Keen On America

"You either need to call it fascism or you need to invent a new word with more or less the same meaning." — Jonathan Rauch
Jonathan Rauch's viral Atlantic essay has reignited the debate over what to call the Trump administration. Having previously settled on "semi-fascist," Rauch now argues that Trump ticks all 18 boxes on his checklist of fascist characteristics — from the glorification of violence and territorial ambitions to Carl Schmitt's philosophy of "enemies, not adversaries." We spar over whether the term obscures more than it reveals: Is this really fascism, or just authoritarianism with American characteristics? The conversation sharpens around Minneapolis, where citizens were shot face down, and the government initially denied it happened. You don't do that to win votes, Rauch argues — you do it because you believe that's how the social contract should work. He predicts Trump will fail to turn America into a fascist country but warns that institutions like the newly expanded ICE will outlast this administration.
 
About the Guest
Jonathan Rauch is a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and a contributing writer for The Atlantic. He is the author of nine books, including The Constitution of Knowledge: A Defense of Truth (2021), Cross Purposes: Christianity's Broken Bargain with Democracy (2025), and Kindly Inquisitors: The New Attacks on Free Thought (1993). He received the 2005 National Magazine Award.
References

Thinkers discussed:

·      Carl Schmitt was a Nazi political theorist whose "friend-enemy distinction" argued that politics is fundamentally about identifying and crushing enemies, not managing disagreements with adversaries.
·      George Orwell wrote in his 1946 essay "Politics and the English Language" that "the word 'fascism' has now no meaning except insofar as it signifies something not desirable."
·      Hannah Arendt was a German-American political theorist and refugee from Nazi Germany whose book The Origins of Totalitarianism examined both Nazism and Stalinism, preferring "totalitarianism" to "fascism" as the more encompassing term.
Historical figures:

·      Benito Mussolini invented the term "fascism" (from the Latin fasces, a bundle of rods symbolizing collective strength) and ruled Italy as dictator from 1922 to 1943.
·      Francisco Franco ruled Spain from 1939 to 1975. Whether he was truly a fascist or merely an authoritarian remains debated; he never got along well with Hitler and outlasted the fascist era by three decades.
·      Viktor Orbán is the prime minister of Hungary whose systematic capture of media, courts, and civil society has become known as the "Orbán playbook" — a template Rauch argues the Trump administration is following.
Contemporary figures mentioned:

·      Stephen Miller is a senior advisor to Trump who declared that "force is the iron law of the world" and told progressives "you are nothing" at a memorial service where the widow of the deceased had just offered Christian forgiveness to an assassin.
·      Russell Vought is the director of the Office of Management and Budget, identified by Rauch as one of the younger ideologues building Trumpism into something more like a coherent ideology.
·      Chris Rufo is a conservative activist and culture war strategist who has employed what Rauch calls "revolutionary language" in his campaigns against universities and public institutions.
Essays and books mentioned:

·      "Politics and the English Language" (1946) is Orwell's essay arguing that the corruption of language enables the corruption of politics, and that vague or meaningless words like "fascism" make clear thinking impossible.
·      The Origins of Totalitarianism (1951) is Hannah Arendt's study of Nazism and Stalinism as parallel forms of total domination, examining how mass movements, propaganda, and terror enable regimes to control entire societies.
About Keen On America
Nobody asks more awkward questions than the Anglo-American writer and filmmaker Andrew Keen. In Keen On America, Andrew brings his pointed Transatlantic wit to making sense of the United States—hosting daily interviews about the history and future of this now venerable Republic. With nearly 2,800 episodes since the show launched on TechCrunch in 2010, Keen On America is the most prolific intellectual interview show in the history of podcasting.
Website
Substack
YouTube
Apple Podcasts
Spotify
 
Chapters:
(00:00) -

(00:13) - The viral essay

(02:10) - Why Rauch changed his mind

(03:41) - Fascism vs. authoritarianism

(05:54) - Carl Schmitt and "enemies not adversaries"

(06:14) - Orwell on the word "fascism"

(09:12) - Can old people be fascists?

(11:51) - Blood and soil nationalism

(14:14) - Minneapolis

(17:51) - Kristallnacht comparisons

(20:07) - The postmodern right

(26:34) - Following the money

(32:05) - ICE as paramilitary force

"The black market exists only because we decided that this form of trade should be illegal." — Scott Eden
In October 2019, tech executive Tushar Atre was abducted from his oceanfront home in Santa Cruz and found murdered on his own property in the redwoods — shot execution-style, hands bound. He had spent barely three years in the cannabis business. Scott Eden's new book traces how a charismatic Silicon Valley entrepreneur, seeking to "disrupt" the newly legal weed industry, found himself entangled with an array of colorful and dangerous characters — hippie do-gooders, black-market operators, and stone-cold killers. We discuss the permeable divide between legal and illegal cannabis, why the industry has been an economic disaster for most founders, and whether America's half-pregnant approach to legalization created the conditions for Tushar's death. A California story about ambition, love, and the darker edges of the American dream.
About the Guest
Scott Eden is an award-winning investigative journalist whose work has appeared in ESPN The Magazine, GQ, Wired, Inc., and The Atavist. His story "The Prosecution of Thabo Sefolosha" won a 2017 New York Press Club Award and a National Association of Black Journalists award for investigative reporting. He is the author of Touchdown Jesus (Simon & Schuster, 2005) and the new A Killing in Cannabis.
References:

