“History, Keen says, is the best guide to overcoming technology’s discontents.  The United States and Europe were ‘reasonably effective’ in responding to an earlier tech crisis — the industrial revolution.”

“With his new book, Keen switches from sarcasm to a kind of pragmatic optimism. Our digital future can be shaped in more humane directions, he argues. But for that to happen we need to be realistic about the scale of the challenge, to learn from history and accept that there are no magic bullets or technological fixes.”

Andrew Keen explains that he is a supporter of the openness and innovative nature of Silicon Valley.

Andrew Keen argues, “Throughout history, we've always had five tools, five ways of reshaping the world to our own interest.”

Andrew Keen discusses his new book, which examines the effects of rapid technological change and what we can do to help technology be a positive force in the future.

Andrew Keen argues, “It’s time to start looking for ways to fix our networked future. The good news is that we are finally recognizing the magnitude of the digital problem.”

Andrew Keen argues, “In 2018, with Silicon Valley's intellectual and financial might behind it, UBI will take the centre stage in our discussions about a smart future dominated by technological unemployment.”

“Silicon Valley in particular has this idea this is the first time we've ever lived through this … This is a massive revolution but it's happened before in human history. It certainly happened in the Industrial Age. And the disruption, the idea that the feeling of powerlessness, the alienation, the atomization, the confusion. These are familiar things in history.”

Alina Polyakova, Yascha Mounk & Moises Naim discuss threats to democracy.

Alina Polyakova argues, “If you look at the trends, the economic trends and vis-à-vis electoral support for far-right political parties since the 1990s, there is no clear causal relationship between an economic decline, increase in unemployment and how likely these parties are to do well at the polls.”

“The center right across the world should not give in to the far right, and the center left must stand firm on progressive principles that channel voters’ anxieties rather than feed them.”

Alina Polyakova argues that Europe “should call out far-right populists’ political opportunism and use this moment of collective soul-searching about the future of the European Union to create policies that address the people’s concerns.”

“The turn to the right in Europe was fueled by two interrelated factors. First was the 2008 economic crisis. … The economic crisis pushed popular opinion toward a growing Euroskepticism—the second factor boosting the popularity of the far right’s anti-EU platforms. Across Europe, citizens began to doubt that European integration—supported and ushered in by centrist parties on the left and the right—was the answer to their discontent.”