Well There's Your Problem | Episode 54: Gulf State Vanity Projects

we kidnapped Séamus Malekafzali and held him hostage while we talked about the dumb shit rich saudis build
check out Séamus's substack: malekafzali.su...
patreon: / wtyppod
merch: www.solidarity...

[@MisterTTG]

my religion is pointing out other people have mosques, too. it's called wahhaboutism

[@acassiopeia6439]

Fuck that's good

[@deeznoots6241]

Nice

[@GreenEarth20]

well done :)

[@DED_MEEM]

Fukken lmao

[@kanalkucker14]

That's great 😂

[@strega1380]

the problem with podcasting is that you eventually you run out of other people's time

[@GoodStarfish]

Bullshit. Just sleep less. Amateurs.

[@ewetoo]

Nothing a good expresso can't fix, lightweight.

[@fernandomarques5166]

Passion fruit juice I summon thee!

[@tastycarburant]

what else am I supposed to do while writing SQL for money?

[@colonelgraff9198]

I’m waiting for Roz to show up with 300 slides, do the coveted 24 hour long episode about the Tacoma Narrows bridge, and need 4 bathroom breaks

[@ProjectThunderclaw]

I once lived in an apartment on top of a mall, and I cannot overstate how quickly it turns you into a minimum-wage Caligula. I used to go to McDonald's in my pyjamas.

[@ProjectThunderclaw]

Anyway like three days after I moved out the food court burnt to a crisp

[@eleSDSU]

@@ProjectThunderclaw So more of a Nero than a Caligula?

[@jcforge]

Logan's Run Carousel Renewal?

[@jonathantan2469]

@@eleSDSU Even better if the 'Little Caesars' burned down...

[@thewhatshouldmynameb]

i spent lockdown living across the road from a mall... many unwise decisions were made

[@huntermorgan4201]

Despite the many complaints about the length of this episode, it's one of my comfort re-watches. When I want a slow-moving, non-gory disaster, lots of absurdity, funny pictures, great quips, and I have a lot of time to fill, this is one I come back to

[@loaf8506]

it is an all timer for sure

[@RatchetSly]

It's this episode, the Atmospheric Railway, and Lake Peigneur for those criteria.

[@huntermorgan4201]

@@RatchetSly Absolutely. I guess Atmospheric Railway's a bit gory toward the end, but not in a scary way.

[@arandomlostsoul753]

I agree, it is a fantastic episode. Probably my favourite, in fact.

[@theautisticguitarist7560]

For me it's the salad oil episode. Tino DiAngelis did nothing wrong.

[@birkobird]

I live near the largest mosque in Australia, and I had the opportunity to ask the imam about his opinion of the development happening in and around Mecca. I know enough Arabic swearing from school to know that he wanted something bad to happen to the family line of the Saudi monarchy.

[@SofaKingShit]

Ask him what the island named "Jebel Ali" means. You probably won't do that so I'll tell you right now Jebel means mountain. Ali means "elevated". You can't make this shit up. Regards from an Aussie immigrant in Morocco on an actual mountain.

[@matthewbadley5063]

I'd be upset too if that was my holy site. I mean, ffs can you imagine if Isreal tried this in Jerusalem? Talk about the international shit storm to end shit storms.

[@rubywest5166]

@@matthewbadley5063 I'd almost want that to be proposed, just so "I'm definitely a centrist and I'm definitely not arguing against left wing people in bad faith" types can have a massive stinking in your face demonstration that Israel =/= Judaism

[@falloutghoul1]

@@matthewbadley5063 That's what will cause Armageddon. Not the second coming of Christ, but fucking strip malls at holy sites.

[@teslashark]

@@falloutghoul1 Fuck, take Chinese megastructure mall-office compounds.

[@albertovillaescusarico9456]

What's classy when you're rich but trashy if you're poor? Not having plumbing.

[@eminatorstudios]

gonna argue that it's always trashy. I recently found out that as a remnant of the caste society in india nobody wants to work in plumbing so all the people just use big sewage pits and the richer you are the bigger your pit so you can ignore the issue longer.

[@davidbasset7557]

@@eminatorstudios that’s bs, India has some very competitive waste management companies doing business all over the global south. It’s their shit government that’s the problem

[@eminatorstudios]

@@davidbasset7557 well I'm glad to be wrong then

[@johannageisel5390]

Versailles also had no plumbing.

[@FakeSchrodingersCat]

@Aditya Chavarkar Even before that it was not really used as a residence after the revolution beyond Napoleon staying there a couple of months and was converted into a museum in the 1830s. Even after monarchy was restored it was considered to tied to the excesses of the pre revolutionary nobility in the minds of the population for the king to live there.

[@WynnofThule]

A Muslim trans girl from Birmingham...Alice is literally everything the Tories fear in one person and I'm here for that.

[@tayt_]

She’s a Marxist too though! We mustn’t forget the most ookiest-spookiest quality!

[@user-dr3dp9zo6f]

Average conservatives' sleep paralysis demon.

