Keen On America

EPISODE 1831: In this KEEN ON episode, Andrew talks to John Kampfner, author of IN SEARCH OF BERLIN, about the enigmatic German capital on the edge of the world John Kampfner has had a 30-year career in international public life spanning media, global affairs, politics and arts. He is the author of seven books. He began his journalistic career as a foreign correspondent with the Daily Telegraph, f...

EPISODE 1830: In this KEEN ON show, Andrew talks to Michael Muthukrishna, author of A THEORY OF EVERYTHING, about how humans are a new kind of animal and why we need to transform the world into the most efficient laboratory possible Michael Muthukrishna is Associate Professor of Economic Psychology at the London School of Economics. He is also Affiliate of the Developmental Economics Group at STIC...

EPISODE 1829: In this KEEN ON show, Andrew talks to Jeff Kosseff, author of LIAR IN A CROWDED THEATER, about the protection of free speech in our digital age of misinformation Jeff Kosseff is an associate professor of cybersecurity law in the United States Naval Academy’s Cyber Science Department. He is the author of four books and more than 20 academic journal articles. In fall 2023, Johns Hopkin...

EPISODE 1828: In this regular KEEN ON show with LA Times book critic Bethane Patrick, Bethanne talks about eight scary new books to keep you awake this Halloween Bethanne 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. He...

EPISODE 1827: In this KEEN ON show, Andrew talks to the filmmaker, artist and writer Hito Steyerl about what she calls the "pyramid schemes", "on-boarding" tools and the "mean" creativity of our AI age Hito Steyerl (born 1 January 1966) is a German filmmaker, moving image artist, writer, and innovator of the essay documentary. Her principal topics of interest are media, technology, and the global...

EPISODE 1826: In this regular weekly KEEN ON with  Keith Teare, THAT WAS THE WEEK newsletter author, Keith tries to separate the hyperbole from the hysteria of VC  techno-optimism   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...

EPISODE 1825: In this KEEN ON show, Andrew talks to Peter Slen, Executive Producer of the C-SPAN series BOOKS THAT SHAPED AMERICA, about Mark Twain's 1884 novel HUCKLEBERRY FINN, the adventurous story of a youthful nation on a great and not-so-great adventure Peter Slen is the senior executive producer and a host at C-SPAN, a television and radio network known for its unbiased coverage of governme...

EPISODE 1824: In this KEEN ON show, Andrew talks to Nora Krug, author of DIARIES OF WAR, about the contrasting realities of a Ukrainian journalist and a Russian artist in the first year of the Russian invasion Nora Krug is a German-American author and illustrator whose drawings and visual narratives have appeared in newspapers, magazines and anthologies internationally. Her illustrations have been...

EPISODE 1823: In this KEEN ON show, Andrew talks to Branko Milanovic, author of VISIONS OF INEQUALITY, about how different economists have made sense of economic inequality over the last 250 years BRANKO MILANOVIC is a Senior Scholar at the Stone Center on Socio-Economic Inequality at the CUNY Graduate Center and the author of the forthcoming Visions of Inequality: From the French Revolution to th...

EPISODE 1822: In this KEEN ON show, Andrew talks to Ray Suarez, author of "That Sinking Feel", about his fear of being poor in the America of the inegalitarian Twenties. Ray Suarez has had a more than 40-year career in print, radio, and television news. He recently completed an appointment as a visiting professor of political science at NYU Shanghai. He currently hosts the radio program and podcas...

EPISODE 1821: In this KEEN ON show, Andrew talks to Anand Varma, author of NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC INVISIBLE WONDERS, on about his lifelong curiosity with the natural world Anand Varma is a National Geographic Explorer and award-winning photographer based in Berkeley, California. He has devoted years of his life to developing innovative techniques—even building some of his own equipment—to create inti...

EPISODE 1820: In this KEEN ON show, Andrew talk: Peter Sarris on Justinian, the legendary 6th century Byzantine ruler who resurrected the Eastern Roman Empires to Peter Sarris, author of JUSTINIAN, about the legendary 6th century Byzantine ruler who resurrected the Eastern Roman Empire and confounded a narrative of decline.  Peter Sarris read Modern History at Balliol College, Oxford (1990-93), af...

EPISODE 1819 In this KEEN ON show, Andrew interviews Alexander Sammon, author of "Forbidden Fruit: The Anti-Avocado militias of Michoacan, about the sordid history of the avocado, the thirstiest fruit on the planet Alexander Sammon is a writer based in New York. His latest piece in Harpers is “Forbidden Fruit” Named as one of the "100 most connected men" by GQ magazine, Andrew Keen is amongst the...

