Keen On Democracy

Douglas Rushkoff has spent decades warning how each new digital technological “revolution” has promised liberation but actually only compounds social and economic injustice. Six months after describing AI to me as the "first native app for the internet," the New York City media theorist and author returns with a provocative historical parallel: AI as the next "dumb waiter." Just as Thomas Jefferson's mechanical food elevator appeared automated but relied on hidden slave labor, today's artificial intelligence presents itself as magical automation while depending on vast networks of invisible human workers in developing nations like Kenya and the Philippines. Rushkoff argues that slowing down AI development—not accelerating it—might be our most revolutionary act. And that successfully harnessing AI to our needs and desires might represent our "last chance" to rewrite society.1. AI is the "Dumb Waiter 2.0" - Like Jefferson's mechanical food elevator that appeared automated but depended on hidden slave labor, AI presents itself as magical automation while relying on invisible human workers. "So today you see AI is pitched to us as if you just put out a query and something comes back and there's been no human involved. There's tons of humans... it's not without humans, it's just that the human labor is hidden."2. The "Pedal-to-the-Metal" AI Deployment is Actually Reactionary - Tech billionaires pushing for rapid AI development aren't revolutionaries but reactionaries. "The tech bros who seem to want the most rapid deployment of this stuff... They are not the revolutionaries. They are the reactionaries. The reason they want to do this pedal to the metal, rapid deployment of AI is to prevent change."3. Jobs Were Invented and Can Be Reinvented - Employment as we know it was artificially created and can be reimagined. "Jobs were invented. Jobs were invented in the 11th and 12th century. When the charter monopoly came and said you're not allowed to be in business for yourself... jobs were invented. It means they can be reinvented or the economy can be re-invented."4. We Have a "Last Chance" Window of Opportunity - AI represents a brief moment when fundamental change is possible. "There's also the same opportunity, which is why I'm excited that same 1991/92/93 opportunity, there's a new technology that hasn't quite settled, the clay is still really wet. And the possibilities are really are wide and many."5. Slowing Down AI Development is More Revolutionary Than Speeding It Up - Rather than rushing deployment, we need time for thoughtful implementation. "What if we slow down enough to have distributed access to this technology? To look at more environmental ways of doing it... but really look at what do we want to do and have enough time to... ask deeper questions."Keen On America is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. 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

So who killed privacy? It's the central question of Tiffany Jenkins' provocative new history of private life, Strangers and Intimates. The answer, according to Jenkins, is that we are all complicit—having gradually and often accidentally contributed to privacy's demise from the 16th century onwards. Luther started it by challenging Papal religious authority and the public sacraments, thereby creating the necessity of private conscience. Then came Enlightenment philosophers like Locke and Hobbes who carved out bounded private political and economic spheres establishing the foundations for modern capitalism and democracy. Counter-enlightenment romantics like Rousseau reacted against this by fetishizing individual innocence and authenticity, while the Victorians elevated the domestic realm as sacred. Last but not least, there's Mark Zuckerberg's socially networked age, in which we voluntarily broadcast our private lives to a worldwide audience. But why, I ask Jenkins, should we care about the death of private life in our current hyper-individualistic age? Can it be saved by more or less obsession with the self? Or might it require us to return to the world before Martin Luther, a place Thomas More half satiricizes Utopia, where “private life” was a dangerously foreign idea. 1. Privacy is a Historical Accident, Not a Natural Human Condition"There was a sense in which you shouldn't do anything privately that they wouldn't do publicly... This wasn't a kind of property-based private life." Jenkins argues that before the 17th century, the very concept of leading a separate private life didn't exist—privacy as we understand it is a relatively recent invention.2. Martin Luther Accidentally Created Modern Privacy Through Religious Rebellion"Luther inadvertently... authorized the self as against, in his case, the Catholic Church... if you follow the debates over the kind of beginnings of a private sphere and its expansion, whether you're reading Locke or Hobbes, there's a discussion about... the limits of authority." Luther's challenge to religious authority unintentionally created the need for private conscience, sparking centuries of development toward individual privacy.3. The Digital Age Represents a Return to Pre-Privacy Transparency"I think we do live in a period where there is little distinction between public and private, where the idea that you might keep something to yourself is seen as strange, as inauthentic." Jenkins suggests our current era of social media oversharing resembles pre-modern times more than the Victorian peak of privacy.4. Modern Loneliness Stems From Social Fragmentation, Not Individual Psychology"I sometimes wonder if we're pathologizing, actually, what is a social problem, which is a society where people are fragmented, not quite sure how to go beyond themselves... I would see that as a social problem." Rather than treating loneliness as a personal issue, Jenkins argues it reflects the breakdown of intermediate institutions between family and state.5. Technology Doesn't Determine Our Privacy—We Do"Can't blame the tech, tech isn't the problem... It comes down really to what sort of society we want to live in and how we want to be treated. That's not a technical thing. That has not to do with technology. That's to do humans." Jenkins rejects technological determinism, arguing that privacy's fate depends on human choices about social organization, not inevitable technological forces.Keen On America is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. 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

Is Mohammed bin Salman a tyrant or an enlightened despot? According to the former Wall Street Journal publisher Karen Elliott House, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Man Who Would Be King, a new biography of MBS, he might be both. Or neither. House who spent years reporting from and writing on Saudi Arabia, offers a complex (and unofficial) portrait of the Crown Prince's ambitious transformation efforts, his deeply troubling human rights record, and the uncertain fate of his grand vision for modernizing the oil kingdom. Drawing on extensive access to MBS himself, she explores whether his reforms can succeed or will ultimately crumble like the ruins in Shelley's "Ozymandias." Rather than Lee Kuan Yew or Saddam Hussein, that's probably MBS' fate. A ruler neither sufficiently enlightened or tyrannical to leave a historical footprint. 1. MBS as an "Enlightened Despot" Shaped by Personal Experience"He is an enlightened despot. He grew up in that period when you couldn't do anything... all this trying to put the religious police aside is personal, not just policy for him."House argues that MBS's reforms stem from his own frustration with Saudi Arabia's religious restrictions, making his changes deeply personal rather than merely strategic.2. The Khashoggi Murder: A "Rendition Gone Wrong""I do believe that he too smart to order somebody to do that. I think what he ordered, that it was a rendition gone wrong. He said, bring the guy back... I don't think it would have happened if the crown prince had said, bring me that guy, but you know be sure he gets here alive."House suggests MBS likely ordered Khashoggi's return to Saudi Arabia but didn't intend for him to be killed, though she acknowledges the brutal outcome.3. Human Rights Have Worsened Under MBS"Yes, absolutely. But, you know, the only countries probably that are worse... basically Iran, China, North Korea, countries like that."When asked if Saudi's human rights record has deteriorated under MBS, House confirms it has, placing the kingdom among the world's worst offenders.4. Ambitious Projects Face Reality Checks"Some of his ideas are like the line in Naom... I mean that's a, you know, some might say a monstrosity... it's now down to there will be a mile and a half of it by 2030."House describes how MBS's grandiose vision for NEOM has been dramatically scaled back, suggesting his ambitious projects may be unrealistic.5. Uncertain Legacy: The Ozymandias Question"I quote in the book, the poet Shelley's poem, Ozymandias, about dirt and the look at me, mighty and despair, that it could all turn to dirt... if it were me and I had all of these issues that he faces now, I'd probably crawl under the bed and take a sleeping pill."House remains uncertain about MBS's ultimate success, comparing his potential fate to the fallen ruler in Shelley's poem while acknowledging his determination to persist despite enormous challenges.Keen On America is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. 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

Sociocide is a chilling word. Coined by the Norwegian sociologist Johan Galtung, it means the deliberate destruction of a society's social infrastructure and capacity to function as a cohesive unit. According to Boston College sociologist Charles Derber, this kind of social suicide is now destroying America. In his latest book, Bonfire, Derber argues that America is slipping and sliding into a sociocide of broken social and political relations. Drawing on decades of research, Derber connects rising isolation—people eating alone, losing friends, living in "civic deserts"—to the rise of authoritarianism. When social bonds collapse, he warns, isolated individuals become vulnerable to strongman leaders who exploit their fear and loneliness.1. Sociocide is Social Suicide at the Societal Level"We're kind of breaking apart into individual atomized individuals who have no sense of real enduring connection with each other... When societies commit suicide, unravel, it breaks down the possibility of sort of a normal, humane community and life and opens the door to what we're facing today, which is an authoritarian sort of dictatorial kind of leader."2. Americans Are Becoming Dangerously Isolated"More and more people are eating all their meals alone. I've seen data that has up to 68% of people say they eat most of their meals alone. The numbers of people who claim to have close friends, the numbers of who get married or stay married. The number of people who feel connected at their workplace to other workers or to their employers is all on a downward path."3. Isolation Creates the Perfect Conditions for Authoritarianism"Hannah Arendt, de Tocqueville, many great thinkers have recognized that isolation and atomization is a foundation for authoritarianism and strong labor who capitalize on the fear and disconnection. When people are isolated, they look to strong leaders who will protect them."4. Trump Voters Aren't Choosing Death—They're Choosing Survival"The people with the lowest integration into society have the lowest relationships, eat more alone, have fewer friends. The Trump base is, at least according to the data that I've been able to collect, is the part of America most characterized by sociocide... They're scared economically, most of them say they're one paycheck away from poverty."5. The Solution Requires Coming Together in Sustained Ways"The answer to social side is coming together... People have to persevere in public protest together. I mean, you have to come together... I think it's only by trying to build in every phase of your life these connections that give you a sense of hope and caring and possibility." 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

It's the fantasy of countless Wall Street analysts. Amran Gowani traded his lucrative career in hedge funds for the scarily solitary world of novel writing. His debut satirical novel Leverage draws from his insider experience at investment banks and hedge funds, exposing the toxic culture and perverse incentives that drive corporate America's financial sector. In this bracingly frank conversation, Gowani confesses his transformation from organic chemistry PhD dropout to pharmaceutical marketing executive to Wall Street analyst, and finally to full-time novelist. He reveals the harsh economic realities of publishing fiction, the challenges of first-time novel writing, and how he channeled his corporate experiences into satirizing the very system that employed him. 1. Publishing Economics vs. Wall Street Profits "The money I made in the mid 2010s on my Wall Street Bank dwarfs the money I made on the advance I got for my novel and that's and I actually got a pretty good advance... You don't write novels because you want money or at least you shouldn't if you're looking for money."2. Structural Problems Drive Toxic Behavior "When you run companies and you tell people that the only thing that matters in your company as shareholder value. Then people are gonna do everything they can to maximize shareholder value... When you create perverse incentives, I mean, you're gonna get perverse outcomes."3. Writing as Processing and Understanding "I wrote my book and I write in general because I think it helps me process the world around me. It helps me understand the world round me... that's my way of processing the world and and communicating ideas that I think are important using the the satirical framework."4. Modern Authors Must Be Marketers "I don't think that you can just be like, I'm going to sit it out. I'm not going to be on social media. I'm Not going to have a newsletter, and just be like, I'm just going to write a great book, and I'm going to get found. Like, I don't think that's really viable anymore."5. AI Won't Replace Human Storytelling "Nobody wants to read, no serious reader wants to read a novel written by a computer... It's not a person, it's not a living entity behind the words, no matter how realistic they might seem... when you're looking to connect it like a human experience... people wanna read a book written by basically a linear regression machine."No, not everyone can or will be Michael Lewis. But Gowani should be applauded for both his bravery and honesty. We should all wish him the best of luck with Leverage. 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

How can anyone forget those photos of Trump's sons celebrating over the carcasses of dead animals that they shot in Africa? Fortunately, not all sons of American Presidents behave so tastelessly in the wild. As Nathalia Holt argues in her new history, The Beast in the Clouds, Teddy Roosevelt's sons found redemption - and regret - in their (peaceful) 1928 quest for the giant panda in northwestern China. Holt argues that their remarkable expedition marked a pivotal moment in conservation history, transforming scientific thinking from hunting endangered species to protecting them, while simultaneously offering the troubled Roosevelt brothers their greatest achievement and deepest source of remorse. We should all give thanks for Teddy and his boys. Where would the wilderness or endangered species be without them?1. The expedition transformed scientific thinking from hunting to conservation"The story that I'm telling is all about the birth of conservation biology and how scientists changed their minds, how they went from believing that endangered animals needed to be hunted and killed to be studied to instead be described and to be photographed and to given far more protections."2. The Roosevelt sons were escaping personal and professional failures"Both the sons at this point in their lives, they are 41 and 39 years old, they're in a way running away from life... Ted, the eldest son, has just been what his wife called politically obliterated... Kermit Roosevelt, who has struggled. He does not have a successful business. He suffers from alcoholism."3. The panda was genuinely mythical to Western science"The panda was this animal that was mythical. Many people did not believe it even existed in the Western world... Many people believe that the panda would be a cross between a polar bear and a black bear, a very aggressive, dangerous animal."4. The expedition's success led to immediate regret and conservation efforts"When they come back after this trip they immediately regret their actions with the panda... And the Roosevelts are devastated by this because they know that they are the ones that have caused this."5. The expedition pioneered modern species protection policies"The panda is really the first animal to gain these protections. It's a real turning point, because you've had many endangered animals previously, that they're just, they go extinct and nobody makes any laws... But the pandas, because they know how rare they are, they decide to change things."Keen On America is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. 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

The last time Peter Wehner, who I've always imagined as America's conscience, appeared on the show to talk about the “ethical darkness” that has fallen upon America, I suggested that this was an “important” interview. Today's conversation is much more important than being simply important. Based on Wehner's recent Atlantic piece about why MAGA evangelicals have turned their back on PEPFAR, the American relief agency saving the lives of millions of Africa's AIDS victims, this is a conversation about America's heart of moral darkness. It's not just Trump who has African blood on his hands, Wehner argues, but most of his evangelical supporters who are unmoved by the destruction of PEPFAR. For the first time in my many conversations with Wehner, he was visibly moved by both the cruelty of Trump and the indifference of his supposedly Christian supporters. 1. Trump's Destruction of PEPFAR is "Wanton Cruelty" "This to me was an act of wanton cruelty. You really had to go out of your way to think how can I kill millions of people quickly inefficient. And they found one way to do it, which is to shatter USAID, which is the main implementing agency for PEPFAR."2. The Scale of Death is Staggering and Real-Time "There is an adult being lost every three minutes, a child every 31 minutes. And ending PEPFAR could result in as many as 11 million additional new HIV infections and nearly 3 million additional AIDS-related deaths by the end of the decade."3. Trump's Hold on Evangelicals is Unlike Anything in American Politics "I think it is closer to a cult of personality than it is to a normal political party... I think in some senses, the truest thing Donald Trump said in the 2016 campaign was when he said that he could go on Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and he wouldn't lose support. And I think that turned out to be not hyperbole but prophetic."4. Evangelical Silence Reveals Their True Moral Priorities "In 2014, World Vision announced that they would hire at some levels of the organization, people who were in same sex marriages. And it was like a bomb going off in the evangelical world... Between 3,000 and 3,500 sponsors of kids primarily in Africa... Were ended... And now you have a situation... about what destruction of PEPFAR has done and will do and you can get barely get a peep out of them."5. This is About Mass Death, Not Policy Disagreement "Yeah, no, that is what I'm saying. I'm saying there will be a lot, lot more before this is done. There will be millions... We're talking really, really significant numbers. And that's an enormous amount of death, an enormous of suffering, and it's completely unnecessary."I hate the term “moral urgency”. But this is a morally urgent conversation about America's descent into a heart of darkness. Wehner exposes the cruelty and stupidity of destruction of the PEPFAR program. Even in the time you've spent reading this, a couple of African children will have died because of the callousness of MAGA disregard for human life. Keen On America is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. 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