[@cfredrics]

Nothing but respect for /MY/ Queen of England

[@mimisezlol]

She also lives in Glasgow

[@venus_de_lmao]

​@mimisezlol she is the opposite of Margaret Thatcher in all the ways that matter

[@amara139]

Dubai is Cities Skylines with all the wrong mods. Infinite money. And no sewage. Great work as always.

[@kanalkucker14]

Yes, so fitting 😂

[@DiamondKingStudios]

They saw _Cities: Skylines_ gameplay from _RTGame_ and took it way too seriously.

[@wta1518]

No, this is in no way at all comparable to Cities: Skylines. There's no poop waterfall providing the city with power.

[@Youtuber69428]

​@@wta1518 I'm sorry, what

[@zyavoosvawleilte1308]

We have a saying in spain that goes like: "When a door closes a window opens" It is very appliable to Santiago Calatrava´s buildings

[@semirrahge]

REKT

[@maybemablemaples2144]

Hello 911 I'd like to report a murder

[@ProletariatPrince]

Tfw you slam the bedroom door and the front door pops open because you forgot to lock it

[@waitingtocompile]

Fun fact: my family are technically beneficiaries of a lesser known gulf state vanity project. My great grandad was an artist who painted a lot of semi well known peices in the first and second world war, and most notably was a close friend of Lawrence of Arabia, creating the illustrations for his book. He died a couple of years ago, and a lot of his old art that nobody wanted to buy we still had lying around. Enter, an attempt to build a Lawrence of Arabia museum in some tiny town in the middle of the desert that some member of the Saudi royal family decided to "modernize", that Lawrence happened to stay in for a few months. So, out of the blue while my dad is agonizing over what do with the metric fuckload of art that is sat in a shipping container, an honest to god saudi prince contacts him and next thing you know we're given a... silly amount of money directly out of some saudi sovreign wealth fund to buy the origional illustrations for Seven Pillars of wisdom and a bust of Lawrence.

[@RsRj-qd2cg]

I think the same guy emailed me asking about my credit card number.

[@falloutghoul1]

I have a feeling some of that money might be laundered.

[@FadedEbony]

Can I borrow $20 plz

[@Sir.Craze-]

How silly...?

[@xmlthegreat]

Hey buddy, whatcha doin... So can I borrow like 50 bucks?

[@AaronMk91]

"Chapo Trap House of Saud" Holy shit send this to Felix

[@jacksonduruy4303]

Felix is already in the House of Saud. Send it to Amber.

[@ShuRugal]

"An Oil company with a vestigal state attached to it" - I have never heard a better description of Saudi Arabia

[@DuckofaPato]

it's called the recycling bin 'cause the files still exist on your hard drive, their space is just re-used and overwritten i love you

[@connorhoyle2926]

Legit i did not know that.

[@martinn.6082]

@@connorhoyle2926 that's why some data may be recovered if you delete files. And it's also why you should overwrite all data with 0s before you sell your hard drive.

[@katiefrisk980]

actually i think its called the recycling bin because apple sued over copyright infringement

[@N00N01]

Better hire a person for draging them into the bin itself,another one to click the button,another person to open the bin,another person to hold the bin open,and 3 persons in different control centers to oversee the operation,of wich all three have don't have the power alone to stop if somthing goes wrong.

[@2sudonim]

@@katiefrisk980 Not Apple. It was IBM or AT&T or whoever it was that owned the rights to Unix.

[@bendearing3669]

All is right in the world: episodes are back to 3 hours, see Liam's back on minimum audio spec to save those 46TB. Deactivate windows and we're all set.

[@ShutItKyle]

Reject modernity. Embrace tradition.

[@SkywalkerWroc]

Now with chips from COVID vaccines, one does not simply deactivate Windows.

[@benoitbvg2888]

@@SkywalkerWroc My grandma got the vaccine and all of a sudden she wants an Xbox5 even though she doesn't know what it is.

[@SkywalkerWroc]

@@benoitbvg2888 :D :D :D

[@jamiekamihachi3135]

We just needed Alice to make a joke and then Justin tells her that it actually happened that way.

[@oscarsantana9983]

I like the bleep that didn't really bleep anything Liam said would be bleeped lol.

[@uilsoum875]

you cant silence the Liam!

[@N00N01]

Aaand the lambs

[@evamiller4886]

If I recall correctly the “no non-Muslims” in Mecca rule is part of why the tower crane collapsed. They were doing so much construction at once that they ran out of tower cranes in Mecca and needed to buy one from some European company. They imported it in pieces and then turned down the help of engineers from said company because none of them were Muslim so they weren’t allowed in. They set it up based on the instructions instead and didn’t anchor it properly, which is what led to it collapsing. I guess it also shows that with so much construction going on at once a lot of it probably isn’t receiving proper oversight and regulation. I wouldn’t be surprised if that causes more problems down the line

[@RsConqueror]

I'm going to send a swat team to free Séamus who's clearly being held against his will, but first I need to have all the agents baptized with temporary engineering degrees.

