Show Notes
Saudi Arabia is the largest country on the Arabian Peninsula, a sea of sand (95% of the country is desert) that holds 17% of the world’s petroleum reserves. Its cities encapsulate the country’s contradictions: ancient souks and ultra-modern skyscrapers, women veiled in abayas but also entering the workforce, petroleum refineries, and sparkling beach resorts. Cards on the table: Saudi Arabia has an abysmal track record on human rights, with women, LGBTQ+ communities, and journalists the target of discrimination and violence. Women are still legally classified as minors, with male relatives making significant decisions on their behalf. But in the last few years, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman — known as MBS — passed laws that lessened some restrictions with Saudi Arabia. And he’s invited the world in: His Vision 2030 plan opened Saudi Arabia to tourism. Road signs and menus now appear in English, Western credit cards are widely accepted, and you can even catch an Uber. In this episode, we dive into the changing norms in Saudi Arabia, talk about some of the amazing sights that are now open to the Western world, and discuss the ambitious Neom project: a ‘city of the future’ in the desert. Then we recommend five books that took us to Saudi Arabia on the page:
City Of Veils by Zoë Ferraris
MBS: The Rise to Power of Mohammed bin Salman by Ben Hubbard
Cardamom and Lime: Recipes from the Arabian Gulf by Sarah Al-Hamad
The Green Bicycle by Haifaa Al Mansour
Eight Months on Ghazzah Street by Hilary Mantel
For more on the books we recommend, plus the other cool stuff we talk about, visit show notes. Sign up for our free Substack to connect with us and other lovely readers who are curious about the world. Transcript of Saudi Arabia: Old Ways and New Directions (?) Do you enjoy our show? Do you want be friends with other (lovely) people who love books and travel? Please support our work on Patreon! Strong Sense of Place is an audience-funded endeavor, and we need your support to continue making this show. Get all the info you need right here. Thank you! Parts of the Strong Sense of Place podcast are produced in udio. Some effects are provided by soundly. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
More from Strong Sense of Place | Travel Through Books
South Korea sits at the easternmost edge of Asia and shares the Korean Peninsula with its stern northern neighbor. South Korea’s current geography was created by outsiders: The US and Soviet Union drew its borders after WWII. Although its 20th-century history is pretty grim, the modern country — dynamic, resilient, traditional, and fashionable — is not.
Michigan may be in the heart of the American Midwest, but it feels like a state with a coast. Its mitten-shaped peninsulas touch four of the five Great Lakes, and with around 11,000 inland lakes, too, you’re never more than a 10k from some kind of water.
Since 597, students have hauled books among the green lawns and Gothic stone buildings of the world’s oldest boarding school: The King’s School in Canterbury, England. Founded by St. Augustine — patron saint of theologians, printers, and brewers (!) — it’s educated hundreds of thousands of boys over the past 1400 years, including Shakespeare’s rival Christopher Marlowe and Legolas himself, actor Orlando Bloom.
Australia has a well-deserved reputation for being larger than life. It’s the only country in the world that covers an entire continent, and it’s home to hundreds of thousands of native animals and plants. (We’re looking at you, platypuses and koalas!)
Nestled between the North and Baltic Seas, just north of Germany, Denmark is one (excellent) place made up of lots of places: more than 400 islands, Greenland, the Jutland Peninsula (which, BTW, is so much fun to say: sounds like YOOT-lan), and the Faroe Islands (which are a 40-hour ferry ride away in the far North Atlantic).