Videos

The seductive promise of microfinance might have conveniently died in the Western media, but Muhammad Yunis’ alluring economic idea has actually wreaked unintentional havoc around the world. Mara Kardas-Nelson’s important new book, We Are Not Able to Live in the Sky (https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250817228/wearenotabletoliveinthesky) , reveals the damage done by microfinance loans…

Last week, That Was The Week (https://www.thatwastheweek.com/) publisher Keith Teare and I discussed whether Silicon Valley has an AI Bubble Problem. (https://keenon.substack.com/p/episode-2013-does-silicon-valley) And we return to the same subject today, comparing today’s AI driven Wall Street techno-mania with the automotive centric Wall Street madness of the roaring 1920s. As usual,…

Memoirs are usually morally uplifting reads with happy endings. But Phil Elwood’s new memoir, All the Worst Humans (https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250321572/alltheworsthumans) , is a confession of how Elwood, as a top DC based PR operative, created what he calls a “counter-narrative” for Assad, Gaddafi and the Qataris. Elwood isn’t proud about any…

In 2011, Simon Reynolds (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Reynolds) is one of the world’s most prolific music journalists, came on KEEN ON to explain why (https://techcrunch.com/2011/10/22/keen-on-why-the-internet-has-been-bad-for-both-musical-artists-and-fans-tctv/) the Internet has been bad for both musical artists and fans. Back then it took a brave man like Reynolds to argue against the supposedly cornucopian cultural potential…

Our second July 4 interview features Diane McLain Smith (https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B004ULSWNW/about) , author of Remaking the Space Between Us: How Citizens Can Work Together to Build a Better Future For All (https://www.remakingthespace.org/) . The problem with America, McLain Smith believes, is that “we the people have become the problem” with our…

As the former Assistant Attorney General for Maryland, one would expect Debbie Hines to be a strong supporter of the American criminal justice system. But the Baltimore based veteran trial lawyer is unambiguously critical in her new memoir, GET OFF MY NECK (https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262048910/get-off-my-neck/) , of what she sees as the…

Last week’s horror show debate woke up a lot of progressive Americans. For Celeste Marcus (https://libertiesjournal.com/author/celeste-marcus/) , managing editor of Liberties Quarterly, Biden’s dismal performance was akin to the shock of the January 6th insurrection. In contrast with Jan 6, however, Marcus is calling for a political insurrection amongst progressives…

Over the last couple of years we’ve had multiple guests questioning the economic and moral value of a college education. But Daniel R. Porterfield, (https://www.aspeninstitute.org/people/dan-porterfield/) the Aspen Institute CEO and former President of Franklin and Marshall College, strongly disagrees. In his new book, MINDSET MATTERS (https://www.press.jhu.edu/books/title/53828/mindset-matters) , Porterfield argues that…

Amongst the most bizarro thing about last week’s truly bizarre Presidential debate was how much Biden and Trump were in violent agreement on China. Trump certainly has won the ideological battle about the supposedly existential China threat and the two decrepit old men both celebrate American embroilment in a second…

In the wake of Biden’s pathetically dismal performance last week, it’s worth remembering that some progressive thinkers have been warning for months about this catastrophe. Back in May, the New York Times ran an op-ed by UC Berkeley political science professor M. Steven Fish entitled “Trump Knows Dominance Wins, Someone…