People discussed:
Tushar Atre — tech executive and cannabis entrepreneur; murdered October 1, 2019
Rachael Lynch — cannabis grower from the Emerald Triangle; Atre's business partner and lover
Ken Kesey — author of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest; Merry Pranksters; La Honda cabin in the Santa Cruz Mountains
Sean Parker — Napster founder, early Facebook investor; bankrolled Proposition 64
Travis Kalanick — Uber founder; comparison to Atre's brash, edge-seeking style
Tony Hsieh — Zappos founder; tragic death; Silicon Valley hipster executive archetype
Places:
Pleasure Point, Santa Cruz — oceanfront neighborhood; famous surf break; Atre's home
Emerald Triangle — Humboldt, Mendocino, Trinity counties; America's cannabis heartland
Legal and historical:
Proposition 64 (2016) — California ballot initiative legalizing recreational cannabis
Proposition 215 (1996) — earlier medical marijuana law; the "215 era"
About Keen On America
Nobody asks more awkward questions than the Anglo-American writer and filmmaker Andrew Keen. In Keen On America, Andrew brings his pointed Transatlantic wit to making sense of the United States—hosting daily interviews about the history and future of this now venerable Republic. With nearly 2,800 episodes since the show launched on TechCrunch in 2010, Keen On America is the most prolific intellectual interview show in the history of podcasting.

Website
Substack
YouTube
Apple Podcasts
Spotify
Chapters:

(00:13) - America's war on drugs

(02:03) - The victim: Tushar Atre

(05:27) - Prop 64 and the gold rush

(08:15) - The counterculture connection

(11:13) - The permeable divide

(14:43) - Tech bros living on the edge

(17:10) - Steve Jobs, Burning Man, and weed money

(18:07) - The murder

(20:06) - Rachael Lynch

(22:39) - Economic collapse

(25:31) - Half-pregnant prohibition

(31:45) - The paranoia problem

"We all love Thomas Paine. We just wish we liked him." — Jonathan Turley
Jonathan Turley's new book asks a deceptively simple question: why did the American Revolution become the longest-running successful democracy while the French Revolution devoured itself? The answer, he argues, lies in Madison's "auxiliary precautions" — constitutional safeguards designed not to eliminate rage but to channel it. Turley draws a direct line from Robespierre to today's calls to pack the Supreme Court and abolish the Senate, warning that removing those precautions invites the same mobocracy that sent the Jacobins to the guillotine. But the real provocation comes in the book's second half: with AI and robotics threatening mass unemployment, America may soon face a "kept population" — citizens subsidized by the state who lose their vital relationship to productivity and self-governance. We discuss Thomas Paine (brilliant about humanity, clueless about humans), why rage itself isn't the enemy, and whether the republic built to handle the 18th century can survive the 21st.
About the Guest
Jonathan Turley is the Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law at George Washington University Law School. A legal analyst for CBS, NBC, BBC, and Fox News over three decades, he is the author of The Indispensable Right (a bestseller) and the new Rage and the Republic: The Unfinished Story of the American Revolution.
Chapters:
00:01:14 The uniqueness of the American Revolution
Two revolutions, two outcomes; Thomas Paine and James Madison as the twin geniuses
00:03:53 Paine vs. Madison on democracy
Paine wanted direct democracy; it nearly got him guillotined in France
00:05:54 Robespierre's transformation
The ACLU lawyer who came to believe "terror is virtue"
00:09:01 Thomas Paine: the penman of the revolution
From complete failure to revolutionary genius in two years
00:11:46 Slavery and the revolution's contradictions
Why people preferred Jefferson to Paine
00:15:43 Franklin's greatest achievement
Seeing something in "that heap of human wreckage"
00:18:07 What was unique about American rage
Not the rage itself, but the system designed to handle it
00:25:08 The "New Jacobins"
Calls to pack the Supreme Court and abolish the Senate
00:26:40 Rage on both sides
"Your rage is righteous, their rage is dangerous"
00:30:47 AI and the "kept population"
Mass unemployment and the citizen's relationship to the state
00:39:26 "Gynan" jobs
Homocentric industries like psychiatry and education that AI can't replace
00:45:00 Why the American Republic is still the best model
Decentralization over EU-style centralization
References