From suburban swimming pools and SUVs to White Lives Matter rallies, the Johns Hopkins anthropologist Anand Pandian has been exploring the everyday walls of American life. In his new book, Something Between Us, Pandian travels across the United States in his search to both climb and overcome these walls. What he finds is a nation tragically at war with itself. Through intimate portraits of communities divided by race, class, and ideology, Pandian reveals how ordinary public spaces have become literal battlegrounds for identity and belonging. From gated suburban neighborhoods in Florida to online echo chambers, his ethnographic journey exposes the invisible barriers that shape American social life. But he concludes with a degree of optimism. We can overcome those walls, he says, with the kind of collective political action that brings people of different ideological persuasions together.1. Anthropological Method Reveals America's Hidden Divisions"Ethnographic research is based on the idea that the best way of understanding the life of people in a particular social, cultural, historical situation is to immerse [in] the day-to-day circumstances of those people as much as possible, to imagine what it's like to live in those environments... and to try to see what the world would look like from that concrete point of view."Pandian applies traditional anthropological methods—typically used to study distant cultures—to examine contemporary American society, revealing how divisions operate in everyday spaces.2. Personal Experience Sparked Academic Investigation"My own father was yelled at one day when he was walking down the road in Santa Monica, California, go back to your own country. I recount in the book an incident that my own son faced that fall of 2016 at the swimming pool where he was learning how to swim at the age of eight."The 2016 election cycle and personal encounters with racism motivated Pandian to turn his anthropological lens on America, particularly after his son faced racial taunts at a historically segregated Baltimore pool.3. Understanding Radicalization Through Everyday Logic"I think it's really important to try to figure out how it is that radical positions, sometimes even monstrous positions, can grow out of really everyday banal circumstances... that gentleman in particular, I remember him making sense of this idea of the ethnostate by talking about how it is that when you're on an airplane, you're always advised to put your own mask on before you take care of anyone else."Rather than dismissing white nationalists, Pandian seeks to understand how ordinary reasoning can lead to extremist positions.4. Walls Are Both Physical and Mental"I talk about circumstances that are really difficult. I talk the fact that a fifth of all Americans who live in residential communities now live in communities that are gated. I talk about what the 80 percent market share that SUVs and light trucks now enjoy in the American automotive market represents with regard to the zenith of certain ideas of protecting oneself at any cost."The book examines how physical barriers (gated communities, SUVs) combine with mental walls (social media echo chambers) to deepen American divisions.5. Unlikely Coalitions Offer Hope for Change"I focus on... The certain kind of paradox that we might see, how do we make sense of the fact that in the same years that we saw the tightening of restrictions on reproductive rights in a state like Ohio, we saw a rollback of this particular measure [the pink tax], which advocates argued was discriminatory... that political opening grew out of some pretty unlikely coalitions that formed between people on the right and the left."Despite deep polarization, Pandian finds examples of successful cross-partisan organizing around specific issues, suggesting possibilities for bridging divides through shared concerns rather than comprehensive ideological agreement.Keen On America is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. 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

So what, exactly, is the AI wedge? According to Ewan Morrison, author of For Emma, an already acclaimed novel about our dystopian biotech future, it means a “V-shaped” force that starts small but gradually drives people apart, replacing human connection with technological mediation."It starts off really small. You end up with something like internet dating... it begins as a novelty and then people become dependent on it," Morrison explains. What seemed harmless in the 1990s has evolved to the point where 60-70% of people now use dating apps, with younger generations saying they "don't wanna meet anyone outside of using an app because they don't trust anyone." But the wedge doesn't stop there. The final stage, Morrison warns, is the replacement of the humans completely by AI friends, partners, even therapists. The metaphor captures how each technological "solution" creates new dependencies while eroding our capacity for direct human interaction. As Morrison puts it, technology "removes that sort of tactile sense that humorous, trusting, improvisatory, make do sense that we have when we deal face to face with people." Morrison notes that "for some, it's easier. It's easier to have an AI friend because it's always going to tell you, you're wonderful." This highlights how the wedge works not just through dependency, but through the seductive appeal of artificial relationships that never require the messy, challenging work of real human connection.1. AI is Pure Hype, Not a Real Revolution"I think you just have to break it down and look at AI from a PR perspective and see what we were promised. We were promised human level AI by Marvin Minsky in 1970... And I think we're seeing the same cycle happening again."Morrison argues we're experiencing the third "AI winter" - a pattern of overpromising and eventual collapse that's repeated since the 1970s.2. The AI Wedge Drives Human Separation"They're a bit like a wedge, like a V-shaped wedge... So it starts off really small... and then the final stage of that wedge is the replacement of the humans completely by Mark Zuckerberg's AI friends, by AI partners, AI therapists, these human surrogates."Technology gradually separates us from authentic human connection through a three-stage process: novelty, dependency, replacement.3. Neuralink Represents Dangerous Human Experimentation"When it's a dirty operating table with surgical glue being squeezed into your skull as electronic treads have shaken themselves loose from deep in your brain... then it starts to become a different story entirely."Morrison warns that Silicon Valley's "move fast and break things" mentality becomes morally problematic when applied to human bodies and brains.4. We Shouldn't Ask AI Life's Big Questions"The tragedy that I'm trying to put forward in the book is that we shouldn't give that big question to computers to answer. We shouldn't ask AI, why are we alive?"His novel For Emma explores the danger of outsourcing fundamental human questions about meaning and purpose to artificial intelligence.5. The Utilitarian vs. Romantic Struggle Continues"We're never gonna solve this, but what will happen will be there will be periods in history where one side takes dominance over the other... And now we are seeing the return of the utilitarian mindset once again with the new technologies enabled by AI."Morrison sees current tech development as part of a historical cycle between utilitarian planning (Bentham-style) and romantic individualism, with AI representing a new form of surveillance society.I've know Morrison for many years and generally share his take on Big Tech. But I differ on his view about what he calls the coming 3rd “AI winter”. There's too much capital and technology now to imagine this kind of sharp freeze on the AI economy. For better or worse, this thing is happening now. The threshold has been crossed. It's already radically changing the nature of education and work. And we are still in the earliest chapters of the revolution. That AI wedge is going to get seriously painful. Keen On America is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. 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

You've heard it before and you'll hear it again. AI is a gold rush. It will change everything. But 2025 is different, That Was The Week tech newsletter publisher Keith Teare argues. This is the year that the AI gold rush is changing everything. In our reflection of the first six months of 2025, Keith argues that we're witnessing a fundamental "phase shift" - not just another tech cycle, but an inflection point where scale becomes a necessity for survival. From Meta's $100 million developer deals to the consolidation of 80% of venture capital into just five firms, from Cloudflare's revolutionary "toll booth" economy replacing advertising models to the tokenization of private markets through platforms like Robinhood, the rules of Silicon Valley are being rewritten. As graduates face an employment crisis and AI superstars command unprecedented compensation, Keith and I debate whether this transformation represents capitalism's natural evolution or a dangerous concentration of power that could reshape the global economy forever.1. Scale Has Become a Survival Requirement2025 marks a shift where scale isn't just advantageous—it's necessary for survival. With 80% of venture capital flowing to just five firms (Andreessen, Sequoia, Cotu, Lightspeed, and one other), and late-stage investors writing billion-dollar checks for 3-5x returns instead of traditional smaller bets for 100x gains, the venture capital game has fundamentally changed.2. The "Toll Booth" Economy is Replacing AdvertisingCloudflare's "paper crawl" initiative represents a seismic shift from advertising-based revenue models to direct payment systems where AI companies must pay publishers for content access. This could create new revenue streams for content creators while giving them control over how their intellectual property is used for AI training.3. Tokenization is Democratizing Private MarketsRobinhood's tokenization of companies like SpaceX and OpenAI allows European retail investors to buy shares in private companies through crypto-backed tokens. This convergence of private markets, public markets, and crypto could fundamentally change who can access high-growth investments.4. AI Superstars Command Unprecedented ValueWhile AI eliminates many jobs, it's creating extreme value concentration among top talent. Meta's $100 million deals for individual AI experts and OpenAI's $6 billion deal with Johnny Ive illustrate how differentiated developers are becoming incredibly valuable in an age where most workers face displacement.5. 2025 is the Inflection Point, Not the FutureUnlike previous tech cycles, Keith argues this isn't about future potential—the transformation is happening now. With companies like OpenAI reaching $14 billion in annual revenue and AI's economic impact becoming undeniable, 2025 represents the moment when AI shifted from promise to reality, making it a true inflection point rather than just another tech trend.Where Keith and I fundamentally disagree is over jobs. He seems to skate over the implications of jobless consequences of AI, believing in some sort of magical age of abundance in which we will all be free to pursue our hobbies. I think this is entirely wrong. This is where his Silicon Valley language about having to “scale or die” is so terrifying. Over the next couple of decades, tens of millions of people are going to lose both their jobs and careers to the AI revolution. Some might find other kinds of work, but most won't. The age of abundance is total a myth. Instead of “scale or die”, the mantra of the coming age will be “scale or starve”. What we are about to experience is the kind of economic scarcity that will utterly transform our societies and politics. 2025 might be an inflection point for Silicon Valley. But that existential moment for the rest of us will come in around 2030.Keen On America is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. 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

On July 4, 2025, is America still worth the fireworks? For Paul Orgel, producer of America 250, C-SPAN's upcoming celebration of 250 years of independence, the answer is a full stars 'n stripes YES! But even this C-SPAN veteran acknowledges the complexity of celebrating America in 2025. "We're not just going to be celebratory," Orgel admits, "but realistic to the good, the bad and the ugly of our country's history." As America stands one year away from its 250th birthday, the question isn't whether national independence deserves to be celebrated—it's whether Americans can still find common ground in their shared experiment. With political divisions deeper than ever and historical narratives under fierce debate, Orgel's mission feels both urgent and impossible: reminding a fractured nation why it's still worth celebrating together.1. C-SPAN's America 250 Will Address the "Good, Bad and Ugly:" "This effort of ours will not just be celebratory, but will be realistic to the good, the bad and the ugly of our country's history." Orgel promises C-SPAN won't shy away from difficult topics like slavery and treatment of indigenous peoples, even as they celebrate America's founding.2. The Founders Expected Political Division: "When you read about how the early debates and early politics in this country were conducted, very, very rabid, very opinionated, very harsh in their political campaigns... I don't think founders would be surprised at how divided politics are in the country now." Current political polarization isn't unprecedented—it echoes the fierce debates of America's earliest days.3. "Freedom" Still Defines the American Experience: "I just interviewed a bunch of people in Boston and Philadelphia about what it means to be an American. And the word that kept coming up was freedom. Freedom to live where you want, do what you want." Despite current challenges, Americans still see freedom as their defining characteristic.4. America Remains an Ongoing Experiment: "They talk about this country still being an experiment, right? How can we get better? How can we become more unified as a country? I don't think that conversation ever ends." The work of building America isn't finished—it's a continuous process of improvement and adaptation.5. The Constitution's Flexibility Was It's Genius: "The beauty... is that they left that Constitution amendable. I think they realized that they weren't gonna have all the answers to everything." The founders' decision to make the Constitution changeable shows their wisdom in creating a framework that could evolve with the times.Like C-SPAN's Paul Orgel, I think America is worth the fireworks. But not because the American Dream is alive and well—because it's still worth improving. What strikes me about this interview is how Orgel refuses to abandon the dream even while acknowledging its flaws, contradictions and, perhaps, even its fundamental imperfectability. Over the next 18 months, we'll be featuring more content from C-SPAN's celebration of America's 250 years of independence. So enjoy today's fireworks and get ready for many more over the next year and a half.Keen On America is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. 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

Few people have spent more of their lives thinking about the Nazis than the English filmmaker and writer Laurence Rees. In his new book, The Nazi Mind, Rees offers a lifetime of knowledge about the Nazis to warn about today's fragility of democracy. Borrowing from his extensive interviews of both former Nazis and Holocaust survivors, Rees discusses how Nazi ideology developed, why democracy proved so vulnerable in 1930s Germany, and what modern societies must understand about the enduring appeal of authoritarianism. Institutions we take for granted, he warns, can be far more fragile than we imagine.1. Democracy is More Fragile Than We Think"Everything is fragile and often a great deal more fragile than we think. That's the recurring theme of many of the interviewees that I met. Never saw this coming... You can have the most fragile piece of glass on your mantelpiece and it can stay there for 50 years, but someone can just touch it and it breaks." Democratic institutions require constant vigilance to survive.2. The Nazis Started as a Fringe Movement"Crucial statistic people should hold onto is that in 1928, the Nazis only got 2.6% of the vote. The vast majority of Germans rejected them... And then five years later, Hitler's chancellor." Economic crisis and democratic failure allowed extremism to flourish.3. Nazi Anti-Semitism Was Uniquely Dangerous"Unlike in previous anti-Semitic attacks going back hundreds and hundreds of years, there wasn't a possibility of a Jew saving themselves by saying, no, I'm baptized Christian... The Nazis saw you as a Jew based on your Jewish heritage, and so you found that there was no escape." This racial ideology made the Holocaust uniquely all-encompassing and deadly.4. Charismatic Leadership Requires Hero Worship"It was vital for a charismatic leader that the population see him as a hero... The notion of a charismatic leader being a hero figure is incredibly useful and important." Modern propaganda techniques were pioneered by figures like Goebbels.5. Historical Ignorance Enables Extremism"The bigger issue is absolute historical illiteracy... All this nonsense, all this misinformation, all this fake history, to coin a phrase, comes in to fill the gap." Without understanding history, people become vulnerable to manipulation and conspiracy theories.Forget the 12 warnings. There are only two ways of thinking about the Nazi mind: either it's evil or it's banal. In his historical movies and books, Rees treats Nazis as uniquely literal manifestation of pure evil. In contrast, Hannah Arendt's 1963 book, Eichmann in Jerusalem, focuses on its human ordinariness - what she called the banality of evil. It's an argument that Jonathan Glazer brilliantly develops in his controversial 2023 Oscar-winning movie, The Zone of Interest. As you can probably sense from my conversation with Rees, I'm in the Arendt/Glazer camp on this. Evil is always all around us. It's in Guantanamo and Gaza, as well as Belsen and Auschwitz. Keen On America is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. 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

If the American dream died in Dealey Plaza on November 22, 1963, then who killed it? According to the crime novelist Terrence McCauley, the JFK assassination was carried out by organized crime. That's the heart of his new novel, Twilight Town, in which McCauley reexamines the JFK assassination in Dallas. But this wasn't Oliver Stone style CIA or shadowy government conspirators, pulling well-oiled strings from their deep state offices. Instead, McCauley argues it was something far more mundane yet chilling: a street-level contract hit executed by mob-connected criminals with intelligence ties. These were the same underworld figures who ran guns to Cuba, operated training camps for Bay of Pigs veterans, and had both the means and motive to eliminate a President they saw as soft on communism and hard on organized crime. In McCauley's vision, America's Camelot ended not through some grand operatic conspiracy, but through the banal efficiency of professional killers.1. The JFK Assassination Was a "Street Crime," Not a High-Level Government Plot "I approach it as the way I thought it was. And that is a contract hit and a street crime, which is ultimately what happened on the streets of Dallas that morning." McCauley argues the assassination was carried out by mob-connected criminals with intelligence ties, not CIA masterminds in smoke-filled rooms.2. Only a Small Group Knew the Full Plan "I think maybe 10 or 20 at the most who knew all the details and much fewer than that who knew exactly what was going to happen and when." McCauley believes the conspiracy was deliberately kept small, citing FBI recordings of Joseph Milteer who said such operations only work with minimal participants.3. Lee Harvey Oswald Didn't Pull the Trigger "I never was able to put a gun in Oswald's hands that day... I don't think he did. No, I think he was involved with the people who did." McCauley argues Oswald was connected to the plotters but wasn't the actual shooter, pointing to inconclusive gunpowder residue tests.4. The Assassination Marked "The End of American Innocence" "It was certainly the end of American innocence, where we thought we were always the good guys, where we were the liberators, and where we were one hope of the world against the ongoing threat of communism." McCauley sees November 22, 1963, as the moment America lost its post-WWII optimism.5. The Cover-Up Happened Because Intelligence Agencies Recognized Their Own Assets "The coverup happened because these organizations looked into it. They realized, well, so-and-so could have this off, and we worked with them for 10 years, let's back away from that." McCauley suggests the cover-up wasn't planned but emerged when agencies discovered their own connected operatives were involved.The American Dream has more lives than cats. It was supposed to have died in November 1963 in Dallas, then in 1968 with the assassinations of MLK and RFK, then in the Fall of Saigon, then at the Watergate Building, then at the Twin Towers on 9/11. And then, of course, there is Trump, who is supposed to have slain the American Dream not once but twice. And yet today, a couple of days before Independence Day, my sense is that the Dream is alive all over America. The promise of individual agency continues to inspire new generations of both native and immigrant Americans. JFK might be gone, but the Dream remains the defining quality of the American experience. Keen On America is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. 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

