Keen On America

EPISODE 1778: In this KEEN ON show, Andrew talks to Craig R. Smith M.D., author of NOBILITY IN SMALL THINGS, about his life as one of America's most celebrated heart surgeons

As a surgeon at Columbia University and the New York Presbyterian Hospital, Dr. Craig R. Smith has been no stranger to pressure—fromperforming President Bill Clinton’s quadruple bypass, to openly massaging patients’ hearts. But when the COVID pandemic shut down non-emergency operations at New York City hospitals, Dr. Smith was presented with a different purpose. He began writing daily email updates from the front lines of the pandemic battle. The updates—designed to inform and reassure—became a balm to his colleagues, and when theWall Street Journal published them in April 2020, they were immediately recognized as essential dispatches from “the pandemic’s most powerful writer.” Dr. Smith has now written a deeply thoughtful new memoir, NOBILITY IN SMALL THINGS: A Surgeon’s Path (St. Martin’s Press; on-sale October 10, 2023), sharing what goes into the impossible decisions he must make on behalf of his patients. President Bill Clinton has already praised it as “much more than a medical memoir; it’s an elegant work of literature.” Diane Sawyer has called it “a book of staggering reach” from a “fearless explorer of what it is to be human when the choices are hard, the stakes high, and courage is the only choice,” while Senator Cory Booker says “[Smith’s] story, his journey, is a compelling narrative of a servant leader who in times of trial emerged as a humble hero.”

Named as one of the "100 most connected men" by GQ magazine, Andrew Keen is amongst the world's best known broadcasters and commentators. In addition to presenting KEEN ON, he is the host of the long-running How To Fix Democracy show. He is also the author of four prescient books about digital technology: CULT OF THE AMATEUR, DIGITAL VERTIGO, THE INTERNET IS NOT THE ANSWER and HOW TO FIX THE FUTURE. Andrew lives in San Francisco, is married to Cassandra Knight, Google's VP of Litigation & Discovery, and has two grown children.

EPISODE 1777: In this KEEN ON show, Andrew talks to John J. Berger, author of SOLVING THE CLIMATE CRISIS, about the three essential dimensions to saving the earth

JOHN J. BERGER Ph.D. is an environmental science and policy specialist, prize-winning author, and journalist. A graduate of Stanford and the University of California, he has written and edited 11 books, including three previous books on climate change, and written over 100 articles on climate change and transitioning to clean energy. His journalism has appeared in Scientific American, Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe and others. He has been a consultant to the National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences, corporations, utilities, and the U.S. Congress, as well as a newspaperman, editor, and a professor at the University of Maryland. John co-founded the Nuclear Information and Resource Service to assist citizen safe-energy groups and founded Restoring the Earth, to bring environmental restoration to national attention. He lives in El Cerrito, CA.

Named as one of the "100 most connected men" by GQ magazine, Andrew Keen is amongst the world's best known broadcasters and commentators. In addition to presenting KEEN ON, he is the host of the long-running How To Fix Democracy show. He is also the author of four prescient books about digital technology: CULT OF THE AMATEUR, DIGITAL VERTIGO, THE INTERNET IS NOT THE ANSWER and HOW TO FIX THE FUTURE. Andrew lives in San Francisco, is married to Cassandra Knight, Google's VP of Litigation & Discovery, and has two grown children.

EPISODE 1776: In this KEEN ON show, Andrew talks to Eva Illouz, author of THE EMOTIONAL LIFE OF POPULISM, about the fear, disgust, resentment and love determining politics in Israel and around the world

Eva Illouz is professor of sociology at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Her books include Why Love Hurts: A Sociological Explanation, Cold Intimacies: The Making of Emotional Capitalism, Consuming the Romantic Utopia: Love and the Cultural Contradictions of Capitalism, Saving the Modern Soul: Therapy, Emotions, and the Culture of Self-Help, among others.

Named as one of the "100 most connected men" by GQ magazine, Andrew Keen is amongst the world's best known broadcasters and commentators. In addition to presenting KEEN ON, he is the host of the long-running How To Fix Democracy show. He is also the author of four prescient books about digital technology: CULT OF THE AMATEUR, DIGITAL VERTIGO, THE INTERNET IS NOT THE ANSWER and HOW TO FIX THE FUTURE. Andrew lives in San Francisco, is married to Cassandra Knight, Google's VP of Litigation & Discovery, and has two grown children.

