

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

Oct 31, 2022 • 33min
Claudia Lux: Imagining a Kafkaesque Hell in Which There Is Only Jägermeister to Drink and the Devil Is a Corporate Bureaucrat
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 Claudia Lux, author of Sign Here.Claudia Luxxis a graduate of Sarah Lawrence College, and has a master’s in social work from the University of Texas at Austin. She lives and works in Boston, Massachusetts. Sign Here is her first novel.

Oct 31, 2022 • 43min
Henrietta Harrison on the 18th-Century China Question: The Perils of Translating Between Qing China and the British Empire
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 Henrietta Harrison, author of The Perils of Interpreting: The Extraordinary Lives of Two Translators Between Qing China and the British Empire.Henrietta Harrison is professor of modern Chinese studies at the University of Oxford and the Stanley Ho Tutorial Fellow in Chinese History at Pembroke College. Her books include The Man Awakened from Dreams and The Missionary’s Curse and Other Tales from a Chinese Catholic Village. She lives in Oxford, England.

Oct 31, 2022 • 38min
Greg Melville: How Cemeteries Reveal America's Most Hidden and Often Deadliest History
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 Greg Melville, author of Over My Dead Body: Unearthing the Hidden History of America’s Cemeteries.Greg Melville has worked as an outdoor journalist and a former editor at Men’s Journal and Hearst magazines. He has strong connections with magazines and newspapers, and his writing has appeared in Outside, National Geographic Traveler, Men’s Health, and the Boston Globe Magazine. His work was also listed in The Best American Sportswriting 2017. He is a decorated veteran who served in Afghanistan and is in the Navy Reserve, where he is a public affairs officer, with the rank of lieutenant commander. He has taught English and writing at the United States Naval Academy, where he was given the school’s Instructor of the Year Award in 2019, and journalism at St. Michael’s College in Vermont. He lives with his wife and two kids in Delaware.

Oct 31, 2022 • 30min
Paul Sexton: Perhaps the Most Remarkable Thing About Charlie Watts Was Just How Remarkably Ordinary He Was
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 Paul Sexton, author of Charlie’s Good Tonight: The Life, the Times, and the Rolling Stones: The Authorized Biography of Charlie Watts.Paul Sexton started writing about music as a teenager in 1977. His work has appeared in The Times (London), the Daily Telegraph, the Guardian, Billboard, and numerous other publications. He has made many documentaries and shows as a presenter and producer for BBC Radio 2, and is also the author of Prince: A Portrait of the Artist in Memories and Memorabilia. He lives in South London.

Oct 30, 2022 • 37min
Colin L. Read on Not the People's Money: Uncovering Bitcoin's Catastrophic Economic and Environmental Cost
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 Colin L. Read, author of The Bitcoin Dilemma: Weighing the Economic and Environmental Costs and Benefits.Colin L. Read teaches Money and Banking and Sustainability at SUNY Plattsburgh. He has written a dozen books on finance and economics, and also served as Mayor of the City of Plattsburgh when his Northern New York community was inundated with Bitcoin miners. His unique story is just the beginning.

Oct 30, 2022 • 33min
Karen Bakker: A Digital Dolittle? On Technology That Will Enable Us to Talk With Other Species… Including Plants and Trees
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 Karen Bakker, author of The Sounds of Life: How Digital Technology Is Bringing Us Closer to the Worlds of Animals and Plants.Karen Bakker is a professor at the University of British Columbia, and earned her PhD from the University of Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar. She is the recipient of numerous awards, including an Annenberg Fellowship (Stanford University), a Guggenheim Fellowship, and a Radcliffe Fellowship (Harvard University). An avid gardener and the mother of two daughters, she lives in Vancouver.

Oct 29, 2022 • 42min
Evan Mandery: How Elite Colleges Divide, Disorient, and Diminish Us
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 Evan Mandery, author of Poison Ivy: How Elite Colleges Divide Us.An Emmy and Peabody Award winner, Evan Mandery is a professor at the City University of New York. He has written for the New York Times and Politico and has appeared on The Today Show, CNN, and NPR’s Fresh Air. His journey as a Harvard alum publicly challenging legacy admissions at elite schools led him to write Poison Ivy: How Elite Colleges Divide Us (The New Press). He lives in Montclair, New Jersey.

Oct 28, 2022 • 44min
Martin Rees on the Limits of Science: Why the Universe Might Be Too Complex For Humans to Ever Understand
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 Martin Rees, author of On the Future: Prospects for Humanity.Martin Rees is Astronomer Royal, and has been Master of Trinity College and Director of the Institute of Astronomy at Cambridge University. As a member of the UK’s House of Lords and former President of the Royal Society, he is much involved in international science and issues of technological risk. His books include Our Cosmic Habitat (Princeton), Just Six Numbers, and Our Final Hour (published in the UK as Our Final Century). He lives in Cambridge, UK.

Oct 28, 2022 • 43min
Michael Stein on Accidental Kindness: A Doctor's Thoughts on the Importance of Empathy
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 Michael Stein, author of Accidental Kindness: A Doctor’s Notes on Empathy.Michael Stein, M.D., is award-winning author of six novels and four books of nonfiction, most recently Broke: Patients Talk About Money with Their Doctor. He is professor of health policy at the Boston University School of Public Health and executive editor of PublicHealthPost.org.

Oct 28, 2022 • 40min
John A. Farrell on How Ted Kennedy Became a Great Man When He Was Most Distanced From the U.S. Presidency
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 John A. Farrell, author of Ted Kennedy: A Life.John A. Farrell is the author of Richard Nixon: The Life, which won the PEN/Jacqueline Bograd Weld Award for Biography and the New-York Historical Society Barbara and David Zalaznick Book Prize in American History. It was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in 2018. In 2001, he published Tip O’Neill and the Democratic Century, which won the D. B. Hardeman Prize for the best book on Congress. His book Clarence Darrow: Attorney for the Damned won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Biography in 2011. He has also earned a George Polk award, the Gerald R. Ford prize, and White House Correspondents honors for his coverage of the presidency.