[@colonelgraff9198]

As long as they get their proper engineering seals you should be set. Play-by-play plan to free Seamus: 0: Wear the Mothman costume and show up at the podcast 1: Coax Roz away from Seamus with a beer 2: Tell Liam that some guy dissed Alice and they’re down the street, Liam will run after them 3: Swap Liams microphone with one made this century 4: Bust Seamus out of the podcasting booth (he’s probably locked in, just watch a few lockpickinglawyer vids beforehand to pick the locks) 5: On your way out steal Roz’s script for the Tacoma Narrows episode, I hear it’s over 5,000 pages long. Post it on the internet.

[@eleSDSU]

@@colonelgraff9198 Ok, steps 3 and 5 failed miserably, there was no microphone, Liam just screams and we are hearing him through Roz's mic; the TNB episode script on the other hand was there, so much, so many, so there...

[@scarylion1roar]

@@eleSDSU we have step 5! go! go! go!

[@nickkennedy9034]

have them sign off on a five-over-one

[@civishamburgum1234]

Dubai is kind of the Cities:Skyliners dream, in that it is 90% High way interchange.

[@brentdalebroux2821]

And 1% of it is devoted to the Poop Convoy.

[@arthropodqueen]

"oh no my roads are congested, time to demolish some more houses anda dd some more highways!" --Me

[@doylethelovely2555]

Those are some pretty low specs for I city skyline city to be 90% road come on most cities of the beginners are pushing like 98.5. True pros 100% of the city is just roads.

[@ebnertra0004]

90% massive roads? So Dubai is just the Middle Eastern version of America?

[@MrJstorm4]

​@@doylethelovely2555just build the houses on the roads like the old London bridge

[@Tundramonkey5]

That stupid line city was literally just brought up by one of my college professors as an example of innovative urban design

[@joinedupjon]

I guess you're going to have to get used to it if you're working in that industry cos it's going to be the way of the future... insanely rich people trying to outdo each other with insanely stupid megaprojects.

[@SkywalkerWroc]

Chill, I work with people who all think that the Hyperloop is the best mass-transport invention ever, and all European trains should preferably be replaced by the hyperloop. You're not the one who pulled the short straw.

[@justinokraski3796]

I think RTGame mentioned it too as them stealing his idea

[@TheRealE.B.]

You should always be skeptical of the practical experience of any person who teaches for a living instead of plying their trade in the real world, but I would assume that teaching architecture in particular attracts all of the worst members of the associated profession.

[@kjj26k]

@@justinokraski3796 I immediately thought of that too. Leaches off of his genius they are.

[@Raptor747]

I've known Dubai was an awful city for a long time, but I had no clue about some things, like the total lack of a sewage system (fucking HOW?!). However, I saw a video by a city planner (using Google Earth) showing how Dubai is even shittier than that. Even the suburbs are horribly designed; the residential buildings are all grouped up together, with none of the stores you'd want easy access to actually nearby at all. Dubai is the ultimate example of the incorrectness of "if you build it, they will come." It turns out, if you build something grandiose but shitty in a place with a shitty climate, it doesn't matter how much money you pump into ultra-luxury hotels, artisanal artificial islands, or empty skyscrapers--it won't become a self-sustaining city. Hell, each of the artificial city megaprojects are like this--you can't just build a city in the middle of a place where people have little reason to live and expect people to just come to your city to give it a purpose. You need to have actual reasons for people to want to live in your city. Spend hundreds of billions building a fancy looking city that imitates the major cities of the world, except without the people, industries, natural resources, government/institutions, and culture needed to make it an actual city. These places are boom towns except without a reason for the boom in the first place--it's oil extracted elsewhere that props these cities up. When the oil money stops flowing--or just cuts back--the magic goes away and the majestic facade of a major, modern city quickly decays in the face of reality. It's Ozymandias in the modern day.

[@bigmouthprick5852]

hey you're that doomsaying person on SV. weird.

[@ewetoo]

Ozymandias is right, just broken wreckage in the blowing sands.

[@fernandomarques5166]

As an architecture grad my teacher would often describe Dubai as "the most ranfom collection of architure without infrastructure in the history of sand and sand doesnt have a very long history" BTW can you provide the urbanist reviewing Dubai? I wanna have good laugh.

[@teslashark]

"Welcome to Dubai, gentlemen" is required

[@soultrax101]

@@fernandomarques5166 I think the channel they're referring to is Michael Beach. He talks about a bunch of other cities as well. Pretty entertaining stuff

[@Squeejee09]

"Hi, my name is Muhammad Bin Salman and this is Jackass" made me laugh hard enough my neighbor texted me to tell me to stop, lol

[@memomorph5375]

Those might be the last words Jamal Kashoggi heard... Poor fella’s family won’t get justice

[@peter_smyth]

But is your neighbour Osama bin Laden?

[@imacds]

I was expecting this and I still almost died.