Figures discussed:
Thomas Paine — arrived in America "barely alive," became the penman of the revolution in two years
James Madison — designed the "auxiliary precautions" that prevented American democracy from devouring itself
Benjamin Franklin — paid for Paine's passage to America, saw genius in "that heap of human wreckage"
Maximilien Robespierre — began as an advocate for due process, ended declaring "terror is virtue"
Jean-Paul Marat — radical journalist, killed by Corday in his bathtub (he bathed constantly due to a skin disease)
Charlotte Corday — Republican who assassinated Marat; Robespierre and Danton watched her execution
Georges Danton — joined the moderate Girondin wing; executed by the revolution he helped create

Art:
The Death of Marat (1793) — Jacques-Louis David's painting of Marat's assassination; David was himself a Jacobin

Historical events:
The Battle of Fort Wilson (1779) — Philadelphia mob attacked founder James Wilson's home; several killed
The Reign of Terror (1793–94) — nearly all Jacobin leaders guillotined, including Danton and Robespierre

Books mentioned:
The Wealth of Nations (1776) — Adam Smith; embraced by the founders as "the perfect companion to their political theory"
The Federalist Papers (1787–88) — Hamilton, Madison, and Jay
About Keen On America
Nobody asks more impertinent questions than the Anglo-American writer, filmmaker and Silicon Valley entrepreneur Andrew Keen. In Keen On America , Andrew brings his sharp Transatlantic wit to the forces reshaping the United States — hosting daily interviews with leading thinkers and writers about American history, politics, technology, culture, and business. With nearly 2,800 episodes since the show launched on TechCrunch in 2010, Keen On America is the most prolific intellectual interview show in the history of podcasting.
Website
Substack
YouTube
Apple Podcasts
Spotify

"It may not be Mister Right YouTube, but it is Mister Right Now." — Erika Dilday
On Super Bowl Sunday — with America celebrating its 250th anniversary — Erika Dilday joins to discuss the power of documentary film to cut through algorithmic noise and show us who we really are. As executive producer of POV, the longest-running documentary program on American television (now entering its 39th season), Dilday has spent her career championing first-person storytelling that platforms won't surface. She's also co-directing an upcoming series with Ken Burns, Emancipation to Exodus, exploring the period from the Civil War to the Great Migration. We discuss why algorithms limit discovery, whether AI can replicate human nuance, and what she learned from screening films at San Quentin.
About the Guest
Erika Dilday is the Executive Producer of POV, America's longest-running documentary series, now in its 39th season on PBS. She is co-directing Emancipation to Exodus with Ken Burns, a documentary series about the period from the end of the Civil War to the Great Migration, scheduled for PBS in 2027. Her father was the first Black television station manager in the United States.
Chapters:
00:00:01 Opening
Super Bowl Sunday, America's 250th, and Erika's prediction ("all Patriots all the way")
00:02:28 Emancipation to Exodus
Her collaboration with Ken Burns on the period from Civil War to Great Migration (PBS, 2027)
00:05:09 Her father's legacy
The first Black TV station manager in the United States; "Those who want change don't have the luxury of being comfortable"
00:06:23 Documentary as truth and art
What distinguishes film from news; Hoop Dreams and the power of immersive storytelling
00:08:21 POV's mission
39 seasons, Tongues Untied, and stories that wouldn't be told elsewhere
00:11:27 PBS and the culture wars
Pressures on public broadcasting, the need for alternative distribution
00:15:47 YouTube: Mister Right Now
Not the ideal platform, but the only one for democratic distribution
00:17:38 San Quentin Film Festival
Incarcerated audiences engaging deeply with documentary
00:20:06 Media consolidation
Time Warner, Netflix, Paramount; indie platforms like Mubi and Ovid
00:21:49 Algorithms and discovery
Platforms suggest what they think you want, not what might stretch your thinking
00:24:47 AI vs. human nuance
"It can be imitated, but it's not going to be replicated"
00:27:26 Oscar picks
The Perfect Neighbor (2025) (Netflix) and Cutting Through Rocks (2025) (the sleeper)
References:
POV
Hoop Dreams (1994) — documentary about two Chicago high school students dreaming of NBA careers
Tongues Untied (1989) — Marlon Riggs' documentary on Black gay identity in America (POV Season 4)
Salesman (1968) — Maysles Brothers documentary following door-to-door Bible salesmen
The Perfect Neighbor (2025) — Geeta Gandbhir's documentary about a killing in Florida, told through body cam footage (Netflix)
Cutting Through Rocks (2025) — Sara Khaki and Mohammad Reza Eyni's documentary about a female elected official and motorcycle rider in Iran
San Quentin Film Festival — the first film festival ever held inside a U.S. prison, celebrating incarcerated and formerly incarcerated filmmakers
Independent platforms mentioned: Mubi, Ovid, Jolt

