

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 20, 2022 • 38min
Nicholas Dawidoff: How the Story of a 2006 Murder Captures the Tragic Complexity of Inequality, Class, and Violence in 21st-Century America
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 Nicholas Dawidoff, author of The Other Side of Prospect: A Story of Violence, Injustice, and the American City.Nicholas Dawidoff is the critically acclaimed author of five books, including The Catcher Was a Spy and In the Country of a Country. He is a Pulitzer Prize finalist and has also been a Guggenheim, Berlin Prize, and Art for Justice Fellow.

Oct 20, 2022 • 37min
Kyle Spencer on Raising Them Right: The Untold Story of America's Ultraconservative Youth Movement and Its Plot For Power
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 Kyle Spencer, author of Raising Them Right: The Untold Story of America’s Ultraconservative Youth Movement and Its Plot for Power.Kyle Spencer is an award-winning journalist and frequent New York Times contributor. She has written for New York magazine, Slate, the Daily Beast, the Washington Post, Politico, and many other publications.

Oct 19, 2022 • 36min
Trond Undheim: How Augmented Technology Can Revolutionize the 21st-Century Factory and Make Work More Productive and Meaningful
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 Trond Undheim, author of Disruption Games: How to Thrive on Serial Failure.Trond Arne Undheim is a futurist, speaker, entrepreneur and former director of MIT Startup Exchange, based outside of Boston. Trained as a social scientist with a career in technology and innovation, he is the CEO and cofounder of Yegii, a search engine for industry professionals, providing collective intelligence. Trond holds a PhD on the future of work and artificial intelligence and cognition. Undheim is the author of Leadership From Below (2008) and Disruption Games (2020). His next book will be on the future of technology.

Oct 19, 2022 • 38min
Timothy Shenk on Realigners: The Visionaries and Hacks Who Have Radically Transformed American Democracy
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 Timothy Shenk, author of Realigners: Partisan Hacks, Political Visionaries, and the Struggle to Rule American Democracy.Timothy Shenk is an assistant professor of history at George Washington University. The coeditor of Dissent magazine, he has written for The New York Times, The Guardian, London Review of Books, The Nation, The New Republic, and Jacobin, among other publications. He has been a Mellon postdoctoral fellow at Washington University in St. Louis and has received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the American Council of Learned Societies, and the New America Foundation. He lives outside Washington, D.C.

Oct 19, 2022 • 32min
Veronica Roth on After Surveillance: Imagining a Post-Apocalyptic World in Which We Aren't Watched Anymore
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 Veronica Roth, author of Poster Girl.Veronica Roth is the #1 New York Times best-selling author of the Divergent series (Divergent, Insurgent, Allegiant, and Four: A Divergent Collection) and the Carve the Mark duology (Carve the Mark, The Fates Divide). Divergent received the 2011 Goodreads Choice Award for Favorite Book, Publishers Weekly‘s Best Book of 2011, and was the winner of the YALSA 2012 Teens’ Top Ten. The trilogy has been adapted into a blockbuster movie series starring Shailene Woodley and Theo James. Carve the Mark published in January 2017, debuted at #1 on the New York Times bestseller list, and remained on the list for eighteen weeks. The Fates Divide, the second installment of the Carve the Mark series, also debuted at #1 on the New York Times bestseller list.

Oct 19, 2022 • 30min
Keith Boykin: How Quitting is the Essential First Step to a Life of Freedom—and Radical Change
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 Keith Boykin, author of Quitting: Why I Left My Job to Live a Life of Freedom.Keith Boykin is a TV and film producer, national political commentator, New York Times best-selling author, and a former White House aide to President Bill Clinton. His latest book is Race Against Time: The Politics of a Darkening America. A graduate of Dartmouth College and Harvard Law School, Keith has taught at the Institute for Research in African-American Studies at Columbia University and currently teaches at City College of New York. He is a co-founder and first board president of the National Black Justice Coalition and a Lambda Literary Award-winning author of five books. Keith was a co-host of the BET talk show My Two Cents, starred on the Showtime reality television series American Candidate, worked as an associate producer of the film Dirty Laundry, and has appeared on numerous TV shows, including BET’s Being Mary Jane. Born in St. Louis, Keith has lived in 12 cities, visited 48 of the 50 United States, and traveled the world. He currently lives in Los Angeles.

Oct 18, 2022 • 44min
Shadi Hamid: Is There a Problem of Democracy in the Middle East? Or Is the Problem With an American Misunderstanding of "Democracy"?
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 Shadi Hamid, author of The Problem of Democracy: America, the Middle East, and the Rise and Fall of an Idea.Shadi Hamid is a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, research professor of Islamic Studies at Fuller Seminary, and a contributing writer at The Atlantic. He was named one of the world’s top 50 thinkers by Prospect magazine in 2019. Hamid is the author of Islamic Exceptionalism: How the Struggle Over Islam is Reshaping the World, which was shortlisted for the 2017 Lionel Gelber Prize for best book on foreign affairs, and co-editor of Rethinking Political Islam. His first book, Temptations of Power: Islamists and Illiberal Democracy in a New Middle East, was named a Foreign Affairs Best Book of 2014.

Oct 18, 2022 • 35min
Natasha Warikoo: Is Affirmative Action Fair? Thinking About College in Terms of the Public Good
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 Natasha Warikoo, author of Is Affirmative Action Fair?: The Myth of Equity in College Admissions.Natasha Warikoo is Professor of Sociology at Tufts University.

Oct 18, 2022 • 39min
Ryan O'Hanlon on the End of the Beautiful Game? How the Analytics Revolution Is Changing Soccer
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 Ryan O’Hanlon, author of Net Gains: Inside the Beautiful Game’s Analytics Revolution.Ryan O’Hanlon is a staff writer at ESPN. His writing has appeared in FiveThirtyEight, the New York Times, and GQ, among other publications. He lives in Los Angeles, California.

Oct 18, 2022 • 34min
Maybe Even Republicans and Democrats Can Agree On This One: How Dreaming Big Requires Both Self-Deprecating Humor and the Ability to Cry
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 Ric Keller, author of Chase the Bears: Little Things to Achieve Big Dreams.Former Congressman Ric Keller served eight years in the US House of Representatives. He chaired the House Higher Education subcommittee and served on the Judiciary and Education committees. Today, he is an attorney, writer, humorist, motivational speaker, and television commentator. Ric received his bachelor’s degree from East Tennessee State University, where he graduated first in his class, and his law degree from Vanderbilt Law School. Ric lives in Winter Park, Florida, with his wife, Lori, and their blended family.