If everything is propaganda (even this show), then we are forever engaged in a war to control other people's minds. That, at least, is the view of the self-described “freedom fighter”, Connor Boyack, the libertarian author of the best-selling Tuttle Twins series of children books. In his latest piece of Tuttle Twins propaganda, A Guide to the World's Worst Ideas, Boyack argues against all forms of government welfare, drug prohibition and foreign military engagement. And yet there's one institution that the Utah based Boyack religiously supports. The family, he says, offers protection for children and should be actively protected by the government. Children of the world unite, some might respond, you've got nothing to lose but your parents. 1. Everything is Propaganda - And That's Fine "Tuttle twins, quote me now, is libertarian propaganda. And I use that word intentionally because what is propaganda? Propaganda is just propagating an idea from one person's mind to another. It is persuasion. It is education. Everything is propaganda."2. America Isn't Really Free "I'm quite a libertarian and everywhere I look, there's a lot of reasons to think we're not independent. We threw off the shackles of Britain so long ago and if those same patriots and founding fathers who were part of constructing a new country could see all the heavy programs and taxes and all the things now, I think they'd have a thing or two to say about it."3. Foreign Intervention Creates More Problems "Look at Iran. Everyone's freaking out about Iran. But Iran, the whole conflict started in 1953 when the CIA waged a coup along with the UK and overthrew the democratically elected leader that led to the hostage crisis in 79, which led to of the destruction in the decades since."4. Family is the Natural Form of Government "I see the family and parents as the breeding ground of freedom, the natural form of governance... between Totalitarianism on the one hand and the naked individual on the other looms the first line of resistance against totalitarianism, and that is the economic and politically independent family."5. Drug Prohibition Mirrors Failed Alcohol Prohibition "Look prohibition, I think there's common like there's there's general consensus that the alcohol prohibition of a century ago didn't work But it's that same sentiment that fuels the drug war today, which of course has led to cartels It's led to fentanyl. It's lead to all of these problems where people are being harmed and dying."When somebody claims that everything is propaganda, you know that something isn't. There's always some ideological “truth” at the heart of all everything-is-ideology messages. For the freedom fetishizing Boyack, it's the “natural” truth of the family. But I'm not convinced. As Philip Larkin wrote, “They f**k you up, your mum and dad.” Equally troubling, they infect you with bad ideas. So my message this July 4 week to all American kids: don't trust anything your mom or dad reads to you. It's bound to be propaganda. Keen On America is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. 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

As we transition from the social media age (the internet of trolls) to the AI epoch (the internet of tolls), has the publishing apocalypse finally arrived? That's the question Keith Teare and I discuss in our That Was the Week summary of tech news. Two major court cases this week—Getty Images vs. Stability AI and the Anthropic lawsuit—have fundamentally shifted the legal landscape around AI and copyright. The courts ruled that AI systems can legally "learn" from published content without copying it, essentially giving artificial intelligence a free pass to consume human creativity at scale. Meanwhile, publishers are scrambling to find new business models as search traffic evaporates and AI “answers” replace traditional web browsing. From CloudFlare's proposed toll system to the rise of AI browsers like DIA, Keith and I explore how traditional link economics are being completely reimagined—and whether human creators can survive the transformation. Dead Links Walking everyone. It's going to be a bloody entertaining spectacle. * AI Won the Legal Battle: Two major court cases (Getty Images vs. Stability AI and the Anthropic lawsuit) ruled that AI systems can legally "learn" from copyrighted content without permission, as long as they're not directly copying it. This distinction between learning and copying has massive implications for content creators.* The Search-to-AI Shift is Killing Publisher Revenue: As consumers increasingly use AI instead of search engines, publishers are losing the traffic that drives their advertising-based business models. Google's own CEO admits about two-thirds of their revenue still comes from search ads—a model that's under threat.* The "Internet of Tolls" is Coming: Publishers will be forced to return to pre-internet subscription models, putting content behind paywalls. CloudFlare is even developing technology to charge AI systems for accessing content at the network level, creating micro-transactions for publishers.* Links Are the New Currency: The future monetization model for publishers may depend on getting AI systems to surface and properly compensate for links to original content, rather than just providing direct answers.* We're Still Waiting for Native AI Products: Despite all the hype, we haven't yet seen the "Netscape moment" for AI—a truly native, intuitive product that isn't just AI bolted onto existing technology. The real transformation is still coming.“The tollbooths are rising”, Keith ends his That Was The Week editorial, “the road ahead is ours to choose”. I think he's wrong. Yes, he's right, of course, that the AI revolution is inaugurating a new toll economy of walled garden AI leviathans. But the future isn't ours to choose. We - and I mean the broad content industry from individual producers to larger publishers - are spectators to this epochal change. Agency no longer exists. We don't shape the future; it shapes us. Maybe that was always the case. But in the age of trillion dollar AI start-ups, we don't matter. As I said earlier, it's going to be a bloody entertaining spectacle. Keen On America is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. 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

Yesterday's show was on the Great White Hoax of manufactured racism in America. Today's is on Black Capitalists, the title of a provocative new book by Rachel Layrea. But is this a great black hoax? Or might her focus on race and class really be a blueprint for a more ethical 21st century capitalism? Laryea, who holds a PhD from Yale and works in wealth management at JPMorgan Chase, argues that Black capitalists can strategically use the tools of capitalism to create social good, not just profit. But in a week when Jeff Bezos's lavish Venice wedding sparked protests about wealth inequality, can any kind of capitalism - either black, brown or white - ever truly serve social justice? And with the dismantling of DEI initiatives across America, is Booker T. Washington's style self-reliance the only path forward for Black economic empowerment?1. Black capitalism means using wealth-building strategically for social good, not just profit . Laryea:"To be clear, a Black capitalist is someone who identifies as a Black person and strategically repositions themselves within the economic system in order to create social good... it's someone who is still kind of in pursuit of excess resources, but it's also with the intention to create and produce social good."2. Race and class are inextricably linked in America's economic system Laryea: "When you think about systemic inequality, that's predicated on racism, implicated in systemic inequality focused on racism is also a story about inequality when it comes to classism as well... there is a correlation between race and class."3. Black people face different standards and expectations as they accumulate wealth Laryea: "When people ascend the kind of economic social ladder, they are held to different standards than their non-white counterparts... oftentimes correlations that we see around wealth and whiteness are not questioned. But when we see black economic thriving, we question why they should be thriving."4. Communities can't rely on external institutions to solve economic inequality Laryea: "The cavalry is not coming. We see the strategic kind of dismantling of DE&I initiatives, programs that have aimed to create access and channels to opportunity... it really starts with us and looking within and creating those mechanisms ourselves."5. Traditional capitalism is fundamentally exploitative, requiring a different approach Laryea: "What's wrong with capitalism is that it is predicated on exploitation, extraction, harm of some sense... You can have a billionaire exist while still have people who don't have access to meet their fundamental needs to food, water, shelter. Those two things should not coexist."Like apple pie, everybody loves the idea of ethical capitalism. But just as most “homemade” apple pie in stores today comes from a factory, not some rustic kitchen, most for-profit capitalism - whether practiced by black, white, or brown entrepreneurs - ends up focused singularly on profit. Laryea's example of a unicorn fintech company (ASUS) may help people build credit, but it's still a billion-dollar business extracting value from financial transactions. Blueprints remain just blueprints. I'm wary of coloring capitalism. Keen On America is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. 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

There's something fishy about what Philip Kadish calls The Great White Hoax. It's his new book about America's long con - how racist scientific hoaxes have shaped two centuries of racist politics. From the 1840 Census Scandal to Henry Ford to George Wallace, Kadish exposes the conmen who have tried to sell racism to America. But here's the chilling twist: many of these fraudsters knew exactly what they were doing. They weren't true believers - they were cynical opportunists who saw profit in peddling fake science to justify white supremacy, creating elaborate deceptions that sometimes fooled even legitimate scientists. 1. Many racist "scientific" theories were deliberate, cynical frauds, not misguided beliefs"The thing that really characterizes the particular thread that I am following in my book and things that I was finding is that they all involved varying degrees of a kind of cynical, very self-aware, purposeful deception."2. The 1840 Census created the template for American scientific racism through knowing falsification"So this was a case that was starting out as an accident, but then he knowingly investigated it, saw the falseness, and then re-certified it, and that information was then used in the defense of slavery for decades."3. Authority and social credibility mattered more than actual scientific expertise"Madison Grant... did not have a degree in biology. He was trained as a lawyer... the reason he was trusted about race, all of these politicians and wealthy philanthropists, is because, A, he came from a very wealthy family himself."4. The hoax pattern shifted but didn't disappear after World War II"It became socially unacceptable to be that, to be making such openly racist arguments... And things shift into a kind of coded mode... while we're talking about state's rights or he's developing a language talking about the federal government as a tyranny."5. Many hoaxes continued to influence people even after being exposed as fraudulent"Over half of the hoaxes that I described in the book were revealed as hoaxes in the midst of them. And yet were still embraced by many people and often for a long time after."I'm in two minds on this. One the one hand, Kadish' expose of two centuries of selling fraudulent scientific racism is chilling. On the other hand, I wonder if progressive historians like Kadish are themselves becoming overly preoccupied with race and racism. I'm also not convinced that the MAGA movement, RFK Jr or Fox News are a return to the overt racism of D.W. Griffith's movie Birth of a Nation or the “science” of eugenicists like Madison Grant. History, particularly American history, is too complex to simply repeat itself endlessly. Sometimes it rhymes and sometimes it doesn't. And sometimes, the historical hoax is in the hoax. Keen On America is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. 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

Next month, America will celebrate the centenary of the Scopes Trial, the so-called 1925 “Monkey Trial” on evolution that riveted a nation. Although perhaps celebrate is the wrong word to describe the Tennessee trial that not only riveted America but also divided it. According to the historian Brenda Wineapple, author of Keeping The Faith: God, Democracy, and the Trial that Riveted a Nation, the Scopes trial is as relevant to America in 2025 as it was in 1925. According to Wineapple, the trial wasn't really about science versus religion at all. Neither side truly understood Darwin's theory of evolution, which had been settled science for decades. Instead, the Scopes trial served as a cultural battleground where deeper American anxieties played out—fears about immigration, racial integration, women's suffrage, and rapid social change in the post-World War I era. The real combatants weren't evolution and creationism, or even the courtroom celebrities Clarence Darrow and William Jennings Bryan, but competing visions of American identity. Today, as debates rage over book bans, curriculum restrictions, and civil rights, Wineapple argues that America is still fighting the same fundamental battles that erupted in that sweltering Dayton, Tennessee courtroom a century ago.1. The trial wasn't actually about science versus religion Neither side understood Darwin's theory, which had been settled science for decades, revealing the real issues lay elsewhere. KEY QUOTE: "Nobody knew the science. Nobody understood the science, and Darwin had published, in 1859, The Origin of Species."2. It was a proxy fight for deeper cultural anxieties about rapid social change The evolution debate masked fears about immigration, women's suffrage, racial integration, and post-WWI upheaval. KEY QUOTE: "So there was a proxy fight that was occurring, because it really couldn't be about what it was said to be about, and I think people on the ground in 1925 knew that."3. Race was a central but often hidden issue in the proceedings Black communities understood that evolution theory undermined racist hierarchies, making this fundamentally about racial anxiety. KEY QUOTE: "Certainly many in the Black communities felt that this was about race because they understood... that the theory of evolution itself helped make absolutely indefensible the idea that racial hierarchies."4. William Jennings Bryan embodied the contradictions of progressive populism Bryan simultaneously championed common people while holding reactionary views on race, showing populism's complex nature. KEY QUOTE: "So in that sense, he was a progressive, as you said he was for the common people... at the same time as being very conservative, even to being reactionary."5. The trial's relevance to contemporary America lies in ongoing battles over freedom and education Today's debates over book bans and curriculum restrictions echo the same fundamental questions about who controls knowledge. KEY QUOTE: "The issues that are being debated in terms of the trial or raised at the trial really are about freedom... who decides what we learn, what we can read."I've always been intrigued by William Jennings Bryan, the three-time Democratic candidate for President, passionate Prohibitionist and lead prosecutor at the Scopes Trial. As today's Democrats struggle to invent a progressive 21st century populism that can compete with MAGA, what can Bryan teach us? Bryan embodies populism's central paradox: his passionate defense of ordinary people against economic elites coexisted with deeply reactionary social views. He championed workers and women's suffrage while refusing to condemn the KKK. His "Cross of Gold" speech attacked Wall Street, but his fundamentalism led him to Dayton to prosecute a schoolteacher for teaching Darwin's theory of evolution. This wasn't a bug but a feature of Bryan's thinking —he believed "the people" should decide everything, from monetary policy to what children should learn about evolution. Today's progressives face the same dilemma: how do you harness populist energy for economic justice without empowering the “traditional” (ie: reactionary) values that seem to inevitably go with it? The example of William Jennings Bryan suggests that this tension may be inherent in democratic populism itself. A hundred years after Scopes, this remains the real monkey business confronting American progressivism. Keen On America is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. 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

Don't blame women. Men are failing spectacularly and it's totally their own fault. In What Is Wrong with Men, cultural critic Jessica Crispin borrows from Michael Douglas movies to dissect how masculinity devolved from Seventies style vulnerability into today's aggressive displays of insecurity. While billionaires like Musk compulsively impregnate women and Zuckerberg learns jujitsu to feel "manly," basement-dwelling incels worship sex traffickers like Andrew Tate. The old patriarchy died in the 1980s, Crispin argues, but men refuse to adapt, expecting the world to revolve around them instead of building female-style support systems. It's the Michael Douglas Trap. From Gordon Gekko's greed to crypto-gambling bros, modern masculinity has degenerated into a grotesque performance of insecurity—and it's getting worse. 1. Modern masculinity is trapped between dead patriarchy and refusal to adapt Crispin argues that traditional patriarchal structures collapsed in the 1980s, but men still expect the world to revolve around them instead of building new support systems like women did. KEY QUOTE: "The world is supposed to adapt to men. Men are not supposed to adopt to the world."2. Billionaire masculinity reveals desperate insecurity despite ultimate success Even the world's richest men obsessively seek validation through physical transformation and procreation, proving that external markers of success no longer provide masculine identity. KEY QUOTE: "Nothing is ever enough anymore. And so that's why you see Elon Musk will never stop having children, never stop fathering children. Jeff Bezos will never have enough money to be satisfied."3. The 1980s created a fantasy of male rejection to mask female-initiated abandonment As women initiated two-thirds of divorces, Hollywood created the "midlife crisis" narrative where men chose to leave, protecting male ego from the reality of being unwanted. KEY QUOTE: "There was this sort of fantasy that was being created at the time of the male midlife crisis, where a kind of, you can't fire me, I quit. Fantasy was being generated."4. Today's male influencers have inverted basic human connection into pathology The evolution from 1970s male vulnerability to Andrew Tate's misogyny represents a complete rejection of emotional intimacy and romantic love. KEY QUOTE: "Andrew Tate does not fall in love, you know, he sexually violates, he's charged with sex trafficking... You can't hold a woman's hand, that's gay. You can have sex with women, that is gay."5. The crisis requires material solutions, not emotional band-aids Rather than teaching boys to cry, society needs to address the gambling-based economy and lack of meaningful work that creates destructive masculine behaviors. KEY QUOTE: "You're not gonna be able to fight against that just by learning how to cry... This is about making sure people have steady employment, making sure that people have study income, making sure the people have health care and community."Nothing explains everything. Not even Michael Douglas movies. But just as women like setting traps, men love stumbling into them. I'm not convinced by Crispin's reading of Hollywood movies. Men have always been making fools of themselves on screen - from Jimmy Stewart in Vertigo to the equally pathetic Douglas in Wall Street. Everything is supposed to be in crisis in America these days: from democracy to capitalism to masculinity. But if crisis means that men (or women) aren't quite sure how to behave around the other sex, then they've been in crisis forever. So I'm unconvinced. No doubt because I'm in crisis. What would Michael Douglas do/think?Keen On America is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. 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

