For financial journalist Elizabeth MacBride [https://elizabethmacbride.com/], the New American economy is like the old one - only worse. Describing it as the “Frankenstein version of neo-liberalism”, MacBride explains that business has overtaken government to create ever-more-powerful bankers like Larry Fink and Jamie Dimon. But all is not lost. In her upcoming new book, Capital Evolution [https://www.compositionshop.com/item/G4pP01yr7tsFyMZOcn56VQ], co-authored with the VC Seth Levine, MacBride argues that there’s a new consensus taking shape - what she calls “Dynamic Capitalism” - which balances profits with purpose. So if we can get beyond today’s neo-liberal Frankenstein moment, she promises, America will be able to address the great 21st-century challenges of inequality and climate change. I have to admit I’m not convinced. Rather than capital evolution, I see the growing political power of Wall Street players like Dimon and Fink. We shall see. But when a Wall Street CEO like Jamie Dimon announces $10 billion bets on national security (as he did early this week), it’s no surprise that the loudest calls these days are for revolution rather than evolution. Nor is it surprising that a 21st century version of Frankenstein - Mary Shelley’s apocalyptic 1818 warning about the destructive consequences of industrialization - will be appearing [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frankenstein_(2025_film)] on Netflix next month.

1. Business Has Overtaken Government in Power and Influence

MacBride argues that CEOs like Jamie Dimon and Larry Fink now wield more power than most elected officials, yet remain fundamentally unaccountable. When Dimon announces $10 billion investments in national security, the lines between Wall Street and Washington have clearly blurred—perhaps irreversibly.

2. We’re Living in a “Frankenstein Version of Neo-Liberalism”

The current system isn’t classic neoliberalism but a corrupted mutation where government has been “co-opted and turned into a tool for punishing people.” The small-government ideology has created not freedom but a punitive state that serves corporate interests while abandoning its regulatory role.

3. “Dynamic Capitalism” Requires Long-Term Sacrifice—But Who’s Really Sacrificing?

MacBride believes trauma from climate change, inequality, and COVID is creating willingness for short-term sacrifice for long-term stability—similar to the post-WWII generation. But as the interviewer notes, when titans like Dimon and Fink talk about sacrifice, they only get richer. The question remains: whose sacrifice?

4. Trust Is the Currency of the New Economy—And It’s in Short Supply

In an age when institutions have weakened, MacBride advocates “trust but verify” as the operating principle. She argues figures like Dimon and Fink are “generally trustworthy” even if not “morally authoritative.” The interviewer’s skepticism about figures like PayPal’s Dan Schulman highlights how fragile this trust actually is.

5. New Coalitions Are Forming, But Revolution May Trump Evolution

MacBride sees evidence of consensus-building around stakeholder capitalism and long-term thinking, particularly among Democrats after their electoral losses. But her optimism about “capital evolution” may be wishful thinking when the loudest calls are for revolution, not gradual reform.

Keen On America 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

The Frankenstein Version of Neo-Liberalism: When American Business Overtook Government 

Churchill described Communist Russia as a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma. For Pulitzer Prize winning Princeton historian, Paul Starr [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Starr], America might be the new Soviet Union. It’s a such contradiction, in fact, that he entitles his new book American Contradiction [https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300282436/american-contradiction/], in an attempt to describe the dominant narrative of “revolution and revenge” from the 1950s to today’s America. But unlike Churchill, who unwrapped the Russian enigma through national interest, Starr finds only more contradictory contradictions about America. The civil rights revolution triggered the Goldwater/Reagan/MAGA revenge. Obama’s hope intensified the reactionary backlash. Economic progress created deeper cultural despair. Each new development triggers an old question, each fresh solution an even staler problem. After 250 years tracing America’s conflicts from slavery through Trump, the distinguished historian admits he has no idea how it ends (or even begins). Perhaps that’s the biggest contradiction of all: a brilliant, yet paralysing diagnosis that offers no cure, an explanation of everything, everywhere all at once that leads us back to the original contradiction. Futile snakes and ladders. A never ending game of one step forward and one step back.

