Recode Decode: Ben Hubbard

Decoder with Nilay Patel

Vox Media Podcast Network

Technology, Business

4.3 • 3.2K Ratings

🗓️ 23 March 2020

⏱️ 57 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Ben Hubbard, the Beirut bureau chief for the New York Times, talks with Recode's Kara Swisher about his new book, MBS: The Rise to Power of Mohammed Bin Salman. Hubbard explains how he started writing about Saudi Arabia and its crown prince, MBS's unexpected rise to power, and the recent international incidents that have made him more notorious in the west: The murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi and the hacking of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos's phone. He also discusses the Saudi government's relationship with the Trump administration, how bin Salman has resisted political liberalization, and how he has used armies of bots on Twitter to distract critics online. Plus: Is there any meaningful dissent within Saudi Arabia that could unseat MBS? Featuring: Ben Hubbard (@nytben), author, MBS: The Rise to Power of Mohammed Bin Salman Host: Kara Swisher (@karaswisher), Recode co-founder and editor-at-large More to explore: On Reset, Arielle Duhaime-Ross explores why — and how — tech is changing everything. On Recode Media, Peter Kafka interviews business titans, journalists, comedians and podcasters about the collision of tech and media. On Pivot, Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway talk about the big tech news stories of the week, who's winning, who's failing, and what comes next. And on Land of the Giants, Jason Del Rey chronicled the rise of Amazon. Season 2 will focus on Netflix and is coming soon! About Recode by Vox: Recode by Vox helps you understand how tech is changing the world — and changing us. Follow Us: Newsletter: Recode Daily Twitter: @Recode and @voxdotcom Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	I'm Gideon Litchfield, I'm the editor-in-chief of Oired.
0:02.6	And I'm Lauren Good, I'm a senior writer at Wired.
0:05.2	We're making a new show.
0:06.5	Have a nice future.
0:09.0	I'm more have a nice future, question mark.
0:12.5	It's a show that is honest about how unsettling the future can be.
0:16.9	We're going to be bringing on the people shaping this future.
0:20.6	We're going to ask them about the big challenges we face, about the challenges they're creating,
0:24.9	and how they deal with living in perpetual uncertainty as we all do.
0:29.2	So make sure you follow Have a Nice Future, wherever you get your podcasts.
0:35.6	Hi, I'm Cara Swisher, editor-in-chief of ReCODE.
0:37.9	You may know me as someone who can't decide whether I'd rather go to Saudi Arabia
0:41.2	and antagonize the Crown Prince or spend the rest of my life with Peter Teal as my roommate.
0:45.8	But in my spare time, I'm just a reporter and you're listening to ReCODE Deco,
0:48.8	the podcast about power change and the people you need to know
0:51.6	were part of the Vox Media podcast network.
0:54.2	Joining us today from Lebanon is Ben Hubbard, the Bay Root Bureau Chief
0:58.2	for the New York Times.
0:59.5	He's also the author of a new book called MBS, The Rise to Power of Mohammed bin Salman.
1:04.5	MBS is, of course, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia
1:07.8	and has become a major investor in several global tech companies
1:10.9	through SoftBanks Vision Fund, including Uber.
	...

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