So I get why Jeff Bezos isn't popular in Venice this week. But why would Africans in general, and Kenyans in particular, not love Bill Gates after the philanthropist pledged to give away $200 billion of his fortune to Africa? According to Tablet staff writer, Armin Rosen, it's because Gates' top-down, metrics-driven approach often ignores what Africans actually want. Drawing from extensive on-the-ground reporting in Kenya, Rosen highlights how Gates' Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa pushed unwanted agricultural technologies onto Kenyan farmers, while his foundation received controversial diplomatic immunity from Kenya's unpopular President Ruto. Though acknowledging Gates' successes in vaccination programs, Rosen questions whether billionaire-led development truly helps or undermines local agency and democratic governance. Maybe Gates should, instead, pledge his billions to Venice to enable the sinking city to outlaw tasteless American celebrity marriages. 1. Gates' philanthropy often imposes unwanted solutions on Africans Rosen argues that Gates consistently brings his own technological fixes to problems without consulting the people he claims to help, particularly through initiatives like the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa. KEY QUOTE: "So a lot of his philanthropy either sort of goes towards bringing his own solutions to these places or his money is spent in such a way that there isn't a lot of consultation with the people that he's actually trying to help."2. The Gates Foundation operates with government-scale power and spending With massive operational costs and diplomatic immunity, the foundation wields influence comparable to state actors, raising questions about accountability and democratic oversight. KEY QUOTE: "The Gates Foundation spends something like $140 million a year just on travel expenses... They have the same scale as a government agency."3. Gates has become deeply unpopular in Kenya due to political associations His close relationship with Kenya's controversial President Ruto has damaged his reputation among Kenyans who already distrust their government and foreign interference. KEY QUOTE: "At the moment, Bill Gates is not a very popular person in Kenya. And the reason for his bad name is the trust deficit with the government."4. Diplomatic immunity controversy reveals troubling governance patterns The secretive granting of legal immunity to the Gates Foundation, announced after deadly protests against the government, exemplified the lack of transparency that fuels public mistrust. KEY QUOTE: "The Gates Foundation had gotten full diplomatic immunity from the Kenyan government... it was relatively unusual in Kenya for any non-governmental organization to get that kind of legal protection."5. Local innovation often outperforms foreign philanthropy African societies frequently develop their own solutions more effectively than external interventions, as demonstrated by Kenya's creation of mobile money systems that became global models. KEY QUOTE: "It turns out that these societies can kind of solve their problems on their own... Kenya is where basically mobile money began, you know, and M-Pesa is a Kenyan invention." At least Gates isn't spending $200 billion on gross Venetian weddings. Despite all Rosen's valid criticisms of Gates' African interventions, I think we should still prefer billionaires who try (however imperfectly) to solve global problems over those buying massive yachts and throwing obscenely expensive parties. Armchair philanthropy criticism is easier than solutions.Keen On America is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. 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

Are Donald Trump and Steven Miller terrorists? Pakistani-American lawyer and author Rafia Zakaria argues that their willfully cruel immigration policies reflect what she describes as an "architecture of terror." In her June Liberties Quarterly piece "Silencings", Zakaria argues that these policies represent a deliberate strategy to terrorize communities and systematically dismantle the American democratic public sphere. Drawing on her experience both in practicing immigration law and as a naturalized American citizen, she connects domestic enforcement tactics to broader patterns of dehumanization affecting brown people globally—from detention centers in California to the US/Israeli bombing campaigns of Iran to what she dubs the “historical shame” of orchestrated mass starvation in Gaza. 5 key takeaways and quotes1. Immigration Enforcement as Deliberate Terrorism Zakaria argues that the Trump administration's immigration policies are intentionally designed to terrorize entire communities, not just target individuals for deportation. The strategy involves detaining people without legal basis, forcing them into expensive legal battles, then releasing them after causing maximum pain. KEY QUOTE: "It's kind of a terrorist act on the part of the Trump administration, which knows that eventually they'll have to release the people, but why not cause them as much pain and harassment as possible in the meantime."2. Legal System Double Standard The administration manipulates public perception by calling immigration violators "criminals" in public discourse while simultaneously denying them the constitutional protections afforded to actual criminals in court proceedings. KEY QUOTE: "You can't have it both ways, where in the public realm, you're calling them criminals, but in court you're saying, oh no, no, this is a civil matter, this is a civil matter."3. Systematic Silencing of Public Sphere Even naturalized citizens and legal residents are being chilled from speaking out due to fear of legal and financial harassment, effectively destroying the independent public sphere that serves as a democratic check on state power. KEY QUOTE: "I have to really kind of talk to myself a lot before I give an interview like this, because I'm a naturalized citizen."4. Connected Dehumanization Campaign Zakaria sees the domestic immigration crackdown and military actions abroad as part of the same broader strategy of systematically dehumanizing brown people, whether they're "invaders" at the border or targets of bombing campaigns. KEY QUOTE: "This is the systematic demonization and dehumanization of brown people."5. Gaza as Historical Moral Failure She believes the world's inaction on Gaza will be viewed by future historians as a moral failure comparable to other historical atrocities, where people knew genocide was happening but did nothing to stop it. KEY QUOTE: "I think this will be the world's shame."Keen On America is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. 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

In today's age of authoritarian plutocracy, the UCLA political theorist Natasha Piano argues that we need to rethink the supposed “elitist” school of Italian thinkers like Vilfredo Pareto and Gaetano Mosca. In her intriguing new book, Democratic Elitism, Piano suggests Pareto, Mosca and even the Marxist Antonio Gramsci were actually "democratic theorists of elitism" who warned that electoral institutions can often enhance elite domination. Piano contends that American political science created a "founding myth" by misrepresenting these Italian thinkers to legitimize electoral democracy during the Cold War. And in our current political climate she says, their warnings about plutocracy are particularly prescient. Five takeaways1. Flipped Interpretation of Italian Elite TheoristsPareto, Mosca, and Gramsci weren't "elite theorists of democracy" but rather "democratic theorists of elitism" - they studied elite power to expose its dangers, not endorse it.KEY QUOTE: "They investigated elitism not to endorse it, but to study it and figure out how democracy could actually create genuine accountable leaders."2. Elections ≠ DemocracyEquating democracy with competitive elections creates two major threats: it conceals plutocratic domination (rule by the wealthy) and enables demagogic manipulation by those claiming to represent "the people."KEY QUOTE: "Elections are actually representative mechanisms, they're not democratic mechanisms."3. American Political Science's "Founding Myth"The discipline misrepresented these Italian thinkers during the Cold War to legitimize electoral democracy as superior to communist alternatives, covering up their warnings about plutocracy.KEY QUOTE: "My book kind of tries to understand why we lost the extent to which plutocracy can undermine electoral institutions, as the Italians warned, and why American political science kind of covered this study of plutocracy up."4. Democracy as "Good Government"Piano advocates redefining democracy not as elections but as good government with three attributes: popular support, actively anti-plutocratic measures, and genuine pluralistic competition with majoritarian pressure from below.KEY QUOTE: "What I've understood or what I think we should take from them is that perhaps a redefinition of democracy, not as election, but as good government is in order."5. Elite Self-Recognition is EssentialContemporary "coastal elites" must acknowledge their own elite status and impose limits on their power - the solution requires elites to honestly assess their role, not blame "the mob" for democratic failures.KEY QUOTE: "They would really encourage all elites on the left or right to look within themselves and ask themselves if they're genuine aristocrats and what that would mean vis-a-vis the resurrecting the polity."Keen On America is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. 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

Yes, there still are some well meaning folks in Silicon Valley. Take, for example, Jimmy Chen, founder and CEO of Propel, an app designed to simplify food assistance for 41 million of the poorest Americans. Growing up food insecure himself, the Stanford educated Chen left lucrative jobs at Facebook and LinkedIn to build technology that actually serves those who need it most, proving that some Valley entrepreneurs are driven by social rather than financial ambition. Propel replaces the outdated 1-800 number system that food stamp recipients previously had to use to check their benefits, while connecting users to additional online resources and discounts. Chen's story challenges the conventional narrative that all tech founders are solely profit-motivated, and demonstrates how growing up in poverty can fuel mission-driven entrepreneurship. Five Key Takeaways1. Silicon Valley's Echo Chamber Problem Tech companies typically build for people like themselves - affluent, educated users - because founders solve problems they personally understand. This explains why so many startups focus on convenience for the already-comfortable rather than addressing real needs of vulnerable populations.2. Personal Experience Drives Authentic Mission Jimmy Chen's childhood food insecurity, including watching his father skip meals to ensure his children could eat, directly shaped his motivation to build technology for low-income families. This personal connection distinguishes mission-driven entrepreneurs from those simply claiming social impact.3. The For-Profit vs. Nonprofit Debate Chen argues that sustainable social impact requires a viable business model, not just philanthropic funding. Propel generates revenue by connecting users to vetted financial services and discounts, proving that companies can be profitable while serving society's most vulnerable.4. Technology Infrastructure Failures Hit the Poor Hardest Food stamp recipients still rely on outdated systems like calling 1-800 numbers to check balances, while criminals exploit antiquated magnetic stripe EBT cards through skimming schemes. These technological gaps disproportionately harm those who can least afford it.5. Scale Reveals Impact Potential With 41 million Americans receiving food assistance and Propel serving 5 million monthly users, Chen argues that technology solutions for underserved populations can achieve massive scale while creating genuine social good - challenging the current pessimism about “profitable” social enterprises.Jimmy Chen is the founder and CEO of Propel, an app used by over 5 million low-income households to manage their government benefits. Propel has over 500,000 five-star reviews and has been recognized by the White House, and Propel's investors include Andreessen Horowitz, Kleiner Perkins, JPMorganChase, Kevin Durant, and Serena Williams. In addition to his work at Propel, Jimmy serves on the boards of Share Our Strength, a national anti-hunger nonprofit, and TechNYC, a nonprofit coalition focused on the technology industry in New York. Jimmy holds a B.S. in Symbolic Systems from Stanford University, where he was an inaugural winner of the President's Award for the Advancement of the Common Good in 2022. 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

Can we ever really know Primo Levi? We know his books, of course, especially If This Is A Man, the astonishing account of his survival from Auschwitz. But what, then, of his apparent suicide in 1987? How can a man who miraculously survived Auschwitz take his own life forty years later? That's one of the questions that Joseph Olshan asks in Milo's Reckoning, a new novel about Levi, suicide and our own unknowability. Olshan, himself deeply affected by Primo Levi's death when he first heard the news during a newspaper interview in Italy, explores the profound mystery of human nature and the limits of what we can truly understand about others, even those, like Levi, whose experiences have been supposedly laid bare in their autobiographical work. 5 takeaways1. Suicide is often impulsive, not premeditated Most suicides happen in the spur of the moment when people "snap" under pressure, rather than being carefully planned decisions. The majority don't even leave notes, contrary to popular belief.2. Personal trauma shaped Olshan's literary obsessions Olshan's lifelong fascination with suicide stems from witnessing a child's drowning at age six, followed by the suicides of an influential college professor and his aunt - experiences that ultimately inspired Milo's Reckoning.3. We can never fully know another person Even when someone writes intimately about their experiences, as Levi did about Auschwitz, we still can't truly understand their inner life or predict their future actions - hence the shock of Levi's apparent suicide.4. Language barriers limit authentic cultural understanding Olshan argues that American writers who spend brief periods abroad without knowing the local language cannot authentically capture those cultures, emphasizing the importance of linguistic fluency for true cultural insight.5. Too much self-knowledge may be dangerous Olshan suggests that suicide might result from excessive self-awareness - people who contemplate life's inequities and their own perceived deficiencies too deeply may become overwhelmed by the world's suffering and their place in it.Keen On America is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. 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

Yesterday, The Talking Heads, today, Dylan. The Great Man's Jewish identity has long been overshadowed by his pantheistic status as American prophet. So when, for example, at the beginning of his biopic “A Complete Unknown”, Dylan arrives in Greenwich Village, he is presented as having no history, like a biblical prophet wandering out of the desert. But the London-based historian Harry Freedman argues against this tabula rasa version. In Bob Dylan: Jewish Roots, American Soil, Freedman suggests that Dylan's upbringing in a committed Jewish family in Hibbing, Minnesota—complete with B'nai B'rith leadership and summer camps—profoundly influenced his artistic vision and social consciousness. From his early protest songs to his recent embrace of Chabad fundraising, Freedman argues his Jewish heritage makes him equally Zimmerman and Dylan, a Known Unknown. five takeaways* Dylan's Jewish upbringing was deeply embedded - Far from superficial, his family life included his father as B'nai B'rith president, mother active in Hadassah, Jewish summer camps, and a 500-person Bar Mitzvah in a town with only 280 Jews.* Early career involved deliberate identity concealment - Dylan spent his first 3-4 years creating elaborate backstories about circus and carnival origins to hide his middle-class Jewish background, likely due to antisemitism and desire to fit folk music's authenticity narrative.* Jewish cultural values shaped his protest period - Freedman argues Dylan's focus on social justice and civil rights emerged from growing up in an environment emphasizing welfare and human rights, typical of Jewish immigrant communities.* His genius lay in lyrics, not initial musicianship - Dylan's early success stemmed from extraordinary wordplay and poetic ability rather than musical skill, making him fundamentally a poet who set words to music.* Late-career Jewish reconnection - After his Christian period in the 1980s, Dylan has become increasingly involved with Jewish causes, particularly Chabad fundraising, suggesting his roots remained significant throughout his life. 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

Do The Talking Heads, the quinessential art school band of the East Village scene of the 1970's, still matter? Very much so. At least according to the band's biographer, Jonathan Gould, who believes that The Talking Heads remain "the archetype of what we now think of as the alternative rock group" - a band prioritizing aesthetic evolution over commercial success. Born from New York's affordable cultural moment when rent cost $275 and abandoned industrial spaces fostered creativity, Talking Heads, Gould argues in Burning the House Down, emerged as agnostic questioners of rock conventions. They rejected "rock hair, rock lights, and singing like a black man," creating minimalist performances under stark white lighting. Their 1984 film "Stop Making Sense" appears utterly modern today, Gould says, suggesting their systematic deconstruction of musical expectations continues influencing artists four decades later. Five Key Takeaways 1. The Agnostic Approach Talking Heads were "agnostic about everything" - not just religion, but romantic love, rock conventions, and musical preconceptions. This systematic questioning of accepted norms became their defining creative principle.2. Class and Ambition Shaped Their Art Unlike working-class rock predecessors, they were privileged art school graduates who grew up expecting to "be something." This background fostered artistic ambition over simple commercial success, making them prototypes of the alternative rock ethos.3. New York's Economic Crisis Created Cultural Opportunity The city's 1970s near-bankruptcy made it affordable ($275/month rent) for young artists. The exodus of residents and businesses left vast industrial spaces available, enabling an unprecedented downtown cultural scene.4. Minimalism as Rebellion Their aesthetic rebellion involved subtraction, not addition - "no rock hair, no rock lights, no long guitar solos." Working with Brian Eno, they removed rather than added tracks, creating space through restraint.5. Timeless Modernity "Stop Making Sense" appears contemporary today because they focused on modernity rather than trends. Their systematic rejection of rock clichés created work that transcends its 1980s origins, explaining their continued influence on alternative music.Jonathan Gould is a writer and a former professional musician. Born and raised in New York City, he began playing drums in high school and became serious about it while attending Cornell University, which led him to move to Boston in 1975 to study with the eminent jazz drummer Alan Dawson. He went on to spend many years working in bands and recording studios in Boston, Woodstock, and New York City before turning his full attention to writing about music in the early 1990s under the mentorship of the retired New Yorker editor William Shawn. In addition to his playing and writing about music, Jonathan also raised a family, served in local politics, and took an active role in the life of the upstate New York community where he lived for twenty-five years. He currently divides his time between Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and Livingston, NY.Keen On America is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. 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

