Keen On

Is any criticism of Israel, by definition, anti-semitic? Not according to Uri Kaufman who, in his new book American Intifada, examines what he calls the "new antisemitism" following the Gaza war. That said, Kaufman nonetheless believes that progressive institutions and figures like Obama and the New York Times manifest a form of antisemitism by holding Israel to different moral standards than other countries. He contends that many supposedly well-meaning media organizations willfully misrepresent facts about Gaza and Israel's actions, and that the path to peace requires Palestinians to unambiguously accept a Jewish state in the Middle East. Perhaps. Although just as Uri Kaufman believes progressives hold Israel to different moral standards than other countries, I wonder if Zionists like Kaufman hold Palestinians to higher moral standards than other disempowered peoples. Five Key Takeaways* Kaufman defines "new antisemitism" as discrimination against Jews that comes from well-inten

In today’s discussion with David Masciotra about the first hundred days of Trump 2.0 I made the (Freudian) error of referring to it as a “hundred years”. It certainly feels like a hundred years. So how should the Democrats respond to Trump’s avalanche of illiberalism? Masciotra argues they should emulate Ted Kennedy's forceful 1987 rhetoric against Robert Bork, focusing on the existential threats to civil rights and democracy rather than worrying about bread and butter economic issues. Masciotra criticizes the Dems for neglecting their working class base while pursuing moderate suburban voters and running Kamala-style cheerful campaigns. He believes Democrats lack the unified messaging infrastructure that the Republicans have built and suggests they need to balance aggressive opposition with muscular Kennedyesque idealism to effectively counter Trump's assault upon American democracy. Five Key Takeaways* Masciotra believes Democrats should adopt Ted Kennedy's direct, aggressiv

Few analysts are more familiar with the politics of both contemporary Turkey and the United States than my old friend , the distinguished Turkish political scientist Soli Ozel. Drawing on his decades of experience in both countries, Ozel, currently a senior fellow at the Institut Montaigne, explains how democratic institutions are similarly being challenged in Trump’s America and Erdogan's Turkey. He discusses the imprisonment of Istanbul's popular mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, restrictive speech in American universities, and how economic decline eventually undermines authoritarian regimes. Ozel emphasizes that effective opposition requires both public discontent and compelling leadership alternatives, which Turkey has developed but America currently sorely lacks. Most intriguingly, he suggests that Harvard's legal battle against Trump could be as significant as the 1925 Scopes trial which marked the end of another bout of anti-scientific hysteria in America. 5 Key Takeaways* Populist autho

Americans, it’s time to move to Europe! The American geo-strategist Jason Pack anticipated last week’s advice from Simon Kuper and moved to London a few years ago during the first Trump Presidency. Pack, the host of the excellent Disorder podcast, confesses to be thrilled to have escaped MAGA America. He describes the esthetics of contemporary Washington DC as "post-apocalyptic" and criticizes what he sees as the Trump administration's hostile atmosphere, ideological purity tests, and institutional destruction. Contrasting this with Europe's ideological fluidity, Pack warns that Trump's isolationist policies are increasing global disorder by fundamentally undermining America's global leadership role with its erstwhile European allies. Five Key Takeaways* Pack left America because he found the "esthetics" of working in policy and media spaces increasingly distasteful, particularly during Trump's first administration.* He argues that European political systems allow for greater id

Don’t say we weren’t warned. Project 2025, the 2022 Heritage Foundation’s 900-page policy blueprint, unambiguously plotted out the strategy of the second Trump administration. As Atlantic staff writer David A. Graham makes clear in his refreshingly brief The Project, the Heritage Foundation document is an verbose summary of Trump 2.0’s ambition to reshape government by strengthening executive power, promote traditional family structures, eliminate climate regulations, attack DEI initiatives, restructure the civil service and (gasp) outlaw pornography. Graham sees this project as both radical in its methods yet traditional in its values, produced by isolationists intent on resurrecting their fantasy of small town America. Five Point Takeaway* Project 2025 was created by former Trump administration officials under the Heritage Foundation to provide a comprehensive policy agenda and staffing strategy for a second Republican presidency.* Despite Trump publicly distancing himself from the

