

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

Jun 23, 2022 • 41min
Ben Tarnoff: Why Fixing the Internet Requires Political Struggle Rather Than Technological Innovation
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 Ben Tarnoff, author of Internet for the People: The Fight for Our Digital Future.Ben Tarnoff is a tech worker, writer, and co-founder of Logic Magazine. His most recent book is Voices from the Valley: Tech Workers Talk About What They Do—and How They Do It, co-authored with Moira Weigel. He has written for the New York Times, the Guardian, the New Republic, and Jacobin.

Jun 23, 2022 • 41min
Nelly Lahoud: Remembering Osama Bin Laden: Monster, Family Man, or Misguided Genius?
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 Nelly Lahoud, author of The Bin Laden Papers: How the Abbottabad Raid Revealed the Truth about Al-Qaeda, Its Leader and His Family.Nelly Lahoud is a senior fellow in New America’s International Security program and is the author of three books, including The Jihadis’ Path to Self-Destruction.

Jun 23, 2022 • 30min
Dr. Natalie Petouhoff: Can Digital Technology Really Deliver More Human 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 Dr. Natalie Petouhoff, author of Empathy in Action: How to Deliver Great Customer Experiences at Scale.Dr. Natalie Petouhoff joined Genesys after years of being a strategic executive advisor and leading Industry Analyst at Forrester and Constellation, CX VP at Salesforce, a PWC strategic management consultant, Chief Digital/Social Officer and ROI expert at Weber Shandwick, a digital transformation lecturer at UCLA, with humble beginnings as a product engineer at General Motors and Hughes Electrics.

Jun 23, 2022 • 35min
Lyndsie Bourgon: Why the Morality of Tree Stealing Is Not As Simple as Many Traditional Environmentalists Would Like to Think
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 Lyndsie Bourgon, author of Tree Thieves: Crime and Survival in North America's Woods.Lyndsie Bourgon is a writer, oral historian, and 2018 National Geographic Explorer based in British Columbia. She writes about the environment and its entanglement with history, culture, and identity. Her features have been published in The Atlantic, Smithsonian, the Guardian, the Oxford American, Aeon, The Walrus, and Hazlitt, among other outlets.

Jun 22, 2022 • 29min
Martin Puchner: How to Fix the Environment? A Four-Thousand-Year-Old Reading List for Confronting Our Climate Emergency
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 Puchner, author of Literature for a Changing Planet.Martin Puchner is the Byron and Anita Wien Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Harvard University. He is a prize-winning and bestselling author whose books include The Language of Thieves: My Family’s Obsession with a Secret Code the Nazis Tried to Eliminate and The Written World: The Power of Stories to Shape People, History, Civilization. He is the general editor of The Norton Anthology of World Literature. He lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Jun 22, 2022 • 35min
Dan Hampton: Why the World Owes America a Great Debt For Its Participation in the Second World War
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 Dan Hampton, author of Valor: The Astonishing World War II Saga of One Man's Defiance and Indomitable Spirit.Lieutenant Colonel (Ret.) Dan Hampton flew 151 combat missions during his twenty years (1986-2006) in the United States Air Force. For his service in the Iraq War, Kosovo conflict, and first Gulf War, Col. Hampton received four Distinguished Flying Crosses with Valor, a Purple Heart, eight Air Medals with Valor, five Meritorious Service medals, and numerous other citations. He is a graduate of the USAF Fighter Weapons School and USAF Special Operations School. A frequent guest on CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC discussing foreign affairs and geopolitics, he has also appeared as an analyst on Bill O'Reilly, Hannity, Tucker Carlson and Anderson Cooper360. He is the nationally bestselling author of Viper Pilot, Lords of the Sky, The Hunter Killers, The Flight, Chasing the Demon, Vengeance, Valor, and a novel, The Mercenary.

Jun 22, 2022 • 34min
Azeem Azhar: Why, In an Age of Exponential Technological Change, Does So Little Seem to Change in Politics?
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 Azeem Azhar, author of The Exponential Age: How Accelerating Technology Is Transforming Business,Politics, and Society.Azeem Azhar is the creator of the Exponential View, a global platform for in-depth tech analysis. His weekly newsletter is read by nearly two hundred thousand people from around the world, and his chart-topping podcast has featured guests including Yuval Noah Harari, Reid Hoffman, and Tony Blair. Over the last three decades, Azhar has founded and invested in a number of successful tech companies bought by firms like Amazon and Microsoft. He is a member of the World Economic Forum's Global Futures Council, a senior advisor at PwC, and a contributor to publications including the Financial Times, Prospect, and the MIT Technology Review. He served as the Economist's first ever internet correspondent. He lives in London.

Jun 22, 2022 • 21min
Lisa Lewis: Why the Crisis of Teenage Anxiety Might Begin and End With Sleep Deprivation
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 Lisa Lewis, author of The Sleep-Deprived Teen: Why Our Teenagers Are So Tired, and How Parents and Schools Can Help Them Thrive.Lisa L. Lewis, MS, is a freelance journalist who covers the intersection of parenting, public health, and education. She played a key role in California's new healthy school start times law, the first of its kind in the nation. Lewis is a frequent contributor to The Washington Post and has written for The New York Times, The Atlantic, TIME, the Los Angeles Times, Slate, and Your Teen, among others. She's a parent to two teens, who inspire much of what she writes about--everything from concussions and heat stroke to school lockdowns to teenage sleep.

Jun 21, 2022 • 35min
Mark Lee Gardner: Rather Than Jefferson or Washington, Should Americans Be Celebrating Indigenous Leaders Like Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull As Their Greatest Historical Figures?
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 Mark Lee Gardner, author of The Earth Is All That Lasts: Crazy Horse, Sitting Bull, and the Last Stand of the Great Sioux Nation.Mark Lee Gardner is the author of Rough Riders, To Hell on a Fast Horse and Shot All to Hell, which received multiple awards, including a Spur Award from Western Writers of America. An authority on the American West, Gardner has appeared on PBS's American Experience, as well as on the History Channel, AMC, the Travel Channel, and on NPR. He has written for National Geographic History, American Heritage, the Los Angeles Times, True West, and American Cowboy. He lives with his family at the foot of Pikes Peak.

Jun 21, 2022 • 32min
Chris Stokel-Walker on a Digital Brave New World: Are We Entertaining Ourselves to Death on TikTok?
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 Chris Stokel-Walker, author of TikTok Boom: China's Dynamite App and the Superpower Race for Social Media.Chris Stokel-Walker is a British journalist whose work regularly appears in WIRED, The Economist and Newsweek. He is known for breaking major news about YouTube and often reports on the site for television, radio and podcasts. For YouTubers he has travelled around the world, attending YouTube events and speaking to behind-the-camera producers and power- brokers, including key creators KSI, Hank and John Green, Emma Blackery, and many others.


