

Keen On America
Andrew Keen
Nobody asks sharper or more impertinent questions than Andrew Keen. In KEEN ON, Andrew cross-examines the world’s smartest people on politics, economics, history, the environment, and tech. If you want to make sense of our complex world, check out the daily questions and the answers on KEEN ON.
Named as one of the "100 most connected men" by GQ magazine, Andrew Keen is amongst the world's best-known technology and politics broadcasters and commentators. In addition to presenting KEEN ON, he is the host of the long-running show How To Fix Democracy and the author of four critically acclaimed books about the future, including the international bestselling CULT OF THE AMATEUR.
Keen On is free to listen to and will remain so. If you want to stay up-to-date on new episodes and support the show, please subscribe to Andrew Keen’s Substack. Paid subscribers will soon be able to access exclusive content from our new series Keen On America – keenon.substack.com
Named as one of the "100 most connected men" by GQ magazine, Andrew Keen is amongst the world's best-known technology and politics broadcasters and commentators. In addition to presenting KEEN ON, he is the host of the long-running show How To Fix Democracy and the author of four critically acclaimed books about the future, including the international bestselling CULT OF THE AMATEUR.
Keen On is free to listen to and will remain so. If you want to stay up-to-date on new episodes and support the show, please subscribe to Andrew Keen’s Substack. Paid subscribers will soon be able to access exclusive content from our new series Keen On America – keenon.substack.com
Episodes
Mentioned books

Nov 19, 2022 • 34min
Derek Lidow: Why Joshiah Wedgwood—And Not Andrew Carnegie, Steve Jobs, or Elon Musk—Is the Definition of a "Good Entrepreneur"
Hosted by Andrew Keen, Keen On features conversations with some of the world’s leading thinkers and writers about the economic, political, and technological issues being discussed in the news, right now.In this episode, Andrew is joined by Derek Lidow, author of The Entrepreneurs: The Relentless Quest for Value.Derek Lidow is a professor of the practice at the Keller Center for Innovation in Engineering Education at Princeton University. He is the author of Startup Leadership: How Savvy Entrepreneurs Turn Their Ideas Into Successful Enterprises (2014) and Building on Bedrock: What Sam Walton, Walt Disney, and Other Great Self-Made Entrepreneurs Can Teach Us About Building Valuable Companies (2018) as well as more than a hundred articles on innovation, entrepreneurship, and leadership. Lidow also has practical experience as the founder of a leading market-research firm and CEO of a global semiconductor company, and was a Hertz Foundation Fellow.

Nov 18, 2022 • 41min
Heather Ford on Can We Trust Wikipedia? How to Nurture Truth in the Digital Age
Hosted by Andrew Keen, Keen On features conversations with some of the world’s leading thinkers and writers about the economic, political, and technological issues being discussed in the news, right now.In this episode, Andrew is joined by Heather Ford, author of Writing the Revolution: Wikipedia and the Survival of Facts in the Digital Age.Heather Ford is Associate Professor and Head of Discipline for Digital and Social Media, School of Communication, University of Technology Sydney.

Nov 18, 2022 • 41min
Jeff Kosseff: What Exactly Is Section 230 and Why Was It So Essential in the Creation of the Internet?
Hosted by Andrew Keen, Keen On features conversations with some of the world’s leading thinkers and writers about the economic, political, and technological issues being discussed in the news, right now.In this episode, Andrew is joined by Jeff Kosseff, author of The United States of Anonymous: How the First Amendment Shaped Online Speech.Jeff Kosseff is Associate Professor in the United States Naval Academy’s Cyber Science Department and author of the bestselling book, The Twenty-Six Words That Created the Internet. He was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting and the recipient of the George Polk Award in National Reporting.

Nov 18, 2022 • 39min
Rick Wartzman on Why Are Walmart Workers Still Broke? The Limits of a "Socially Conscious" American Capitalism That Still Won't Pay Its Employees a Living Wage
Hosted by Andrew Keen, Keen On features conversations with some of the world’s leading thinkers and writers about the economic, political, and technological issues being discussed in the news, right now.In this episode, Andrew is joined by Rick Wartzman, author of Still Broke: Walmart’s Remarkable Transformation and the Limits of Socially Conscious Capitalism.Rick Wartzman is head of the KH Moon Center for a Functioning Society at the Drucker Institute, a part of Claremont Graduate University. His commentary for Fast Company was recognized by the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing with its Best in Business award for 2018. He has also written for Fortune, Time, Businessweek, and many other publications. His books include The End of Loyalty: The Rise and Fall of Good Jobs in America, which was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize in Current Interest and named one of the best books of 2017 by strategy+business; Obscene in the Extreme: The Burning and Banning of John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath, which was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize in History and a PEN USA Literary Award; and The King of California: J.G. Boswell and the Making of a Secret American Empire (with Mark Arax), which won a California Book Award and the William Saroyan International Prize for Writing.

Nov 18, 2022 • 34min
Matthew Campbell on Dead in the Water: The True Story of a Fake Hijacking and a Real Murder
Hosted by Andrew Keen, Keen On features conversations with some of the world’s leading thinkers and writers about the economic, political, and technological issues being discussed in the news, right now.In this episode, Andrew is joined by Matthew Campbell, author of Dead in the Water: A True Story of Hijacking, Murder, and a Global Maritime Conspiracy.Matthew Campbell is an award-winning reporter and editor for Bloomberg Businessweek magazine, covering major political and business stories across the Asia-Pacific region. He has reported from more than twenty countries on subjects including crime, terrorism, climate change, and public health.

