Keen On

EPISODE 1876: In this KEEN ON show, Andrew talks to Bulent Atalay, author of BEYOND GENIUS, about how Shakespeare, Da Vinci, Newton, Beethoven and Einstein all shared the same kind of transgressive mindsDescribed by the Washington Post, Smithsonian Magazine, NPR and PBS as a “Modern Renaissance Man,” Bulent Atalay is a scientist, artist and author. After his participation in a scientifically incongruous archaeological expedition to Mt. Ararat in Eastern Turkey — one in which the late astronaut James Irwin was also a member — the Washington Post carried the story, “Indiana Atalay and the Search for the Ark.” With roots in Turkey and England, Atalay now resides in the United States. His grandfather was a Turkish military officer who survived the Battle of Gallipoli in WWI, only to die while fighting against Lawrence of Arabia in 1916. His father was a military officer and diplomat who served as diplomatic courier to European capitals during WWII, and subsequently held successive assignments as military attaché

EPISODE 1875: In this KEEN ON show, Andrew talks to the anti Trump conservative Peter Wehner about the nihilism of the evangelical right in America todayPeter Wehner is a contributing writer at The Atlantic and a senior fellow at the Trinity Forum. His books include The Death of Politics: How to Heal Our Frayed Republic After Trump, City of Man: Religion and Politics in a New Era, which he co-wrote with Michael J. Gerson, and Wealth and Justice: The Morality of Democratic Capitalism. He was formerly a speechwriter for George W. Bush and a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center. Wehner is a contributing opinion writer for The New York Times, and his work also appears in publications including The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and National Affairs.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 a

EPISODE 1874 : In this KEEN ON show, Andrew talks to Lauren Grodstein, author of WE MUST NOT THINK OF OURSELVES, about why she changed her mind about writing a novel about the HolocaustLauren Grodstein is the author of five novels, including the New York Times bestseller A Friend of the Family and the Washington Post Book of the Year The Explanation for Everything.  Her forthcoming novel We Must Not Think of Ourselves will be published by Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill in November, 2023. Lauren’s work has been translated into French, Turkish, German, Hebrew, and other languages, and her essays and reviews have been widely published.  She teaches in the MFA Program at Rutgers University-Camden and lives in New Jersey with her husband and children.  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 p

EPISODE 1873: In this KEEN ON show, Andrew talks to Peter Slen, Executive Producer of the CSPAN series, 10 BOOKS THAT SHAPED AMERICA, about why the "Words of Cesar Chavez" still matterPeter Slen is the senior executive producer and a host at C-SPAN, a television and radio network known for its unbiased coverage of government proceedings.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

EPISODE 1872: In this KEEN ON show, Andrew talks to Peter Slen, Executive Producer of the CSPAN series, 10 BOOKS THAT SHAPED AMERICA, about the impact of Rose and Milton Friedman's 1980 defense of free market capitalism, "Free to Chose"Peter Slen is the senior executive producer and a host at C-SPAN, a television and radio network known for its unbiased coverage of government proceedings.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

PISODE 1871: In this KEEN ON show, Andrew talks to William B. Eimicke, author of LEVELING THE LEARNING CURVE, about to how to create a more inclusive and connected universityWilliam B. Eimicke is co-author of Leveling the Learning Curve: Creating a More Inclusive and Connected University by William B. Eimicke, Soulaymane Kachani, and Adam Stepan (Columbia University Press, 2023).  He is professor of practice and founding director of the Picker Center for Executive Education at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs and has led major online learning projects at Columbia and with partner institutions around the world. His books include Social Value Investing (with Howard W. Buffett, 2018) and Management Fundamentals (with Steven Cohen, 2020), both published by Columbia University Press.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-run

EPISODE 1870: In this KEEN ON show, Andrew talks to Jason Pack, the co-host of The Disorder podcast, about Qatar, Iran, Biden, Hamas, Israel and the road to order in the disordered Middle EastJason Pack is the Founder of Libya-Analysis LLC, and the co-host of Disorder, a geopolitics podcast co-produced with Goalhanger Podcasts. He is a Senior Analyst for Emerging Challenges at the NATO Defence College Foundation in Rome. In partnership with NDCF, Jason leads a project entitled NATO and the Global Enduring Disorder, which produces a range of content (including the Disorder podcast and series of publications) attempting to sketch out a ‘unified field theory’ of our current era of geopolitics while proposing actionable solutions to our most pressing collective action challenges. His most recent book, Libya and the Global Enduring Disorder (Hurst, Oxford University Press) is a ‘cross-over’ academic book that explores what Libya’s dysfunctional economic structures and its ongoing civil war reveal about our era of

EPISODE 1869: In this KEEN ON show, Andrew talks to Kate Bravery, co-author of WORK DIFFERENT, who offers ten truths about work, jobs and education in the age of AIKate Bravery is Mercer’s Global Advisory Solutions and Insight Leader and a non-executive director at Digital Frontiers. She oversees HR solutions and insights at Mercer, plus the management of its knowledge across its Health, Wealth, and Career practices. Kate is a global citizen who currently lives in Brighton in the UK with her husband, son, and daughter. Kate is an acclaimed thought leader on the future of work: she is the author of Mercer’s Global Talent Trends study and runs podcast and live events that focus on emerging workforce trends. She convened with the World Economic Forum (WEF) and Oxford University on the future of work post-COVID, gender parity and how to ensure equitable futures for all. Kate started her career by evaluating how employee orientation and leadership programs impacted worker's perceptions of their cultural alignment