What does it really mean to be a “good woman”? For the controversial podcaster and writer Elise Loehnen, female goodness is a misery trap. And so reclaim their happiness, to make themselves whole, Loehnen says, women need to stop being good. The former goop executive and co-author of the upcoming Choosing Wholeness Over Goodness explains how the seven deadly sins reveal women's hidden conditioning, how the wellness industry became toxic, and why the Enneagram can help women embrace their full selves—including the darker, "unacceptable" parts they've been taught to suppress. five key takeaways 1. The "Good Woman" Performance is Exhausting Women are conditioned to suppress basic human instincts—never being tired, needing no praise, having compliant bodies, avoiding anger—which requires enormous energy and is driven by fear of social rejection.2. The Seven Deadly Sins Reveal Female Conditioning What society labels as "sins" (pride, envy, sloth, etc.) are actually normal human traits that women are taught to repress, creating a "punch card" for performing goodness to the world.3. Women Police Each Other Through Envy Instead of recognizing envy as a signal pointing toward what we want, women often use it destructively to tear down other women who have what they desire—like the backlash against Goop.4. The Drama Triangle Keeps Us Stuck Most people operate in victim-villain-hero dynamics, blaming others instead of taking responsibility. Breaking free requires recognizing these patterns and creating different conditions in your life.5. Wholeness Beats Goodness True liberation comes from integrating all parts of yourself—including the "darker" aspects you've been taught to hide—rather than performing an impossible standard of perfection.Elise Loehnen is a writer, editor, and podcast host who lives in Los Angeles with her husband, Rob, and their two sons, Max and Sam. She is the host of Pulling the Thread, a podcast focused on pulling apart the stories we tell about who we are—and then putting those threads back together. Current Work & Recent Publications: Elise is the author of the New York Times bestseller On Our Best Behavior. She has co-written thirteen books, five of which were New York Times bestsellers, including True and False Magic with psychiatrist Phil Stutz. Her upcoming co-authored Choosing Wholeness Over Goodness will be published in August. Podcast & Media: She hosts Pulling the Thread where she interviews cultural luminaries on the big questions of the day, including Dr. Gabor Maté, Dr. Temple Grandin, Dr. Harriet Lerner, Loretta Ross, Drs. John and Julie Gottman, Dr. Richard Schwartz, Joy Harjo, Dr. B.J. Miller, Nedra Tawwab, Dr. Suzanne Simard, Susan Cain, Heather McGhee, Dr. Riane Eisler, and Terry Real. Professional Background: Previously, she was the chief content officer of goop, where she co-hosted The goop Podcast and The goop Lab on Netflix, and led the brand's content strategy and programming, including the launch of a magazine with Condé Nast and a book imprint. Prior to goop, she was the editorial projects director of Conde Nast Traveler. Before Traveler, she was the editor at large and ultimately deputy editor of Lucky Magazine, where she also served as the on-air spokesperson, appearing regularly on shows like Today, E!, Good Morning America, and The Early Show. She has a B.A. from Yale where she majored in English and Fine Arts.Keen On America is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. 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

“Let me tell you about the very rich”, Scott Fitzgerald once said. “They are different from you and me”. One way they are different, the New Yorker staff writer Evan Osnos reports, is that they own yachts - very very big, expensive yachts. In The Haves and The Have-Yachts, Osnos' dispatches about today's ultrarich, he takes us on board these boats to reveal the obscenity of our new gilded age. From Mark Zuckerberg's obsession with Augustus Caesar to the thin-skinned grievances of figures like Marc Andreessen and Elon Musk, Osnos explores how the personal quirks and anxieties of just 19 American plutocrats - the 0.00001% - are now reshaping our entire society. He argues we're living in an era of "flamboyant oligarchy," where billionaires openly flaunt their wealth. Citing the extraordinary tableau of tech moguls lining up in homage to Trump at his inauguration, Osnos describes our age as "the complete and total fusion of politics and plutocracy in the United States." five key takeaways1. We're Living in an Era of "Flamboyant Oligarchy" Unlike past wealthy elites who stayed hidden ("a whale that never surfaces doesn't get harpooned"), today's billionaires openly compete for attention and flaunt their wealth, fundamentally changing the relationship between extreme wealth and public life.2. Just 19 People Could Control 18% of America's Wealth The 0.00001% - currently 19 Americans - control 1.8% of national wealth today. If current trends continue, this could reach 18% within 40 years, representing an unprecedented concentration of economic power in human history.3. Personal Quirks Have Massive Social Consequences Billionaires' individual obsessions and blind spots shape society at scale - from Facebook being blue because Zuckerberg is colorblind, to his Augustus Caesar fixation influencing how he thinks about power and empire-building.4. The Complete Fusion of Politics and Plutocracy Trump's inauguration, featuring tech moguls "lined up in homage," represents the total merger of political and economic power in America - what Osnos calls a "sultanistic oligarchy" where billionaires have elevated Trump to rule on their behalf.5. Billionaires Are Surprisingly Thin-Skinned and Aggrieved Despite their wealth, figures like Musk and Andreessen are easily offended and resentful about public criticism, leading them not to retreat but to actively seek control over politics and media to reshape the narrative in their favor. BiographyEvan Lionel Richard Osnos (born December 24, 1976) is an American journalist and author who has been a staff writer at The New Yorker since 2008, specializing in politics and foreign affairs coverage in the United States and China. Osnos continues to be one of America's most prominent foreign correspondents and political journalists, known for his deep reporting and narrative storytelling that bridges international and domestic affairs.Current PositionsOsnos is currently a staff writer at The New Yorker, a CNN contributor, and a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, based in Washington D.C.Early Life and EducationOsnos was born in London when his parents, Susan (née Sherer) Osnos and Peter L.W. Osnos, were visiting from Moscow, where his father was assigned as a correspondent for The Washington Post. He graduated with high honors from Harvard University with a Bachelor's Degree. Career HighlightsEarly Career: In 2002, he was assigned to the Middle East, where he covered the Iraq War and reported from Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Iran, and elsewhere. In 2005, he became the China correspondent. Chicago Tribune: Prior to The New Yorker, he worked as the Beijing bureau chief of the Chicago Tribune, where he contributed to a series that won the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting. The New Yorker: Osnos joined The New Yorker in September 2008 and served as the magazine's China correspondent until 2013, maintaining a regular blog called "Letter from China" and writing articles about China's young neoconservatives, the Fukushima nuclear meltdown, and the Wenzhou train crash. Major Publications* "Age of Ambition: Chasing Fortune, Truth, and Faith in the New China" (2014): Won the 2014 National Book Award for nonfiction and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. * "Joe Biden: The Life, the Run, and What Matters Now" (2020): Published in October 2020, based on lengthy interviews with Biden and revealing conversations with more than a hundred others, including President Barack Obama. * "Wildland: The Making of America's Fury" (2021): Published in September 2021, about profound cultural and political changes occurring between September 11, 2001, and January 6, 2021. The book was a New York Times bestseller. * "The Haves and Have-Yachts: Dispatches on the Ultrarich" (2025): His latest book, published in June 2025, exploring American oligarchy and the culture of excess. Awards and RecognitionOsnos has received the Asia Society's Osborn Elliott Prize for Excellence in Journalism on Asia, the Livingston Award for Young Journalists, and a Mirror Award for profile-writing. He received two awards from the Overseas Press Club and the Osborn Elliott Prize for excellence in journalism from the Asia Society. Personal LifeHe has been married to Sarabeth Berman since July 9, 2011. He lives with his wife and children near Washington, 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

It all began in 2019 at DeadSpin where Megan Greenwell was editor-in-chief. She had her dream job at the sports publication she'd always loved, leading a profitable digital media company with a devoted readership. Then the curse of private equity arrived. Within three months, everything collapsed. As Greenwell argues in her new book, Bad Company, she was pushed out, her entire staff followed, and the site was eventually sold to a Maltese gambling operation. What should have been a routine business acquisition became a personal awakening. Greenwell realized she'd witnessed something much larger than corporate mismanagement—she'd seen how private equity is producing avampire economy sucking the blood out of the American Dream. five takeaways1. Private Equity Violates Free Market Principles Greenwell argues that PE actually corrupts capitalism rather than representing it—citing Milton Friedman's own exceptions for public services like healthcare and education, which are now PE's biggest targets.2. The Debt Transfer Loophole Creates Perverse Incentives In leveraged buyouts, PE firms load companies with 70-80% debt but transfer responsibility to the acquired company, allowing firms to profit even when businesses fail—as happened with Toys"R"Us.3. Workers Rarely Know PE Owns Their Employer Until It's Too Late Most employees discover private equity ownership only when everything falls apart, because the company name on their paycheck remains the same while control shifts to financial engineers.4. The Vampire Effect Goes Beyond Individual Companies PE isn't just killing businesses—it's hollowing out entire communities, from rural hospitals in Wyoming to local newspapers, destroying the infrastructure that sustains small American towns.5. Solutions Exist at State and Local Levels While federal regulation remains unlikely, progress is happening through state laws (like Massachusetts healthcare regulations), pension fund pressure campaigns, and nonprofit alternatives that prioritize sustainability over shareholder value.Megan Greenwell is an American journalist, editor, and writer with extensive experience across print and digital media. She was the first female editor-in-chief of Deadspin and editor of Wired.com Background & Education: Greenwell grew up in Berkeley, California. Her mother is an Episcopal priest who currently serves as the Dean of Christ Church Cathedral in Cincinnati. She attended Berkeley High School, where she was a reporter for the school newspaper and graduated from Columbia University (Barnard College) in 2006, where she was editor-in-chief of the Columbia Spectator Career Highlights:* Started as a staff writer at The Washington Post, covering education, philanthropy, and the war in Iraq, including a three-month stint at the paper's Baghdad bureau * Was part of The Washington Post team that won the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for breaking news coverage of the Virginia Tech shooting WikipediaMegangreenwell* Worked as managing editor of GOOD Magazine, inaugural features editor at New York magazine's The Cut, and senior editor of ESPN The Magazine * Served as executive features editor for Esquire.com before becoming the fifth and first female editor-in-chief of Deadspin in 2018 * Later worked as editor of Wired.com and interim editor-in-chief of WIRED Current Work: She's now a freelance journalist based in Brooklyn and deputy director of the Princeton Summer Journalism Program PrincetonMegangreenwell. Her book "Bad Company: Private Equity and the Death of the American Dream" was published by HarperCollins on June 10, 2025Personal: Greenwell is married to David Heller, an assistant professor of internal medicine and global health at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Keen On America is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. 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

25 years after serving as the bridge between the Web 1.0 and 2.0 revolutions, Google stands at the vortex of another technological revolution. The company's new AI mode threatens to destroy the "simple bargain" that has sustained the web since 2005 — Google's deal with websites which sent them traffic in exchange for indexing their content. Unlike traditional search results with links, Google's revolutionary new AI Mode delivers knowledge directly from training data, eliminating the traffic pipeline that media companies depend on. As That Was The Week's Keith Teare and I discuss, this marks the end of the Web 2.0 era and the beginning of the AI age, fundamentally changing how information flows online. By eating the Web 1.0 internet, Google established itself as the dominant Web 2.0 power. The multi-trillion-dollar question now is whether today's AI revolution will eat Google. Five Takeaways* Google Was the Web 2.0 Bridge - Though its hard to determine if Google was really a Web 1.0 or 2.0 business, the company clearly served as the crucial bridge between these two eras, evolving from a pure search engine to a centralized monetization platform that dominated the web for two decades.* The "Simple Bargain" is Breaking - Google's 20-year social contract with websites (free content indexing in exchange for traffic referrals) is ending as AI mode delivers answers directly without sending users to source sites.* AI Mode Eliminates Links - Google's new AI search produces results from training data rather than indexed links, meaning no traffic flows to original content creators—fundamentally breaking the web's economic model.* Search Quality Declined After 2010 - Google morphed from scientific link-counting to revenue-focused curation as social media grew, with the top third of search results becoming advertising rather than organic results.* Google Faces a Binary Choice - The company must choose between traditional search mode (with links and traffic) or AI mode (pure knowledge delivery), as trying to mix both models with advertising would damage the AI users' expectations.Keen On America is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. 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

Happy NO KINGS DAY! Today, as nationwide protests sweep America, historian and activist Mark Bray argues that Trump and his MAGA movement represent a type of American fascism rooted in the country's long history of racist backlash against the struggle for civil rights. As the author of the iconic Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook, Bray connects today's resistance to Trump to historical anti-fascist movements, from the KKK's post-Civil War violence to European fascism of the 1930s. He discusses protest strategies, the role of violence in resistance movements, social media's impact on organizing, and why disrupting "business as usual" matters more than just electoral politics in fighting authoritarianism. Long Live the NO KING. Five Key Takeaways* Trump represents American fascism, not just populism or patrimonialism - Bray argues the MAGA movement is "pretty unequivocally fascist," drawing on ultranationalism, militarism, and the glorification of violence that characterizes historical fascism.* American fascism has deep historical roots - Rather than being imported from Europe, fascistic tendencies emerged from America's own racist institutions, with the post-Civil War KKK representing the first "proto-fascist formation" in functional terms.* Disruption matters more than electoral politics - Effective resistance requires making "business as usual" impossible, forcing issues into national conversation and raising the political costs of authoritarian policies beyond just voting.* Violence remains a tactical question, not a moral absolute - Bray argues that while reasonable people can disagree about when to use force, removing it entirely from the "toolbox" of resistance may prove too late when facing genuine fascism.* Social media is a double-edged organizing tool - While platforms can rapidly mobilize movements like Occupy Wall Street, they also create instability, allow right-wing manipulation, and risk replacing sustained community organizing with quick digital fixes.MARK BRAY is a historian of human rights, political violence, and politics in Modern Europe at Rutgers University. He earned his BA in Philosophy from Wesleyan University in 2005 and his PhD in History from Rutgers University in 2016. He is the author of Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook (Melville House 2017), The Anarchist Inquisition: Assassins, Activists, and Martyrs in Spain and France (Cornell 2022), Translating Anarchy: The Anarchism of Occupy Wall Street (Zero 2013), and the co-editor of Anarchist Education and the Modern School: A Francisco Ferrer Reader (PM Press 2018). His work has appeared in Foreign Policy, The Washington Post, Salon, Boston Review, and numerous edited volumes.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 the daily KEEN ON show, he is the host of the long-running How To Fix Democracy interview series. 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.Keen On America is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. 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

