Newsweek April 15, 2022

IS MBS GOOD FOR SAUDI ARABIA? ▸ Is Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman a mad psychopath hoarding power? Or is he a strong leader who has excited Saudis about the direction he’s taking the kingdom? Amid recent tension between Riyadh and Washington, this episode uses a recent profile in The Atlantic as a lens to look at MBS and how both westerners and his countrymen feel about the Saudi leader. HOST ▸ Jason Greenblatt, former White House Middle East envoy IN THEIR WORDS ▸ “Even MBS’s critics concede that he has roused Saudi Arabia from an economic and social slumber.” THE LEISURE CLASS Dire Straits’ Jack Sonni chats with an eclectic group of creatives Good Vibes ▸ Organic farmer Jordan Celso muses about growing cannabis before it was legal—what he calls his “bag of grins.”…

“Companies that excel at personalization generate 40 percent more revenue from those activities.”▸ P.16 AS THE WAR IN UKRAINE ENTERS ITS SECOND month, Russian ally Armenia worries about a new front erupting on its own border with rival Azerbaijan as unrest builds between the South Caucasus neighbors. Like Russia and Ukraine, Armenia and Azerbaijan are two post-Soviet nations with a long history of deadly territorial disputes. Their most recent war erupted in September 2020 in the form of a bloody 44-day conflict focused on the region of Nagorno-Karabakh, where ethnic Armenians established a separatist state called the Artsakh Republic three decades ago on land recognized internationally as part of Azerbaijan. The latest all-out bout of hostilities in the century-long feud over this territory largely ended with an agreement that allowed Russian peacekeeping forces…

BRANDS ARE OFFERING MORE than just freebies and cash rewards to get customers to stay put these days. “Probably the biggest trend has been to go from a strict ‘buy this, get that’ to a more experiential, lifestyle kind of focus,” says Howard Schneider, who has worked in the brand loyalty space for over 20 years and helped pioneer programs at companies like Hilton Hotels and Neiman Marcus. Over 90 percent of companies now have some type of customer loyalty program, according to a recent Accenture report. The average U.S. house-hold is enrolled in 18 different loyalty programs. Some of those programs are hugely important to company bottom lines. Starbucks Rewards members, for instance, are now responsible for 53 percent of the dollars spent at the coffee chain. With so many offerings,…

EVERYWHERE YOU LOOK, PEOPLE are coming out from under their pandemic rocks. The masks are off, the bars are crowded, the kids are back in school. Even New York City, home to some of the most stringent mandates, no longer requires proof of vaccination in restaurants or masks in schools. On April 7, the Red Sox and the Yankees will square off on Opening Day in front of a potential crowd of 50,000-plus fans eager to cheer full-throated and (mostly) maskless into the breeze. Baseball fans aren’t the only ones eager to put the pandemic behind them. So, apparently, is Congress. Money for COVID-19 testing, vaccines and therapeutics is running out and new spending harder to find than Putin’s conscience. Leading the opposition is Senator Mitt Romney. “While we have supported…

AMERICANS HAVE BEEN SPENDING MUCH MORE time at home over the last couple of years. COVID-19 made our homes not only our accustomed refuges from the world—the places where we live, sleep, eat and relax with family and friends—but also our workplaces and classrooms. We are spending more time in our homes and we are spending more money on our homes. In 2020, for instance, average annual spending per U.S. household on lawn and garden supplies jumped to a record $155 from $120 in 2019. Last year, total U.S. home improvement sales, including building supplies, appliances and decor as well as the services of contractors and other tradespeople, reached $538 billion and is expected to hit $620 billion by 2025. To help consumers make smart decisions when spending on their homes,…

‘‘Snakes have been getting a bad rap’’Craig Robinson on his new series, Killing It, based on a real-life Florida snake hunt. ▸ P.48 Lasagna alla Bolognese BOLOGNA, ITALY Lasagna is the ultimate noodle—big, wide, noodle heaven. And this is our ultimate lasagna. With layers of tender noodles, silky rich extra umami-filled Bolognese sauce (thanks to our special secret ingredient, fish sauce), creamy besciamella and a generous amount of Parmigiano, this is baked noodle perfection. (See #7 on following spread) Adapted from THAT NOODLE LIFE by Mike and Stephanie Le, published by Workman Publishing © 2022. 01 Southwest Ramen TUCSON, ARIZONA This meal in a bowl is inspired by carne adovada, an ever-present stew in Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico. In this version, it’s a soup flavored with a base of smoked chiles and served with chewy ramen noodles…