Pigeons and Princes
Hi there👋 . Building Blocks is a weekly roundup of content to prickle your mind. This post has video content, so I recommend reading it in your browser (by clicking the heading above) or the Substack app (iOS only).
Today’s stories in a nutshell:
🇸🇦 The most powerful man in the Middle East
📖 Marcus Aurelius
✈️ Investigating turbulence
🐦 Why are all urban areas riddled with pigeons?
🧩 Try a new game
🇸🇦 Geopolitics: The most powerful man in the Middle East and his vision for the future
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is the heart of the Middle East and, thanks to its riches in oil, is one of the world’s most influential countries. With his father suffering from ill health, the 32-year-old notorious Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) came to power in 2017 as Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler.
The young leader has been a champion for social and economic change, and his reign has been eventful. Since coming to power, he has muzzled the infamous religious police, reopened cinemas and expanded women’s rights, including lifting the ban on driving. Vision 2030 is MBS’s bold and elaborate plan to diversify the Saudi economy. The centrepiece of this plan is NEOM (aka The Line), a futuristic and sustainable city in a remote region on the kingdom’s northwest Red Sea coast.
The city will carve a 170km long line through the desert and mountains with zero cars, streets and carbon emissions.
Walkability will be the cornerstone of the insanely ambitious $500 bn project, with transportations services like cars and ultra-high-speed trains operating entirely underground.
NEOM also includes a sci-fi-like mountain ski resort in the desert called TROJENA, set for completion by 2026. A recent press release describes it as:
“The new year-round tourist destination will consist of a series of facilities such as the ski village, ultra-luxury family and wellness resorts, a wide range of retail stores and restaurants, in addition to sports activities, including a ski slope, watersports and mountain biking, as well as an interactive nature reserve.”
But there has been a dark undercurrent amidst this apparent progress in the Kingdom. In 2017, hundreds of Saudi Arabia’s most powerful people, such as princes (including MBS’s own family), business leaders, and senior officials were detained in Riyadh’s Ritz-Carlton hotel. Many were released only after forfeiting partial control of their businesses or paying billions of dollars. This apparent power grab by MBS was done under the guise of a “corruption crackdown”. According to the CIA, MBS was behind the murder and dismembering of the Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018. And although he has expanded women’s rights, his government has harshly dealt with women’s rights activists, with some being imprisoned and tortured. MBS’s uncle and cousin (the former crown prince) have also been jailed since March 2020, pending investigation for treason.
MBS seems to be a weird and unique mix of an Elon Musk-like visionary and a ruthless autocratic sociopath like Kim Jong-un. I’m curious to see how things in the region unfold.
Want to learn more?
A short video on MBS’s rise to power:
An in-depth look at NEOM:
A podcast discussion between Sam Harris and The Atlantic journalist Graeme Wood provides fascinating insights into MBS and his plans for the future.
📖 Life: Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
Marcus Aurelius was the Roman Emperor from AD 161 to 180. During this time, the most powerful man in the world recorded his thoughts and made notes as a source of guidance and advice to himself. These notes would collectively become known as Meditations.
We think that we live in a futuristic era unlike any other (heck, we are building sustainable cities in the desert with high-speed underground transportation networks), so it amazes me how the thoughts Aurelius grappled with 2000 years ago are equally relevant today. Here’s one of Aurelius’s meditations I’ve been pondering:
“The things you think about determine the quality of your mind. Your soul takes on the color of your thoughts.”
If you’re interested in more 2000-year-old wisdom, you can pick Meditations up here for only $1.
✈️ Science: What causes turbulence?
I’ve taken a bajillion flights in my life and experienced at least a bit of turbulence on each one. Until recently, I put on my seatbelt and sat through the bumpiness, not giving it much thought. But, considering that I’m a few kilometres in the air and that my life entirely depends on the pilot’s ability to handle the situation, it seemed worthwhile to understand the basics of what happens during turbulence. The video below by the Wall Street Journal answered all of my questions.
The more you know, the more interesting everyday occurrences become.
🐦 Nature: Why are there so many pigeons in cities?
Speaking of cities, have you ever wondered why almost every major city is riddled with pigeons?
Pigeons traded their natural habitat of cliffs with buildings and, unlike most birds, can build nests or make a meal out of pretty much anything. Added to this, they breed year-round, producing new offspring every six weeks. This short TED-Ed explores the history of pigeons and explains why they so are well adapted to urban living. Perhaps pigeons will also find a happy home in NEOM.
🧩 Weekend games
Test your vocabulary: Wordle or take the Mirriam-Webster quiz
Test your geography: Globle
Test your knowledge of maps: WorLdle
Guess the country based on its exports: Tradle
NEW: Try to identify 20 African countries on a map as quickly as possible: You don’t know Africa. I got stuck trying to point out Niger.