How many more times can we report on a week in tech that changed the world? But here we go again…. We just had a week in Silicon Valley where everything, supposedly, changed. At least according to Keith Teare [https://x.com/kteare?lang=en], publisher of the tech That Was the Week [https://www.thatwastheweek.com/] weekly newsletter. But last week really really was a special week, Keith insists. It was the week when AI became an actor. When it broke all our traditional software assumptions by becoming an actor, not an app. It was the week AI entered what Keith calls its 'Stone Age' - the moment machines finally got their own tools and began using spreadsheets, databases, and documents without being explicitly told to. If Keith is right, we're about to live in a world where toys talk back to children and cars introduce themselves to their new owners. Yes, AI is in the earliest stages of learning to think for itself. It was, indeed, just another historic week in Silicon Valley.

1. AI Has Crossed the Tool-Use Threshold

This week marked AI's transition from being a tool humans use to becoming an independent actor that chooses and uses its own tools. ChatGPT can now autonomously access spreadsheets, databases, and documents - Keith compares this to humanity's leap from the Stone Age to the Tool Age.

2. OpenAI's $500B Valuation Isn't Crazy - It's Strategic

Despite seeming absurd, OpenAI's path from $50B to $500B valuation in 18 months follows classic tech playbook: prioritize growth over early profits ("early profit is mismanagement"), focus on 90% gross margins, and build the biggest possible "money printing machine" before optimizing for profitability.

3. Software and Hardware Are Being Redefined

We're moving toward a world where software becomes invisible - delivered through conversational interfaces rather than visual apps - and hardware becomes interactive through embedded AI. Think toys that talk back to children and cars that introduce themselves to owners.

4. Creative Generalists Will Thrive, Specialists Are at Risk

AI threatens specialists with rule-based skills (consultants, certain scientists) but enhances "audacious" creative generalists who can think outside the box. AI excels as a servant or co-pilot but can't yet replace original thinking or path-breaking creativity.

5. We're Entering an Age of AI Embeddedness

The future isn't about using AI apps - it's about living in a world where AI is embedded in physical objects and environments, making the entire world interactive. This represents a fundamental shift from digital interfaces to ambient intelligence.

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]

The Week AI Began to Act: The Dawn of an AI Stone Age in Which Machines Have Their Own Tools

Like it or not, Trump and his surreal version of a libertarian patrimonial America is reshaping the world. At least in what the FT’s Janan Ganesh dubs [https://on.ft.com/4fsszS1] “the high summer of Donald Trump”. But my old friend Jason Pack [https://www.jasonpack.org/], host of the excellent Disorder [https://linktr.ee/disorderpod?lt_utm_source=lt_share_link#331393001] podcast, doesn’t believe that a strategy of short-term chaos is a viable long-term global strategy for America. Pack argues that while Trump may be achieving tactical wins through short-term disruptions—from ending the Iran-Israel conflict to forcing favorable trade negotiations—this approach fundamentally undermines the strategic international coordination needed to address existential challenges like AI regulation, climate change, and systemic economic and military competition with China. Without coherent global governance structures, Pack predicts, we're sleepwalking into a long-term disordered world where private tech giants wield more power than governments themselves. Trump’s high summer of disorder, he warns, could degenerate into an apocalyptic winter of our collective discontent.

1. Trump's Chaos Is Actually Strategic Success Despite appearing haphazard, Trump has achieved major goals through disorder - ending the Iran-Israel conflict with bunker buster bombs, securing favorable trade deals through tariff threats, and making himself the global "swing player" that everyone must negotiate with.

2. America's Disproportionate Global Leverage The US economy, though only 1.8 times larger than Europe's, wields 5-6 times the global influence. Trump has discovered how to weaponize this asymmetry more ruthlessly than previous presidents, while Europe remains largely irrelevant in AI and tech.

3. Private Tech Giants Now Rival Government Power Multi-trillion dollar companies like OpenAI, Anthropic, and Nvidia are becoming more powerful than governments themselves. The old DARPA model of government-led innovation has given way to private sector dominance, fundamentally reshaping the relationship between state and market.

