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
Damien Lewis on a Profound Sense of Duty: What Josephine Baker Had in Common With Queen Elizabeth II
Andy Kroll on the Madness of Online Crowds: What the 2016 Murder of Seth Rich Tells Us About Our Conspiratorial Age
Kim Samuel: Should the Right to "Belong" Be Enshrined As a Sacred Human Right?
Jason Feifer on Darwin 2.0: How to Embrace Change, Adapt Fast, and Future Proof Both Your Career and Your Life
Michael Sayman: How the Gay Son of First-Generation Peruvian Immigrants Became the Most Influential Latino in Silicon Valley
Mark Bergen: Given YouTube's World Domination, Should the Google-Owned Video Platform Be More Aggressively Regulated and Controlled?
Douglas Rushkoff: What the Escape Fantasies of Tech Billionaires Reveal About Our Apocalyptic Age
Josh Chin: Why China's "Surveillance State" Is More Nuanced Than Either China Lovers or Haters Would Have Us Believe
Ross Dawson: How Can We Be Sure That This "Futurist" Author Isn't, In Fact, a Smart Machine?
David Livermore: How to Get Along With People That You Want to Eradicate
Kimberly Chrisman-Campbell: Feminist or Feminine? A Twentieth-Century History of Skirts
Louise Perry: No More Sex? A "Feminist" Case Against the Sexual Revolution
Jonathan Darman: How FDR Learned to Be FDR: The Personal Crisis That Transformed Him Into a Historic Leader