In Episode 156 of Hidden Forces, Demetri Kofinas speaks with Wall Street Journal reporters Bradley Hope and Justin Scheck about their new book, “Blood & Oil” that chronicles the rise to power of Saudi Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman, a story full of multi-billion dollar business deals, high-powered finance, and political intrigue.

The first 15 minutes or so of their conversation deal with Bradley and Justin’s process for writing the book, their cultivation of leads, and how they went about fact-checking stories. The rest of the episode and the overtime focuses on Salman’s approach to statesmanship, his role and that of his family as “swing investors” in silicon valley, and what it means for the politics of the greater Middle East should he assume the throne.

You can access the episode overtime, as well as the transcript and rundown to this week’s episode through the Hidden Forces Patreon Page. All subscribers gain access to our overtime feed, which can be easily added to your favorite podcast application.

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Producer & Host: Demetri Kofinas

Editor & Engineer: Stylianos Nicolaou

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Episode Recorded on 09/11/2020

Bradley Hope is a financial reporter for The Wall Street Journal based in London. He is the New York Times bestselling coauthor of Billion Dollar Whale (optioned for film by SK Global) and covers finance and malfeasance for the Wall Street Journal. Before that he spent six years as a Middle East correspondent. Hope is a Pulitzer Prize finalist and Gerald Loeb Award winner.

Justin Scheck is a London-based reporter for the Wall Street Journal. He covers large European oil companies and other energy-related stories. Prior to covering energy, Justin wrote about crime, technology companies and animals in the Journal's San Francisco bureau. Before joining the Journal in 2007, he covered federal courts and plaintiff lawyers for a legal newspaper. He graduated from Bates College in Maine.