural causes or accidents. The family is thoroughly confused, but Cain-N'Degeocello remains patient and persistent in trying to convince them.

Finally, the episode concludes with a segment called "Kinderguardians," in which Erran Morad interviews a number of gun rights activists about a program that trains young children how to handle guns. The segment is a scathing indictment of America's gun culture, and the activists' responses are both ridiculous and horrifying. One woman suggests using puppies as body armor for the children, while another man suggests putting guns in the hands of toddlers.

Overall, "Episode 1" of Who Is America? is a biting and often uncomfortable satire of American politics and culture. It is sure to provoke strong reactions from viewers on both sides of the political spectrum.