

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 12, 2023 • 42min
An American Gun for the age of Sandy Hook and Uvalde: Cameron McWhirter and Zusha Elinson on the history of the AR-15, an assault weapon that captures contemporary America's love affair with technology, freedom and guns
EPISODE 1781: In this KEEN ON show, Andrew talks to Cameron McWhirter and Zusha Elinson, co-authors of AMERICAN GUN, about the history of the AR-15, an assault weapon that captures America's contemporary love affair with technology, freedom and gunsCameron McWhirter is a national reporter for The Wall Street Journal, based in Atlanta. He has covered mass shootings, violent protests and natural disasters across the South. He is also the author of Red Summer: The Summer of 1919 and the Awakening of Black America. Previously, he reported for other publications in the U.S., as well as Bosnia, Iraq, and Ethiopia.Zusha Elinson is a national reporter for The Wall Street Journal, based in California, who writes about guns and violence. He grew up on a dirt road in upstate New York, graduated from St. John’s College in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and worked as a chimney sweep. Elinson has also written for the Center for Investigative Reporting and The New York Times Bay Area section. He received a MacDowell Fellowship to complete this book. (Photo by Joanna Eldredge Morrissey)Named as one of the "100 most connected men" by GQ magazine, Andrew Keen is amongst the world's best known broadcasters and commentators. In addition to presenting KEEN ON, he is the host of the long-running How To Fix Democracy show. He is also the author of four prescient books about digital technology: CULT OF THE AMATEUR, DIGITAL VERTIGO, THE INTERNET IS NOT THE ANSWER and HOW TO FIX THE FUTURE. Andrew lives in San Francisco, is married to Cassandra Knight, Google's VP of Litigation & Discovery, and has two grown children. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit keenon.substack.com/subscribe

Oct 12, 2023 • 33min
How to transform yourself from a good girl into a bad b***h: Lisa Carmen Wang's bad b***h business bible for taking charge of your body, boundaries and bank account
EPISODE I780: In this KEEN ON show, Andrew talks to Lisa Carmen Wang, author of BAD B***H BUSINESS BIBLE, about how to seize control of your body, boundaries and bank accountLisa Carmen Wang is the Founder of BAD B***H EMPIRE, a global community platform building unapologetic worth and wealth for women. She is a former Olympic-level, four-time USA National Champion and USA Hall of Fame gymnast, serial entrepreneur, venture capitalist, international speaker, certified executive coach, and host of the Bad B***h Empire Podcast. Lisa is an Executive Board Member of Fast Company and has been recognized as a Forbes 30 under 30 honoree, Red Bull Hero of The Year, and Entrepreneur Magazine's 100 Most Powerful Women. Her work has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Fortune, The Atlantic, Bloomberg, Washington Post, Business Insider, USA Today, Nasdaq, CNN and many more. Lisa started her career as a hedge fund analyst and is a graduate of Yale University.Named as one of the "100 most connected men" by GQ magazine, Andrew Keen is amongst the world's best known broadcasters and commentators. In addition to presenting KEEN ON, he is the host of the long-running How To Fix Democracy show. He is also the author of four prescient books about digital technology: CULT OF THE AMATEUR, DIGITAL VERTIGO, THE INTERNET IS NOT THE ANSWER and HOW TO FIX THE FUTURE. Andrew lives in San Francisco, is married to Cassandra Knight, Google's VP of Litigation & Discovery, and has two grown children. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit keenon.substack.com/subscribe

Oct 11, 2023 • 31min
Why Food Stamps Work: Christopher Bosso's political history - and defense - of SNAP
EPISODE 1779: In this KEEN ON show, Andrew talks to Christopher Bosso, author of WHY SNAP WORKS, about a history, and defense, of the US Food Stamp programChristopher Bosso is Professor of Public Policy and Politics in the School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs at Northeastern University, Boston. His current areas of research and teaching interest are in food and environmental policy. His newest books are Framing the Farm Bill: Interests, Ideology, and the Agricultural Act of 2014 (University of Kansas Press, 2017) and, as editor, Feeding Cities: Improving Local Food Access, Sustainability, and Resilience (Routledge, 2017). His 2005 book, Environment, Inc.: From Grassroots to Beltway, received the 2006 Caldwell Award for best book in environmental policy and politics from the American Political Science Association.Named as one of the "100 most connected men" by GQ magazine, Andrew Keen is amongst the world's best known broadcasters and commentators. In addition to presenting KEEN ON, he is the host of the long-running How To Fix Democracy show. He is also the author of four prescient books about digital technology: CULT OF THE AMATEUR, DIGITAL VERTIGO, THE INTERNET IS NOT THE ANSWER and HOW TO FIX THE FUTURE. Andrew lives in San Francisco, is married to Cassandra Knight, Google's VP of Litigation & Discovery, and has two grown children. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit keenon.substack.com/subscribe