4. The Missing "NATO for AI" Pack argues we desperately need international coordination structures to govern AI development, data storage, and energy infrastructure. Without treaty-based cooperation among democracies, we're ceding control to either authoritarian regimes or unaccountable private companies.

5. A Crisis May Be Necessary to Restore Government Both analysts suggest that only a major catastrophe - economic crash, environmental disaster, or military conflict - will force people to recognize government's essential role. Until then, we're trapped in "libertarian patrimonialism" where personal networks trump institutional governance.

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]

Trump's High Summer of Disorder: How Short-Term Chaos is America's Long-Term Global Strategy

Are we Rome yet? It’s become all too easy to compare contemporary America's woes with those of late republican Rome. And even easier to argue that the democracy destroying Donald Trump is the second coming of Julius Caesar. But according to the distinguished American classicist David Potter [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Stone_Potter], author of Master of Rome, [https://global.oup.com/academic/product/master-of-rome-9780190867188?cc=us&lang=en&] we’ve got Julius Caesar all wrong. Don’t trust Cicero’s version of Caesar, Potter warns. Julius Caesar was actually a friend rather than a foe of democracy—he wasn't even 'Caesarian' in the dictatorial sense we've come to associate with his name. Actually Caesar - with his veneration for the Roman state and his attention to detail - has much more in common with FDR than with Donald Trump. Rather than a warning, then, Julius Caesar offers a model for American politicians trying to rebuild democratic institutions and values in our populist age.

1. Caesar was more FDR than Trump

Potter argues Caesar was a competent, detail-oriented administrator who passed major social reforms (land redistribution, veteran benefits) to help ordinary Romans—much like Roosevelt's New Deal. Unlike Trump, Caesar valued facts, logistics, and effective governance.

2. Roman "democracy" failed because elites stopped sharing power

The Roman Republic collapsed not because of Caesar, but because the aristocracy concentrated wealth and excluded most Italians from citizenship despite promises of reform. Caesar emerged because the system had already broken down.

3. Caesar was inclusive, not exclusionary

Unlike typical autocrats, Caesar integrated former enemies and conquered peoples (like the Gauls) into his system. He pardoned rivals like Cicero and promoted social mobility—even freed slaves could become citizens and rise to high positions.

4. The "Caesarian" reputation comes from biased sources

Much of Caesar's tyrannical image comes from Cicero, who defended corrupt politicians and arbitrary executions when it suited him. Reading Caesar's own writings reveals a thoughtful strategist, not a bloodthirsty dictator.

5. Competent authoritarianism beats incompetent democracy

Potter's key warning: when democratic institutions fail to serve citizens, they'll accept strong leadership that delivers results. Caesar succeeded because he could actually govern—a lesson about the importance of making democracy work for everyone.

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]

Why Julius Caesar was anything but Trumpian: How Rome's 'Dictator' Actually Saved Roman Democracy

For five hundred years, scientists as credible as Galileo, Copernicus, Newton, Darwin and Freud chipped away at the scientific existence of God. So, by the beginning of the 20th century, Nietzsche was able to announce the death of God. A century later, however, modern science is now resurrecting God. That, at least, is the suggestion of Michel-Yves Bollore, the co-author of Europe’s latest publishing sensation, GOD The Science The Evidence [https://store.abramsbooks.com/products/god-the-science-the-evidence]. It’s a post Einsteinian science, Bollore and his co-author Olivier Bonnassies contend, which has enabled this kind of scientific Easter. With endorsements from Nobel Prize winners and over 400,000 copies sold across Europe, their controversial thesis argues that seven independent lines of evidence—from thermodynamics to quantum mechanics—point toward an absolute beginning of the universe, making materialism, in their words, 'an irrational belief' in the 21st century.

1. The Historical Reversal For 400+ years (Galileo to Darwin to Freud), scientific discoveries seemed to eliminate the need for God. But since 1900, Bollore argues, every major discovery points in the opposite direction—toward the necessity of a creator.

