

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

Jul 12, 2022 • 31min
Toby Walsh: If Our Superpower Is Human Empathy, Then Why the Hell Are We Trying to Teach Computers To Be Empathetic?
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 Toby Walsh, author of Machines Behaving Badly: The Morality of AI.Toby Walsh is one of the world’s leading experts in artificial intelligence (AI). Professor Walsh’s research focuses on how computers can interact with humans to optimize decision-making for the common good. He is also a passionate advocate for limits to ensure AI is used to improve, not take, lives. In 2015, Professor Walsh was one of the people behind an open letter calling for a ban on autonomous weapons or killer robots that was signed by more than 3000 AI researchers and high-profile scientists, entrepreneurs, and intellectuals. He was subsequently invited by Human Rights Watch to talk at the United Nations in both New York and Geneva. Professor Walsh is a Fellow of the Australia Academy of Science and of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence, and was recently awarded the 2016 NSW Premier’s Prize for Excellence in Engineering and Information and Communications Technologies. Walsh has been interviewed several hundred times, appearing on NPR (US), BBC (UK), CCTV (China), CNN (US), RT (Russia), and in publications including the Guardian, New York Times, Washington Post, and New Scientist. He also regularly writes for outlets like American Scientist, New ScientistM, and Conversation.

Jul 12, 2022 • 38min
Richard Hasen: Can American Democracy Be Fixed By Making Political Speech More Expensive?
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 Richard Hasen, author of Cheap Speech: How Disinformation Poisons Our Politics—And How to Cure It.Richard L. Hasen is Chancellor’s Professor of Law and Political Science at the University of California, Irvine. His previous books include The Voting Wars, Plutocrats United, The Justice of Contradictions, and Election Meltdown. He lives in Studio City, CA.

Jul 12, 2022 • 38min
Ken Auletta: What Does the Harvey Weinstein Story Tell Us About the Culture of Silence in Hollywood and 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 Ken Auletta, author of Hollywood Ending: Harvey Weinstein and the Culture of Silence.Ken Auletta inaugurated the Annals of Communications column and profiles for The New Yorker in 1992. This is his thirteenth book. Five of his previous books were national bestsellers, including Three Blind Mice: How the TV Networks Lost Their Way, Greed and Glory on Wall Street: The Fall of The House of Lehman, and Googled: The End of the World as We Know It. He lives in Manhattan with his wife.

Jul 12, 2022 • 29min
Charles Sabel: To Fix the Climate We Need to Rewire the Economy, Our Democracy, and Our Brains
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 Charles Sabel, co-author of Fixing the Climate: Strategies for an Uncertain World.Charles F. Sabel is the Maurice T. Moore Professor of Law at Columbia Law School. His books include Experimentalist Governance in the European Union. He lives in New York City.

Jul 11, 2022 • 47min
Michael Fertik: On Washington Irving, John Muir, Philip Dick, Jonathan Haidt and what America Has Uniquely Got Going For It
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 Fertik, author of The Reputation Economy: How to Optimize Your Digital Footprint in a World Where Your Reputation Is Your Most Valuable Asset.Michael Fertik is Managing Director and Founder of Heroic Ventures and the Executive Chairman and Founder of Reputation.com. He has also been the Founder and CEO of b4.ai, WaveShift, Sightglass Vision, among others. Fertik is the co-author of two non-fiction books, Wild West 2.0 (2010), and New York Times best seller, The Reputation Economy (2015).

Jul 10, 2022 • 29min
Aviva Rahmani: Why Telling Effective Stories About the Environment Requires Not Just Words But Also Visual Images and Even Music
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 Aviva Rahmani, author of Divining Chaos: The Autobiography of an Idea.Aviva Rahmani is an ecoartist whose work has been exhibited, published, and funded internationally. She is an affiliate with the Institute for Arctic and Alpine Research at the University of Colorado at Boulder and gained her PhD from the University of Plymouth, UK.

Jul 9, 2022 • 40min
Daniel S. Moak: Why America's Current War on Schools Is the Result of Fifty Years of Failed Federal Educational "Reforms"
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 Daniel Moak, author of From the New Deal to the War on Schools: Race, Inequality, and the Rise of the Punitive Education State.Daniel S. Moak is assistant professor of government at Connecticut College.

Jul 8, 2022 • 30min
Ed Yong: Why Perceiving Animal Senses Makes Us Empathetic Not Only to Other Creatures But Also to Each Other
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 Ed Yong, author of An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us.Ed Yong is a Pulitzer Prize-winning science writer on the staff of The Atlantic, where he also won the George Polk Award for science reporting, among other honors. His first book, I Contain Multitudes, was a New York Times bestseller and won numerous awards. His work has appeared in The New Yorker, National Geographic, Wired, The New York Times, Scientific American, and more. He lives in Washington, D.C., with his wife, Liz Neeley, and their corgi, Typo.

Jul 8, 2022 • 34min
Daniel Silva on How to Write a Bestselling Literary Spy Novel Every Year
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 Daniel Silva, author of Portrait of an Unknown Woman.Daniel Silva is the award-winning, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Unlikely Spy, The Mark of the Assassin, The Marching Season, The Kill Artist, The English Assassin, The Confessor, A Death in Vienna, Prince of Fire, The Messenger, The Secret Servant, Moscow Rules, The Defector, The Rembrandt Affair, Portrait of a Spy, The Fallen Angel, The English Girl, The Heist, The English Spy, The Black Widow, House of Spies, The Other Woman, The New Girl, and The Order. He is best known for his long-running thriller series starring spy and art restorer Gabriel Allon. Silva’s books are critically acclaimed bestsellers around the world and have been translated into more than 30 languages. He resides in Florida with his wife, television journalist Jamie Gangel, and their twins, Lily and Nicholas.

Jul 8, 2022 • 36min
Elisabeth Leake on How the Soviet and American Invasions of Afghanistan Are Comparable
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 Elisabeth Leake, author of Afghan Crucible: The Soviet Invasion and the Making of Modern Afghanistan.Elisabeth Leake is Associate Professor of International History at the University of Leeds. She is the author of The Defiant Border: The Afghan-Pakistan Borderlands in the Era of Decolonization, 1936-65.


