EPISODE · Oct 5, 2025 · 19 MIN
The Saudi Sell-Outs: Sportswashing and Cultural Laundering
from FUNK !T | Mindful Media & Communication · host Sascha Funk
From WWE and UFC mega-events to comedy festivals and Formula 1, Saudi Arabia is buying global attention to rebrand repression as spectacle. This episode unpacks media events, Debord’s spectacle, Gramsci’s hegemony, Said’s orientalism, and Bourdieu’s symbolic capital to show how authoritarianism launders its image with pyros, punchlines, and billion-dollar checks. Authoritarianism, now available in pay-per-view.
What this episode covers
From WWE and UFC mega-events to comedy festivals and Formula 1, Saudi Arabia is buying global attention to rebrand repression as spectacle. This episode unpacks media events, Debord’s spectacle, Gramsci’s hegemony, Said’s orientalism, and Bourdieu’s symbolic capital to show how authoritarianism launders its image with pyros, punchlines, and billion-dollar checks. Authoritarianism, now available in pay-per-view.
NOW PLAYING
The Saudi Sell-Outs: Sportswashing and Cultural Laundering
No transcript for this episode yet
Similar Episodes
Sep 29, 2023 ·76m
Sep 29, 2023 ·73m
Sep 29, 2023 ·72m
Sep 29, 2023 ·75m
Sep 29, 2023 ·75m
Sep 29, 2023 ·73m