2. Seven Lines of Evidence for Absolute Beginning The authors present seven independent scientific arguments (thermodynamics, universe expansion, quantum mechanics, mathematics) that the universe had an absolute beginning—which they argue requires a creator, since "from nothing, nothing can come."

3. The Multiverse Dilemma Materialism's only escape is the multiverse theory, but recent discoveries (2003) show infinite series of universes are impossible. This forces materialists into increasingly complex explanations while the "God hypothesis" remains simpler.

4. Fine-Tuning as Evidence The universe's parameters are so precisely calibrated (down to the 15th decimal place for expansion speed) that tiny changes would prevent existence itself—suggesting intentional design rather than chance.

5. Philosophical Not Religious The book deliberately avoids religious questions (who is God, what does God want) and focuses purely on whether scientific evidence supports the existence of a creator—making it accessible across different faiths and cultures

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]

The Resurrection of God: Why Europe's Bestselling Science Book Proves Materialism is Dead

For all its multiple obituary notices, the American Dream is alive and kicking. That, at least, is the view of Matson Money CEO and founder, Mark Matson [https://www.matsonmoney.com/executives/mark-matson/], author of Experiencing the American Dream [https://www.experiencingtheamericandream.com/]. But you have to work for it, the Scottsdale, Arizona based Matson says, arguing that many Americans have lost agency over their own lives. Growing up in poverty in West Virginia, Matson built an $11.7 billion asset management firm by embracing his father's core principles: nobody owes you anything, provide value to others first, and view hard work as a core virtue. Matson rejects victim mentality and entitlement culture, even of his own kids (two of whom he fired from his company), insisting the dream remains accessible to anyone willing to serve others and create wealth through disciplined effort rather than expecting government or personal handouts.

1. Mindset Over Circumstances Success stems from how you think, not what you're born into. Matson argues that having the right mental framework—rejecting victimhood and embracing personal responsibility—matters more than your starting economic position.

2. Service Before Self-Interest The path to wealth is counterintuitive: focus on creating value for others first, rather than asking "what's in it for me." This service-oriented approach naturally leads to personal prosperity.

3. Work as Virtue, Not Just Means Hard work should be viewed as character-building and inherently valuable, not merely a tool to get rich. This perspective transforms how you approach challenges and opportunities.

4. Merit Over Everything Even family relationships must be subordinated to performance standards. Matson fired two of his own children from his company, demonstrating that nepotism undermines both business success and character development.

5. Media Creates False Narratives News outlets profit from fear and pessimism, leading to distorted perceptions of American opportunity. The statistical reality shows more social mobility and prosperity than headlines suggest.

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]

Why Reports on the Death of the American Dream are Greatly Exaggerated

Podcasts are ruining our lives. That, at least, is the thesis [https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/are-podcasts-ruining-our-lives] of the sometime [https://www.tabletmag.com/podcasts/unorthodox] podcaster, Liel Leibovitz [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liel_Leibovitz]. It’s the insidious charm of chat, Leibovitz believes, that is behind the faux intimacy of popular podcasters like Joe Rogan. Speaking from Tel Aviv, the Tablet [https://www.tabletmag.com/] magazine editor-at-large argues that what began as a revolutionary medium for deep, unfiltered conversation has devolved into the same shallow journalism that plagues mainstream media. Podcasters, Leibovitz contends, have traded meaningful discourse for chummy celebrity interviews, creating parasocial relationships that feel intimate but deliver little substance. The medium's unique power to reach listeners in their most vulnerable moments—while doing dishes, walking dogs, working out—has been weaponized into artificial friendships that replace genuine human connection with performative conversations designed to maintain access rather than pursue truth. So what should wannabe podcasters and their audiences do? You could, of course, stop listening to podcasts like this one or Leibovitz’s once popular Unorthodox [https://www.tabletmag.com/podcasts/unorthodox] show. Alternatively, as he suggests, you could start your own militantly anti-podcast Podcast (as he is planning with his revamped Unorthodox show), thereby reuniting the medium with the message.