EPISODE 1818:  In this KEEN ON show, Andrew talks to Sandra Newman, author of JULIA;A NOVEL, about Julia, Winston Smith and the totalitarianism of gender that George Orwell ignored in his iconic dystopia Sandra Newman is the author of the novels The Men, The Heavens (a New York Times Notable Book of the Year), and The Country of Ice Cream Star, longlisted for the Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction...

EPISODE 1817: In this KEEN ON show, Andrew talks to David Leonhardt, author of OURS WAS THE SHINING FUTURE, about on unions, constitutional reform, immigration and the need for a progressive populism David Leonhardt is a senior writer at The New York Times, where he writes its flagship newsletter, “The Morning.” He has also been the newspaper’s Washington bureau chief, an op-ed columnist, a staff...

EPISODE 1816: In this KEEN ON show, Andrew talks to concept artist Karla Ortiz about the existential "theft" at the heart of the AI revolution Karla Ortiz is a Puerto Rican, internationally recognized, award-winning artist. With her exceptional design sense, realistic renders, and character-driven narratives, Karla has contributed to many big-budget projects, including Jurassic World, World of War...

EPISODE 1815: In this KEEN ON show, Andrew talks to Christian Lorentzen, author of the new Liberties Quarterly essay "In Dreams Begin Responsibilities: a Memoir", about the half-life of a literary critic in our digital age of cultural decay and disinformation Christian Lorentzen's writing has appeared in the London Review of Books, Harper’s Magazine, Bookforum, Artforum, n+1, the Times Literary Su...

EPISODE 1814: In this KEEN ON show, Andrew talks to John Parrington, author of CONSCIOUSNESS, about how human brains, unlike those of all other species, can turn matter into meaning John Parrington is an Associate Professor in Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology and a Tutorial Fellow in Medicine at the University of Oxford. He is the author of three previous books and over 110 peer reviewed articl...

EPISODE 1813: In this KEEN ON show, Andrew talks to Greg Lukianoff, co-author of THE CANCELING OF THE AMERICAN MIND, about why today's cancel culture might be as much of a threat to  American free speech as the McCarthyite Red Scare of the 1950s Greg Lukianoff is an attorney, New York Times best-selling author, and the President and CEO of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE)...

EPISODE 1812: In this KEEN ON show, Andrew talks to Jeff Fuhrer, author of THE MYTH THAT MADE US, about the the existential crisis of economic inequality now threatening the United States Jeff Fuhrer is a Non-Resident Fellow at the Brookings Institution and a Foundation Fellow at the Eastern Bank Foundation. He was previously Executive Vice President and Director of Research at the Federal Reserve...

EPISODE 1811: In this KEEN ON show, Andrew talks to Roger Moorhouse, author of THE FORGERS, about the forgotten story of a Polish diplomatic rescue operation to save the lives of Polish Jews Roger Moorhouse is a historian and author specialising in modern German and Central European history, with particular interest in Nazi Germany, the Holocaust and World War Two in Europe. A visiting professor a...

EPISODE 1810: In this KEEN ON show, Andrew talks to  Noa Yedlin, the Israeli writer and author of STOCKHOLM: A NOVEL, about the events of October 7, Benjamin Netanyahu, and how winning the Nobel prize might and might not change us Noa Yedlin is a bestselling Israeli author, the recipient of the Sapir Prize (the Israeli Man Booker) and the Prime Minister’s Literature Award. Yedlin is also the creat...

EPISODE 1809: In this KEEN ON show, Andrew talks to Alissa Quart, an editor of GOING FOR BROKE and Executive Director of the Economic Hardship Reporting Project, about living on the edge in the world's richest country Alissa Quart is the author of five acclaimed books of nonfiction including Bootstrapped: Liberating Ourselves from the American Dream (Ecco, 2023). They are Squeezed, Republic of Out...

EPISODE 1808: In this KEEN ON show, Andrew talks to Sophie Hannah, author of HERCULE POIROT'S SILENT NIGHT, about how to recreate the World's Greatest Detective. Sophie Hannah is a Sunday Times and New York Times bestselling writer of crime fiction, published in forty-nine languages and fifty-one territories. Her books have sold millions of copies worldwide. In 2014, with the blessing of Agatha Ch...

EPISODE 1807: In this KEEN ON show, Andrew talks to Seth Kaplan, author of FRAGILE NEIGHBORHOODS, on how to repair American society, one zip code at a time Seth D. Kaplan is a leading expert on fragile states. He is a Professorial Lecturer in the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) at Johns Hopkins University, Senior Adviser for the Institute for Integrated Transitions (I...