We are all Waymo Democrats now. That Was the Week’s Keith Teare and I appropriate Thomas Friedman’s controversial new term to dream of an American high tech future. Keith and I also talk about last week’s interview with Peter Leyden, a founding member of the Waymo Democracy club. Keith might not be altogether convinced by Leyden’s thesis about the inevitability of America’s 80 year historical cycles, but he nonetheless acknowledges that the Democrats need to “work backwards” to establish a clear vision of a radically reinvented 21st United States. Five Key Takeaways* Peter Layden's optimism about America's reinvention through an 80-year cycle is met with a degree of skepticism from Keith Teare, who believes the challenges of economic reinvention are too great without massive systemic change.* Thomas Friedman's concept of "Waymo Democrats" represents politicians focused on economic progress and innovation rather than cultural wars, which both hosts see as a potential path forward.* D

A year ago, the great American historian Adam Hochschild came on KEEN ON AMERICA to discuss American Midnight, his best selling account of the crisis of American democracy after World War One. A year later, is history really repeating itself in today’s crisis of American democracy? For Hochschild, there are certainly parallels between the current political situation in the US and post WW1 America. Describing how wartime hysteria and fear of communism led to unprecedented government repression, including mass imprisonment for political speech, vigilante violence, and press censorship. Hochschild notes eery similarities to today’s Trump's administration. He expresses concern about today’s threats to democratic institutions while suggesting the importance of understanding Trump supporters' grievances and finding ways to bridge political divides. Five Key Takeaways* The period of 1917-1921 in America saw extreme government repression, including imprisoning people for speech, vigilante violence

Adam Becker’s new critique of Silicon Valley More Everything Forever should probably be entitled Less Nothing Never. The science journalist accuses Silicon Valley overlords like Elon Musk and Sam Altman of promoting exaggerated dangers and promises about AI. Becker argues that these apocalyptic fears of superintelligent AI are science fictional fantasies rather than scientifically reasoned arguments. Becker acknowledges large language models have some value but believes their capabilities are overhyped. He criticizes tech billionaires for pursuing AI dominance rather than addressing real problems like climate change, and believes they are also peddling deeply troubling ideologies like eugenics. Silicon Valley is promising us more of everything forever, Becker warns, but the end result will actually be more human misery and degradation. 5 Key Takeaways* Becker believes claims about existential risks from superintelligent AI are unfounded and based on flawed arguments, including misconc

In contrast with yesterday’s guest, the Paris based Financial Times writer Simon Kuper, the newspaper’s London based columnist Jemima Kelly hasn’t quite given up on the United States of America. Trump, she suggests, might be the end of the line for the MAGA movement. Indeed, like another recent guest on the show, former Wired editor Peter Leyden, Kelly suggests that the Republicans might be flirting with the destruction of their brand for the next political generation. Unlike Leyden, however, Kelly isn’t particularly bullish on the future of the Democratic Party, arguing that there is a desperate need for a formal national opposition to Trump’s MAGA Republicanism. And in contrast with Leyden, Kelly doesn’t see much of an opposition - moral or otherwise - from seemingly spineless tech billionaires like Mark Zuckerberg or Marc Andreessen. 5 Key Takeaways* Kelly is most concerned about Trump's "utter disregard for the legal system and the kind of lawlessness" that

It’s official. The American Dream is dead. And it’s been resurrected in Europe where, according to the FT columnist Simon Kuper, disillusioned Americans should relocate. Compared with the United States, Kuper argues, Europe offers the three key metrics of a 21st century good life: “four years more longevity, higher self-reported happiness and less than half the carbon emissions per person”. So where exactly to move? The Paris based Kuper believes that his city is the most beautiful in Europe. He’s also partial to Madrid, which offers Europe’s sunniest lifestyle. And even London, in spite of all its post Brexit gloom, Kuper promises, offers American exiles the promise of a better life than the miserable existence which they now have to eek out in the United States. Five Takeaways* Quality of Life.:Kuper believes European quality of life surpasses America's for the average person, with Europeans living longer, having better physical health, and experiencing less extreme political pola