So what, exactly, is libertarianism? Spike Cohen, the Libertarian Party's 2020 vice presidential nominee, boils it down to "the principle of human respect"—treating people as individuals, not as what he calls "tax cattle." Speaking from FreedomFest in Palm Springs, the founder of You Are The Power offers a scathing critique of both major parties while exposing what he calls a federal funding scheme that encourages states to separate children from their families. From defending controversial Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht to challenging Big Tech monopolies, Cohen argues that government overreach—not lack of regulation—creates the very problems politicians claim to solve. And then, of course, there's Donald Trump who spoke at last year's FreedomFest. According to Cohen, Trump has betrayed his libertarian supporters by increasing both government spending and debt by more than almost all of his predecessors. For all his libertarian promises, Cohen argues, Trump is now amongst the most dangerous exponents of big government overreach. Five Takeaways1. Libertarianism as "Human Respect" Cohen defines libertarianism not as chaos, but as "the principle of human respect"—allowing individuals to make their own choices as long as they don't violate others' lives, rights, or property. Government should treat citizens as people, not "tax cattle."2. Big Government Creates Big Business Contrary to progressive solutions, Cohen argues that regulatory capture by large corporations is the root cause of "Big Pharma," "Big Tech," and other monopolistic industries. More regulation protects incumbents; less regulation enables competition.3. Trump Betrayed Libertarian Voters Despite campaigning on reducing government, Trump grew spending and debt more than most predecessors. Cohen credits Trump for freeing Ross Ulbricht but argues his first term should have warned voters about his true governing philosophy.4. Federal Funding Drives Family Separation Cohen's "You Are the Power" organization exposes how Title IV-D incentivizes states to remove children from families—receiving more money for accusations, removals, and permanent separations, especially involving chronically ill children.5. Direct Action Over Electoral Politics After getting just 1% in 2020, Cohen shifted from campaigns to grassroots activism, claiming 100% success in specific cases by mobilizing public pressure on government officials through targeted advocacy.Spike Cohen is a successful business owner, Libertarian activist, and media figure. He is the Founder and President of You Are The Power, a nonprofit focused on using solutions-oriented activism to grow the Liberty movement. Spike started a web design company as a teenager in 1998. In 2017, he retired from web design to focus on effective political messaging, entertainment, and activism. This culminated with him becoming Libertarian candidate for Vice President in 2020, where he traveled across the nation by plane and bus, meeting countless Americans and sharing the message of Liberty with them. Spike is a tireless advocate for freedom with a commitment to help grow the movement at the grassroots level, training candidates and activists in positive and principled messaging to explain libertarian ideas to everyday Americans, and working with elected officials to implement common-sense reforms to improve people's lives. Since the 2020 election, Spike has become a regular guest on cable news networks, nationally syndicated radio, international media outlets, and podcasts across the globe.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 the daily KEEN ON show, he is the host of the long-running How To Fix Democracy interview series. 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.Keen On America is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.* 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

According to Deborah Baker, author of Charlottesville: An American Story, America has become the Charlottesville of the Unite the Right Rally of August 12, 2017. Baker, who grew up in Charlottesville in the shadow of Jefferson's Monticello, watched in shock as neo-Nazis marched through her hometown in August 2017 with torches and flags. What began as her attempt to understand how such hatred could manifest in a progressive college town became a deeper reckoning with America's buried histories and recurring tragedies. The fascist ideologies that once seemed confined to internet forums and fringe rallies have now, she argues, been institutionalized at the highest levels of government. The warning signs were there in 2017—but too many people, from university administrators to progressive leaders, chose to look away. If we close our eyes, she warns, it won't go away. five key takeaways1. America Has Institutionalized ExtremismWhat began as fringe internet movements and basement trolling has now moved into the mainstream of American politics and government institutions. The ideologies that shocked people in Charlottesville 2017 are now, according to Baker, embedded at the highest levels of power.2. Progressive Institutions Failed to Take the Threat SeriouslyUniversity administrators, mayors, and police chiefs in liberal Charlottesville told citizens to "stay home" and ignore the approaching Unite the Right rally. This pattern of progressive leadership closing their eyes to fascist organizing represents a dangerous institutional failure that continues today.3. White Supremacy Has Always Married Anti-Semitism with Anti-Black RacismThe Nazi flags at Charlottesville weren't separate from the Confederate monuments debate. White supremacist ideology consistently portrays Jews as the puppet masters behind Black civil rights movements, combining European fascism with Southern white supremacy into a unified hateful worldview.4. America's "Buried Histories" Keep RepeatingBaker discovered that Charlottesville had experienced a similar white supremacist rally in the 1950s that had been completely forgotten. This pattern of burying ugly chapters allows the same mistakes to be repeated, as communities fail to learn from their past encounters with organized hate.5. Economic and Political Destabilization Creates Fertile Ground for FascismThe conditions that radicalized figures like Richard Spencer include the "forever wars," the 2008 financial crisis, and the broader betrayal of working-class Americans. These "self-inflicted wounds" by American institutions create the chaos that fascist movements exploit to gain followers.Deborah Baker was born in Charlottesville and grew up in Virginia, Puerto Rico and New England. She attended the University of Virginia and Cambridge University. Her first book, written in college, was Making a Farm: The Life of Robert Bly, published by Beacon Press in 1982. After working as a book editor and publisher, in 1990 she moved to Calcutta where she wrote In Extremis; The Life of Laura Riding. Published by Grove Press and Hamish Hamilton in the UK, it was shortlisted for the Pulitzer Prize in Biography in 1994. Her third book, A Blue Hand: The Beats in India was published by Penguin Press USA and Penguin India in 2008. In 2008–2009 she was a Fellow at the Dorothy and Lewis C. Cullman Center for Writers and Scholars at The New York Public Library. There she researched and wrote The Convert: A Tale of Exile and Extremism, a narrative account of the life of an American convert to Islam. Published by Graywolf and Penguin India, The Convert was a finalist for the 2011 National Book Award in Non-Fiction. The Last Englishmen: Love, War and the End of Empire was published in October 2018. For this book she received a Whiting Creative Non-fiction grant and a Guggenheim fellowship. Charlottesville is her sixth work of narrative non-fiction. She is married to the writer Amitav Ghosh and lives in Brooklyn and Charlottesville.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 the daily KEEN ON show, he is the host of the long-running How To Fix Democracy interview series. 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.Keen On America is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. 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

Postmodern Patrimonialism. That's the term Brookings Institution scholar Jonathan Rauch uses to describe Trump's second presidency, arguing it represents a 21st century model of running government as if it's his own personal property. Rauch describes Trump 2's "everything everywhere all at once" strategy as a venture capital-like approach: launching numerous initiatives simultaneously to overwhelm opposition, expecting some to succeed while recognizing that others will fail. Noting that this strategy has slowed since March due to court challenges and declining approval ratings, Rauch discusses the institutional breakdown of Congress, the emergence of Gavin Newsom as the apex of the resistance to Trump 2, and identifies Stephen Miller and Russell Vought as key strategic masterminds behind the administration's coordinated assault on universities, law firms, and democratic norms. Five Key Takeaways * Patrimonialism, Not Fascism: Rauch has shifted from describing Trump as fascist to "patrimonial"—running government as personal property and family business. This model is less organized than fascism but equally corrosive to democratic institutions.* "Everything Everywhere All at Once" Strategy: Trump's administration deliberately overwhelms opposition by launching simultaneous attacks on multiple fronts (universities, law firms, agencies, individuals), making coordinated resistance nearly impossible.* Congressional Institutional Collapse: America has effectively moved from a three-branch to two-branch government, with Congress absent as a check on executive power—a more fundamental threat than Trump himself.* Democratic Governors as Resistance Leaders: Figures like Gavin Newsom are emerging as the most effective opposition voices, using states' rights to challenge federal overreach in ways Congress cannot.* Miller and Vought as Strategic Masterminds: Stephen Miller (immigration/security) and Russell Vought (domestic policy/OMB) are identified as the key architects behind the administration's coordinated assault on democratic institutions.Jonathan Rauch is a senior fellow in the Governance Studies program at the Brookings Institution and the author of eight books and many articles on public policy, culture, and government. He is a contributing writer of The Atlantic and recipient of the 2005 National Magazine Award, the magazine industry's equivalent of the Pulitzer Prize. His many Brookings publications include the 2021 book “The Constitution of Knowledge: A Defense of Truth”, as well as the 2015 ebook “Political Realism: How Hacks, Machines, Big Money, and Back-Room Deals Can Strengthen American Democracy.” Other books include “The Happiness Curve: Why Life Gets Better after 50” (2018) and “Gay Marriage: Why It Is Good for Gays, Good for Straights, and Good for America” (2004). He has also authored research on political parties, marijuana legalization, LGBT rights and religious liberty, and more.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 the daily KEEN ON show, he is the host of the long-running How To Fix Democracy interview series. 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.Keen On America is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. 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

FreedomFest, America's annual celebration of libertarian values, begins tomorrow in Palm Springs. According to FreedomFest's CEO Valerie Durham, there's something quintessentially American about her libertarian creed. Attracting speakers as diverse as Cornell West and RFK Jr, Durham argues that the libertarian doctrine articulated at FreedomFest offers America a politics beyond the conventional dogmas of right and left. But is Durham's vision practical? Can radical libertarian principles like privatizing all roads and eliminating taxation really work in the 21st century? Five key takeaways1. Libertarianism as Pure American Philosophy Durham argues that libertarianism represents the most consistent American political ideology, emphasizing individual sovereignty, minimal government, and maximum personal choice as core principles that transcend traditional left-right divisions.2. Radical Economic Vision She advocates for privatizing virtually everything—roads, parks, utilities—eliminating taxation entirely in favor of direct user fees, arguing this would be more efficient and fair than current government monopolies.3. Cross-Partisan Dialogue Strategy FreedomFest deliberately brings together diverse speakers from Cornell West to RFK Jr., creating nuanced conversations rather than traditional left-vs-right debates, aiming to find common ground on liberty-focused issues.4. Skepticism of Both Major Parties Durham views Trump and traditional Republicans as insufficiently libertarian due to military spending and government overreach, while appreciating entrepreneurial figures like Elon Musk who advance innovation through private enterprise.5. Third Party Necessity She believes America's two-party system is "unsustainable" and argues for breaking up the Republican-Democrat duopoly through viable third-party alternatives that can introduce fresh ideas about governance and individual freedom.Keen On America is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. 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

Karen Hao has been warning us about Sam Altman's OpenAI for a while now. In her bestselling Empire of AI, she argues that the Silicon Valley startup is a classic colonial power, akin to Britain's East India Company. Like those colonial merchants and policy makers who wrapped profit-seeking in civilizing missions, OpenAI cloaks its relentless scaling ambitions behind the noble goal of "ensuring artificial general intelligence benefits all of humanity." But as Hao reveals, this pursuit comes at enormous cost—environmental devastation, exploited labor, and the extraction of data from communities worldwide. The parallels are striking: a private corporation accumulating unprecedented resources and power, operating with minimal oversight while externalizing the harms of its empire-building to those least able to resist. Five Key Takeaways 1. OpenAI is a Modern Corporate Empire Hao argues OpenAI operates like the British East India Company—a private corporation wrapped in a "civilizing mission" that extracts resources globally while externalizing costs to vulnerable communities. The company's stated goal of "benefiting all humanity" serves as ideological cover for profit-driven expansion.2. AI Development Didn't Have to Be This Destructive Before OpenAI's "scaling at all costs" approach, researchers were developing smaller, more efficient AI models using curated datasets. OpenAI deliberately chose quantity over quality, leading to massive computational requirements and environmental damage that could have been avoided.3. The Climate and Social Costs Are Staggering McKinsey estimates global energy grids need to add 2-6 times California's annual consumption to support AI infrastructure expansion. This means retired coal plants staying online, new methane turbines in working-class communities, and data centers consuming public drinking water in drought-prone areas.4. The Business Model May Be Unsustainable Despite raising $40 billion (Silicon Valley's largest private investment), OpenAI hasn't demonstrated how to monetize at that scale. Subscriptions don't cover operational costs, leading to considerations of thousand-dollar monthly fees or surveillance-based advertising models.5. Resistance is Possible and Already Happening Communities worldwide are successfully pushing back—from Chilean residents stalling Google data centers for five years to artists suing over intellectual property theft. Hao argues collective action across AI's supply chain can force a shift toward more democratic, community-centered development.Karen Hao is an award-winning journalist covering the impacts of artificial intelligence on society. She writes for publications including The Atlantic and leads the Pulitzer Center's AI Spotlight Series, a program training thousands of journalists around the world on how to cover AI. She was formerly a reporter for the Wall Street Journal, covering American and Chinese tech companies, and a senior editor for AI at MIT Technology Review. Her work is regularly taught in universities and cited by governments. She has received numerous accolades for her coverage, including an American Humanist Media Award and American National Magazine Award for Journalists Under 30. She received her Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering from MIT.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 the daily KEEN ON show, he is the host of the long-running How To Fix Democracy interview series. 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.Keen On America is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. 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

Do we get the nonfiction we deserve? LATimes book critic Bethanne Patrick wrestles with this question through five new books that both mirror and address our fractured psyche. From Melissa Fibos' choice of celibacy over toxic sexual romance to a lone wolf crossing impossible borders, all these works expose a world grappling with isolation, AI empires, and the collapse of meaningful discourse. Whether it's Thomas Chatterton Williams's critique of wokeness, Damon Young's biting anthology of new black comedy, or Karen Hao's disturbing portrait of OpenAI as our new imperial reality ( Tomorrow's show features a full interview with Hao), each book reflects our deeper crisis: the inability to connect authentically in our age of social isolation and anxiety. The Dry Season: A Memoir of Pleasure in a Year Without Sex - Melissa Fibos. Melissa Fibos, a writer with a history of intense romantic fixations, realizes she's addicted to the chase rather than genuine connection. She embarks on a year-long celibacy experiment, allowing masturbation and fantasies but avoiding all dating and partnered sex. It's a transformative journey of empowerment as Fibos discovers authentic pleasure in solitude, food, and simple experiences, ultimately meeting her future wife before completing the full year.Summer of Our Discontent: The Age of Certainty and The Demise of Discourse - Thomas Chatterton Williams. This multiracial critic argues that America's obsession with racial categories perpetuates the very divisions we claim to fight, insisting that race is purely a social construct with no biological basis. Writing from his perspective as an American expat in France, Williams contends that woke discourse and "correct" language distract from addressing real structural problems. His book challenges readers to move beyond tired black-versus-white frameworks toward more nuanced conversations about power and identity.That's How They Get You: An Unruly Anthology of Black American Humor - Edited by Damon Young This collection features sharp satirical pieces from top Black American writers who skewer everything from Karen culture to Disney's racial blindness to tech company exploitation. Contributors include Mateo Askaripour (who wrote the acclaimed "Black Buck") offering biting commentary on workplace racism and cultural appropriation. The anthology demonstrates how humor serves as both weapon and shield, allowing writers to expose systemic absurdities while maintaining their sanity in an often hostile world.Lone Wolf: Walking the Line Between Civilization and Wildness - Adam Weymouth In 2011, a wolf named Slavc traveled over 1,000 miles from Slovenia to the Italian Alps, becoming the first wolf in that region for decades and eventually establishing a pack of over 100. Weymouth follows this remarkable journey to explore how artificial barriers—from the Iron Curtain to Trump's border wall—prevent both wildlife and human refugees from reaching safety. The book uses the wolf's migration as a lens to examine what happens when the wild refuses to respect human boundaries and how life persistently seeks ways to thrive despite our attempts to control it.Empire of AI: Dreams and Nightmares in Sam Altman's OpenAI - Karen Hao. Based on 90 interviews with current and former OpenAI executives plus dozens more from competing tech companies. Hao argues that without proper regulation and transparency, AI could evolve into a modern version of the British East India Company—a technological monopoly that serves elite interests while reshaping global power structures. Tomorrow's show features a full interview with Hao. 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. 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 the daily KEEN ON show, he is the host of the long-running How To Fix Democracy interview series. 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.Keen On America is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. 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