Nov 17, 2022 • 46min
Andrew Small on A Cold War Without Limits: The Chilling Story of China's Rupture With the West
Hosted by Andrew Keen, Keen On features conversations with some of the world’s leading thinkers and writers about the economic, political, and technological issues being discussed in the news, right now.In this episode, Andrew is joined by Andrew Small, author of No Limits: The Inside Story of China’s War with the West.Andrew Small is a senior transatlantic fellow with the Asia program at the German Marshall Fund of the United States, and an associate senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations. His previous book, The China-Pakistan Axis (Oxford University Press, 2015) was widely praised, including in the New York Review of Books, the Economist, Foreign Affairs, Prospect magazine, and the Asian Review of Books. Andrew is an experienced public speaker and has appeared frequently on broadcast interviews, and will be an excellent and committed spokesperson for his book.

Nov 17, 2022 • 44min
Neal Gabler on You Don't Need to Be a Weatherman to Know Which Way the Wind Blows: Ted Kennedy and the Rise of American Conservatism
Hosted by Andrew Keen, Keen On features conversations with some of the world’s leading thinkers and writers about the economic, political, and technological issues being discussed in the news, right now.In this episode, Andrew is joined by Neal Gabler, author of Against the Wind: Edward Kennedy and the Rise of Conservatism, 1976-2009.Neal Gabler is the author of six books, including four biographies: Catching the Wind, An Empire of Their Own, Winchell, and Walt Disney. He has been the recipient of two Los Angeles Times Book Prizes, a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Shorenstein Fellowship, and a Woodrow Wilson Public Policy scholarship, and was the chief nonfiction judge of the National Book Awards.

Nov 17, 2022 • 23min
Lucas Joppa: Why Both Government and Private Corporations Have Essential Roles in Confronting Global Warming
Hosted by Andrew Keen, Keen On features conversations with some of the world’s leading thinkers and writers about the economic, political, and technological issues being discussed in the news, right now.In this episode, Andrew is joined by Lucas Joppa, previously Microsoft's Chief Environmental Officer.Dr. Lucas Joppa was Microsoft’s first Chief Environmental Officer, leading the development and execution of the company’s sustainability strategy across its worldwide business. With a Ph.D. in Ecology from Duke University and recognition by Fortune magazine in its “40 Under 40” list, Dr. Joppa is a uniquely accredited voice for sustainability in the tech industry. He is an Associate Editor in Chief for the Ecological Society of America’s EcoSphere journal, an honorary Fellow at the UN Environment Program World Conservation Monitoring Center, and he serves on the boards of leading scientific organizations. Dr. Joppa remains an active scientist, recognized as one of the world’s most highly cited researchers. His research interests include climate change, biodiversity, ecology, artificial intelligence, scaling environmental data Previously, Dr. Joppa was Chief Environmental Scientist in Microsoft Research, where he founded the AI for Earth program—a $50 million cross-company effort dedicated to delivering technology-enabled solutions to global environmental challenges.

Nov 17, 2022 • 35min
Jessica Todd Harper: Why Photography Can Be Fine Art and What Photographers Should Learn From Vermeer and Other 17th Century Dutch Artists
Hosted by Andrew Keen, Keen On features conversations with some of the world’s leading thinkers and writers about the economic, political, and technological issues being discussed in the news, right now.In this episode, Andrew is joined by Jessica Todd Harper, photographer and author of Here.Jessica Todd Harper uses portraiture to explore the subtle tensions within daily family interactions and the complexity of human relationships. Her work is grounded in art historical tradition, but with a psychological undercurrent that marks its modernity. A silver medalist in the Prix de la Photographie in Paris (2014), she was an Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition prizewinner (2016) and selected that same year for the Taylor Wessing Portrait competition at the National Portrait Gallery in London. Her work will be significantly represented in Kinship, opening at the Smithosonian’s National Portrait Gallery in late 2022, and running until 2024. Harper has published two prize-winning books of photography, Interior Exposure (2008) and The Home Stage (2014) (both Damiani Editore).

Nov 16, 2022 • 28min
Isaac Stone Fish on America Second: Is It Really Possible That America's Elites Are Making China Stronger?
Hosted by Andrew Keen, Keen On features conversations with some of the world’s leading thinkers and writers about the economic, political, and technological issues being discussed in the news, right now.In this episode, Andrew is joined by Isaac Stone Fish, author of America Second: How America's Elites Are Making China Stronger.Isaac Stone Fish is the founder and CEO of the research firm Strategy Risks, which quantifies corporate exposure to China. He is also a Washington Post Global Opinions contributing columnist, a contributor to CBSN, an adjunct at NYU's Center for Global Affairs, a visiting fellow at the Atlantic Council, a columnist on China risk at Barron's, and a frequent speaker at events around the United States and the world. A fluent Mandarin speaker and formerly a Beijing correspondent for Newsweek, Stone Fish spent six years living in China. He lives in New York.