So what, exactly, was “The Enlightenment”? According to the Princeton historian David A. Bell, it was an intellectual movement roughly spanning the early 18th century through to the French Revolution. In his Spring 2025 Liberties Quarterly piece “The Enlightenment, Then and Now”, Bell charts the Enlightenment as a complex intellectual movement centered in Paris but with hubs across Europe and America. He highlights key figures like Montesquieu, Voltaire, Kant, and Franklin, discussing their contributions to concepts of religious tolerance, free speech, and rationality. In our conversation, Bell addresses criticisms of the Enlightenment, including its complicated relationship with colonialism and slavery, while arguing that its principles of freedom and reason remain relevant today. 5 Key Takeaways* The Enlightenment emerged in the early 18th century (around 1720s) and was characterized by intellectual inquiry, skepticism toward religion, and a growing sense among thinkers that

Why is America so over-medicated? According to Harvard Medical School professor Jerry Avorn, author of Rethinking Medications, everything begins and ends with the unaccountable power of Big Pharma. While acknowledging the tremendous benefits of modern medications, Avorn critiques the American healthcare system's pricing structures, pharmaceutical patent abuse, and profit incentives that drives the over-prescription of medicine. Avorn advocates for more thoughtful, evidence-based approaches to medication use, encouraging us to have meaningful conversations with our doctors about prescribed drugs. FIVE TAKEAWAYS* Modern medications provide tremendous benefits, but Americans pay approximately twice as much for prescription drugs as citizens of other wealthy countries due to limited price controls and lobbying influence.* The pharmaceutical industry uses "patent thickets" to extend monopolies beyond reasonable timeframes, preventing price competition that would make medications more af

Is America screwed? Not according to the former managing editor of Wired, Peter Leyden. The creator of the Substack newsletter The Great Progression, Leyden believes that U.S. history operates in 80 year cycles and that America, empowered by Northern Californian technology, is gearing up for another remarkable period of innovation. Leyden is no MAGA fanboy, but argues that Trump is enabling the American future by destroying the Republican brand and unintentionally guaranteeing a longterm Democratic majority. It’s a provocative thesis which I hope is true. But what about China? And can we really trust Silicon Valley’s tech titans to make America great again? 5 Takeaways* Leyden believes America cycles through major reinventions approximately every 80 years, with previous transformations occurring after the Constitutional Convention, Civil War, and World War II.* He argues that post-WWII systems (welfare state, Pax Americana) are outdated and that Trump's presidency is accelera

Are Google and Facebook screwed? That’s the question which Keith Teare asks in today’s That Was The Week tech newsletter. In our age of nationalist globalization, Teare argues, Facebook and Google, the original darlings of the Web 2.0 revolution are, so-to-speak, half-fucked. On the one hand, they are the victims of a legal witch hunt by a nationalist U.S. government intent on punishing Big Tech innovation; on the other, they continue to reap the benefits of an increasingly globalized digital marketplace. No wonder, then, that Lee-Anne Mullholland, the Google VP of Regulatory Affairs, has claimed a kind of Trumpian half-victory in this week’s legal ruling against her company. “We won half of this case and we will appeal the other half,” Mullholland wrote. Perhaps. But as Teare drolly remarks in his editorial, “nobody can accuse the Government of being fast.” No, not even half-fast. In this absurdly anachronistic fight against Google and Facebook, the snail-paced U.S. government is actually fighting the war be

Few Americans have been as explicit in their warnings about Donald Trump than the St. Louis based writer Sarah Kendzior. Her latest book, The Last American Road Trip, is a memoir chronicling Kendzior’s journey down Route 66 to show her children America before it is destroyed. Borrowing from her research of post Soviet Central Asia, Kendzior argues that Trump is establishing a kleptocratic “mafia state” designed to fleece the country of its valuables. This is the third time that Kendzior has been on the show and I have to admit I’ve always been slightly skeptical of her apocalyptic take on Trump. But given the damage that the new administration is inflicting on America, I have to admit that many of Kendzior’s warnings now appear to be uncannily prescient. As she warns, it’s Springtime in America. And things are about to get much much hotter. FIVE TAKEAWAYS* Kendzior views Trump's administration as a "mafia state" or kleptocracy focused on stripping America for parts rather than