Is the promise of AI abundance Silicon Valley's biggest lie? That Was The Week publisher Keith Teare argues that while AI will inevitably reduce human labor and increase productivity, the real question isn't economic—it's about distribution. Who, exactly, benefits from all this abundance? Currently, it's private companies like OpenAI and Google that own the technology; not you and I, the public. This creates what Keith describes as a fork in the road: either a techno-feudal nightmare where few own everything, or a techno-socialist cornucopia where everyone prospers. He points to points to experiments like Sam Altman's Worldcoin as potential solutions, but warns that without deliberate human action, abundance could easily become the ultimate scarcity trap.As you can tell from this conversation, I'm much more skeptical than Keith. While he sees inevitable productivity gains leading to a potential utopia, I see Silicon Valley's promises of abudance as largely self-serving fantasy. There is no fork in the road and, with or without human agency, everything certainly isn't possible. Today's technological reality is growing inequality, not infinite distribution. The fact that Keith's most hopeful model is Sam Altman's chilling crypto scheme for paying people to scan and share their irises is particularly unconvincing. History shows us that new technologies, while promising a cornucopian future, always create new forms of scarcity. The people promoting AI abundance—Zuckerberg, Musk, Altman et al—are painfully antisocial, yet preach about more social time for family and friends. Meanwhile, teachers and journalists and lawyers are already being forced into retirement. Without concrete mechanisms for the redistribution of AI derived wealth, abundance will likely benefit the few who own the technology, not the many who actually need it. five key takeaways 1. The Economics vs. Distribution Problem AI will inevitably make production cheaper and more efficient, but there's no built-in mechanism ensuring everyone benefits. The proceeds will flow to private companies unless something changes.2. The Fork in the Road We face two possible futures: a feudal system where a few own everything, or a utopia where abundance benefits everyone. The outcome depends entirely on human choices, not technological inevitability.3. The End of Required Labor While productivity gains are inevitable, the complete elimination of paid work isn't guaranteed. But as AI becomes cheaper than human labor, employers will have no economic incentive to hire people.4. Democrats Need the Abundance Narrative The Democratic Party can't win by just redistributing a shrinking pie. They need policies that grow the economy and make abundance politically viable—free healthcare and education require rapid wealth expansion.5. Experiments Are Already Happening Projects like Sam Altman's Worldcoin (giving everyone AI profits via crypto) and discussions of Universal Income show that practical wealth distribution mechanisms are being tested, not just theorized.Keen On America is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. 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

No, I'm not amused. Today's Trump vs Musk social media wrestling fiasco is one more example of how digital media is actually bemusing ourselves to death. Walter Lippmann, the brilliant but emotionally detached journalist who coined the term "stereotype," foresaw this nightmare a century ago. Lippmann's intellectual biographer Tom Arnold-Forster explains how Lippmann's theories about "manufactured consent" and the manipulation of public opinion by media barons anticipated everything from the Trump-Musk social media feuds to dehumanizing AI-generated content. Lippmann identified democracy's central paradox: we need informed citizens to self-govern, yet the modern world is too complex for anyone to fully understand. His 1919 warning is even truer today: "The present crisis of Western democracy is a crisis in journalism." Five Key Takeaways * Democracy's Impossible Paradox: Lippmann identified that modern democracy demands citizens make informed decisions about a world too complex for anyone—even experts—to fully understand. We're stuck needing public opinion to govern while being unable to form truly informed opinions.* The Stereotype Machine: Lippmann literally invented the modern concept of "stereotype" as a way information gets simplified and transmitted between people. He'd likely see AI as the ultimate "stereotype machine"—endlessly reproducing the most probable combinations rather than generating new insights.* Manufactured Consent Crisis: His core warning was that when consent-manufacturing becomes "unregulated private enterprise" (think Hearst then, Musk now), democracy itself is threatened. The solution isn't eliminating commercial media but professionalizing journalism within it.* Expertise Must Serve Democracy: Despite being labeled an elitist, Lippmann actually argued that expertise should ultimately be subject to democratic control. He attacked anti-democratic "experts" like eugenicist Lewis Terman as frauds.* Journalism = Democracy: Lippmann's most prescient insight: "The present crisis of Western democracy is in an exact sense a crisis in journalism." Today's democratic struggles are inseparable from our information crisis—fake news, social media manipulation, and the collapse of trusted news sources.Tom Arnold-Forster is the Kinder Career Development Fellow in Atlantic History at the University of Oxford's Rothermere American Institute. His writing has appeared in the Historical Journal, Modern Intellectual History, American Journalism, the Journal of American Studies, and Dissent.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 the daily KEEN ON show, he is the host of the long-running How To Fix Democracy interview series. 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.Keen On America is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. 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

Revered by some, vilified by others, Ibram X. Kendi is America's most controversial anti-racism scholar. In this wide-ranging and frank conversation, the bestselling author of How to Be an Anti-Racist discusses his foundational (and republished) 2012 book The Black Campus Movement, drawing parallels between 1960s student activism and today's Gaza protests. Kendi argues critics deliberately misrepresent his work to "make me into this boogeyman" and keep people from engaging with evidence-based scholarship on racism. Despite facing accusations of being a "fraud," Kendi remains committed to his mission, particularly in his upcoming role at Howard University, where he'll direct a new Institute for Advanced Study. Five Key Takeaways * History Repeating: Kendi argues that today's campus protests over Gaza mirror 1960s Black student activism, with opponents using similar talking points to undermine anti-racist efforts on college campuses.* The "Boogeyman" Strategy: Kendi believes his critics deliberately misrepresent his work to make him seem "scary" and keep people from engaging with his evidence-based scholarship on racism, rather than addressing his actual arguments.* Campus Activism Then vs. Now: Key differences between the 1960s and today include the federal government now working to "re-segregate" campuses rather than desegregate them, and the presence of campus police forces that can suppress demonstrations.* Indirect Racism: Kendi argues that modern racism operates indirectly—when people deny that racist policies exist while racial disparities persist, they're implicitly suggesting that Black people are inferior, just without saying it explicitly.* New Chapter at Howard: After facing controversy and criticism, Kendi is moving from Boston University to historically Black Howard University to direct a new Institute for Advanced Study focused on rigorously studying racism.DR. IBRAM X. KENDI is a National Book Award-winning author of seventeen books for adults and children, including eleven New York Times bestsellers. Dr. Kendi is the Andrew W. Mellon Professor in the Humanities at Boston University, and the director of the BU Center for Antiracist Research. In the summer of 2025, he will join Howard University as Professor of History and Director of its newly established Howard Institute for Advanced Study. Dr. Kendi is the author of Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America, which won the National Book Award for Nonfiction, making him the youngest author to win that award. He also authored the international bestseller, How to Be an Antiracist, which was described in the New York Times as “the most courageous book to date on the problem of race in the Western mind.” Dr. Kendi's other bestsellers include How to Raise an Antiracist and Antiracist Baby, illustrated by Ashley Lukashevsky. In 2020, Time magazine named Dr. Kendi one of the 100 Most Influential People in the world. He was awarded a 2021 MacArthur Fellowship, popularly known as the Genius Grant. His newest book is Malcolm Lives! It is the first major biography of Malcolm for young readers in more than thirty years. It appeared in May 2025 on the centennial of Malcolm's birth and debuted on the New York Times bestseller list.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 the daily KEEN ON show, he is the host of the long-running How To Fix Democracy interview series. 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

Do we get the serial killers & heroes we deserve? The always generous literary critic Bethanne Patrick uses five new non-fiction books to respond to this rather absurd question. From French women resisting Nazis at Ravensbrück concentration camp to the CIA's Cold War book smuggling operation, these new books examine human behavior under the most extreme circumstances. Caroline Fraser's Murderland investigates whether environmental toxins in the Pacific Northwest bred serial killers like Ted Bundy, and Maria Blake's They Poison the World explores forever chemicals' deadly impact on the environment. While Kevin Sack's Mother Emanuel offers Charleston's story of African-American forgiveness for the 300-year injustice of slavery and Jim Crow. Together, these books suggest our environment shapes us—sometimes tragically, sometimes triumphantly. a takeaway from each book * The Sisterhood of Ravensbrück - French women's resistance efforts were systematically ignored in post-war recognition, with only 6 women receiving medals compared to 1,100 men, highlighting how women's contributions to liberation movements have been marginalized. Vive La France!* Murderland - Environmental toxicity from lead and arsenic smelting in the Pacific Northwest may have contributed to the region's concentration of serial killers in the 1950s-70s, with cases declining as environmental protections increased.* They Poisoned the World - The highly toxic PFAS "forever chemicals" were originally developed by the U.S. government for uranium processing, later causing widespread contamination linked to cancers, stillbirths, and weakened immune systems.* The CIA Book Club - The CIA successfully smuggled literature behind the Iron Curtain, with people craving not just political texts but also Agatha Christie mysteries and Shakespeare—proving culture, not just politics, sustained resistance.* Mother Emanuel - For Charleston's African-American congregation of Mother Emanuel church, forgiveness after the 2015 massacre wasn't about excusing the killer but about self-preservation—choosing to move forward rather than be consumed by hatred.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. 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. 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

Black swan events used to be considered as one-of-a-kind events signifying something rare and exceptional. Today, however, we may be drowning in black swans. That, at least, is the view of global venture investor Christopher Schroeder, in his reflections on recent travel in India, the Gulf, Estonia & the United Kingdom. From the sudden eruption of India-Pakistan tensions that nobody saw coming, to Ukraine's daring military successes against Russia, to this week's collapse of the Dutch government, Schroeder argues we're living in an era of perpetual unpredictability. Schroeder believes that this flood of uncertainty is not only fueling a global anti-incumbent movement and reshaping defense technology, but also forcing nations to rethink their fundamental assumptions about governance, geopolitics, and technological innovation. five key takeaways1. We're Living in an Era of Constant Black Swans Unpredictable, high-impact events have become the norm rather than the exception - from sudden India-Pakistan tensions to Ukraine's surprising military successes to government collapses across Europe.2. Global Anti-Incumbent Sentiment is Driving Political Upheaval People worldwide are rejecting traditional governance that they perceive as incompetent or rigged for insiders, creating fertile ground for populist alternatives and massive political disruption.3. Defense Technology is Stuck in 20th Century Processes While Ukraine adapts drone technology in weeks based on battlefield feedback, Western procurement systems take 3-5 years (versus China's 18 months), creating a dangerous capability gap in modern warfare.4. Countries are Diversifying Dependencies to Avoid Over-Reliance Nations from India to Europe are consciously seeking alternatives to avoid becoming overly dependent on any single power - whether China for manufacturing or Russia for energy.5. Business-as-Usual Governance Cannot Address 21st Century Challenges Traditional institutions and processes are fundamentally inadequate for the speed and complexity of current global challenges, requiring dramatic structural changes that most governments resist making.Christopher M. Schroeder is a Washington D.C. and New York City based entrepreneur and venture investor. He is currently Chair of the Board of Trustees of the German Marshall Fund. He co-founded HealthCentral.com, one of the nation's largest social and content platforms in health and wellness, backed by Sequoia Capital, Polaris Ventures, The Carlyle Group, Allen & Company and IAC Corporation. The company was sold to the health media publisher, Remedy Health, in January 2012 where Schroeder remained a board advisor. Previously he was CEO of washingtonpost.newsweek interactive and LegiSlate.com, the b2b interactive platform on US and state legislation and regulation that he sold in 2000. He currently is an active investor in and advisor to top US venture capital funds and over a dozen consumer-facing social/media startups. He has had a career in finance and served in President George HW Bush's White House and Department of State on the staffs of James A. Baker, III and Robert B. Zoellick.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 the daily KEEN ON show, he is the host of the long-running How To Fix Democracy interview series. 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.Keen On America is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. 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

Popeye might have gotten strong from eating spinach, but for the family of C.F. Seabrook, New Jersey's narcissistic patriarch of industrialized farming, spinach has been a curse. In his new book The Spinach King: The Rise and Fall of an American Dynasty, New Yorker staff writer John Seabrook charts the dramatic rise and fall of his family's Seabrook Farms. Part family memoir, part critique of industrialized agricultural capitalism, Seabrook tells the story of his grandfather C.F. Seabrook, the "Henry Ford of agriculture”, who built a frozen vegetable empire on 20,000 acres in New Jersey. Rather than a celebration of American innovation, however, The Spinach King is a parable about the dark side of capitalist ambition, explaining how the pursuit of industrial-scale farming led to worker exploitation, family destruction, and ultimately, the dynasty's collapse. Seabrook's motivation for writing about the rise and fall of his grandfather's empire? “Revenge,” he confesses, against a monster who cheated his own father and then psychologically humiliated his son. Five Key Takeaways 1. Industrial Agriculture's Labor Problem Remains Unsolved C.F. Seabrook discovered that while you can mechanize many aspects of farming, crucial tasks like harvesting and cultivation still require human hands. This 100-year-old challenge persists today—American agriculture still depends heavily on immigrant labor because Americans won't do the difficult, seasonal work.2. Capitalism Without Checks Corrupts Families The Seabrook story illustrates how pure capitalist pursuit can destroy the very thing it's meant to benefit. C.F. Seabrook's obsession with profit and control led him to psychologically abuse his sons, cheat his own father, and ultimately tear apart his family dynasty through paranoia and manipulation.3. Generational Conflict Doomed the Business The company's downfall wasn't primarily due to labor issues or market forces, but from irreconcilable differences between C.F. and his Princeton-educated son. The elder Seabrook's anti-union, authoritarian approach clashed with his son's more progressive values, creating internal warfare that destroyed the business.4. Personal Motivation Drives Powerful Storytelling John Seabrook openly admits he wrote the book for revenge against his grandfather, who had psychologically tormented his father. This personal stake transforms what could have been dry business history into a compelling family reckoning with broader implications for American capitalism.5. Agricultural Scale Has Natural Limits Unlike grain farming, vegetable agriculture may have inherent scaling limitations. Seabrook's grandfather tried to apply Henry Ford's mass production principles to farming, but vegetables—especially those requiring hand-picking—resist the kind of industrial scaling that works for manufacturing or grain production.John Seabrook has been a staff writer at The New Yorker for more than three decades. He is the author of The Song Machine, Flash of Genius, Nobrow and other books. The film ​“Flash of Genius” was based on one of his stories. He and his family live in Brooklyn.Keen On America is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. 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

That Was The Week publisher Keith Teare argues we're “accelerating” toward an age of “abundance” in which AI and automation will slash production costs to near-zero, freeing humans to pursue hobbies instead of jobs. I'm less optimistic. I don't disagree with Keith's premise that AI will profoundly change not just our economy but our society and politics. But abundance? Who will own these AI factories? How will profits and wealth be distributed? Keith envisions massive corporate tax rates (up to 98%) redistributing automated profits, while I question whether people actually want a post-work world of ubiquitous stamp collectors or novelists. Our debate captures the gulf between Silicon Valley's utopian promises and the harsh political realities of the 2020s. Will technological abundance liberate humanity or concentrate power among tech giants and impoverish the rest of us? Five Key Takeaways * The Economics Are Clear, Politics Are Messy - Keith argues we're economically heading toward abundance through AI/automation reducing costs to near-zero, but admits the political question of wealth distribution remains "contested" and could lead to either democracy or autocracy.* Work vs. Hobbies Debate - Keith believes most people work jobs they don't love just to afford the things they do love, so abundance would free them to pursue passions. I counter that most people don't have hobbies and actually like having jobs.* The 98% Solution - Keith's preferred path to shared abundance: massive corporate tax rates on automated production (up to 98%) to redistribute AI-generated wealth, creating something "better than the Swedish system."* Big Tech Will Lead, Like It or Not - We both agree government won't drive this transformation—it'll be Google, Microsoft, OpenAI and others. The question is whether they'll be regulated/taxed or become "modern-day empires."* Scarcity in the Age of Abundance - It's a paradox. While promising intellectual abundance, we're seeing increased physical scarcity (land, immigration restrictions, declining birth rates) driven by political insecurity about the future.Keen On America is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. 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