[@tompain9735]

“Yo I’m MBS yo and this is profaning the sacred for fun and profit” *kickflips off clock tower* *grinds the Kaaba*

[@tompain9735]

@@memomorph5375 imagine the last words you hear MBS speaking in a *shudders* Delco accent

[@TheWoodstock2009]

holy shit that "tall skyscraper=indicator of massive economic crash" is so next level

[@oskoldir]

Oh God, of course you somehow watch WTYP Woodstock

[@ArcturusOTE]

Guess Walt Williams and the Spec Ops The Line devs managed to implement that idea

[@heheheiamasuperstarcatgirl8485]

The state of Oklahoma wants to build a skyscraper to commemorate its statehood, at 1,907' tall, for no clear purpose what so ever. Hunker down fellas, line is running out of upward momentum

[@AllenSJ5]

2:12:37 The seizure of the Grand Mosque wasn’t carried out by Iranians - it was a bunch of Wahhabi fanatics who had at one point been students of powerful clerics in the Saudi religious establishment. Needless to say, the al-Saud don’t like mentioning that.

[@BaraBBones]

This episode really makes me anticipate the live show, where one and a half hours in people will realize that the doors have been locked and they can't leave. That's when Roz will lower the cube made of reinforced bulletproof glass over himself and a port-o-john that he somehow snuck onto the stage. The live show will then proceed for the next 8 hours.

[@WebsiteTourist]

The deep compassion in Alice's voice when she said "Russian pizza?" hit me hard

[@cfredrics]

Pretty sure I know that pizza place and it's quite good. You don't have a restaurant in NYC for over twenty years if you're making shit food.

[@shawnconway6009]

Things I learned from this podcast: Rocket? Fall down. Bridge? Fall down. Building? Fall down. Pyramid? Not fall down.

[@synthgal1090]

the bottom of a pyramid is big, that's why it doesn't fall down. therefore big bottoms = good

[@perhaps1094]

@@synthgal1090 based

[@ladywaffle2210]

​@@synthgal1090 Holy shit, "thicc thighs save lives" applies to buildings!

[@mercury4885]

remember: arches also fucking love staying up

[@mattfaustini]

I normally don't comment to avoid Liam's wrath but I'm dying laughing to his explanation of the "cabal" meeting for the laser. This is the content I live for.

[@mcamp9445]

Forbidden from multiple god rods. Lol

[@eminatorstudios]

idk how I wasn't expecting the Space laser to be mentioned but I'm glad it was.

[@justinokraski3796]

@@mcamp9445 they have to go retrieve it everytime it's used

[@Aquatarkus96]

@@justinokraski3796 Its a big pain in the ass too. Not because you have to find it; the crater in the earth makes that easy. You have to wait HOURS for that puppy to cool off enough to handle, then you have this massive beat up slug of tungsten you gotta load into a train car and send it off to get melted down and remade.

[@Saironi]

Eugene isnt in central Oregon

[@ebolapie]

"Getting scolded by Osama bin Laden for playing Reel Big Fish too loud" is an experience I never realized I'd be envious of, but here we are.

[@LeCharles07]

What if that was the moment Osama got fed up with western culture and decided to do something about it?

[@danielludwig647]

“Give us the orb” WTYP sounding like a bunch of dark sorcerers demanding a mystical MacGuffin

[@brentdalebroux2821]

Are they not, though?

[@heartache5742]

i have to go to hollywood to get me orb 8 days to hollywood 8 long daaays

[@kazmark_gl8652]

The Main reason I play Spec Ops: The Line is to see the entire City of Dubai destroyed by a sandstorm.

[@trashrabbit69]

KANE LIVES (to see bougie oil baron projects torn to shreds)

[@teslashark]

"Welcome to Dubai, gentlemen" is required

[@deeznoots6241]

Spec Ops: The Line is a documentary of what will happen when Dubai runs out of oil money

[@Hebdomad7]

Spec Ops: The line is a solid 11/10. Very Apoca-lips stick!

[@otherfireangel]

The bleep that didn't actually cover jack fuckin shit of what Liam said is my favorite part

[@ZanraiKid]

"It's a little bit bigger than King of Prussia Mall." This incredible joke is sadly lost on people outside of PA, especially eastern PA. Edit: SHIEK OF PRUSSIA. I'm fucking dead

[@baruta07]

As someone in Alberta I feel called out by the WestEd reference

[@maglorian]

honestly, for me living in Europe it is funny enough knowing that there's a King of Prussia Mall in the US. like, 'Congrats old Fritz, here's your legacy: a mall in Pennsylvania'.

[@ellenbryn]

I have to admit part of what's hooked me on this channel is all the obscure PA jokes. (Hark! Is that someone grousing about SEPTA? Finally, the song of my people!)

[@trunkafunk]

@@billgutheil1709 Phish did a little number on it

[@headfullofacid8088]

@@trunkafunk Wilson! King of Prussia! I lay this hate on you Wilson! Duke of Lizards! I beg it all trune for you

[@theryanbard]

Very proud of Liam for all the storage he has on his server, very disappointed in Roz for squandering all those hard drives

[@zakkart]

To add to that slave workers discussion. Gulf states basically have a "wage caste" system based on where you are from or how dark or white is your skin that applies all professions. White westerners get paid more than those from Africa or Asia doing the same job.

