Videos

Last year, we had a great conversation (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-dismal-science-investigates-that-most-dismal/id1448694012?i=1000632752932) with Branko Milanovic, author of Visions of Inequalit (https://www.hup.harvard.edu/books/9780674264144) y, about how classical economists like Smith, Riccardo, Marx and Pareto analyze inequality. Our guest today, David Lay Williams (https://twitter.com/LayWilliams?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor) , asks the same question - but from the perspective of political philosophers…

Something interesting is happening in downtown Austin. Next month, The University of Austin (https://www.uaustin.org/) (UATX), a new undergraduate college claiming to “be dedicated to the fearless pursuit of truth”, opens its well financed doors. Launched as a supposedly “anti-woke” university, UATX has some heavy hitting advisors including Richard Dawkins, Niall…

As the author of the bestselling Master Algorithm (https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/pedro-domingos/the-master-algorithm/9780465061921/?lens=basic-books) , University of Washington professor Pedro Domingos (https://twitter.com/pmddomingos) is one of the world’s most respected (https://homes.cs.washington.edu/~pedrod/) AI experts. So I was a little surprised that his new book, 2040 (https://www.amazon.com/2040-Silicon-Valley-Pedro-Domingos-ebook/dp/B0D81FJBTR) , is a science-fictional satire of American politics & Silicon Valley.…

At the DNC last week, the Warriors coach and former Bulls star Steve Kerr spoke of his excitement at his return to Chicago’s United Center, the home of some his greatest basketball triumphs. According to the Columbia University historian Frank Andre Guridy, (https://x.com/fguridy?lang=en) there’s nothing coincidental about this convergence of…

As one of the victims of Donald Trump’s notorious (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_dismissal_of_inspectors_general) 2020 dismissal of Inspector Generals, Glenn A. Fine (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glenn_Fine) — a longtime Inspector General of both the departments of Justice & Defense - knows a thing or two about both honest government. In his new book, Watchdogs, (https://www.upress.virginia.edu/title/10047/) Fine presents…

“We don’t need no education”, Pink Floyd announced (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Another_Brick_in_the_Wall) in 1979. “Teachers leave those kids alone”: We don't need no educationWe don’t need no thought controlNo dark sarcasm in the classroomTeachers leave them kids aloneHey! Teachers! Leave them kids alone! But today, almost half a century later, That Was The…

William Deresiewicz is a leading American writer best known as the author of Excellent Sheep: The Miseducation of the American Elite and the Way to a Meaningful Life (https://billderesiewicz.com/books/excellent-sheep/) . And so, when Bill and I sat down in Portland for a KEEN ON America conversation, we discussed the crisis…

I have to admit that I’m always a little uncomfortable with non-Jews fetishizing the supposedly unique gifts & accomplishments of the Jewish people. A century ago, Winston Churchill did it. And now George Gilder (https://www.encounterbooks.com/authors/george-gilder/) , the influential tech futurist, picks up that Churchillian mantle in a new edition of…

How to fix American democracy? It’s a question that, over the last couple of years, we’ve been addressing in my Bertelsmann Foundation supported How To Fix Democracy (https://www.howtofixdemocracy.org/) show, now its fifth year. And it is, of course, also a subject much addressed over the years on KEEN ON. My…

Andrew C.M. Cooper (https://www.linkedin.com/in/accooper/) is the author of the new book, The Ethical Imperative: Leading with Conscience to Shape the Future of Business (https://www.amazon.com/Ethical-Imperative-Leading-Conscience-Business/dp/1394274831) . He is also an Associate General Counsel and Head of Patent Acquisitions at Meta. While he didn’t write The Ethical Imperative as a Meta person,…

It’s ironic that Keith Teare, editor of That Was The Week (https://www.thatwastheweek.com/) newsletter, just spent two idyllic weeks in Europe, enjoying the Paris Olympics and London theater. Because his first newsletter on his return to the United States asks if “Is Europe Dying (https://www.thatwastheweek.com/p/is-europe-dying) ?” and suggests that innovation on…

We are living in interesting political times. A month ago, the Presidential election appeared over. Today, however, it appears as if it’s barely begun. So in my conversation today with the prolific columnist David Masciotra (https://davidmasciotra.com/) , I asked him if he glimpsed the outlines of a “Harrisist” ideology behind…

What do Hum (https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Hum/Helen-Phillips/9781668008836) , Hitler’s People (https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/653631/hitlers-people-by-richard-j-evans/) (https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/653631/hitlers-people-by-richard-j-evans/) and The Hypocrite (https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/737088/the-hypocrite-by-jo-hamya/) have in common? They are all recommended new books from KEEN ON’s best read regular guest, Los Angeles Times book critic Bethanne Patrick (https://www.bethannepatrick.com/about) . As usual, she recommends six books, but - whether you are looking…