Oct 11, 2023 • 34min
Saving Bill Clinton's life and other tales from the operating theater: Craig R. Smith on his life as one of America's most celebrated heart surgeons
EPISODE 1778: In this KEEN ON show, Andrew talks to Craig R. Smith M.D., author of NOBILITY IN SMALL THINGS, about his life as one of America's most celebrated heart surgeonsAs a surgeon at Columbia University and the New York Presbyterian Hospital, Dr. Craig R. Smith has been no stranger to pressure—fromperforming President Bill Clinton’s quadruple bypass, to openly massaging patients’ hearts. But when the COVID pandemic shut down non-emergency operations at New York City hospitals, Dr. Smith was presented with a different purpose. He began writing daily email updates from the front lines of the pandemic battle. The updates—designed to inform and reassure—became a balm to his colleagues, and when theWall Street Journal published them in April 2020, they were immediately recognized as essential dispatches from “the pandemic’s most powerful writer.” Dr. Smith has now written a deeply thoughtful new memoir, NOBILITY IN SMALL THINGS: A Surgeon’s Path (St. Martin’s Press; on-sale October 10, 2023), sharing what goes into the impossible decisions he must make on behalf of his patients. President Bill Clinton has already praised it as “much more than a medical memoir; it’s an elegant work of literature.” Diane Sawyer has called it “a book of staggering reach” from a “fearless explorer of what it is to be human when the choices are hard, the stakes high, and courage is the only choice,” while Senator Cory Booker says “[Smith’s] story, his journey, is a compelling narrative of a servant leader who in times of trial emerged as a humble hero.”Named as one of the "100 most connected men" by GQ magazine, Andrew Keen is amongst the world's best known broadcasters and commentators. In addition to presenting KEEN ON, he is the host of the long-running How To Fix Democracy show. He is also the author of four prescient books about digital technology: CULT OF THE AMATEUR, DIGITAL VERTIGO, THE INTERNET IS NOT THE ANSWER and HOW TO FIX THE FUTURE. Andrew lives in San Francisco, is married to Cassandra Knight, Google's VP of Litigation & Discovery, and has two grown children. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit keenon.substack.com/subscribe

Oct 11, 2023 • 45min
A New Deal to Save the Earth: John J. Berger outlines the three dimensions to solving the world's climate crisis
EPISODE 1777: In this KEEN ON show, Andrew talks to John J. Berger, author of SOLVING THE CLIMATE CRISIS, about the three essential dimensions to saving the earthJOHN J. BERGER Ph.D. is an environmental science and policy specialist, prize-winning author, and journalist. A graduate of Stanford and the University of California, he has written and edited 11 books, including three previous books on climate change, and written over 100 articles on climate change and transitioning to clean energy. His journalism has appeared in Scientific American, Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe and others. He has been a consultant to the National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences, corporations, utilities, and the U.S. Congress, as well as a newspaperman, editor, and a professor at the University of Maryland. John co-founded the Nuclear Information and Resource Service to assist citizen safe-energy groups and founded Restoring the Earth, to bring environmental restoration to national attention. He lives in El Cerrito, CA.Named as one of the "100 most connected men" by GQ magazine, Andrew Keen is amongst the world's best known broadcasters and commentators. In addition to presenting KEEN ON, he is the host of the long-running How To Fix Democracy show. He is also the author of four prescient books about digital technology: CULT OF THE AMATEUR, DIGITAL VERTIGO, THE INTERNET IS NOT THE ANSWER and HOW TO FIX THE FUTURE. Andrew lives in San Francisco, is married to Cassandra Knight, Google's VP of Litigation & Discovery, and has two grown children. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit keenon.substack.com/subscribe

Oct 11, 2023 • 35min
The Emotional Life of Populism in Israel: Eva Illouz on Netanyahu, Hamas and what the left has lost by not embracing the fear, disgust, resentment and love that determine democratic politics
EPISODE 1776: In this KEEN ON show, Andrew talks to Eva Illouz, author of THE EMOTIONAL LIFE OF POPULISM, about the fear, disgust, resentment and love determining politics in Israel and around the worldEva Illouz is professor of sociology at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Her books include Why Love Hurts: A Sociological Explanation, Cold Intimacies: The Making of Emotional Capitalism, Consuming the Romantic Utopia: Love and the Cultural Contradictions of Capitalism, Saving the Modern Soul: Therapy, Emotions, and the Culture of Self-Help, among others.Named as one of the "100 most connected men" by GQ magazine, Andrew Keen is amongst the world's best known broadcasters and commentators. In addition to presenting KEEN ON, he is the host of the long-running How To Fix Democracy show. He is also the author of four prescient books about digital technology: CULT OF THE AMATEUR, DIGITAL VERTIGO, THE INTERNET IS NOT THE ANSWER and HOW TO FIX THE FUTURE. Andrew lives in San Francisco, is married to Cassandra Knight, Google's VP of Litigation & Discovery, and has two grown children. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit keenon.substack.com/subscribe

