"on saudi arabia, its people, past, religion, fault lines and future." listen in. >> karen elliott house, thomas lipman, that you for joining me. >> my pleasure. >> karen, you say saudi arabia to you is reminiscent of the soviet union in its dying decade. with one aged bureau leader leading to the next. you look at these kings, each of them over 80 years old. do you think it's that bad? >> i think it is equally stagnant. as the old soviet union was at that period of time. so it's not just the aging leadership. i think the country is quite ossified, the economy and the politics, there are none. but people are finding a voice, and i think they understand that the myth just as communist myth of we're better off than everyone else, russians figured out that wasn't true. i think the myth of we are the