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Hey friends -

We’re very excited to share this documentary with you all — we’ve been working on it for months. The story of the Bedouin is really interesting and worth learning about, and we hope you find it just as compelling as we did.

Even more exciting - we also did a collab with Christophe Haubursin on a Tunnel Vision episode about how Saudi Arabia is turning its deserts into massive farms. Make sure to check it out as well!

Hope you enjoy our final video of 2024 - we look forward to sharing more videos with you in 2025.

Stay safe, and happy holidays.

~Johnny & the whole team

Files

Previews only

Why Saudi Arabia is Building a $1 Trillion City in the Desert

Why Saudi Arabia is Building Megacities in the Sand Try Rocket Money for free: https://RocketMoney.com/JohnnyHarris Check out Christophe's video on Tunnel Vision: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkL_BXs-n9E Check out all my sources for this video here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Yk3e8i9VyehknReTSwbq2s_UVEiMOon5Go4f9D-SgJo/edit?usp=sharing I traveled to Saudi Arabia to visit the Bedouin and to learn how the development of Neom will affect their way of life. Special thanks to: • Drew Binsky • Sara Omar MORE CHANNELS: Check out my new channel with Christophe Haubursin - Tunnel Vision https://www.youtube.com/@christophe Check out my channel with Sam Ellis - Search Party https://youtube.com/@SearchParty The music for this video, created by our in house composer Tom Fox, is available on our music channel, Chromatic! Follow the link to hear this soundtrack and many more: https://youtu.be/Kr2X0Fo889U Get access to behind-the-scenes vlogs, my scripts, and extended interviews over at https://www.patreon.com/johnnyharris Do you have an insider tip or unique information on a story? Do you have a suggestion for a story you want us to cover? Submit to the Tip Line: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdpNs1ykIwd7KNkwntN897X_SX9hJ8WiTH_erlLU_bQp2GGLg/viewform?usp=sharing I made a poster about maps - check it out: https://store.dftba.com/products/all-maps-are-wrong-poster Custom Presets & LUTs [what we use]: https://store.dftba.com/products/johnny-iz-luts-and-presets Watch my videos ad-free on Nebula: https://nebula.tv/johnnyharris -- VIDEO CHAPTERS -- 0:00 INTRO 3:22 THE DESERT 8:04 NEOM 16:54 DESERT PEOPLE 22:21 DESERT KINGDOM 26:21 DESERT FUTURE AI Disclosure: Occasionally, we use AI to create some of the imagery in our videos, which our (very talented) animators then spend weeks developing into what you see in the final video. When AI is used to generate any imagery that may appear onscreen, we'll add this to the video description. We're learning as we go about AI usage and transparency, and appreciate your thoughts. About: Johnny Harris is an Emmy-winning independent journalist and contributor to the New York Times. Based in Washington, DC, Harris reports on interesting trends and stories domestically and around the globe, publishing to his audience of over 5 million on Youtube. Harris produced and hosted the twice Emmy-nominated series Borders for Vox Media. His visual style blends motion graphics with cinematic videography to create content that explains complex issues in relatable ways. - press - NYTimes: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/09/opinion/democrats-blue-states-legislation.html NYTimes: https://www.nytimes.com/video/opinion/100000007358968/covid-pandemic-us-response.html Vox Borders: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLrFyjGZ9NU NPR Planet Money: https://www.npr.org/transcripts/1072164745 - where to find me - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/johnny.harris/ Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@johnny.harris Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JohnnyHarrisVox - how i make my videos - Tom Fox makes my music, work with him here: https://tfbeats.com/ I make maps using this AE Plugin: https://aescripts.com/geolayers/?aff=77 All the gear I use: https://www.izharris.com/gear-guide - my courses - Learn a language: https://brighttrip.com/course/language/ Visual storytelling: https://www.brighttrip.com/courses/visual-storytelling

Comments

Keiston Herchel

Halfway done the video now, really amazing work and I especially enjoyed the trippy editing! I'm currently doing humanitarian aid work in Bhutan. Although very different, Neom reminds me of the Gelephu Mindfulness City project that the Kingdom is putting into motion these days. Is there any interest from your side in doing a Bhutan futuristic-city deep dive similar to what you've just released? A few possible angles to look into: the recent mass exodus of young people from Bhutan to places like Australia and Canada to work minimum wage jobs and study; the government of Bhutan's obsession with cryptocurrency; the citizens (at least those I met in the countryside) don't like the fairly-recently introduced democratisation of the kingdom. Happy holidays to you, Iz and your team! Keep up the great journalism! :)

Patrick Murray

John, you knocked this one out of the park!!! Very interesting and just beyond well done. Thanxz🤩

Jordan Taylor

This video was done so well! Took some notes down for my own filmmaking.

AquarianQuirks

The quality of this video is sublime! So well done!!

Mariah Tennant

beautiful. the moment when you discussed “not pressing any further” for answers from the bedouin. There are different ways of knowing and sometimes we just know. Very respectful and the right choice imo. What a beautiful video and culture.

Yash vardhan Choudhary

I just watched it in the middle of my MBA prep. I have been waiting for your video on this topic for a long time. This has to be by far one of the best videos of yours, you really gave a glimpse of “DUNE” at the start of the video. Thanks for providing a new perspective on this issue, by going up there and finding out the story from both sides which has been lacking in several videos on this topic. These types of on-ground coverage videos take back to border days.

Dan Scholze

Buddy either I’m stupid like really stupid or I just can’t figure out how to give you some money for what you’re doing. I love your shows. I watch them all the time and I will figure out how to send you some money. Just give me a couple days Dan scholze@gmail.com

Anton Stupnev

So you decided not to be a journalist anymore. I'd appreciate a heads-up, but that's fine too.

Maya Fawaz

Johnny!! Holy shit. This video is incredible. Obsessed with all the perspectives you presented and all the stunning visuals. Also, the sound design was insane, huge fan over here. Loved seeing you back in the field :')

Lynne Bennett

Mind-blowing! I could be happy in their desert by the Red Sea. They take great care of the sea, as if it was a living being in need of protection. I've lived in the Great Sonoran Desert in Arizona and in Mexico by the Sea of Cortez for 67 of my 75 years. I was unaware of the city being built but am familiar with what they're doing in parts of the US. In CA and AZ they purchased the irrigatable farm land on both sides of the Colorado River where they grow alfalfa, getting 6-8 cuttings year round. They've openly reported that it is cheaper to buy land, irrigate it for hay, and ship it to Saudi than it is to grow it there. Also, they've bought property, including resorts, on every coastline in the country. In addition, in just the last 3 yrs they've bought hundreds of mobile home & RV parks in CA and AZ, paying many times the value for places that aren't for sale. I lived in one being offered for sale at 300,000 but they paid 2.9M. It's weird.