1. The Diagnosis Without a Cure Starr traces America’s current divisions back to the founding contradiction between freedom and slavery, through civil rights, to today’s Trump era. But after 500 pages and decades of study, he admits he has no solutions - not even a “solutions chapter.” His analysis is comprehensive yet paralyzingly circular.

2. Nixon: The Forgotten Liberal? The most surprising historical insight: Richard Nixon implemented affirmative action, desegregated Southern schools, and pushed for guaranteed income and universal healthcare. Starr argues Nixon was temperamentally like Trump but substantively “the last liberal president” - a paradox that complicates standard political narratives.

3. “Wokeism is to Trumpism as a Flea is to an Elephant” When pressed on whether progressive cultural politics contributed to the backlash, Starr dismisses “cancel culture” concerns as trivial compared to Trump using state power against media outlets. He signed the Harper’s Letter but won’t seriously examine the left’s role in alienating working-class voters.

4. The “Sleepwalking” Theory Starr’s one semi-original contribution: 1990s Democrats didn’t understand they were creating conditions for their own defeat. The 1965 immigration reformers had “no idea” of long-term implications. Free trade’s concentrated devastation of Midwest communities was unforeseen. But he stops short of saying these were mistakes.

5. Obama Made Everything Worse Perhaps the most deflating revelation: Starr thought Obama’s election would end America’s racial contradiction. Instead, it “intensified racial feeling” and triggered the revenge cycle. He’s now “sobered” by this mistake and doesn’t expect to see resolution in his lifetime - essentially admitting his life’s work has led nowhere.

Keen On America 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 [https://keenon.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]

America as a Contradiction Trapped Inside an even Bigger Contradiction: Princeton Historian's Explanation for Everything, Everywhere All at Once 

At 85, the venerable Jeffrey Archer [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffrey_Archer]has lived through enough crises to stay calm and carry on whatever the stormy political weather. The best-selling author—who has sold 275 million books and, as a Conservative MP and party chairman, served Margaret Thatcher for 11 years—speaks with the authority of someone who witnessed the Iron Lady’s firm politics up close and personal. But Mrs Thatcher isn’t the only British grande dame who Archer now mourns. His latest William Warwick thriller End Game [https://jeffreyarcher.com/], set against the backdrop of the 2012 London Olympics, is the story of a plot against Queen Elizabeth II, the beloved monarch who, in contrast with Mrs T, unified Britain. And then there’s what Archer definitely calls his “final novel”—a World War II story to be published next year that he believes will be “bigger than Kane and Abel.” But he also weighs in on today’s political chaos in Britain and America: Trump’s absurd contradictions, the chilling specter of Farage and Robinson, Starmer’s political problems, and why Maggie would have known exactly how to handle them all.

1. Archer’s Final Chapter At 85, Archer announces his next book will be his last. After 50 years and 275 million books sold, he’s on the 17th draft of a WWII novel about September 15, 1941—a day when the war “could have ended” if Hitler hadn’t changed his mind three times. He believes it’s “bigger than Kane and Abel.”

2. Thatcher Would Have Dominated Trump Archer, who served Thatcher for 11 years, believes she would have “handled Trump very well” and that “Trump would be in awe of her.” He compares it to her successful management of Reagan, Gorbachev, and Chirac—knowing exactly “what to do with each one.”

3. Farage Could Be 30 Seats From Power Archer reveals he warned David Cameron a decade ago to neutralize Farage by making him a Lord. Cameron ignored the advice when Farage polled at 0%. Now Farage leads in polls and could be “only 30 seats short of forming a government”—despite having no one in his party with governing experience.

4. Britain Has Peaked Archer sees 2012’s Olympics as Britain’s high-water mark. Since then: five Conservative leaders in six years, Starmer’s rapid collapse, potential bankruptcy from an aging population, and a declining interest in the monarchy among young people. “Top people are not going into politics anymore.”