[@louisaugustexvi4515]

hm, only input being (from an african) we are probably working the low wage jobs with other migrant workers (construction labor etc), all the westerners and (mostly white) ones are probably working in these big fancy like finance and bullshit capitalist companies yk? i genuinely think it has everything to do with the fact most ppl doing the low paying slave labor aren’t coming from suburbs of london or park avenue finance families lol

[@redbasher636]

I miss the additional bit of the title: WTYP, a podcast about engineering disasters which in and of itself is a disaster. Was always funny to hear

[@mira-me5hs]

I like the "a podcast about engineering disasters, with slides" and just leaving the rest implied

[@deeznoots6241]

Miss the classic, ‘podcast-like content with slides’

[@trashrabbit69]

Not a disaster, a piece of Low-quality content with Podcast characteristics

[@OpreRoma]

It's a trifocal dialogue on the failures of architecture and planning, expressed with slides and sounds

[@redbasher636]

@@OpreRoma Lol

[@forestine_]

West Edmonton Mall has a rollercoaster inside. In 1986, it derailed and killed three people.

[@teslashark]

That mall in Calgary with a set of tiny planes on the ceiling is scary enough, now a real rollercoaster?

[@forestine_]

@@teslashark Chinook Centre! I used to work there.

[@teslashark]

@@forestine_ That's a sight to remember!

[@jaggedlilthrills]

came here to say this mall is Very Big

[@peskypigeonx]

well that decapitated quickly

[@djmoon3566]

3 hours, this is gonna be good.

[@j6nix22]

Deeeelicio

[@jconley420]

Our trough runneth over

[@N00N01]

He owes us 3 hours since the last 2 were 1,5 hours :p

[@Azivegu]

I have a 6 hour video in my recommendations from Drachinifel xD

[@Hotrob_J]

Literally one of the reasons Canadian Oil lobbiests say they need government subsidies is "without them, all of Canada's boutique oil extraction operations would go under and thousands of jobs would be lost"

[@groundzero_-lm4md]

Yup. Oil sands are quite expensive to extract. Maybe having your entire currency built on oil is a bad idea.

[@Hotrob_J]

@@groundzero_-lm4md it's only about 8% of the Canadian economy! It's still too much, but it's way, way overblown.

[@aidanwarren4980]

@@Hotrob_J idk man, 8% of an economy is a CHUNK. For reference, in the US, the fall from the pre-crash peak in 2008 to the deepest part of the recession in 2009 was a mere 4% or so. Get rid of the Canadian oil market and deal a double Great Recession? I can see why they have such influence.

[@Max._Power]

and yet it ebbs and flows and jobs are lost constantly anyways, a former uncle of mine was a site manager who lost his job due to essentially downsizing (which is also why he's a former uncle, losing his job spiraled him downwards since he refused to work anywhere with a union because he hated them as a former member of management so he refused a railway job and ended up abusing my aunt) the oil sands should die if for no other reason than to make those smug fucks in alberta realise that their "great" economic success exists at the whims of opec.

[@joshuahadams]

@@aidanwarren4980a good portion of it is effectively bribing Alberta’s MLAs, too. They call it donations, but it’s donations the same way the DPRK is democratic.

[@manngaiho1012]

WTYP crew: Give us your money mike. Mike Bloomberg: For buying new gaming chairs for podcast? WTYP crew: Yes. *Actually advertises the podcast on the side off 333 Market Street in Harrisburg PA (and the Burj Khalifa for $50,001) like a boss P r o f i t ?

[@benoitbvg2888]

Personally, I'd rather we start a kickstarter and gather the 50k so we can display a giant penis or a Gorgoroth concert. Something like that.

[@eleSDSU]

@@benoitbvg2888 could we stream Prager U videos on it? That will start something awful, for sure.

[@aidanwarren4980]

@@eleSDSUplay one of the half-dozen PragerU videos about “why Islam isn’t a religion of peace” on the side of the Burj, watch Saudis drop support for Republican politicians immediately

[@AllenSJ5]

MBS is the “Dudes Rock” guy of Saudi Arabia

[@3dartxsi]

I think you mean the Chet Hanks of Saudi Arabia.

[@SyntheticParanoia]

My boi Muhammad Bone Saw

[@Gunni1972]

@@SyntheticParanoia Golden Bonesaw. going after Dodi Lafayettes relatives, and occasionally british princesses too.

[@lennartk6714]

Next stage of the Kaaba will just be putting it on a spinning platform so that you can circle it while standing still. Or Elon musk builds a loop around it.

[@viniciusdesouzamaia]

Put down the lathe man...

[@xmlthegreat]

Sir, step away from the lathe now!

[@henryfleischer404]

Now I'm wondering if there's a procedure for if the Kaaba is damaged or destroyed, as I imagined the spinning platform falling down.

[@captaindookey]

It needs a race track

[@lukeman9851]

Ancient aliens cranks: "How did all these disconnected groups independently discover *the pile*?"