EPISODE 1868: In this KEEN ON show, Andrew talks to Marga Hoek, author of IMAGINE TECH FOR GOOD, about how tech can solve some of the world's greatest challengesMarga Hoek is the international business and thought leader on sustainable business and capital and the shift form the linear economy to a circular economy. Ranked by Thinkers 50 as one of the top 30 new management thinkers in the world She has gained recognition over the years as a successful and innovative business leader in various CEO and executive roles. Marga Hoek is the author of the award-winning bestseller New Economy Business, which received international acclaim for the clear vision on a sustainable, circular economy and the new role of business. She recently released her newest book The Trillion Dollar Shift, during the World Economic Forum Annual Conference in Davos. It is the first and only business book on the Global Goals, addressing how business and capital can make positive use of these goals, while strengthening their company and bu

EPISODE 1867:  In this KEEN ON show, Andrew talks to Steven Ujifusa, author of THE LAST SHIPS FROM HAMBURG, about the race to save Russia's Jews on the eve of World War ISteven Ujifusa is a historian and a resident of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His third book, The Last Ships from Hamburg: Business, Rivalry, and the Race to Save Russia's Jews on the Eve of World War I, tells the story of Eastern European Jewish immigration to America in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It will be published by HarperCollins in November 2023.  Principal characters will include the fin de siècle triumvirate of J.P. Morgan, Jacob Schiff, and Albert Ballin.  To preorder The Last Ships from Hamburg, visit the HarperCollins book website. His second book, Barons of the Sea: And Their Race to Build the World's Fastest Clipper Ship, tells the saga of the great 19th century American clipper ships and the Yankee merchant dynasties they created.  In 2012, The Wall Street Journal named his first book, A Man and His Ship: America's G

EPISODE 1866: In our weekly KEEN ON wrap of tech news with Keith Teare, author of  the THAT WAS THE WEEK newletter,  Keith talks about the capitalism versus anti-capitalist fight triggered by the OpenAI brouhaha Keith Teare is a Founder and CEO at SignalRank Corporation. Previously he was Executive Chairman at Accelerated Digital Ventures Ltd - A UK-based global investment company focused on startups at all stages. He was also previously the founder at the Palo Alto incubator, Archimedes Labs. Archimedes was the original incubator for TechCrunch and since 2011 has invested, accelerated or incubated many Silicon Valley startups including Around (sold to Miro), Millicast (Sold to Dolby), InFarm, Miles, Quixey; M.dot (sold to GoDaddy); chat.center; Loop Surveys; DownTown and Sunshine. Teare has a track record as a serial entrepreneur with big ideas and has achieved significant returns for investors.Named as one of the "100 most connected men" by GQ magazine, Andrew Keen is amongst the world's best known broadcas

EPISODE 1865: In this KEEN ON show, Andrew talks to Bethanne Patrick, the book critic of the LA Times, about 8 brilliant books to give as gifts this XmasBethanne Patrick maintains a storied place in the publishing industry as a critic and as @TheBookMaven on Twitter, where she created the popular #FridayReads and regularly comments on books and literary ideas to over 200,000 followers. Her work appears frequently in the Los Angeles Times as well as in The Washington Post, NPR Books, and Literary Hub. She sits on the board of the PEN/Faulkner Foundation and has served on the board of the National Book Critics Circle. She is the host of the Missing Pages podcast.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 INTERN

EPISODE 1864: In this KEEN ON show, Andrew talks to Kevin F. Adler, co-author of WHEN WE WALK BY, about the forgotten humanity and broken systems causing today's homelessness crisis in America Kevin F. Adler is the author of When We Walk By: Forgotten Humanity, Broken Systems, and the Role We Can Each Play in Ending Homelessness in America, which will be published on November 7th, 2023, and is based on his pioneering work over the past decade tackling homelessness and “relational poverty” on the streets. As the Founder and CEO of Miracle Messages, an award-winning nonprofit organization that helps people experiencing homelessness rebuild their social support systems and financial security, Kevin is leading a revolution in how we treat our unhoused neighbors: as people to be loved, not problems to be solved. Miracle Messages has helped over 800 unhoused individuals reunite with their loved ones, matched hundreds more for weekly calls and texts with caring volunteers around the world as phone buddies, and creat

