On the ground the latest Gaza war has caused untold human carnage and massive damage to buildings and infrastructure.  It has also severely damaged the reputation of the United States in the region as well as negatively impacted US company brands. Stefanie Hausheer Ali, senior director at international affairs consulting firm Rice, Hadley, Gates & Manuel LLC and Atlantic Council nonresident fellow joins host Richard Wilson on The 966 for a deeply informative Episode #132 in which she...

Show Notes The 966, episode #131, with Reiting Lee, Founder of The Oriental Hybrid, explores the impact of the growing participation in sports and healthy activities in Saudi Arabia on the fashion industry, particularly sportswear and athleisure.  Reiting Lee is deeply involved in the youth, sportswear and streetwear fashion sectors in Saudi Arabia and the region and is the dynamic founder of The Oriental Hybrid, a boutique consulting firm specializing in innovation strategy and intercultural...

Saeed Al-Ansari, Founder and CEO of Tawaref, a Saudi Arabia-based tech investment community that also provides startup advisory, legal consultancy and due diligence support joins Richard Wilson on The 966 to discuss what is needed to establish a business in Saudi Arabia.  Saeed and Tawaref bring an extraordinary amount of experience to this challenge. In addition, Tawaref has published a series of invaluable articles in Wamda, a well-known platform, media site and venture capital firm, on how...

Saudi cinema re-opened six years ago in April 2018 after a 35-year hiatus. The sector has exploded with revenue during that period close to $1b, over 61 million tickets sold, 1,971 films screened including 45 local productions. Saudi-based director, producer and actor Todd Albert Nims joins The 966 to discuss the origins of the Saudi film sector, how it has transformed and what remains to be done.  In addition to the recent 10th showing of the Saudi Film Festival, Todd examines other ongoing...

William Greene, MD, Chief Investment Officer (CIO) of the Hevolution Foundation, joins The 966 to talk about Hevolution's investment strategy and role as an investor in the emerging field of Healthspan Science. As CIO, Dr. Greene oversees all aspects of Hevolution Foundation’s investment strategy, planning, analysis, and execution. The Hevolution Foundation, based in Riyadh, is a non-profit organization that provides grants and early-stage investments to incentivize research and...

U.S. Ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Michael Ratney joins The 966 to talk diplomacy and U.S.-Saudi relations.  In recent years, he was the Acting Deputy Director of the U.S. Department of State’s training center, the Foreign Service Institute, where he had also been Dean of the State Department’s School of Language Studies.  He was Chargé d’Affaires at the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem in 2021, and earlier served on the faculty of the National Defense University. Ambassador Ratney was...

What is the state of the Saudi labor market today? How do Saudis find jobs, and how are young Saudis viewing their prospects in a changing and modernizing Saudi economy and society? Saudi labor market expert Dr. Hanaa Almoaibed talks with Lucien Zeigler about Saudi Arabia's changing labor force, the job market in the Kingdom, youth and employment, the embrace of technical and vocational training, women in the workforce, and so much more. Before the conversation, Lucien's One Big Thing is...

In Episode 125, the hosts welcome veteran columnist and analyst Hussein Ibish onto The 966 for his third appearance on the program to unpack the implications of Israel's brutal war in Gaza and the shifting regional and global power dynamics since October 7th.  Hussein Ibish is a senior resident scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington and is a weekly columnist for The National (UAE) and The Atlantic. He's also a former columnist for Bloomberg, regular contributor to The New...

Abdullah Alshamrani, General Manager of the Digital Entrepreneurship Center at Saudi Arabia’s MCIT join The 966 to talk ecosystem development in the Kingdom, the entrepreneurship scene, and the Kingdom as a future destination for tech. The conversation comes as the Kingdom's flagship tech event, LEAP, is set to kick off in Riyadh in March. He also shares his journey to becoming General Manager of Digital Entrepreneurship Center at Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, his...

The boys are back for their normal format and catch up on just some of the seemingly endless new developments and storylines emerging from Saudi Arabia of late.  Lucien's "One Big Thing" this week is a first person perspective on living in Riyadh with his family during Riyadh Season, and all of the events, activities and other things to do in the Kingdom that make for an amazing experience for citizens and expats alike. Lucien notes that he's tried to attend every event possible, from sports...

Waleed Abdel-Fattah, President of the MENA Region at Hill International, joins The 966 to talk about Saudi Arabia’s building boom and Hill’s traction in KSA since entering the market to help build out what is now known as KAFD. Hill has 100 offices across 42 countries, and its main geographical areas are the US, Europe and the North Africa/Middle East region. Hill has worked on developments like King Salman Park, Jabal Omar development in Makkah, the Riyadh Metro, and others.

Lucien Zeigler sits down with an exclusive conversation with Jerry Todd, Head of the National Development Division at the Public Investment Fund (PIF) of Saudi Arabia, in a new format and program called 966 Live, recorded at PIF studios in a fireside chat style of engagement. Jerry Todd, who is also on the PIF’s Management Investment Committee, speaks with Lucien about a range of topics related to the PIF’s investment in key sectors in the local economy, human capital in Saudi Arabia, the...