1. Podcasts create dangerous parasocial intimacy Listeners develop artificial relationships with hosts they've never met, epitomized by the fan who named her cat after Leibovitz. This faux intimacy makes audiences trust podcasters more than they should, replacing real human relationships with performed ones.

2. The medium has abandoned its revolutionary potential What began as a way to have deep, unfiltered conversations unavailable on mainstream media has devolved into the same shallow access journalism, with podcasters prioritizing celebrity guests and maintaining chummy relationships over pursuing truth.

3. Intimacy doesn't equal authenticity The failure of Clubhouse (which offered real interaction) versus the success of podcasts (which offer performed intimacy) proves people don't actually want genuine connection—they want the feeling of intimacy without the work of real relationships.

4. There's still hope for the medium Leibovitz argues we're at a "Fred Friendly moment"—ready to discover what podcasting can truly accomplish beyond its current limitations. He believes audiences will respond to genuinely substantive content when offered it, citing positive reactions to rare moments of real questioning.

5. AI will increase the value of authentic human voices As artificial content proliferates, genuinely human storytelling, conversation, and analysis will become premium commodities—making this the perfect time for serious podcasters to distinguish themselves through authentic, meaningful discourse.

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]

Why Podcasts Are Ruining Our Lives: On the Insidious Charm of Chat

Yesterday, the Canadian writer Diane Francis argued [https://keenon.substack.com/p/going-soft-on-china-is-xi-jinping] that Donald Trump should consider Xi Jinping’s China a competitor rather than an enemy. Perhaps. But in this zero-sum “competition” between Trump and Xi for top tough guy, there can only be one winner. As Xi Jinping’s father’s biographer, Joseph Torigian [https://x.com/josephtorigian?lang=en] explains, Xi had a brutally harsh upbringing. In his new book [https://www.sup.org/books/history/partys-interests-come-first] about Xi’s father, Xi Zhongxun, Torigian explains that it was a childhood descent from privileged son of a communist party aristocrat to utter poverty, political exile and literal homelessness. That’s the kind of tough guy that our self-styled “tough guy” President is competing with in today’s Hobbesian bipolar world of international politics. I’m pretty sure that only one of these tough guys will come out on top. And it won’t be the pampered middle son of a real-estate mogul from Queens.

1. Xi Jinping's "Toughness" is Genuine, Not Performative

Unlike privileged leaders who talk tough, Xi was forged by real hardship - his father was purged five times, spent 16 years in political exile, and Xi himself experienced homelessness, street battles, and rural exile. This created authentic resilience, not manufactured bravado.

2. China's System Remains Dangerously Leader-Dependent

Despite assumptions about "collective leadership," Chinese politics never escaped the strongman model. Even Deng Xiaoping, supposedly constrained by colleagues, made unilateral decisions like Tiananmen. Xi isn't breaking the system - he's following its core logic that only a powerful "core" leader can hold China together.

3. Taiwan is Personal, Not Just Political for Xi

His father Xi Zhongxun was the party's leading "United Front" strategist who handled Taiwan relations in the 1980s through secret back-channels. For Xi, Taiwan represents both unfinished family business and his promise not to be "the one to lose" Chinese territory bequeathed by ancestors.

4. Xi's Strategy is Patience, Not Recklessness

Growing up watching his father navigate purges taught Xi when to act and when to "bide his time." Unlike Putin's sledgehammer approach, Xi moves "deliberately and competitively, but cautiously" - preferring to win without fighting rather than risk catastrophic failure.

5. The Party's Biggest Fear is Losing the Next Generation

Xi obsesses over whether young Chinese will remain loyal to the revolutionary cause without experiencing the hardship that dedicated his generation. With property crashes and youth unemployment, he's trying to recreate commitment through "national sacrifice" narratives - but it's unclear if this will work on a generation that expects prosperity, not suffering.

1. Xi Jinping's "Toughness" is Genuine, Not Performative

Unlike privileged leaders who talk tough, Xi was forged by real hardship - his father was purged five times, spent 16 years in political exile, and Xi himself experienced homelessness, street battles, and rural exile. This created authentic resilience, not manufactured bravado.