5. AI Threatens the Next Generation of Writers While grateful his 50-year career predated artificial intelligence, Archer worries about the future. He’s discussed with his children ensuring no AI-generated “Jeffrey Archer” books appear after his death, calling it “a cop-out.” The odds for aspiring writers have never been tougher: 1,000 manuscripts submitted weekly, only one published.

Keen On America 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 [https://keenon.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]

Jeffrey Archer: How Margaret Thatcher would have disciplined a Naughty Donald Trump 

History rarely repeats itself, especially speculative bubbles. As it becomes increasingly obvious that today’s AI bubble will dramatically burst, the real question is not when but how.

What makes this boom profoundly different from the DotCom crash of the nineties is OpenAI’s attempt to create an AI private monopoly by positioning itself at the center of trillions of dollars worth of self-serving “deals”. Sam Altman wants to simultaneously be the gambler, the slot machine owner, and the house. It’s a gamble that is, of course, brazenly rigged: he’s trying to simultaneously make OpenAI too important to fail and too well-financed to go public.

That Was The Week [http://center of trillions of dollars worth of deals.]’s Keith Teare cutely describes this imperial play as “Come To Daddy.” But it’s more complicated—and more dangerous. By weaving OpenAI into the heart of America’s AI economy, Altman isn’t just building a company; he’s constructing a systemic chokepoint not just for Silicon Valley and Wall Street, but possibly for an entire global economy dependent on AI exuberance for growth.

If there’s a historical analogy, it’s the banking crisis of 2008. The US government bailed out the banks because they were supposedly too big to fail. The same will likely happen with the coming AI crash, especially given bipartisan American hysteria over the China threat —only this time, the crisis will center on OpenAI as both the dominant cause and the primary casualty of the crash. Here history might, indeed repeat itself: privatized gains during the boom, socialized losses during the bust.

Sam is dealing. Heads he wins, tails we all lose. Yes, the house always wins, especially when it is powered by OpenAI chips and wearing a ChatGPT hoodie.

1. OpenAI’s Platform Play Is Eliminating Startups

OpenAI’s developer day introduced an agent development platform, embedded ChatGPT applications, and Sora video generation—directly competing with dozens of startups. Keith Teare observed that over half of the 58 AI companies showcased at Andreessen Horowitz the next day had lost their competitive positioning overnight. OpenAI is no longer just a product company; it’s becoming a comprehensive platform that absorbs innovation opportunities across the AI landscape.

2. Potential Market Dominance Raises Competition Questions

Statistics from SQ Magazine claim OpenAI controls 88% of global AI interactions, with Anthropic at 8% and Google under 3%. While these figures require verification, such concentration would represent one of technology’s most rapid consolidations and raise fundamental questions about competition and innovation in the AI sector.

3. “Industrial Policy by Private Contract” Signals New State-Corporate Partnership

OpenAI’s relationship with the Trump administration suggests an emerging model of state capitalism without direct government funding. The state facilitates deals between major players and benefits through future taxation and ownership stakes in certain projects. OpenAI has become strategically essential for U.S. economic competitiveness against China—suggesting that no future administration, Republican or Democrat, could allow the company to fail. This creates an implicit government backstop without traditional public investment.

4. Infrastructure Funding Remains the Critical Challenge

AI requires approximately 10 gigawatts of power annually for the next decade—translating to trillions in data centers, chips, and energy costs. Recent deals involving Nvidia, AMD, and Oracle’s $500 billion Stargate project are down payments, not solutions. Energy costs remain a key constraint, with nuclear and solar options still expensive relative to demand.

5. The Speculative Age Concentrates Wealth

Andreessen Horo

Sam Altman's Rigged Imperial Gambit: Too Important to Fail & Too Well-Financed to Go Public

Tom Brokaw famously described America’s World War II servicemen as the “Greatest Generation”. But according to the historian David Nasaw [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Nasaw], the Americans who fought in the Second World War are better understood as The Wounded Generation [https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/672253/the-wounded-generation-by-david-nasaw/]. His eponymous new book describes the pain and hardships that 16 million veterans endured upon their return home - a tragic story of PTSD, racism and family breakup. Brokaw celebrated the nobility with which these ex-soldiers got on with civilian life without either complaining or even talking about the war. But for Nasaw, this silence wasn’t just stoicism—it was often undiagnosed and sometimes even untreatable trauma.

