Sign up to save your podcasts
Or
Share CO052 Lenore Skenazy on Child Hyper-Protection
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Or
CO052 Lenore Skenazy on Child Hyper-Protection
Lenore Skenazy is an author, columnist, and president and chief blogger at Let Grow, a non-profit dedicated to overthrowing overprotection. In our discussion I mentioned Risk by John Adams, an excellent book on the topic of risk and risk-aversion.
****************************
There’s something happening that you might not have noticed in the news. What’s happening is MBS. If you don’t know what MBS is, then listen up.
First, a little history. Saudi Arabia, as we know it, came into being in the 1930s, the oil business there started in earnest in the 1940s, and by the 1970s it had become the largest oil producer in the world. In 1973 they led the oil boycott in protest against the West’s support for Israel.
To say that Saudi Arabia is conservative doesn’t begin to describe it. Music is banned. Dancing is banned. Cinema is banned. I don’t mean that some films are banned from cinemas. I mean that there are no cinemas at all. They are totally illegal.
Up to recently, it was illegal for women to drive. It’s still illegal for them to go almost anywhere without their father, husband or son chaperoning them. Also, Saudi Arabia is an absolute monarchy. There is no pretence of democracy whatsoever. The king’s word is, literally, law. And the kings are old. For the whole of this century, there has been no king aged under 80.
Actually, that’s not quite true, the current King, Salman, was a few months short of his eightieth birthday when he came to power almost three years ago. And how kings come to power is another matter. Islamic law allows a man to have up to four wives. But that’s four wives at a time. In reality, these rich and powerful men have a conveyor belt of wives, with a one-in-one-out system meaning that they are never married to more than four of them at any given time.
This means that there are hugely complex families with sons – girls don’t count for much here – with dozens of sons, nephews, half brothers all competing in the game of thrones for the succession. Usually an uneasy peace is kept. Usually. In 1975,
View all episodes
By William CampbellLenore Skenazy is an author, columnist, and president and chief blogger at Let Grow, a non-profit dedicated to overthrowing overprotection. In our discussion I mentioned Risk by John Adams, an excellent book on the topic of risk and risk-aversion.
****************************
There’s something happening that you might not have noticed in the news. What’s happening is MBS. If you don’t know what MBS is, then listen up.
First, a little history. Saudi Arabia, as we know it, came into being in the 1930s, the oil business there started in earnest in the 1940s, and by the 1970s it had become the largest oil producer in the world. In 1973 they led the oil boycott in protest against the West’s support for Israel.
To say that Saudi Arabia is conservative doesn’t begin to describe it. Music is banned. Dancing is banned. Cinema is banned. I don’t mean that some films are banned from cinemas. I mean that there are no cinemas at all. They are totally illegal.
Up to recently, it was illegal for women to drive. It’s still illegal for them to go almost anywhere without their father, husband or son chaperoning them. Also, Saudi Arabia is an absolute monarchy. There is no pretence of democracy whatsoever. The king’s word is, literally, law. And the kings are old. For the whole of this century, there has been no king aged under 80.
Actually, that’s not quite true, the current King, Salman, was a few months short of his eightieth birthday when he came to power almost three years ago. And how kings come to power is another matter. Islamic law allows a man to have up to four wives. But that’s four wives at a time. In reality, these rich and powerful men have a conveyor belt of wives, with a one-in-one-out system meaning that they are never married to more than four of them at any given time.
This means that there are hugely complex families with sons – girls don’t count for much here – with dozens of sons, nephews, half brothers all competing in the game of thrones for the succession. Usually an uneasy peace is kept. Usually. In 1975,