[@joshuahadams]

Everything from a Inuk cairn hiding a cache of deer and fish jerky to the Great Pyramid of Giza are based on one principle, a triangle is a really good way to stack rocks so they don’t fall over.

[@BlarryOfficial]

Chapo Trap House of Saud must the the best bit in the illustrious history of bits. Love it.

[@ianking7511]

A few years ago I was visiting friends in Trondheim (I'm from the UK), and flying on to Estonia afterward. The flight left from Oslo, which led to us taking an overnight train down the entire spine of Norway. I have fond memories of riding a quiet, comfortable train through a long, snowy night, looking down on the lights of towns in mountain valleys. Norwegian rail infrastructure seemed pretty awesome to me.

[@dmrr7739]

If you want to increase throughput around the Kaaba, you could install roller coaster tracks that spiral around it seven times. People would load the trains on top of the minaret towers. You could have dual tracks so teams from each minaret could race each other. I estimate a total ride time of two minutes. Give it a slick name, like “Mohammed’s Cyclone.”

[@perciusmandate]

You know, during the dry season you could light the forests of Cali with a stern glare. Though you gotta appreciate the extra effort of using a multi-billion dollar space laser. But is it kosher?

[@mrboomward]

It’s powered by the blood of Christian children, so yes.

[@ZeketheZealot]

Dude. Two podcasts in like three days? Hell yes. I gotta catch previous episodes late more often

[@WarpedHorizon]

1:04:00 Many years ago, probably before one of the expansions, I remember seeing a model of the Mall of America inside the Mall of America. More malls need models of themself inside them.

[@grmpEqweer]

Do they have teeny-tiny models in the models?

[@philiproszak1678]

Kyoto station in Japan has an excellent model inside it. Best station in Japan.

[@peskypigeonx]

I love models so much, I remember seeing models in the Atlanta airport and the African History Museum in Washington D.C.

[@frozenchikin6321]

Lulled us into a false sense of security with two sub 2 hr episodes in a row, then BAM 3hrs

[@alfalafelstine1536]

Next episode better be 5 hours.

[@nicolescats2]

It's nice bonus for people who listened to the TF episode on Neom, and decided one hour of content wasn't enough.

[@uilsoum875]

Liam being an incredible representative of the jews once again

[@eleSDSU]

I have never felt so well represented.

[@1121494]

Sweet, looking forward to the upcoming Tacoma Narrows Bridge Episode.

[@ciceronincheese7195]

"Recycle bin future" Only ten seconds in and I'm having an out of body experience. Last night I told my roommate "it's a hell world, trash future," and he replied "I just hope we can make it at least a recycle future."

[@acassiopeia6439]

"We'll getcha" cracks me up every fucking time.

[@BoraHorzaGobuchul]

They should build a spiral train track around the Kaaba, and connect it to the subway. That would streamline the whole operation - you get on a train at the airport, whoosh to the cube, circle it seven times in the same train, and whoosh back to the airport. Also, it would look cool.

[@curiousteddie]

chapo trap house of saud is the funniest goddamn thing i've seen in my life

[@twothreebravo]

I want a Chapo Trap House of Saud ID card.

[@artstsym]

Used that as the background of my phone for about a year.

[@Azivegu]

I don't know why, but I lost my shit at the fact there is a Five Guys in mecca, near the Ka'aba. And that when I'm atheist in Europe

[@GreatgoatonFire]

"yes but this one is a bagel"

[@Orforio]

I once had a 4-hour layover at Dubai airport so I went through immigration, hopped on the metro, headed to the Dubai Mall station, walked like 20 minutes to get to the mall, walked another 20 minutes to get through the mall, stepped outside to look at the Burj Khalifa, and was immediately hit by a wall of 40C air at six in the fucking morning and was like "nope", headed back.

[@CatFish107]

What's all this then? I don't give you my hard grifted patreon obols to not deliver on your promise that this would be the tacoma narrows episode! You all lie to me like that 5 or 6 thousand more times, and I'm gonna be pissed.

[@CatFish107]

Phhhhhhheeew! Holy shit! I didn't realise just quite how gut bustingly funny Liam can be. The space laser bit just made my day. Thank you for the laughs.

[@ClaudiaNW]

They have finally done Tacoma Narrows! At the live show, which was unlocked on Christmas Day

[@a.gravemistake3061]

"You know what else is really long and narrow? My attention span."

[@colonelgraff9198]

3:00:55 We are going to reach the coveted 24 hour long episode by the end of the year, Roz will show up with 300 slides and need 3 bathroom breaks

[@dimentio1030]

we'll finally get the tacoma narrows bridge episode on that blessed day

[@d3nza482]

300 SIGNIFICANT slides.

[@xmlthegreat]

I denounce you as a false prophet. The episodes are no longer increasing in length! I demand a refund!

[@eleSDSU]

You mixed those up, 3 hours long, 24 slides and 300 bathroom breaks.

[@falloutghoul1]

Well, now we're going to get a 6-hour episode on the Titanic.