Revenge has become Donald Trump's brand. That, at least, is the view of James Kimmel Jr, author of The Science of Revenge, who argues that revenge has become America's “deadliest addiction”. When we feel wronged, he says, our pain centers activate, triggering dopamine-releasing reward circuits that create pleasure from fantasizing about retaliation. This neurological pattern mirrors classic forms of substance addiction, and explains everything from street violence to Trump's "revenge brand" politics. Kimmel contends that roughly 20% of people become compulsively vengeful, driving most societal violence throughout history. The antidote? FORGIVENESS, which neuroscience shows actually eliminates pain rather than just masking it. Kimmel's provocative thesis suggests treating revenge like other addictions through public health approaches and potentially even pharmaceutical interventions. five key takeaways* Revenge is neurologically identical to drug addiction - Brain scans show that revenge-seeking activates the same dopamine reward circuits as substance abuse, making it literally addictive.* All violence stems from perceived victimization - From mass shootings to genocide, perpetrators first see themselves as victims seeking "righteous" retaliation for real or imagined grievances.* Forgiveness is a neurological "superpower" - Unlike revenge's temporary dopamine hit, forgiveness actually deactivates brain pain networks and permanently eliminates trauma rather than just covering it up.* Trump represents America's "revenge brand" - The current political climate reflects a nation caught in collective revenge addiction, with both sides seeking retaliatory pleasure for past grievances.* We need addiction-style treatment for violence - Just as we treat alcoholism with medical interventions, revenge addiction could be addressed through public health campaigns, education, and potentially pharmaceutical solutions.James Kimmel, Jr., J.D. is a lawyer, a lecturer in psychiatry at the Yale School of Medicine, and the founder and co-director of the Yale Collaborative for Motive Control Studies. A breakthrough scholar and expert on revenge and forgiveness, James first identified compulsive revenge seeking as an addiction. He developed the behavioral addiction model of revenge and the brain disease model of revenge addiction as public health approaches for preventing and treating violence. He made the study of revenge and forgiveness his life's work after nearly committing a mass shooting as a teenager. James created The Nonjustice System and the related Miracle Court App for healing from grievances and victimization, controlling revenge cravings and revenge addiction, and empowering forgiveness. He is a leader in expanding local, state, and national violence threat risk and reduction initiatives to include public behavioral health motive control strategies. He launched SavingCain.org, the first-of-it's-kind website aimed at preventing homicides and mass shootings by speaking directly to prospective killers (modeled on suicide prevention websites) and developed the "Warning Signs of a Revenge Attack" (modeled on heart attack prevention websites) to prevent violence before it happens. He also developed the School Nonjustice System bullying prevention and victim support program for use with schools and youth. He co-founded the largest peer support mental health agency in Pennsylvania, maintains an active legal practice, and is a speaker at workshops, seminars, trainings, conferences, and other public and private events. James is the author of three books on revenge and forgiveness: The Science of Revenge: Understanding the World's Deadliest Addiction--and How to Overcome It; The Trial of Fallen Angels, a novel; and Suing for Peace: A Guide for Resolving Life's Conflicts. James received his J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania and his B.S. summa cum laude from the Schreyer Honors College of the Pennsylvania State 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 the daily KEEN ON show, he is the host of the long-running How To Fix Democracy interview series. 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.Keen On America is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. 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

It's not just the MAGA or the Woke crowd. According to Greg Lukianoff, CEO of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), free speech in America is under existential threat from all political sides. While he's long criticized campus cancel culture from the left, he now opposes Trump's coercive targeting of big law firms, media companies, and universities. The Stanford Law trained Lukianoff argues that Trump's actions—removing security clearances, barring lawyers from federal buildings, and threatening media mergers—violate constitutional principles. Five Key Takeaways * Bipartisan Authoritarianism: Lukianoff fights free speech threats from both sides—campus cancel culture from the left that he's criticized for years, and now Trump's government coercion of law firms, media, and universities from the right.* Trump's Legal Warfare: The administration is removing security clearances from lawyers who opposed Trump, barring them from federal buildings (including courthouses), and threatening media companies' business deals—unprecedented attacks on legal and press freedom.* Institutional Cowardice: Major law firms like Paul Weiss capitulated quickly, offering millions in pro bono services to Trump, while others like Covington & Burling stood firm. Media responses have been mixed, with some caving under pressure.* Free Speech is Fragile: Lukianoff argues free speech isn't humanity's default state—it requires constant defense and can easily revert to authoritarianism when not actively protected by institutions and individuals.* Technology Accelerates Crisis: Social media and AI are speeding up existing problems of polarization and institutional decay, making the current free speech crisis more acute and unpredictable than previous eras.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). He is the author of Unlearning Liberty: Campus Censorship and the End of American Debate, Freedom From Speech, and FIRE's Guide to Free Speech on Campus. He co-authored The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up a Generation for Failure with Jonathan Haidt. Most recently Greg co-authored The Canceling of the American Mind: Cancel Culture Undermines Trust and Threatens Us All—But There Is a Solution with Rikki Schlott. Greg is also an Executive Producer of Can We Take a Joke? (2015), a feature-length documentary that explores the collision between comedy, censorship, and outrage culture, both on and off campus, and of Mighty Ira: A Civil Liberties Story (2020), an award-winning feature-length film about the life and career of former ACLU Executive Director Ira Glasser.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 the daily KEEN ON show, he is the host of the long-running How To Fix Democracy interview series. 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.Keen On America is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. 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

As one of the most illustrious rock stars of the sustainability movement, Tim Jackson suggests that we must “f**k the patriarchy” to get beyond capitalism. In his new book, The Care Economy, Jackson argues that our growth-obsessed capitalist economic system is fundamentally dysfunctional, prioritizing wealth accumulation over health and wellbeing. He advocates replacing GDP-focused metrics with care-based economics that emphasizes balance and restoration rather than endless expansion. Jackson critiques how Big Food and Big Pharma profit from making people sick then selling expensive treatments, creating a "false economy." Drawing a dotted line from Bobby Kennedy to RFK Jr., he sees health as the unifying political issue that will enable us to bridge traditional divides. five key takeaways 1. Redefine Prosperity as Health, Not Wealth True prosperity should be measured by health (physical, psychological, and community wellbeing) rather than GDP growth. Jackson argues that endless accumulation undermines the balance necessary for genuine human flourishing.2. The Food-Pharma Industrial Complex is a "False Economy" Big Food creates addictive, unhealthy products that cause chronic disease, then Big Pharma profits from treating symptoms rather than causes. This cycle generates GDP growth while systematically undermining public health.3. Care Work is the Foundation of All Economic Activity The predominantly female-performed labor of caring for children, elderly, and sick people is invisible to traditional economics but essential for society's functioning. This unpaid work must be recognized and valued.4. Individual Solutions Can't Fix Systemic Problems While people can make personal health choices, expecting individuals to overcome an engineered food environment designed to exploit human psychology is unrealistic. Systemic change is required.5. Health Could Unite Across Political Divides Unlike abstract environmental concerns, health is universally relatable and could serve as a rallying point for economic reform that appeals to both working-class and affluent communities.Tim Jackson is an ecological economist and writer. Since 2016 he has been Director of the Centre for the Understanding of Sustainable Prosperity (CUSP). CUSP is a multidisciplinary research centre which aims to understand the economic, social and political dimensions of sustainable prosperity. Its guiding vision for prosperity is one in which people everywhere have the capability to flourish as human beings—within the ecological and resource constraints of a finite planet. Tim has been at the forefront of international debates on sustainability for three decades and has worked closely with the UK Government, the United Nations, the European Commission, numerous NGOs, private companies and foundations to bring economic and social science research into sustainability. During five years at the Stockholm Environment Institute in the early 1990s, he pioneered the concept of preventative environmental management—a core principle of the circular economy—outlined in his 1996 book Material Concerns: Pollution Profit and Quality of life. From 2004 to 2011 he was Economics Commissioner for the UK Sustainable Development Commission where his work culminated in the publication of his controversial and ground-breaking book Prosperity without Growth (2009/2017) which has subsequently been translated into twenty foreign languages. It was named as a Financial Times ‘book of the year' in 2010 and UnHerd's economics book of the decade in 2019. In 2016, Tim was awarded the Hillary Laureate for exceptional international leadership in sustainability. His book Post Growth—life after capitalism (Polity Press, 2021) won the 2022 Eric Zencey Prize for Economics. His latest book The Care Economy was published in April 2025. Tim holds degrees in mathematics (MA, Cambridge), philosophy (MA, Uni Western Ontario) and physics (PhD, St Andrews). He also holds honorary degrees at the University of Brighton in the UK and the Université Catholique de Louvain in Belgium. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society for the Arts, the Academy of Social Sciences and the Belgian Royal Academy of Science. In addition to his academic work, he is an award-winning dramatist with numerous radio-writing credits for the BBC.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 the daily KEEN ON show, he is the host of the long-running How To Fix Democracy interview series. 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.Keen On America is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. 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

We Must Save the Books. That's Michael Kimmage's SOS message from Trumpian Washington in this issue of Liberties Quarterly. Kimmage, former director of the Kennan Institute at the Wilson Center, describes the surreal experience of being hired in January 2025 only to see his institution shuttered by Trump's administration three months later. He reflects on the "American ruin" created as a consequence of abandonment of the Wilson Center's 30,000 book library. And Kimmage connects the rapid destruction of foreign policy institutions like USAID and the U.S. Institute of Peace to a broader assault on expertise and nonpartisan learning, warning that without such institutions, "an abyss opens" in American governance and international relations. Five Key Takeaways* Institutional Destruction was Swift and Unexplained - The Wilson Center, USAID (reduced from 10,000 to 15 employees), and U.S. Institute of Peace were shuttered within months with no clear rationale provided, creating a "nightmare-like" quality where decisions happened without accountability.* America's First Modern Ruin - Kimmage describes the abandoned Wilson Center library as unprecedented in American experience - a functioning institution in the heart of Washington D.C. suddenly left as a tomb-like ruin, unlike anything seen in a country never defeated on its own soil.* Books Were Saved, But Expertise Was Lost - While the 30,000-volume library was eventually rescued and distributed to universities, the real loss was the destruction of nonpartisan expertise and institutional knowledge that took decades to build.* Echoes of 1950s McCarthyism - The assault on expertise mirrors McCarthyism, with direct connections through Roy Cohn's mentorship of Trump, but differs in scale since it's driven by a president rather than a senator.* The Death of Learning in Government - The shutdowns represent a fundamental rejection of the idea that careful, nonpartisan study of international affairs is essential to effective policymaking, potentially creating an "abyss" in American foreign policy capacity.Michael Kimmage is Director of the Wilson Center's Kennan Institute. Prior to joining the Kennan Institute, Michael Kimmage was a professor of history at the Catholic University of America. From 2014 to 2017, he served on the Secretary's Policy Planning Staff at the U.S. Department of State, where he held the Russia/Ukraine portfolio. He has been a fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and at the German Marshall Fund; and was on the advisory board of the German Institute for International and Security Affairs. He publishes widely on international affairs and on U.S. policy toward Russia. His latest book, Collisions: The War in Ukraine and the Origins of the New Global Instability, was published by Oxford University Press in March 2024. He is also the author of The Abandonment of the West: The History of an Idea in American Foreign Policy, published by Basic Books in 2020, and The Conservative Turn: Lionel Trilling, Whittaker Chambers and the Lessons of Anti-Communism, published by Harvard University Press in 2009.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 the daily KEEN ON show, he is the host of the long-running How To Fix Democracy interview series. 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.Keen On America is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. 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

How religious was the 80s creative scene? Very. At least according to Paul Elie, whose intriguing new cultural history, The Last Supper, charts the art, faith, sex and controversy of the 1980s. Elie argues that this was the age of what calls “crytpo-religious” art - a intensely creative decade in which religious imagery and motifs were often detached from conventional belief. Beginning in 1979 with with Dylan's “Christian” album Slow Train Coming and ending with Sinéad O'Connor's notorious SNL tearing up of a photo of the Pope, Elie presents the 80s as a "post-secular" era where religion remained culturally significant despite declining traditional belief. And he argues that artists as diverse as Leonard Cohen, Salman Rushdie, Andy Warhol, U2, Robert Mapplethorpe and Wim Wenders all translated their religious upbringings into books, movies, songs and artwork that shaped a momentously creative decade. Five Key Takeaways* "Crypto-religious" art uses religious imagery and themes from a perspective other than conventional belief, forcing audiences to question what the artist actually believes and examine their own faith.* The "post-secular" era began around 1979 when it became clear that progressive secularization wasn't happening—instead, religion remained a persistent cultural force requiring honest engagement rather than wishful dismissal.* America's religious transformation in the 1980s saw the country shift from predominantly Christian to multi-religious due to immigration, while also developing a strong secular contingent, creating unprecedented religious diversity.* Artists as "controverts" were divided against themselves, torn between progressive cultural experiences and traditional religious backgrounds, using art to work through these internal contradictions rather than simply choosing sides.* The Rushdie affair marked a turning point when violence entered religious-cultural debates, hardening previously permeable boundaries between belief and unbelief, leading to more polarized positions like the "New Atheism" movement.Paul Elie is the author of The Life You Save May Be Your Own (2003) and Reinventing Bach (2012), both National Book Critics Circle Award finalists. He is a senior fellow in Georgetown University's Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs, and a regular contributor to The New Yorker. He lives in Brooklyn.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 the daily KEEN ON show, he is the host of the long-running How To Fix Democracy interview series. 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.Keen On America is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. 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

Who is the most unsung hero of the American Civil War and Reconstruction? According to Zaakir Tameez, it's the abolitionist statesmen Charles Sumner. In his eponymous new biography of Sumner, Tameez portrays Sumner as a model of "moral ambition" who sacrificed a promising corporate law career to fight for racial justice. As slavery's fiercest opponent, Tameez describes Sumner as the “conscience” of mid 19th century America. And he argues that Sumner's famous Senate caning in 1856, his influence on Civil War-era legislation, his likely homosexuality, and his role mentoring young civil rights lawyers all should represent models of moral leadership for 21st century Americans. five key takeaways* Moral Ambition Over Self-Interest: Charles Sumner abandoned a lucrative corporate law career and prestigious academic prospects at Harvard to fight for racial justice, demonstrating how personal sacrifice can serve greater moral purposes.* Early Integration Pioneer: More than 100 years before Brown v. Board of Education, Sumner partnered with young Black attorney Robert Morris in 1849 to argue for school integration in Massachusetts, showing his ahead-of-his-time commitment to racial equality.* Economic Critique of Slavery: Unlike many abolitionists who focused on moral arguments, Sumner viewed slavery as an economic system where less than 0.5% of the population (major slaveholders) dominated American politics and resources at everyone else's expense.* The Power of Mentorship: Sumner was part of an extraordinary mentorship chain from Alexander Hamilton to Chancellor Kent to himself to Moorfield Storey (first NAACP president), illustrating how moral leadership passes between generations.* Contemporary Relevance: The interview connects Sumner's example to modern "moral ambition," suggesting that today's young professionals should consider using their talents for social justice rather than purely personal advancement. 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

It would be funny if it wasn't so tragic. According to the Pulitzer finalist Matthew Hongoltz-Hetling, the majority of Americans no longer trust standard scientific proof. As he notes in his new book, The Ghost Labs, this faith in evidence based science has been replaced by the growth of bigfoot hunters, mediums, and alien enthusiasts. Hongoltz-Hetling traces this trend from his previous work on libertarian movements and alternative medicine, noting how the pandemic accelerated distrust in traditional institutions. He argues these paranormal beliefs, while seemingly harmless, fragment communities and undermine collective problem-solving. So how to fix this crisis in scientific trust? Hongoltz-Hetling's suggestion of licensing psychics and incorporating these beliefs into clinical settings to prevent further institutional erosion might sound a little absurd. But perhaps it's one concrete way of addressing social cohesion in our bizarre age of bigfoot hunters, mediums, and alien enthusiasts.* Crisis of institutional trust: Americans are increasingly rejecting science, government, universities, and even churches, turning instead to individualistic paranormal beliefs as alternatives to evidence-based institutions.* COVID as a catalyst: The pandemic accelerated existing distrust, with libertarian "medical freedom" messaging providing a bridge between fringe beliefs and mainstream Republican politics, leading to figures like RFK Jr. gaining power.* Fragmented vs. collective belief: Unlike organized religion which builds community through shared doctrine, paranormal beliefs are highly individualistic and based on personal experience, ultimately driving people apart rather than together.* Real-world consequences: This isn't just harmless entertainment—it leads to defunding of universities, people avoiding medical care, and the weakening of institutions that society depends on for collective problem-solving.* Controversial solution: Hongoltz-Hetling reluctantly suggests licensing psychics and incorporating paranormal beliefs into clinical settings as a pragmatic strategy to prevent complete institutional collapse, though he acknowledges this feels like "capitulation to dark forces."Matthew Hongoltz-Hetling is a freelance journalist specializing in narrative features and investigative reporting. He has been named a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, won a George Polk Award, and been voted Journalist of the Year by the Maine Press association, among numerous other honors. His work has appeared in Foreign Policy, USA Today, Popular Science, Atavist Magazine, Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, the Associated Press, and elsewhere.Keen On America is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. 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