1. WWII Was America’s Longest and Most Brutal War The average soldier served nearly three years in uniform (compared to less than one year in WWI), with 75% deployed overseas. Combat on the European front was relentless, especially in the final year, with severe manpower shortages keeping GIs on the front lines for weeks or months without relief.

2. Millions Returned with Undiagnosed PTSD Veterans came home with what we now recognize as PTSD, but it was neither diagnosed nor treated. Unable to talk about their experiences, many self-medicated with alcohol. The silence wasn’t stoicism—it was trauma. Writers like Salinger and Vonnegut could only process their experiences through fiction years later.

3. The GI Bill Excluded Most Black Veterans While celebrated as transformative legislation, the GI Bill’s benefits were distributed by local officials. In the South, this meant Black veterans were systematically denied college access (segregated schools were full) and unemployment benefits (they were told to return to sharecropping). Only Northern Black veterans like Harry Belafonte, John Coltrane, and Tito Puente could fully access their benefits.

4. America Faced Its Worst Housing Crisis Ever No homes had been built during the Depression or the war years, creating unprecedented shortages when 16 million servicemen returned. This housing crisis, combined with fears of renewed economic depression, added to veterans’ anxiety about rebuilding their lives. Politicians like JFK and Jacob Javits fought hard for veterans’ housing subsidies.

5. The War’s Aftermath Lasted Decades 1946 saw record divorce rates and increased lynchings as racial tensions exploded. Veterans who liberated concentration camps or survived POW camps (especially in the Pacific) carried lifelong trauma. Nasaw’s central message: wars don’t end with peace treaties—the harm to soldiers and civilians lasts for generations.

Keen On America 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 [https://keenon.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]

America's Most Wounded Generation: Returning Home after World War II

According to the platform economist Sangeet Paul Choudary [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sangeet_Paul_Choudary], author of Reshuffle [https://www.amazon.com/Reshuffle-wins-restacks-knowledge-economy-ebook/dp/B0DTKW6NQV?ref_=ast_author_mpb], today’s AI hype is a feature rather than a bug in Silicon Valley. It’s a deliberate mechanism to attract capital in an “attention-poor, capital-heavy economy” while distracting from the lack of short-term business results. So who will ultimately win and who will lose in today’s AI arms race? While Choudary predicts power will concentrate around infrastructure players like Nvidia and enterprise workflow companies like Microsoft and Google, he warns that OpenAI risks becoming “the Cisco of this revolution” unless it moves beyond the commoditizing model layer. More troubling, for Choudary, is AI’s societal impact. We cannot trust Big Tech with our “agentic future,” he cautions—particularly as technologies like OpenAI’s Pulse preview eliminate the last vestige of user agency that we still possess. While pessimistic about US and Chinese models built on data hoarding and state-backed monopolies, the Dubai-based Choudary sees promise in India’s stack experiment, where digital public infrastructure allows users to own their data and get paid when AI trains on it.

1. The Algorithm Creates a New Class Divide The critical inequality today isn’t traditional capital vs. labor—it’s between those who work “above the algorithm” (designing systems, like Uber data scientists) and those working “below it” (controlled by systems, like Uber drivers whose rates and job access are algorithmically determined).

2. AI Hype is a Feature, Not a Bug In an attention-poor, capital-heavy economy, hype serves as a mechanism to attract investment. Companies selling distant AGI narratives and engaging in circular deals (OpenAI-Nvidia-Microsoft-Oracle) are propping up valuations while actual business results remain uncertain. A market correction is “long overdue.”