[@russianbear0027]

The texas railroad commissioner is almost always someone in the pocket of the oil companies. We have to pressure them to actually enforce anything here. It's the fucking worst

[@jhpokorski]

More podcasts should only end when one host threatens another with violence

[@DanielMorsing]

Airport talk is making me think there's an episode in going through the trials and tribulations of Brandenburg airport

[@viniciusdesouzamaia]

May I interest you in a Tenerife episode. Or maybe the Elevator of Death? Man those were great.

[@cortanathelawless1848]

Myth says ghosts of construction workers and burned money still roam it's halls

[@xmlthegreat]

@@viniciusdesouzamaia elevator of death? Where? I've gone through their catalogue, there's no specific elevator episode...

[@loaf8506]

precog

[@rileye9599]

Jeez I'd been waiting for an episode on how much of a dogbrained scheme Neom is in terms of city planning from you all and you crammed it all into the last half hour of a 3 hour episode. Fuckin' worth it for Rocz's timeskip intro tho

[@booti_boi6927]

Through the amazing new form of moderation known as bullying out the people that don't like your show, this channel has achieved at the time of this comment 100% likes

[@alfalafelstine1536]

1 dislike now.

[@marball]

@@alfalafelstine1536 it’s gone actually lmao. Back to 100%

[@adder3597]

I mean, it's effective isn't it? 👌

[@viniciusdesouzamaia]

Isn't this what the whole premise of the "free marketplace of ideas" bullshit is? They're just putting it into practice

[@pandoranbias1622]

@@viniciusdesouzamaia Yes, the free marketplace of ideas is shaming and harassing those who are interested in watching your product and driving down your possible market share.

[@Shortfirstslip]

“Chapo Trap House of Saud” is timeless. @28:23

[@ernekid7241]

A Jew, A Muslim and a Catholic walk into a Podcast...

[@Stjaernljus]

"It's us, we're the joke."

[@JahsRulz]

I've skied that slope at the Emirates Mall. Very short, obviously. Approx.10 secs from top to bottom (parallel). They missed a trick as there's no windows to the outside, only a viewing window at the bottom with people gawping at the skiers/sledgers. They could have had a viewing window facing north somewhere...

[@GoodStarfish]

You had to tell me they don't have a sewer system. All of these affronts to God and man are just monstrous, glorified porta potties... I have never felt so little faith in humanity.

[@dovalojd]

"You could get the same amount of floor space... if you built just a series of large low 6-story buildings" So what dubai needs is a bunch of Five-over-ones?

[@Onychoprion27]

As a commercial pilot, looking at that airport is just .... pain. There are so many places where it would be an absolute mess to try to figure out where you're supposed to go and/or turn and/or not turn and watch for other traffic.

[@waharadome]

It is not big enough until you have a taxiway named Alpha Alpha Alpha

[@Onychoprion27]

@@waharadome D:

[@noboomtoday]

This made me understand why something like Dahir Insaat would exist: when people have every money and no accountability, no shitty idea is too absurd to pitch

[@schuylerhall6499]

*slides into Alice’s DMs* HEY ARE YOU GUYS STILL DOING THE PENNSYLVANIA SECRET SERVICE SWORDS

[@brentdalebroux2821]

The Ali-Wawa Swords?

[@falloutghoul1]

Also called the PS3.

[@JoshSweetvale]

Oh, when you said 'Gulf State' I thought you meant, like Florida. Having watched the majority of the story: I'm amazed at the House of Saud's dedication to spreading atheism.

[@TemplarOnHigh]

0:00 - Oh - this is why Ep 53 was only 80 minutes long. 0:05 - You're recycling the hard drive space. But it also avoided Apple patents 1:23 - Seize the TB's of Production 2:28 - End of introductions 3:57 - Spaceballs was a documentary - Brooks was trying to warn us 1:20:50 - When you have 2 run ways, one gets numbered "L" for left and the other "R" for Right. (E.g. 33L and 33R. When you have more than that (like at MCO) you intentionally add or subtract 10 degrees from the heading and everyone just pretends. (E.g. 32L, 32R, 33L, 33R, 34L, 34R, and 35 would be valid for 7 runways all pointed more or less at 330.) 1:22:10 - The transportation system in the UAE is there to move you past the big thing where you can spend your money on your 18 hour layover to the other big thing. If you're there for more than 18 hours, rent a car. 1:26:00 - Why is the solar farm near the center of the city? We have high voltage lines. 2:16:03 - Forget the helipads - it has a separate exit from the highway.

[@dylanchouinard6141]

1:44:22 The Mecca clocktower is the only valid evidence for Horseshoe theory.

[@MrJstorm4]

If you directlu us dc power in the city center you save on convention it to AC and possibly converting back to DC to go into a battery

[@theespers5263]

If you misgender Alice something something the elevator scene from Drive.

[@N00N01]

How has this 60 likes?

[@theespers5263]

@@N00N01 😏

[@pokeguy742]

If you misgender Alice your genitals wither away and fall off, and you have to contribute to her hrt fund to get some of it back.