Oct 11, 2023 • 39min
The October weekend that changed the Middle East forever: Uri Kaufman compares the Yom Kippur war of October 1973 with the Simchat Torah war of October 2023
EPISODE 1775: In this KEEN ON show, Andrew talks to Uri Kaufman, author of EIGHTEEN DAYS IN OCTOBER, about the 2023 October weekend that changed the Middle East foreverA graduate of New York University School of Law, Uri Kaufman is an award-winning real estate developer, specializing in adaptively restoring historic buildings. He has worked on his 2023 book, EIGHTEEN DAYS IN OCTOBER: THE YOM KIPPUR WAR AND HOW IT CREATED THE MODERN MIDDLE EAST for over twenty years, visiting the battlefields, speaking to participants and reviewing literally thousands of pages of material. He lives with his family in Lawrence, New York.Named as one of the "100 most connected men" by GQ magazine, Andrew Keen is amongst the world's best known broadcasters and commentators. In addition to presenting KEEN ON, he is the host of the long-running How To Fix Democracy show. He is also the author of four prescient books about digital technology: CULT OF THE AMATEUR, DIGITAL VERTIGO, THE INTERNET IS NOT THE ANSWER and HOW TO FIX THE FUTURE. Andrew lives in San Francisco, is married to Cassandra Knight, Google's VP of Litigation & Discovery, and has two grown children This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit keenon.substack.com/subscribe

Oct 10, 2023 • 34min
Tripping into our brave new psychedelic world: Andy Mitchell on his odyssey into the new reality of psychedelics
EPISODE 1774: In this KEEN ON show, Andrew talks to Andy Mitchell, author of TEN TRIPS, about his odyssey into the new reality of psychedelics Andy Mitchell is a neuropsychologist and therapist. He has specialised in treating patients with rare brain conditions, head injuries and epilepsy, and in the application of mindfulness for neurological patients. As a therapist he has worked with people with a range of mental health disorders. Before entering medicine, his first degree was in English Literature at Oxford University. He is originally from Leeds.Named as one of the "100 most connected men" by GQ magazine, Andrew Keen is amongst the world's best known broadcasters and commentators. In addition to presenting KEEN ON, he is the host of the long-running How To Fix Democracy show. He is also the author of four prescient books about digital technology: CULT OF THE AMATEUR, DIGITAL VERTIGO, THE INTERNET IS NOT THE ANSWER and HOW TO FIX THE FUTURE. Andrew lives in San Francisco, is married to Cassandra Knight, Google's VP of Litigation & Discovery, and has two grown children. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit keenon.substack.com/subscribe

Oct 10, 2023 • 30min
The Blood Years, then and now: Elana K. Arnold on book banning, book burning and what we can learn from Second World War books about good and evil
EPISODE 1773: In this KEEN ON show, Andrew talks to Elana K. Arnold, author of THE BLOOD YEARS, about book banning, book burning and what we can learn from Second World War books about good and evilELANA K. ARNOLD is the author of critically acclaimed and award-winning young adult novels and children’s books, including the Printz Honor winner Damsel, the National Book Award finalist What Girls Are Made Of, and Global Read Aloud selection A Boy Called Bat and its sequels. Several of her books are Junior Library Guild selections and have appeared on many best book lists, including the Amelia Bloomer Project, a catalog of feminist titles for young readers. Elana teaches in Hamline University’s MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults program and lives in Southern California with her family and menagerie of pets. Named as one of the "100 most connected men" by GQ magazine, Andrew Keen is amongst the world's best known broadcasters and commentators. In addition to presenting KEEN ON, he is the host of the long-running How To Fix Democracy show. He is also the author of four prescient books about digital technology: CULT OF THE AMATEUR, DIGITAL VERTIGO, THE INTERNET IS NOT THE ANSWER and HOW TO FIX THE FUTURE. Andrew lives in San Francisco, is married to Cassandra Knight, Google's VP of Litigation & Discovery, and has two grown children. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit keenon.substack.com/subscribe

Oct 10, 2023 • 14min
Disorder, Disorder, Disorder: Jason Pack and Alexandra Hall Hall order our disordered world
In this special guest episode, Andrew hands the KEEN ON mic to Jason Pack and Alexandra Hall Hall, co-hosts of the DISORDER podcast. For more about the DISORDER show: https://linktr.ee/disorderpod?lt_utm_source=lt_share_link#331393001 This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit keenon.substack.com/subscribe