EPISODE 1775: In this KEEN ON show, Andrew talks to Uri Kaufman, author of  EIGHTEEN DAYS IN OCTOBER, about the 2023 October weekend that changed the Middle East forever

A grad­u­ate of New York Uni­ver­si­ty School of Law, Uri Kauf­man is an award-win­ning real estate devel­op­er, spe­cial­iz­ing in adap­tive­ly restor­ing his­toric build­ings. He has worked on his 2023 book, EIGHTEEN DAYS IN OCTOBER: THE YOM KIPPUR WAR AND HOW IT CREATED THE MODERN MIDDLE EAST for over twen­ty years, vis­it­ing the bat­tle­fields, speak­ing to par­tic­i­pants and review­ing lit­er­al­ly thou­sands of pages of mate­r­i­al. He lives with his fam­i­ly in Lawrence, New York.

Named as one of the "100 most connected men" by GQ magazine, Andrew Keen is amongst the world's best known broadcasters and commentators. In addition to presenting KEEN ON, he is the host of the long-running How To Fix Democracy show. He is also the author of four prescient books about digital technology: CULT OF THE AMATEUR, DIGITAL VERTIGO, THE INTERNET IS NOT THE ANSWER and HOW TO FIX THE FUTURE. Andrew lives in San Francisco, is married to Cassandra Knight, Google's VP of Litigation & Discovery, and has two grown children

EPISODE 1774: In this KEEN ON show, Andrew talks to Andy Mitchell, author of TEN TRIPS, about his odyssey into the new reality of psychedelics 

Andy Mitchell is a neuropsychologist and therapist. He has specialised in treating patients with rare brain conditions, head injuries and epilepsy, and in the application of mindfulness for neurological patients. As a therapist he has worked with people with a range of mental health disorders. Before entering medicine, his first degree was in English Literature at Oxford University. He is originally from Leeds.

Named as one of the "100 most connected men" by GQ magazine, Andrew Keen is amongst the world's best known broadcasters and commentators. In addition to presenting KEEN ON, he is the host of the long-running How To Fix Democracy show. He is also the author of four prescient books about digital technology: CULT OF THE AMATEUR, DIGITAL VERTIGO, THE INTERNET IS NOT THE ANSWER and HOW TO FIX THE FUTURE. Andrew lives in San Francisco, is married to Cassandra Knight, Google's VP of Litigation & Discovery, and has two grown children.

EPISODE 1773: In this KEEN ON show, Andrew talks to Elana K. Arnold, author of THE BLOOD YEARS, about book banning, book burning and what we can learn from Second World War books about good and evil

ELANA K. ARNOLD is the author of critically acclaimed and award-winning young adult novels and children’s books, including the Printz Honor winner Damsel, the National Book Award finalist What Girls Are Made Of, and Global Read Aloud selection A Boy Called Bat and its sequels. Several of her books are Junior Library Guild selections and have appeared on many best book lists, including the Amelia Bloomer Project, a catalog of feminist titles for young readers. Elana teaches in Hamline University’s MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults program and lives in Southern California with her family and menagerie of pets. 

Named as one of the "100 most connected men" by GQ magazine, Andrew Keen is amongst the world's best known broadcasters and commentators. In addition to presenting KEEN ON, he is the host of the long-running How To Fix Democracy show. He is also the author of four prescient books about digital technology: CULT OF THE AMATEUR, DIGITAL VERTIGO, THE INTERNET IS NOT THE ANSWER and HOW TO FIX THE FUTURE. Andrew lives in San Francisco, is married to Cassandra Knight, Google's VP of Litigation & Discovery, and has two grown children.

In this special guest episode,  Andrew hands the KEEN ON mic to Jason Pack and Alexandra Hall Hall, co-hosts of the DISORDER podcast. For more about the DISORDER show: https://linktr.ee/disorderpod?lt_utm_source=lt_share_link#331393001

EPISODE 1772: In this KEEN ON show, Andrew talks to Jason Pack, co-host of the DISORDER podcast, about the disorder in Israel, Gaza, the Middle East and globally

Jason Pack is the Founder ofLibya-Analysis LLC, and the co-host ofDisorder, a geopolitics podcast co-produced with Goalhanger Podcasts. He is a Senior Analyst for Emerging Challenges at theNATO Defence College Foundation in Rome. In partnership with NDCF, Jason leads a project entitledNATO and the Global Enduring Disorder, which produces a range of content (including the Disorder podcast and series of publications) attempting to sketch out a ‘unified field theory’ of our current era of geopolitics while proposing actionable solutions to our most pressing collective action challenges.

