Episode 2310: Why Progressives must become "Yes People" on Technology
In this week’s That Was The Week round up of tech news, Andrew and Keith Teare discuss the need for progressives to become what Keith calls “yes people” on technology. At the moment, he argues, their reactionary “no” on tech is handing MAGA conservatives and their Silicon Valley backers a free pass to win the debate about the future. While Keith and Andrew aren’t always on the same page about the need to regulate Big Tech, they are in complete agreement that progressives - both inside and outside Silicon Valley - need to liberate themselves of their nostalgia for the industrial 20th century and embrace the digital future.
Keith Teare is the founder and CEO of SignalRank Corporation. Previously, he was executive chairman at Accelerated Digital Ventures Ltd., a U.K.-based global investment company focused on startups at all stages. Teare studied at the University of Kent and is the author of “The Easy Net Book” and “Under Siege.” He writes regularly for TechCrunch and publishes the “That Was The Week” newsletter.
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
Christine Wells on When 007 Was Female: A World War Two Novel About the Real Miss Moneypenny
Michael T. Hartney: Why American Teachers' Unions Are So Powerful and How This Hasn't Enriched Democracy or Improved Schooling in the United States Today
Robert T. Tally Jr. on Realizing History Through Fantasy Literature: Reclaiming Tolkien's Hobbit For the Left
Peter Robison: How Boeing's 737 Max Tragedy Offers a Parable About the Immorality of Late Stage Industrial Capitalism
Ann Hood: Why Is Flying So Miserable These Days? And Was It Really So Much More Fun in the Glamorous Age of Trans World Airlines and High Heeled Stewardesses?
Matthew F. Delmont: The Simultaneously Heroic and Shameful Story of African Americans' Involvement in World War II
David Welch: How General Motors CEO Mary Barra Is the Anti Elon Musk and How That Impacts Her Goal of Reinventing the Iconic American Car Manufacturer
Nicholas Dawidoff: How the Story of a 2006 Murder Captures the Tragic Complexity of Inequality, Class, and Violence in 21st-Century America
Kyle Spencer on Raising Them Right: The Untold Story of America's Ultraconservative Youth Movement and Its Plot For Power
Trond Undheim: How Augmented Technology Can Revolutionize the 21st-Century Factory and Make Work More Productive and Meaningful
Timothy Shenk on Realigners: The Visionaries and Hacks Who Have Radically Transformed American Democracy
Veronica Roth on After Surveillance: Imagining a Post-Apocalyptic World in Which We Aren't Watched Anymore
Keith Boykin: How Quitting is the Essential First Step to a Life of Freedom—and Radical Change