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Jan 2020
34m 27s

Who is Mohammad bin Salman?

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About this episode

How did Saudi Arabia get away with the brutal murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi, the kidnapping and alleged torture of Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri, and even 9/11? How does it get away with war in Yemen and human rights violations at home? Oil, and the wealth that oil has brought about. On the first international episode of Who Is, Sean Morrow explores the 34-year-old trillionaire in charge of Saudi Arabia, Mohammad bin Salman, and the story of a monarchy that is using its wealth to secure its global legitimacy--and expand its influence--through investments in Silicon Valley notables like Twitter, Uber, and Slack. Featuring Agnès Callamard, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Extra-Judicial Executions, who investigated Khashoggi’s 2018 killing.


  • Hala Aldosari, Robert E. Wilhelm Fellow at the MIT Center for International Studies
  • Agnès Callamard, United Nations Special Rapporteur on Extra-Judicial Executions and Director, Global Freedom of Expression, Columbia University
  • Steven A. Cook, Eni Enrico Mattei Senior Fellow for Middle East and Africa Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. His latest book is False Dawn: Protest, Democracy, and Violence in the New Middle East

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