Named as one of the "100 most connected men" by GQ magazine, Andrew Keen is amongst the world's best known broadcasters and commentators. In addition to presenting KEEN ON, he is the host of the long-running How To Fix Democracy show. He is also the author of four prescient books about digital technology: CULT OF THE AMATEUR, DIGITAL VERTIGO, THE INTERNET IS NOT THE ANSWER and HOW TO FIX THE FUTURE. Andrew lives in San Francisco, is married to Cassandra Knight, Google's VP of Litigation & Discovery, and has two grown children.

EPISODE 1771: In this KEEN ON show, Andrew talks to Evelyn McDonnell, author of THE WORLD ACCORDING TO JOAN DIDION, about Didion's artistic sensibility and moral clarity

Evelyn McDonnell is a professor of journalism at Loyola Marymount University. She has been writing about popular culture and society for more than 20 years. She is the author of five books: The World According to Joan Didion (published by Harper One September 26, 2023), Queens of Noise: The Real Story of the Runaways, Mamarama: A Memoir of Sex, Kids and Rock 'n' Roll, Army of She: Icelandic, Iconoclastic, Irrepressible Bjork and Rent by Jonathan Larson. She coedited the anthologies Rock She Wrote: Women Write About Rock, Pop and Rap; Stars Don't Stand Still in the Sky: Music and Myth; and Women Who Rock: Bessie to Beyoncé. Girl Groups to Riot Grrrl. She also edited the Music Matters series published by the University of Texas Press. She has been the editorial director of www.MOLI.com, pop culture writer at The Miami Herald, senior editor at The Village Voice, and associate editor at SF Weekly. Her writing on music, poetry, theater, and culture has appeared in numerous publications and anthologies, including the Los Angeles Times, Ms., Rolling Stone, The New York Times, Spin, Travel & Leisure, Us, Billboard, Vibe, Interview, Black Book, and Option. She codirected the Grrrls on Film festivals at LMU and the conference Stars Don't Stand Still in the Sky: Music and Myth at the Dia Center for the Arts in New York in 1998. She has won several fellowships and awards, including multiple National Arts and Entertainment Journalism Awards and Southern California Journalism awards. She was an Annenberg Fellow at USC and a fellow to the NEA Arts Journalism Institute in Theater and Musical Theater. Her 2004 Herald expose of hip-hop cops was awarded first place for enterprise reporting by the South Florida Black Journalists Association and second place in the Society of Professional Journalists' Sunshine State Awards. She earned her Master's in Specialized Journalism, the Arts, from USC, where she was chosen for the Phi Kappa Phi honor society. She earned her Bachelor's in American studies, graduating magna cum laude from Brown University. And she is a proud member of the Beloit Memorial High School Hall of Fame.

Named as one of the "100 most connected men" by GQ magazine, Andrew Keen is amongst the world's best known broadcasters and commentators. In addition to presenting KEEN ON, he is the host of the long-running How To Fix Democracy show. He is also the author of four prescient books about digital technology: CULT OF THE AMATEUR, DIGITAL VERTIGO, THE INTERNET IS NOT THE ANSWER and HOW TO FIX THE FUTURE. Andrew lives in San Francisco, is married to Cassandra Knight, Google's VP of Litigation & Discovery, and has two grown children.

EPISODE 1770: In this KEEN ON show, Andrew talks to Alexandra Hudson, author of THE SOUL OF CIVILITY, about timeless principles to heal society and ourselves

ALEXANDRA HUDSON is a writer, popular speaker, and the founder of Civic Renaissance, a publication and intellectual community dedicated to beauty, goodness and truth. She was named the 2020 Novak Journalism Fellow, and contributes to Fox News, CBS News, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, TIME Magazine, POLITICO Magazine, and Newsweek. She earned a master's degree in public policy at the London School of Economics as a Rotary Scholar, and is an adjunct professor at the Indiana University Lilly School of Philanthropy. She is also the creator of a series for The Teaching Company called Storytelling and The Human Condition, now available for streaming. She lives in Indianapolis, IN with her husband and children.

Named as one of the "100 most connected men" by GQ magazine, Andrew Keen is amongst the world's best known broadcasters and commentators. In addition to presenting KEEN ON, he is the host of the long-running How To Fix Democracy show. He is also the author of four 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.