3. Power Will Concentrate at Two Layers of the AI Stack Winners will emerge at the infrastructure level (Nvidia for chips/inference) and the customer workflow level (likely Google or Microsoft with their enterprise relationships). The middle layer—the model itself—is already commoditizing. OpenAI risks becoming “the Cisco of this revolution” unless it successfully moves up to the workflow layer.

4. We Can’t Trust Big Tech with Our “Agentic Future” Today we still have agency to click, even if our attention is manipulated. But as AI agents make decisions for us (like OpenAI’s Pulse preview), we surrender that agency entirely, enabling even more extraction. Current business models are built on data hoarding—adding agent technology on top eliminates user agency completely.

5. Four Distinct Geopolitical AI Models Are Emerging The US favors private enterprise (increasingly intertwined with government), China lets innovation happen then absorbs it into state control, India is building digital public infrastructure where users own their data and get paid for AI training, and UAE is converting oil reserves into compute power to sell AI services globally.

Keen On America 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 [https://keenon.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]

AI Hype is a Feature, not a Bug: Why We Can't Trust Big Tech With Our Agentic Future

It’s springtime for charlatans. At least according to Quico Toro, [https://substack.com/@quicotoro] coauthor (with my old friend Moises Naim) of Charlatans [https://www.amazon.com/Charlatans-Grifters-Swindlers-Hucksters-Bamboozle/dp/1541606515], a new screed about how grifters, swindlers and hucksters are bamboozling the media, the markets and the masses. If you listen to Toro, you wouldn’t want to get out of bed in the morning. Everywhere - on our screens, in our churches, even in the White House - there lurk charlatans intent on stealing our souls. As you can tell from my rat-a-tat scepticism, I’m not totally convinced by such hysterical fearmongering. Though he’s probably right that social isolation and AI-powered scams are making us sitting ducks for scammers. Anyway, at least there’s no chapter about huckster podcasters in Charlatans. So you are safe here from bamboozlers of all stripes.

1. The Harm Standard Is Everything Quico’s core thesis: charlatans aren’t just persuasive people you disagree with - they leave a trail of destroyed lives. No harm = not a charlatan (even if you find them distasteful, like the astrology businesswoman he mentions).

2. Your Deepest Beliefs Are Your Biggest Vulnerabilities Charlatans don’t create new beliefs - they identify what you already passionately believe in (religion, crypto, politics, health) and exploit that commitment to manipulate you. The stronger your conviction, the easier you are to con.

3. Technology + Social Isolation = Charlatan Playground AI and algorithms can now identify and target “marks” with unprecedented precision. Combined with loneliness and screen-mediated relationships (no flesh-and-blood friends to reality-check you), we’re more vulnerable than ever.

4. Not All Grifters Are Criminals Motivations vary: money, sex, power - the “dark triad.” Some are outright thieves (Madoff, SBF), others are narcissists or sexual predators using their influence. But they share antisocial personality traits and lack of remorse.

5. Even Legitimate Movements Get Hijacked The Falwell Sr. vs Jr. example: sincere ideological movements (even ones you disagree with) can be credible, but charlatans infiltrate and weaponize them. Brexit, prosperity gospel, anti-vax - all started somewhere and got exploited.

Keen On America 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 [https://keenon.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]

Springtime for Charlatans: How Grifters, Swindlers and Hucksters are Bamboozling the Media, the Markets and the Masses

Next Monday is Columbus Day. Or should it be Indigenous People’s Day? According to the historian Matthew Restall [https://matthewrestall.com/] we should be celebrating both Columbus and Indigenous People on Monday. The author of the timely The Nine Lives of Christopher Columbus [https://wwnorton.com/books/9781324086932], Restall places Genoa’s most famous sailor as a prisoner of history - endlessly protean to reflect each era’s changing values. The many lives of Columbus, then, is a mirror of how we have thought differently about him over the last 500 years. As history’s greatest saint and sinner, Christopher Columbus might be the ultimate Rorschach test. Tell me what you’ll be celebrating next Monday and I’ll tell you who you are. Happy hols!

