43. The Birth of Saudi Arabia

Who were the Italian sailors who stole the bones of St Nicolas from his church in Turkey in 1087? How was the mythology of St Nicolas combined with Germanic pagan stories of Odin riding a white horse accompanied by ravens? How did polar-mania and Coca Cola advertising transform D ...  Show more

The original Santa Claus, Saint Nicolas, was a real bishop from Myra in modern-day Turkey, whose tomb there was popular with pilgrims, but 700 years after his death, a group of sailors decided to steal his magic bones… What myth about St Nicolas first associated him with gift-giv ...  Show more

Have we no morals? We know that the Saudis created the monster that is Islamic terrorism, allegedly spending some $100 billion on exporting fanatical Wahhabism to other Muslim nations around the world. We know about the public beheadings and floggings, and the treatment of women ...  Show more

The New Arab Voice is back!For our fifth season, we're starting with a look at the recent upheaval witnessed in US-Saudi relations. Saudi Arabia sparked the ire of the US earlier in October, when it was announced that OPEC+ would be cutting oil production by 2 million barrels a d ...  Show more

The New Arab Voice is back for a new season!On our first episode of season four, we're exploring the recent diplomatic visits of Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MbS), and looking ahead to the upcoming visit by US President Joe Biden to the Gulf nation. Earlier in ...  Show more

In this episode, Tom and Helen explore Saudi Arabia - a place at once futuristic and authoritarian. From Aramco Oil to Cristiano Ronaldo, we discuss the ways in which the Kingdom in the Middle East is trying to take over the world, and how worried we should be. <hr>