Thomas Friedman has been the foreign affairs Op-Ed columnist for the New York Times since 1995. He’s also in the Western Golf Association Caddie Hall of Fame. He’s been to Saudi Arabia, and he’s been inside the ropes, caddying for Chi Chi Rodriguez in the 1970 U.S. Open. In short: He knows the Gulf, and he knows golf. Friedman joins the podcast and explains how the reality on the ground in Saudi Arabia is much more complex than what’s being reported in golf circles and why the LIV golf experiment thus far “has been a colossal failure as an effort to improve their image." He also discusses life as a golf diehard, including stories from his time as a member of both Seminole and Beirut Golf & Country Club, how golf has led to some juicy scoops in his Pulitzer Prize-winning career, and why politics should be kept off the course.

Ask this episode

“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.