In yesterday’s show, the neuroscientist Leor Zmigrod explained how radical ideology is infecting our brains. Today, Unite America executive director Nick Troiano explains how the American democratic system is empowering radicals in both parties. In The Primary Solution, Troiano argues that party primaries give disproportionate influence to political extremes, with 90% of elections being decided in primaries where few people participate. Troiano advocates for open primaries that allow all voters to participate regardless of party affiliation, citing Alaska's reform which combine open primaries with ranked-choice voting as a model solution. FIVE TAKEAWAYS* The primary election system in America gives disproportionate influence to political fringes, as 90% of elections are effectively decided in primaries where few people participate.* In 16 states, independent voters (about 16 million Americans) are locked out of taxpayer-funded primaries, meaning they cannot participate in elections that often

Our brains are delicate things. That, at least, is the view of the neuroscientist Leor Zmigrod, whose new book, The Ideological Brain, is a warning about how radical ideologies of both left and right can infect our brains. She argues that, in contrast with flexible thinking, ideological discourse involves rigid adherence to doctrines and anti-scientific dismissal of factual evidence. She notes that economic and political stress rigidifies our thought processes, making us more susceptible to ideological viruses. Ideology then, for Dr Zmigrod, is the new pandemic. Just as we defeated COVID, we need antidotes to fight this existential threat to our collective well-being. FIVE TAKEAWAYS* Ideological thinking is characterized by rigid adherence to doctrine and resistance to evidence, while flexible thinking involves updating beliefs based on new information.* Research shows that political extremists on both left and right demonstrate cognitive rigidity, while moderate thinkers exhibit great

To celebrate our 2500th show, long time KEEN ON friend David Masciotra interviewed me about the current perilous situation in America. We discuss why I’ve renamed the show KEEN ON AMERICA and my thoughts on the U.S’s increasingly pivotal role in 21st century history. We discuss America's changing "operating system" as it struggles to reinvent its 20th century industrial identity. We explore America’s age old relationship between technology, entertainment, and politics, particularly in how Trump represents a kind of apotheosis of Neil Postman’s warning about the convergence of politics and entertainment. I express ever so cautious optimism about America in 2025, highlighting the country's historic capacity for reinvention, self-creation and, above all, defiant resistance to the stupidity and evil of you-know-who. 5 TAKEAWAYS* I’ve renamed the show to "Keen on America" because I see America at the "cockpit of world history" in the 2020s, and I wants to focus on exploring America

MIT professor Thomas Levenson is one of America’s most celebrated science writers and filmmakers. In his upcoming new book, So Very Small, Levenson charts the history of germ theory to underline how modern scientific research has changed the world and saved tens of millions of lives. Not surprisingly, then, Levenson expresses deep concern about the Trump administration's attacks on the American scientific establishment, particularly funding cuts affecting critical research. He warns against growing the anti-vaccine ideology, explaining how periods of rapid social change often trigger the kind of anti-expertise attitudes articulated by paranoid reactionaries like RFK Jr. FIVE TAKEAWAYS* Science in America is under assault by the Trump administration through funding cuts to critical research institutions like NIH, which doesn't just affect current work but dismantles research infrastructure that takes years to build.* Levenson's book "So Very Small" traces how humans discovered mic

Brookings Senior Fellow Andre M. Perry has a new book out today which measures what he calls the “racial gap” in America and asks what we can do to close it. Entitled The Black Power Scorecard, it draws on extensive research and analysis to quantify how much power Black Americans actually have. Using big data metrics, Perry compares Black communities to each other rather than to white populations to highlight local progress and solutions. The results are more encouraging that some might think. Perry argues for investing in Black-owned businesses and assets, noting they often deliver high quality products and services despite receiving less revenue. More W.E.B. Du Bois than Booker T Washington, Perry advocates for structural change while recognizing the importance of local solutions, rejecting the notion that Black communities must rely solely on Booker T’s self-help doctrine. Five Key Takeaways * Perry's "Black Power Scorecard" focuses on factors that promote Black thriving rather than def