EPISODE 1863: In this KEEN ON show, Andrew talks to Margaret Heffernan, author of UNCHARTED, about what we can learn from artists about controlling the insatiability of Silicon Valley entrepreneurs like Sam AltmanDr. Margaret Heffernan produced programmes for the BBC for 13 years.  She then moved to the US where she spearheaded multimedia productions for Intuit, The Learning Company and Standard&Poors. She was Chief Executive of InfoMation Corporation, ZineZone Corporation and then iCast Corporation, was named one of the “Top 25” by Streaming Media magazine and one of the “Top 100 Media Executives” by The Hollywood Reporter. The author of six books, Margaret’s third book, Willful Blindness: Why We Ignore the Obvious at our Peril was  named one of the most important business books of the decade by the Financial Times. In 2015, she was awarded the Transmission Prize for  A Bigger Prize: Why Competition isn’t Everything and How We Do Better, described as “meticulously researched…engagingly written…universall

EPISODE 1862: In this KEEN ON show, Andrew talks to Vickor Mayer-Schonberger, author of the upcoming GUARDRAILS, about the need to regulate big data companies like OpenAIViktor Mayer-Schönberger is the Professor of Internet Governance and Regulation at Oxford. His research focuses on the role of information in a networked economy. Earlier he spent ten years on the faculty of Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. He has published eleven books, including the international bestseller “Big Data” (HMH, co-authored with Kenneth Cukier, translated into more than 20 languages), “Learning with Big Data” (HMH, co-authored with Kenneth Cukier) and the awards-winning “Delete: The Virtue of Forgetting in the Digital Age” with Princeton University Press (also available in multiple languages). He is the author of over a hundred articles and book chapters on the economics and governance of information. After successes in the International Physics Olympics and the Austrian Young Programmers Contest, Mayer-Schönberger studie

EPISODE 1861: In the KEEN ON show, Andrew talks to Christopher de Hamel, author of THE MANUSCRIPTS CLUB, about the remarkable literary figures behind a thousand years of medieval manuscriptsChristopher de Hamel is the author of Meetings with Remarkable Manuscripts, winner of both the Wolfson History Prize and the Duff Cooper Prize. Over the course of a long career at Sotheby’s he catalogued more illuminated manuscripts than any other person alive, and very possibly more than any one individual has ever done. Christopher de Hamel is now a Fellow of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. He was the former librarian of Parker Library, which includes many, even most, of the earliest manuscripts in English language and history. De Hamel lives in London and Cambridge. 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 autho

EPISODE 1860: In this KEEN ON show, Andrew talks Darrin M. McMahon, author of EQUALITY, about the history of a most elusive idealDarrin M. McMahon is a cultural and intellectual historian and a leading proponent of a new and revitalized history in ideas. His work encompasses the sweep of Western history from the ancient world to the present day, and spans both sides of the Atlantic, but the fulcrum of his research and writing is Western Europe in the long 18th century, the age of Enlightenment. McMahon is particularly interested in seminal concepts that emerged in the 18th century and have continued to exercise an important influence on modern culture. McMahon is currently the Mary Brinsmead Wheelock Professor of History at Dartmouth College. From 1994–2014 he taught history at history at Florida State University, where he was the Ben Weider Professor and Distinguished Research Professor. Born in Carmel, California, and educated at the University of California, Berkeley and Yale, where he received his PhD in

EPISODE 1859: In this KEEN ON episode, Andrew talks to Anna Pitoniak, author of THE HELSINKI AFFAIR, about the art of espionage and the tradecraft of the spy novelistAnna Pitoniak is the author of The Futures, Necessary People, Our American Friend, and the forthcoming The Helsinki Affair. She graduated from Yale, where she majored in English and was an editor at the Yale Daily News. She worked for many years in book publishing, most recently as a Senior Editor at Random House. Anna grew up in Whistler, British Columbia, and now lives in New York City and East Hampton. You can find her newsletter about writing, publishing, and creativity on Substack.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 TH

EPISODE 1858: In this KEEN ON show, Andrew talks to the distinguished Israeli novelist Assaf Gavron about how the events of October 7 might be a game changer in a good way and on why we must "try again" to make peace in the Middle EastAssaf Gavron was Born in 1968, and published six novels (Ice, Moving, Almost Dead, Hydromania, The Hilltop and Eighteen Lashes), a collection of short stories (Sex in the cemetery), and a non-fiction collection of Jerusalem falafel-joint reviews (Eating Standing Up). His fiction has been translated into 12 languages. His latest English translation, The Hilltop, was published in 2014 by Scribner. Among the awards he won are the Israeli Prime Minister’s Creative Award for Authors, the Israeli Bernstein Prize for The Hilltop, the DAAD artists-in-Berlin fellowship in Germany, the Buch Fur Die Stadt award in Germany for CrocAttack and the Prix Courrier International award in France for the same novel. His fiction was adapted for the stage in Habima – Israel’s national theatre, and fi

EPISODE 1857: In this KEEN ON show, Andrew talks to Bethanne Patrick, book critic at the Los Angeles Times, about the mavens, mavericks and mythology determining our smart machine futureBethanne Patrick maintains a storied place in the publishing industry as a critic and as @TheBookMaven on Twitter, where she created the popular #FridayReads and regularly comments on books and literary ideas to over 200,000 followers. Her work appears frequently in the Los Angeles Times as well as in The Washington Post, NPR Books, and Literary Hub. She sits on the board of the PEN/Faulkner Foundation and has served on the board of the National Book Critics Circle. She is the host of the Missing Pages podcast.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 AMA