Exposing Hollywood's most notorious interwar celebrity spy
In episode 1957 of KEEN ON, Andrew talks to Ronald Drabkin, author of BEVERLY HILLS SPY, about the First World War hero who helped Japan attack Pearl Harbor
Keen On is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
Ronald Drabkin is the author of Beverly Hills Spy and peer-reviewed articles on Japanese espionage. His obsession with espionage history started when he was as a child in Los Angeles, where he vaguely understood that his father had been working for the US military in counterintelligence. Later he discovered that his grandfather had also been in “the business,” and it drove a voyage of discovery into previously classified documents on three continents. His career prior to writing was at early stage startups in the US, where he was an early adopter of Google and Facebook advertising. He currently lives in Tokyo.
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
Dan Hampton: Why the World Owes America a Great Debt For Its Participation in the Second World War
Azeem Azhar: Why, In an Age of Exponential Technological Change, Does So Little Seem to Change in Politics?
Lisa Lewis: Why the Crisis of Teenage Anxiety Might Begin and End With Sleep Deprivation
Mark Lee Gardner: Rather Than Jefferson or Washington, Should Americans Be Celebrating Indigenous Leaders Like Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull As Their Greatest Historical Figures?
Chris Stokel-Walker on a Digital Brave New World: Are We Entertaining Ourselves to Death on TikTok?
Gian Volpicelli on the Crypto-Crash and Why the Party Might Finally Be Over
Stephen Wertheim: Why Joe Biden Should Be Supporting Sovereignty and Not Democracy in Ukraine
Bob Keefe: Can American Capitalism Really Be an Ally in the War Against Climate Change?
Introducing Intelligence Squared US
Britt Halvorson: How to Reimagine White Supremacy in the Heartland of the American Midwest
Garrett Graff: How Are Watergate and the January 6th Insurrection Similar? Nixon and Trump's Shared Paranoia and Isolation From the Outside World
Emma Jacobs: How Do We Define Adulthood in a Time When We've Created a Cult of Childhood?
Ewen Spencer on What Writers and Photographers Have in Common