[@korgthefowl]

IN MINECRAFT

[@trainguy3]

transphobes get stomped. its the rules

[@emm4rmstrong]

I... the...that first slide they transliterated "The Line" into Arabic. The "ذا لاين" is literally "Dha Layn" pronounced "The Line"... it would be "الخط" or "Al Khatu" if translated...

[@strega1380]

3 hours of the Catastrophe Gang? Is it my birthday?

[@valathe]

masbar city is basically the fyre festival of planned neighbourhoods

[@shindenfighter3303]

When you have more than 3 paralel runways (left, center, right), you use the next closest magnetic direction, even if its technically incorrect (even with 3 runways it is common to name the 3rd one with other number, to avoid confusion)

[@Reactordrone]

27 left, 27 a bit more left, 27 far left.

[@discoj7112]

This podcast was so long, reading comments from the beginning of it feels like it was a different podcast. I'm just going to shout out telling us to pretend there's transition music and floating undersea Norwegian tunnels as proof that I made it through the whole thing. I did cheat and listen to it on double speed, though.

[@jacobedward2401]

I'm not on Twitter, when Liam says he "gets canceled" that just means people yell at him right? Which is just a normal day?

[@William-Morey-Baker]

Cancel culture is a myth... And basically a running joke among real leftists

[@fernandomarques5166]

Basically is SJW virtue signalling dimwits being really loud and annoying because something that is not a issue that they think its an issue

[@kwarra-an]

@@fernandomarques5166 wow I was really transported back to 2014 with that comment. Who tf still unironically uses "SJW" and "virtue-signalling"?

[@n.l.g.6401]

@@William-Morey-Baker Well, the bit about it being a new thing is a myth. Public shaming has always been a thing. The only difference now is that you can get the small-town rumor mill cranking at 500 likes per minute.

[@flinko99]

cancel culture is when someone gets criticized and gets angry about it, except when the person is marginalized in which case it's "they phrased something wrong and now all of twitter is sending them death threats"

[@cowprophet]

This is an All-Star episode, in the sense Justin dominates the East, the West, and the dunk contest.

[@RoamingAdhocrat]

no don't upload a three-hour video at half past midnight when I'm about to go to bed haha

[@roberthayler2754]

Well I laughed at Liam's 'granite rocks' joke even if none of the others noticed it...

[@alex_evstyugov]

Actually, this was way more entertaining and memorable than The Irishman.

[@ciceronincheese7195]

King Ibn: "Most states possess an oil company--Saudi Arabia is an oil company with a state!"

[@HinterDemGlas]

Spec Ops: The Line: The Line

[@Tsuyoma]

I love how Neom just unironically has a Morlock/Eloi thing going on with the layers.

[@phoenixfritzinger9185]

The first thing that popped into my brain was Midgar from FFVII

[@jaysea5939]

Hell yes, time for a drink or two and a three hour WTYPP. Edit: aaay, 10:25 Wayside School! I was thinking that too.

[@TVs_Brent]

the mecca hotel is what happens when you read ozymandias and think "but maybe it could work for us"

[@bassett_green]

Damn I wish I could hear what was behind that bleep at 4:25

[@_RKev]

Goddamn leftist with their censoring always

[@ashetonlambert]

shoutout to wtypp crew for releasing an episode long enough for me to bake my gf's birthday cake

[@DarkestMirrored]

Well see, what they SHOULD do with that giant mosque expansion is bulldoze the hotels and clocktower so that they can COMPLETELY RING the Cube with that megastructure, and have people circle it IN THERE.

[@tibbygaycat]

I fucking hate that clocktower. That would unironically be great. Fucking. This is literally a tragedy. I unironically am pissed that they are fucking with the kabaa so much and I'm an atheist.

[@maybemablemaples2144]

@@tibbygaycat yeah even as a non-Muslim it seems like a literal slap in the face to your own religion that it seems like some kind of Hallmark movie plot. It also doesn't help that the poor people of that city have absolutely no say in what happens. It's such whiplash.

[@IAMSTRINDOM]

@@maybemablemaples2144 the only thing they truly worship is money

[@spamviking]

Someone here has gotta start a synthwave band called "Jewish Space Laser"

[@dmrr7739]

The one advantage the linear city has over hyperloop: no turns. That way, you don’t get slammed into the side of the car at ten g’s.

[@aharris12358]

33:00 donoteat exactly describing the challenge of starting a blank country in Workers and Resources: Soviet Republic (a new game he may not have heard of)

[@robelkton7800]

I'm relieved that I put more thought into the insane engineering projects I design scrolling bored on Google Maps than the entire Saudi government/royal family

[@matthewhwong4312]

I feel like something needed to be added on that airport with 6 runways... the reason theres a lot of perpendicular runways on airports is due to giving pilots more options on high wind conditions as there are crosswind limitations on take off and landing. Imagine... having 6 runways and having them all shutdown due to them being all in the same alignment. Also, I don't even want to imagine the high potential of problems due to wake turbulence with that.... jesus.