Episode 2194: Marietje Schaake explains how to save democracy from Silicon Valley
This is the final episode of a trilogy of critical conversations about the digital revolution. Earlier this week, Gary Marcus explained how to tame Silicon Valley’s AI barons. Then Mark Weinstein talked to us the reinvention of social media. And now we have the former member of the European Parliament & current Fellow at Stanford’s Cyber Policy Center, Marietje Schaake, explaining how we can save democracy from Silicon Valley. In her provocative new book, Tech Coup, Schaake explains how, under the cover of “innovation,” Silicon Valley companies have successfully resisted regulation and have even begun to seize power from governments themselves. So what to do? For Marietje Schaake, in addition to government regulation, what we need is a radical reinvention of government so that our political institutions have the agility and intelligence to take on Silicon Valley.
Marietje Schaake is a Fellow at Stanford’s Cyber Policy Center and at the Institute for Human-Centered AI. She is a columnist for the Financial Times and serves on a number of not-for-profit Boards as well as the UN's High Level Advisory Body on AI. Between 2009-2019 she served as a Member of European Parliament where she worked on trade-, foreign- and tech policy. She is the author of The Tech Coup.
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.
Keen On 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
Getting Out of Saigon: Ralph White explains how he - as a 27-year old American banker - saved 113 South Vietnamese civilians
Welcome to the Age of Scientific Wellness: Nathan Price on why the future of medicine will be personalized, predictive, data-rich, and in all of our hands
How to Laugh in the Face of our Environmental Apocalypse: Aaron Sachs explain why dark comedy matters in the fight against climate change
George VI and Elizabeth: Sally Bedell Smith on the 20th century royal marriage that saved the British monarchy
I Can't Save You: Anthony Chin-Quee on how giving up his successful career in medicine "saved" him
Why We Need To Unwire from Big Tech: Gaia Bernstein on how to gain control over addictive digital technologies
Don't Be King Canute: Keith Teare's Open Letter against pausing generative AI
Retracing the Iron Curtain: Timothy Phillips on his 3,000 mile journey through the end and afterlife of the Cold War
The Problem to End All Problems: Michael Scott-Baumann on the tragically parallel histories of Israel and Palestine
A Memoir about Hardship and Tragedy: Nicole Chung personal story of class, anger and grief in an increasingly unequal America
The Last Catastrophe: Allegra Hyde offers an existential pitch for saving the planet
Is the Web3 Dead? Edward Lee on Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) and the seductive promise of creators taking control of their digital work
Why the Ideal of the "Self" is a Social Construction: Brian Lowery on the myth of rugged individualism and what this should mean for the America of the 2020s