2. China's System Remains Dangerously Leader-Dependent

Despite assumptions about "collective leadership," Chinese politics never escaped the strongman model. Even Deng Xiaoping, supposedly constrained by colleagues, made unilateral decisions like Tiananmen. Xi isn't breaking the system - he's following its core logic that only a powerful "core" leader can hold China together.

3. Taiwan is Personal, Not Just Political for Xi

His father Xi Zhongxun was

The Chinese School of Hard Knocks: How Xi Jinping's Father Shaped China's Current Tough Guy Leader 

Should America go soft on China? According to the Toronto based foreign affairs writer Diane Francis [https://dianefrancis.substack.com/], the United States ought to consider Xi Jinping’s China a competitor, rather than a enemy. In contrast, Francis views Vladimir Putin’s Russia as not just an enemy, but an existential threat to Europe, North America and free world. Putin Won’t Stop [https://dianefrancis.substack.com/p/putin-wont-stop], Francis’ latest Substack post argues. Unless, perhaps, he’s locked in a room with the redoubtable Diane Francis.

1. Francis Views American "Isolationism" as Reasonable and Justified

"Isolationism is reasonable, I think it is. I mean, traipsing all over the world, thinking you're the policeman and you have the answer and you pick the right side all the time and you're gonna squander the wealth and the tax dollars of your population is to me an ego trip to a certain extent." Francis sees Trump's America First approach as a logical response to failed interventions like Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan.

2. She Distinguishes China as Competitor, Russia as Malevolent Enemy

"I see Russia as an enemy, as a malevolent force that wants to recreate the Soviet Union, imprison people, ignore rights and then take over other countries and commit genocide when necessary... China, on the other hand, is not an imperial power. It's never been a conquering country... China to me is not an enemy. China is a competitor, and it can be a ruthless competitor." This forms the core of her geopolitical framework.

3. Francis Sees Trump as Effective but Lacks Statesmanlike Qualities

"There is some logic to what he's doing, but he's really not, in my opinion, he's not capable of really statesman-like leadership. He just isn't. He's a fish out of water. He's are a developer of slum apartment buildings in Queens. This guy looks at everything as though it was just about dollars and cents." She appreciates his tough negotiating approach while criticizing his limitations.

4. She Takes Canada's Merger Threat from Trump Seriously

"Absolutely. I'll just give you a quick background. In 2013, my 10th book... was Merger of the Century, Why Canada and the United States Should Become One Country, and I wasn't endorsing the merger, but I was warning Canadians that if they didn't get their acts together... America will get fed up and gobble them up." Francis views Trump's threats as realistic given Canada's economic and military dependence.

5. Francis Makes Controversial Claims About Russia's Global Reach

"They started the war in Sudan. And they were behind the October 7th attack of Israel... according to Ukrainian intelligence, first of all, October 7th is Putin's birthday. Secondly, the Hamas terrorists were trained in Syria on Russian bases by Russian mercenaries called the Wagner troop." She presents Russia as orchestrating conflicts worldwide, though these claims are highly disputed and lack mainstream corroboration.



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]

Going Soft on China: Is Xi Jinping really a Competitor, not an Enemy, of the United States?

I’ve always considered my friend Keith Teare [https://x.com/kteare] a bit weird. Maybe it’s living in Palo Alto amidst the tech plutocracy. But I wonder if the That Was The Week [https://www.thatwastheweek.com/] weekly tech news publisher has finally lost his mind. In this week’s conversation, he speculates that OpenAI will soon be worth $10 trillion while its closest competitor Anthropic, will be valued at $5 trillion. Has he finally gone totally bonkers? Or is it really possible that these two still private companies will be collectively worth $15 trillion (more than the GDP of every country except the U.S. and China) in a few years?