1. Columbus Was a “Manic Narcissist” Who Believed He Was God’s Agent Restall discovered Columbus wasn’t likable—he descended into believing he was divinely chosen and could even be found in the Old Testament. This grandiosity was partly his undoing as a colonial administrator.

2. Columbus Failed as a Colonizer and Administrator Unlike the conquistadors who came after him, Columbus lacked political and diplomatic skills. He was “just a sailor”—son of a weaver, grandson of a cheesemaker—and Spanish authorities quickly sidelined him. He died in 1506, only 13 years after his first voyage, with a declining reputation.

3. The Columbus Day Debate Is About Different Columbuses Italian-Americans defend a 19th/20th century “Italian-American Columbus”—a symbol of immigrant achievement—while Indigenous Peoples’ Day supporters condemn the “historic Columbus” who began a colonization process that killed 70-90% of indigenous populations within a century. These groups are talking past each other about entirely different figures.

4. Conquistadors Were “Armed Entrepreneurs” Running Investment Companies Spanish conquistadors functioned like venture capital firms—assembling ships, soldiers, and supplies as investments, seeking returns through plunder and enslaved people, then winning authority positions to generate more profit while paying a 20% tax to the crown.

5. Columbus’s One Success: Founding a Noble Dynasty That Still Exists Despite his failures, Columbus achieved his main ambition—establishing an aristocratic dynasty. The title “Admiral of the Ocean Sea” granted in 1493 is still held today by the 20th admiral, a Spanish naval officer and businessman named Don Cristóbal Colón.

Keen On America 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 [https://keenon.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]

Navigating around Christopher Columbus: The Nine Lives of the Genoese Sailor Who Became History's Greatest Saint and Sinner

Last weekend, the English reggae band UB 40 played in the Orpheum in Los Angeles and included in the set their 1980 song “Tyler”.

Tyler is guilty white judges said soWhat right do we got to say it’s not soTyler is guilty white judges said soWhat right do we got to say it’s not soTyler is guilty white judges said soWhat right do we got to say it’s not soTyler is guilty white judges said soWhat right do we got to say it’s not so

In the audience was the song’s muse Gary Tyler [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Tyler] who, as a sixteen year old in 1974, was put on death row for a crime he didn’t commit:

Appeal to the governor, of Louisiana [https://genius.com/13310484/Ub40-tyler/Appeal-to-the-governor-of-louisiana-you-may-get-an-answer-the-process-is-slow-federal-court-won-too-much-to-open-hes-been-there-for-five-years-and-they-wont-let-him-go]You may get an answer the process is slow [https://genius.com/13310484/Ub40-tyler/Appeal-to-the-governor-of-louisiana-you-may-get-an-answer-the-process-is-slow-federal-court-won-too-much-to-open-hes-been-there-for-five-years-and-they-wont-let-him-go]Federal court won, too much to open [https://genius.com/13310484/Ub40-tyler/Appeal-to-the-governor-of-louisiana-you-may-get-an-answer-the-process-is-slow-federal-court-won-too-much-to-open-hes-been-there-for-five-years-and-they-wont-let-him-go]He’s been there for five years and they won’t let him go [https://genius.com/13310484/Ub40-tyler/Appeal-to-the-governor-of-louisiana-you-may-get-an-answer-the-process-is-slow-federal-court-won-too-much-to-open-hes-been-there-for-five-years-and-they-wont-let-him-go]

This week, Tyler released his autobiography, Stitching Freedom [https://www.simonandschuster.co.uk/books/Stitching-Freedom/Gary-Tyler/9781668097342], in which he tells the story of the 41 years he spent in Angola high security prison for his “crime”. Yes, the process was slow - shamefully slow. It’s the shockingly true story of injustice, defiance and hope in Louisiana’s bloodiest prison. Tyler is free now, living in Los Angeles, having successfully stitched his life together. He doesn’t seem to have forgiven the system for this injustice (why should he?), yet the one thing that 41 years in Angola clearly didn’t destroy was Gary Tyler’s humanity. So I guess there’s hope in this tragic story.

