[Aired originally for premium patrons in Dec 2025]

Hope you enjoy this episode. I put a lot of work into listening to all these comedians and gathering clips. It’s a subject that feels very personal, because I grew up in Saudi Arabia and have been very disturbed by the successful whitewashing that MBS has been doing recently.

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Comedian Andy Kindler (from Bob’s Burgers) joins me for an in depth look at some of the excuses that were made by the comedians who went to perform at the Riyadh Comedy Festival.

Was this festival an indication of progress in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia or was it put on to create the illusion of progress?

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Featured Clips from: Chris Tucker, NBC News, Bill Maher, Louis CK, Tim Dillon, Aziz Ansari, Whitney Cummings, Bill Burr & Joe Rogan

Links:

A Saudi journalist tweeted against the government – and was executed for ‘high treason’: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jun/18/saudi-arabia-turki-al-jasser-executed

Producer/Animator receives prison sentence for Netflix Comedy series https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/04/world/middleeast/netflix-masameer-saudi-arabia-prison.html

Archived version of NYT article: https://archive.ph/QqSR8

Saudi cartoonist sentenced to 23 years https://apnews.com/article/saudi-arabia-cartoonist-sentenced-crackdown-0fbb4a3d9532a363ea6f014bdab53876

Human Rights Watch: Riyadh Comedy Festival Whitewashes Abuses https://www.hrw.org/news/2025/09/23/saudi-arabia-riyadh-comedy-festival-whitewashes-abuses

Human Rights Watch ‘Cannot Accept’ Donations From Aziz Ansari and Other Comedians Who Performed at Riyadh Comedy Festival https://variety.com/2025/tv/news/human-rights-watch-refuses-aziz-ansari-riyadh-donation-1236544862/

Tim Dillon Fired from Riyadh Comedy Festival https://www.billboard.com/pro/tim-dillon-fired-riyadh-comedy-festival-saudi-slavery/

Dave Chapelle says its easier to talk in Saudi Arabia than the US https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/dave-chappelle-saudi-arabia-free-speech-1235439890/

82% of Jewish Israelis Back Forcibly Expelling Gazans https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2025-05-28/ty-article-magazine/.premium/yes-to-transfer-82-of-jewish-israelis-back-expelling-gazans/00000197-12a4-df22-a9d7-9ef6af930000

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