Keen On America
In KEEN ON AMERICA, Andrew talks about the most important subject in the world right now: the state of the United States of America
- Update frequency
- every day
- Average duration
- 39 minutes
- Episodes
- 1077
- Years Active
- 2023 - 2025
Celebrating a transcendental photography of nature that blurs art and science: Photographer Anand Varma on his lifelong wonder with the natural world
EPISODE 1821: In this KEEN ON show, Andrew talks to Anand Varma, author of NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC INVISIBLE WONDERS, on about his lifelong curiosity with the natural world
Anand Varma is a National Geogr…
How to stand up to the apocalypse: Peter Sarris on Justinian, the 6th century Byzantine ruler who confounded a narrative of decline
EPISODE 1820: In this KEEN ON show, Andrew talk: Peter Sarris on Justinian, the legendary 6th century Byzantine ruler who resurrected the Eastern Roman Empires to Peter Sarris, author of JUSTINIAN, a…
The Fruit of the Gods or of the Devil? Alexander Sammon on the sordid history of the avocado, the thirstiest fruit on the planet
EPISODE 1819 In this KEEN ON show, Andrew interviews Alexander Sammon, author of "Forbidden Fruit: The Anti-Avocado militias of Michoacan, about the sordid history of the avocado, the thirstiest frui…
Why Nineteen Eighty-Four wasn't really like Nineteen-Eighty Four: Sandra Newman on Julia, Winston Smith and the totalitarianism of gender that George Orwell ignored in his masculine dystopia
EPISODE 1818: In this KEEN ON show, Andrew talks to Sandra Newman, author of JULIA;A NOVEL, about Julia, Winston Smith and the totalitarianism of gender that George Orwell ignored in his iconic dyst…
How to Reawaken the American Dream: David Leonhardt on unions, constitutional reform, immigration and the need for a progressive populism
EPISODE 1817: In this KEEN ON show, Andrew talks to David Leonhardt, author of OURS WAS THE SHINING FUTURE, about on unions, constitutional reform, immigration and the need for a progressive populism
…
Why Generative AI could make artists extinct: Karla Ortiz warns about the existential "theft" at the heart of the AI revolution
EPISODE 1816: In this KEEN ON show, Andrew talks to concept artist Karla Ortiz about the existential "theft" at the heart of the AI revolution
Karla Ortiz is a Puerto Rican, internationally recognized…
Memoirs of a cranky old New York Gen X'er: Christian Lorentzen on the half-life of a literary critic in our digital age of cultural decay and disinformation
EPISODE 1815: In this KEEN ON show, Andrew talks to Christian Lorentzen, author of the new Liberties Quarterly essay "In Dreams Begin Responsibilities: a Memoir", about the half-life of a literary cr…
What makes humans so special? John Parrington on how human brains, unlike those of all other species, can turn matter into meaning
EPISODE 1814: In this KEEN ON show, Andrew talks to John Parrington, author of CONSCIOUSNESS, about how human brains, unlike those of all other species, can turn matter into meaning
John Parrington is…
What the data tells us about the cancellation of the American mind: Greg Lukianoff on why today's cancel culture is as much of a threat to free speech as the McCarthyite Red Scare of the 1950s
EPISODE 1813: In this KEEN ON show, Andrew talks to Greg Lukianoff, co-author of THE CANCELING OF THE AMERICAN MIND, about why today's cancel culture might be as much of a threat to American free sp…
Why an elite establishment economist is calling bullsh*t on the promise of the American dream: Jeff Fuhrer reveals the existential crisis of economic inequality now threatening the United States
EPISODE 1812: In this KEEN ON show, Andrew talks to Jeff Fuhrer, author of THE MYTH THAT MADE US, about the the existential crisis of economic inequality now threatening the United States
Jeff Fuhrer …
Why Poland is still in therapy over its "complex" World War II history: Roger Moorhouse on the forgotten story of a Polish diplomatic rescue operation to save the lives of Polish Jews
EPISODE 1811: In this KEEN ON show, Andrew talks to Roger Moorhouse, author of THE FORGERS, about the forgotten story of a Polish diplomatic rescue operation to save the lives of Polish Jews
Roger Moo…
How "responsible" was Benjamin Netanyahu for the events of October 7? Israel novelist Noa Yedlin on the worst thing that has happened to the Jewish people since the Holocaust
EPISODE 1810: In this KEEN ON show, Andrew talks to Noa Yedlin, the Israeli writer and author of STOCKHOLM: A NOVEL, about the events of October 7, Benjamin Netanyahu, and how winning the Nobel priz…
Broken bodies, broken homes, broken families & broken work: Alissa Quart reveals life on the edge in the world's richest country
EPISODE 1809: In this KEEN ON show, Andrew talks to Alissa Quart, an editor of GOING FOR BROKE and Executive Director of the Economic Hardship Reporting Project, about living on the edge in the world…
How to resurrect the World's Greatest Detective: Sophie Hannah on her latest Agatha Christie sanctioned murder mystery HERCULE POIROT'S SILENT NIGHT
EPISODE 1808: In this KEEN ON show, Andrew talks to Sophie Hannah, author of HERCULE POIROT'S SILENT NIGHT, about how to recreate the World's Greatest Detective.
Sophie Hannah is a Sunday Times and Ne…
In Defense of Place: Seth Kaplan on how to repair American society, one zip code at a time
EPISODE 1807: In this KEEN ON show, Andrew talks to Seth Kaplan, author of FRAGILE NEIGHBORHOODS, on how to repair American society, one zip code at a time
Seth D. Kaplan is a leading expert on fragil…
Should we celebrate or mourn technological abundance? Keith Teare weighs up the costs and benefits of abundant artificial intelligence
EPISODE 1806: In this KEEN ON show, Andrew talks to Keith Teare, publisher of the THAT WAS THE WEEK tech newsletter, about the costs and benefits of abundant artificial intelligence
Keith Teare is the…
Why Oliver Wendell Holmes' book "Common Law" is most uncommon: Peter Slen on the 1881 legal classic that has profoundly shaped America
EPISODE 1805: In this KEEN ON show, Andrew talks to Peter Slen, Executive Producer of the CSPAN series BOOKS THAT SHAPED AMERICA, about Oliver Wendell Holmes' classic text "Common Law", the 1881 book…
What is it about scientists that makes many of them so consensual and collaborative? Lorraine Daston explains how scientists have learned to cooperate with each other
EPISODE 1804: In this KEEN ON show, Andrew talks to Lorraine Daston, author of RIVALS, about how scientists have learned to cooperate with each other over the last 300 years
Professor Lorraine Jenifer…
Why the American Dream has turned into a nightmare for many Americans: Andrea Dobynes Wagner on life in the United States as a black woman with an invisible disability
EPISODE 1803: In this KEEN ON show, Andrew talks to Andrea Dobynes Wagner, a contributor to GOING FOR BROKE, on life in America as a black woman with an invisible disability
Twenty-six years ago, Andr…
Listening Once Again to Prozac: Peter D. Kramer offers a thirty year history of antidepressants and the remaking of the American self
EPISODE 1803: In this KEEN ON show, Peter D. Kramer, author of LISTENING TO PROZAC, offers a thirty year perspective on the history of antidepressants and the remaking of the American self
Peter D. Kr…