About Keen On America
Keen On America is a daily podcast hosted by Andrew Keen, the Anglo-American writer and Silicon Valley insider. Every day, Andrew brings his uniquely transatlantic and eclectic eye to the forces reshaping the United States — interviewing leading thinkers and writers about American politics, technology, culture, and democracy. With nearly 2,800 episodes, Keen On America is the most prolific intellectual interview show in podcasting history.
Website: KeenOn.TV
Substack: keenon.substack.com
YouTube: youtube.com/@KeenOnShow
Apple Podcasts: Keen On America
Spotify: Keen On America

"I didn't use my own software this week because the OpenAI agents were better. And that's me retiring my own software." — Keith Teare
Something broke this week. Both Anthropic and OpenAI launched multi-agent systems—"agent swarms"—that don't just assist with tasks but replace custom-built software entirely. The market noticed: Adobe, Salesforce, Workday, and other legacy SaaS companies saw their stocks collapse in what some are calling a trillion-dollar selloff. Keith Teare joins Andrew Keen on Super Bowl weekend to unpack what may be the most consequential week in AI since ChatGPT launched.
The conversation ranges from the Anthropic-OpenAI advertising spat (Dario Amodei's Super Bowl ad vs. Sam Altman's "online tantrum") to the deeper structural shifts: Microsoft and Amazon becoming utilities, Google betting $185 billion on an AI-first pivot, and Elon Musk merging SpaceX with xAI to put data centers in space. Along the way, Teare and Keen debate whether the AI race is a myth or a wacky race, whether venture capital is in crisis, and what happens to human labor when agents do the work.

About the Guest
Keith Teare is a British-American entrepreneur, investor, and technology analyst. He co-founded RealNames Corporation, a pioneering internet company, and later served as Executive Chairman of TechCrunch. He is the founder of That Was The Week and SignalRank, and publishes a widely-read weekly newsletter on technology, venture capital, and the business of innovation. He brings four decades of experience in Silicon Valley to his analysis of the AI revolution.

Chapters:
00:00 Super Bowl and the Anthropic ad
The spat between Dario Amodei and Sam Altman
01:09 "Fundamentally dishonest"
 Keith's take on the ad war and who's really Dick Dastardly
05:47 Anthropic's breakout week
 Claude Opus 4.6 and the agent swarm launch
06:48 OpenAI Codex
 Multiple agents collaborating on tasks in 10-15 minutes
07:42 "It replaces software"
 Keith retires his own custom-built tools
08:16 The trillion-dollar selloff
 Adobe, Salesforce, Workday, PayPal collapse
11:02 Infrastructure vs. innovation
 Microsoft and Amazon become "utilities"
11:45 Google's $185 billion bet
 Pivoting from hybrid to AI-first
13:15 The SpaceX/xAI merger
 Musk's plan for space-based data centers
15:18 The AI wacky race
 Kimi, OpenAI, Anthropic leapfrog Google
17:03 Does AI make us smarter?
 Leverage tools, not intelligence
18:53 AI growing up, CEOs not
 The adolescence of the industry
21:06 US job openings hit five-year low
 The coming labor crisis
22:44 The VC crisis
 Five funds sucking the air out of the room
25:04 Palantir and Anduril
 The winners in defense AI
25:42 Facebook as laggard
 Huge revenues, no AI momentum
26:41 The Washington Post crisis
 "Boogeyman journalism" and partisan media
29:23 Ads in AI
 Paid links vs. enshittification
31:26 Spotify's innovation
 Physical book + audiobook bundle
32:32 Startup of the week
 Cursor for CRM, $20M from Sequoia
33:45 Om Malik on the end of software distribution
 From CDs to app stores to self-made
35:41 Super Bowl prediction
 Seattle vs. New England
36:02 Closing
 "That really was the week in tech"

Links & References
Mentioned in this episode:
That Was The Week newsletter by Keith Teare
Anthropic's Super Bowl ad and ad-free pledge (CNBC)
Sam Altman's response to Anthropic ads (TechCrunch)
SpaceX acquires xAI in $1.25 trillion merger (CNBC)
The Washington Post layoffs and crisis (Poynter)
Om Malik on the evolution of software distribution
OpenAI Codex app launch (OpenAI)

About Keen On America
Nobody asks more impertinent questions than the Anglo-American writer, filmmaker and Silicon
Valley entrepreneur Andrew Keen. In Keen On America , Andrew brings his sharp Transatlantic
wit to the forces reshaping the United States — hosting daily interviews with leading thinkers
and writers about American history, politics, technology, culture, and business. With nearly
2,800 episodes since the show launched on TechCrunch in 2010, Keen On America is the most
prolific intellectual interview show in the history of podcasting.
Website | Substack | YouTube