1. AI Valuations Have Entered Fantasy Territory OpenAI at $10 trillion and Anthropic at $5 trillion would make these two private companies worth more than the GDP of every country except the U.S. and China. Even tech insiders are now seriously discussing valuations that would have been laughed out of the room during the dot-com bubble.

2. We've Hit the AI Search Tipping Point Traditional Google search is rapidly being replaced by AI-powered alternatives like Perplexity's Comet browser and specialized AI tools. About 25% of internet users now regularly use AI instead of search engines, fundamentally threatening Google's advertising-based business model.

3. San Francisco's Tech Boom Is Back (Again) The AI revolution has revitalized San Francisco as the undisputed center of tech innovation. Real estate prices are soaring, rentals are impossible to find, and the talent war has reached late-90s intensity levels as AI companies compete for engineers and office space.

4. The AI Race Isn't Winner-Take-All Unlike previous tech cycles where one company dominated (Google in search, Amazon in e-commerce), the AI market appears big enough for multiple giants. Anthropic has emerged as OpenAI's strongest competitor, with Chinese AI models also becoming serious contenders on the global stage.

5. Big Tech's AI Panic Is Real Facebook is paying billions in bonuses to attract AI talent after their latest model failed to impress. Apple is sitting out the expensive AI infrastructure race, betting they can integrate others' AI into their devices. Meanwhile, the U.S. government has decided to avoid regulating AI development entirely.

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]

Tech Insider Claims OpenAI Will Be Worth $10 Trillion: Has Silicon Valley Finally Gone Totally Bonkers?

Can Democrats pull a Ronald Reagan? That's the provocative question at the heart of Peter Wehner [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Wehner] and Jonathan Rauch [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Rauch]'s New York Times intriguing piece [https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/18/opinion/democrats-politics-trump-abundance.html] about how the Democrats can win back the presidency in 2028. Just as the neo-liberal Reagan crushed the cardigan-wearing Carter by promising economic vitality over malaise, Democrats now have a chance to flip the script—if only they can drop their annoying cultural politics and reclaim the mantle of middle-class prosperity. By owning the American Dream, Rauch and Wehner suggest, you also own American politics. Given the Republican abandonment of growth politics, they argue, the seeds of a Democratic revival have already been sown. Now all the party needs is somebody with Reagan’s messaging genius. Mark Cuban, perhaps?

1. Democrats Are Abandoning Anti-Trump Strategy for Positive Messaging

The 19 Democrats interviewed for the article were explicitly asked not to mention Trump—a "disciplining exercise" that revealed the party's recognition that pure opposition isn't enough. They need an affirmative agenda focused on prosperity and the American dream rather than just being the anti-Trump party.

2. Republicans Have Abandoned Growth Politics, Creating an Opening

Trump's GOP now runs on "scarcity" and "beggar-thy-neighbor" policies—tariffs that raise prices, fewer immigrants despite labor shortages, telling Americans to "make do with less." This abandons Reagan's successful abundance message and gives Democrats a chance to become the "party of prosperity."

3. Cultural Issues Are Democrats' Biggest Barrier to Economic Credibility

Every Democrat interviewed acknowledged they must move to the center on cultural issues before voters will listen to their economic message. As Rahm Emanuel put it: "If you don't get through that cultural barrier, people aren't going to listen to you on kitchen table issues." Early signs include Gavin Newsom's shifts on transgender policies and Wes Moore rejecting reparations.

4. The "Abundance Agenda" Could Unite Progressive and Centrist Wings

Democrats see potential common ground: progressives can focus on breaking up monopolies and corporate price manipulation, while centrists tackle zoning reform and regulatory barriers. Both approaches aim to reduce artificial scarcity and boost middle-class prosperity.

5. 2028 May Require an Outsider, Not a Traditional Politician

With Trump at 37% approval and voters seeking authenticity, energy, and change, Democrats may need someone like Mark Cuban rather than a typical governor or senator. The party is looking for someone who can challenge the status quo without sounding like a conventional politician—much like Reagan did in 1980.

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]

Can Democrats Really Pull a Reagan? How the GOP's 1980 Playbook Could Work for Progressives in 2028

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