In episode 120, The 966 once again has on offer a menu of excellence discussing some of the most important topics happening in Saudi Arabia this week -- a tough decision for the editorial team as Saudi Arabia continues to create headlines as it marches forward with economic and social reforms.  5:55 - Richard's One Big Thing this week is Saudi Arabia's Arab Peace Initiative and the status of Saudi diplomacy vis-a-vis the ongoing Israeli invasion of Gaza. 5 countries are working on a path to...

In Episode 119, The 966 hosts Lucien and Richard discuss a variety of topics and some of the latest news and developments on Saudi Arabia. First, the hosts discuss Richard's One Big Thing, an update on the Saudi Pro League and the latest news and developments for football in Saudi Arabia heading into key portion of season. The hosts discuss some developments with PIF's investments into the sport and the planned upcoming match between Ronaldo and Messi in the Kingdom. Next, the hosts discuss...

The 966 speaks with Rayan Alyusufi, a young Saudi researcher in public diplomacy and international communication to discuss the Kingdom’s public diplomacy, "sharp power," and evolution of Saudi as an emerging diplomatic player. Rayan is a PHD Candidate at Bournemouth University in the United Kingdom. Recently, Rayan wrote a blog post entitled "The Transformation of Saudi Arabia’s Public Diplomacy" for the University of Southern California’s Center for Public Diplomacy website that discussed...

The 966 hosts kick off the new year after a refreshing holiday break following a successful year for the podcast in which the growth of the audience more than doubled across all platforms, and in some cases, grew significantly more than that! The team thanks all of its listeners and viewers for tuning in each week. First, the hosts discuss Richard's One Big Thing, the Dakar Rally, which is set to take place again this year across Saudi Arabia. The race has moved to the Kingdom and began...

The 966 speaks with Princess Mashael bint Saud Al Shalan and Princess Noura bint Turki Al Saud, co-founders of AEON Collective based in Riyadh, to discuss the recently-concluded COP28 meetings in the UAE earlier this month and where the world stands in the fight to combat climate change and transition away from fossil fuels.  The two princesses, as part of AEON, played a leading role in support of the Kingdom's Net-Zero targets under the Saudi Green Initiative and the Circular Carbon Economy...

There's so much that has happened in Saudi Arabia since The 966's last full, normal-format episode. The hosts are back in their normal seats and with a special guest, Dr. Basma Al-Buhairan, Managing Director for the Center for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (C4IR), who joins The 966 to talk about tech adoption and the Center's role in enabling Vision 2030's success.  Before the conversation, the hosts discuss some key projects for Vision 2030 being delayed, as reported in Bloomberg, and why...

The 966 Podcast features a special episode this week for episode 114 with an exclusive, live duo of conversations, first with HRH Dr. Haya Bint Khaled Bin Bandar Al-Saud, Vice President of Organizational Strategy and Development for the Hevolution Foundation, and then with Hevolution's CEO, Dr. Mehmood Khan. Lucien and Richard recorded conversations with top Hevolution officials after the launch of Hevolution's "Global Healthspan Summit" in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The event was the...

Amit Sharma, CEO and Founder of FinClusive Capital, a hybrid fin-/reg-tech company based in the United States, joins The 966 to talk digital banking, fintech and more. Finclusive, headquartered in New York, New York, is a global compliance, digital identity and payments platform for a new era of financial services. The 966 talks about the sector, FinClusive's approach to streamline services for clients, and the rise of the sector in Saudi Arabia. 

The 966 speaks with Dr. Mehmood Khan, CEO of Saudi Arabia’s Hevolution Foundation, a global non-profit revolutionizing the healthspan field launched by Royal Decree and chaired by HRH the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Dr. Khan shares his journey, Hevolution’s vision and insights into how he is working to build the organization’s operations from the ground up. The 966’s conversation with Dr. Khan takes place ahead of Hevolution’s inaugural Global Healthspan Summit on Nov. 29-30 in Riyadh,...

Tim Callen, ex-IMF Mission Chief to Saudi Arabia and Visiting Fellow at AGSIW, joins The 966 to discuss Saudi Arabia’s budget, government spending, and more. Tim's most recent piece for AGSIW discusses how increased spending in Saudi Arabia raises risks to the Saudi budget. The hosts take advantage of Tim's extensive experience and vast knowledge on how Saudi Arabia's budgeting and fiscal policy works. At the IMF, he was responsible for engagement with the government of Saudi Arabia and for...

In Episode 110, Maria Medvedeva, Vice President, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain for MasterCard joins to discuss the company’s KSA strategy, fintech, payments, innovation, and her experiences living and working in a changing and evolving Saudi Arabia. Maria, based in Riyadh with her family, is responsible for Mastercard's growth strategy and delivering innovative payment experiences for consumers and merchants. Before the discussion with Maria, the hosts discuss Richard’s One Big Thing, which is...

Chances are if you’ve seen any of the high-quality, professionally-produced promotional videos from Saudi government authorities or leading Saudi companies anywhere online, you've seen some incredible drone footage of Saudi Arabia. The 966 welcomes on to the program for Episode 109 Mohammed Ghazi and Abdulhadi Azouz from the aerial drone production company AZAerials, which films many of these amazing shots for high-profile public and private sector entities including the Ministry of Tourism,...