1. A 16-Year-Old Scapegoat for Racial Violence Gary Tyler was arrested at age 16 during a racial confrontation at a newly integrated Louisiana school in 1974. After a 13-year-old white boy was fatally shot during the chaos, police brutally beat Tyler to extract a confession he never gave, then charged him with first-degree murder despite no evidence linking him to the crime.

2. Political Prisoners Saved His Life In Angola’s death row, Tyler found unexpected mentors - former Black Panthers and civil rights activists who recognized his case as part of systemic injustice. These older inmates taught him to channel his anger into education and activism, helping him write letters that would eventually bring national attention to his case through organizations like Amnesty International.

3. Finding Purpose in America’s Bloodiest Prison Despite facing execution, Tyler transformed his imprisonment into service. He became president of multiple prison organizations and, most meaningfully, a hospice volunteer caring for dying inmates - including some of the very men who had mentored him. This work became his “sense of redemption” and healing.

4. Justice Denied, Freedom Granted Tyler was never exonerated. Despite multiple appeals reaching the Supreme Court and three favorable parole board recommendations, politics kept him imprisoned.

41 Years for a Crime He Didn't Commit: Gary Tyler's Journey from Death Row to Freedom

Just be yourself many career coaches tell us. But for the psychologist and entrepreneur Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic [https://www.drtomas.com/], the reverse is true. Don’t Be Yourself [https://www.amazon.com/Dont-Be-Yourself-Authenticity-Overrated/dp/1647829836] https://www.amazon.com/Dont-Be-Yourself-Authenticity-Overrated/dp/1647829836Chamorro-Premuzic advises in his new book, arguing that authenticity Is overrated and what to do instead. Drawing from extensive behavioral science research, Chamorro-Premuzic contends that success comes not from unleashing your unfiltered self but from understanding where “the right to be you ends and your obligation to others begins.” Authenticity has not only become a privilege for the elite and a trap for everyone else, he argues, but increasingly impossible to distinguish from AI-generated fakery. So don’t be yourself, Chamorro-Premuzic suggests, in defiantly inauthentic advice for both our careers and our lives.

1. Strategic Self-Presentation Beats Radical Honesty

Success comes from “strategic impression management” rather than authentic self-expression. The person who confidently claims “I’ve done this a hundred times” gets the job over the honest candidate who admits they’ll need to learn.

2. Authenticity Is a Luxury for the Powerful

The more status and power you have, the less you need to care what others think. For everyone else, “telling women they can just be themselves” while incompetent male leaders act without restraint perpetuates inequality.

3. Self-Delusion Can Be a Competitive Advantage

“B**********g others will be a lot easier if you can b******t yourself first.” While self-awareness helps build competence, overconfidence often wins in systems that confuse confidence with competence—though this benefits individuals at society’s expense.

4. AI Forces Us to Fake Authenticity

As AI becomes better at mimicking humans, we’re paradoxically pressured to be more deliberately “human”—inserting typos in emails, swearing strategically, creating “artificial hallmarks of authenticity” to prove we’re not machines.

5. Focus on Your Obligations to Others, Not Your Right to Self-Expression

The fundamental shift Chamorro-Premuzic advocates: stop asking “how can I be more myself?” and start asking “what do others find valuable?” Your freedom to be yourself ends where your responsibility to others begins.

Keen On America 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 [https://keenon.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]

Don't Be Yourself: Why the Cult of Authenticity Is Killing Not Just Your Career but Your Life

The daily show about the big ideas, new technologies, books and people changing the world. Hosted by Andrew Keen.

Keen On

Andrew Keen's Show

The daily show about the big ideas, new technologies, books and people changing the world. Hosted by the writer and commentator Andrew Keen.

To subscribe: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/keen-on/id1448694012

KEEN ON clips

Highlights from KEEN ON, the daily show about the big ideas, new technologies, books and people changing the world

Subscribe: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/keen-on/id1448694012

Andrew Keen

Shows