Best Moral Repair Podcasts (2024)

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Episode 2137: Anne Snyder on how to morally repair and renew America 37:07

1d ago37:07

37:07

In the wake of Biden’s resignation and the coronation of Kamala Harris, it’s likely that this year’s election will be particularly divisive and vitriolic. We will hear endless hysteria about the election being the most important in American history, blah blah blah. But while I certainly don’t believe that American democracy is under existential thr…

1
Life on Spaceships and Mars 35:32

18h ago35:32

35:32

This Episode Annanda and Keisha Explore The Big Question of, is it worth the expense to go to Mars given the needs on Earth? And what would it be like to live on Mars or in space? They interview University of Arizona Biosphere 2 and Project SAM Director, Kai Statts to get the space tea.By Moral Repair

1
Episode 2040: Kimberly Meyer on five refugee women's invention of a new American dream 37:48

1h ago37:48

37:48

Yesterday, we were in rural Virginia interviewing the pioneering regenerative farmer, Joel Salatin. Today, we are on an equally innovative farm in Houston, Texas, in conversation with Kimberley Meyer, author of Accidental Sisters. It’s called Shamba Ya Amani (Farm of Peace) and, as Meyer explains in her new book, it’s a place where five immigrant w…

1
Episode 2139: Joel Salatin explains how to fix America, one bite at a time 55:18

6h ago55:18

55:18

As one of America’s most outspoken pioneers of regenerative agriculture, Joel Salatin is popularly known as The Lunatic Farmer. Others have accused him of being a bio-terrorist, Typhoid Mary, a charlatan, and starvation advocate. Less of a lunatic and more of an agricultural visionary, however, Salatin has transformed his family’s Polyface Farms in…

1
After Biden Ends Campaign, Vice President Harris is De Facto Democratic Party Nominee 29:00

2h ago29:00

29:00

Former UN Human Rights Special Rapporteur Michael Lynk: World Court Rules Israeli Occupation of Palestinian Land Violates International Law Pass the Torch steering committee member Aaron Regunberg: After Biden Pressured to End Campaign, Vice President Harris is De Facto Democratic Party Nominee Amistad Catholic Worker House Shelter occupant Joel Ni…

1
Keen on America featuring Batya Ungar-Sargon 37:59

3h ago37:59

37:59

A hundred episodes ago, we had the author of Second Class, Batya Ungar-Sargon, on the show to talk specifically about how America’s elites have betrayed the country’s working men and women. So when I bumped into her at the recent Braver Angels convention in Wisconsin, we talked more broadly about her identity as an American and how she would like A…

1
The 10 Greatest Jewish Ideas: Reinterpretation and the Power of Questions 1:00:27

1d ago1:00:27

1:00:27

In this 10-part class series, Rabbi Shmuly will explore, what he proposes to be, the 10 most amazing Jewish insights that have transformed and beautified the world for millennia. Attended these classes live over Zoom by becoming a member for just $18 per month: https://www.valleybeitmidrash.org/become-a-member ------------------ Stay Connected with…

1
KEEN ON America featuring Joshua Browder, Silicon Valley entrepreneur and great grandson of the US Communist Party leader 33:14

5h ago33:14

33:14

As CEO of the AI start-up DoNotPay, Joshua Browder is one of Silicon Valley’s rising young entrepreneurs. Born in the UK and educated at Stanford, Browder is from a remarkable family of American innovators and activists. His great grandfather, Earl Browder, was head of the US Communist Party. His grandfather, Felix Browder, was one of America’s mos…

1
J. Malcolm Garcia on the humanity of San Francisco's homeless community 39:21

6h ago39:21

39:21

Lauded by KEEN ON favorites like Dave Eggers & Dale Maharidge, J. Malcolm Garcia might be the Studs Terkel of contemporary American literature. Having worked as a social worker with San Francisco’s homeless community for 14 years, he then became an acclaimed journalist and winner of the Studs Terkel prize for writing about the American working clas…

1
Episode 2134: Jonathan Rauch on Reinventing Liberalism in the 21st Century 32:49

4d ago32:49

32:49

I was at the Liberalism for the 21st Century conference last week in DC where I bumped into an old friend and KEEN ON regular Jonathan Rauch. A Brookings Fellow and prolific author, Rauch is amongst America’s most thoughtful commentators on the contemporary crisis of liberalism and the rising popularity of “post-liberalism”. So, in the wake of Trum…

1
Episode 2133: Ebony Reed on the Shameful Black-White Wealth Gap in America 42:19

5d ago42:19

42:19

For all the “progress” in civil rights front over the last couple of generations, the wealth gap between white and black Americans hasn’t changed much. As Ebony Reed, co-author of best selling new book, Fifteen Cents on the Dollar, whites on average have 85% more wealth than blacks, a shockingly inegalitarian fact about a supposedly color blind dem…

1
GOP Uses Assassination Attempt to Shut Down Condemnation of Trump's Authoritarian Agenda 29:00

2h ago29:00

29:00

AFL-CIO Former political director Michael Podhorzer: GOP Uses Assassination Attempt to Shut Down Condemnation of Trump's Authoritarian Agenda Hub Project Senior Director of Polling and Analytics Bryan Bennett: Poll Finds Americans Reject and Fear Trump's Right-wing Extremist Project 2025 Agenda Attorney Michael Gerrard: Activists Working to Reverse…

1
episode 2132: Elle Reeve on how the darkest corners of the internet have poisoned society and captured American politics 43:06

6d ago43:06

43:06

In the wake of the failed Trump assassination attempt by what seems to be a conventionally lonely and bullied young man, more and more Americans are asking what has gone wrong. According to CNN correspondent Elle Reeve, online Americans - particularly lonely, alienated young men on networks like Discord and 4Chan - have swallowed the Black Pill of …

1
Episode 2131: Laurent Dubreuil's creative answer to whether AI can think creatively 48:09

7d ago48:09

48:09

Trust a French literary theorist to think creatively about whether AI can think creatively. Laurent Dubreuil is a professor of French literature at Cornell and the author of the intriguing Harper’s piece, Metal Machine Music, which asks both if AI and we humans can think creatively. Using ChatGPT, Dubreuil ran a test at Cornell asking a bot and hum…

1
Episode 2130: Renee DiResta on our Invisible Rulers Who Turn Lies into Reality 40:22

8d ago40:22

40:22

I’m just back from the Liberalism for the 21st Century conference in DC which featured a lively discussion about digital misinformation between KEEN ON regular Jonathan Rauch and Renee DiResta, the author of Invisible Rulers. As the former manager of the Stanford Internet Observatory, DiResta has been on the front lines of the disinformation wars a…

1
Episode 2129: Niobe Way on America's Crisis of Masculinity 48:15

9d ago48:15

48:15

Does America have problem with its boys and men? Yes, says author of Boys and Men, Richard Reeves, a previous guest on KEEN ON. Today’s guest, Niobe Way, a NYU professor of developmental psychology, give a more nuanced answer. The author of the Rebels With a Cause: Reimagining Boys, Ourselves and our Culture, Way argues that the crisis is one of a …

1
Episode 2128: Peter Hessler on what life is really like in Xi's China 47:06

10d ago47:06

47:06

Few Americans know contemporary China better than Peter Hessler. The author of four prize winning books about life in China as well as the former China correspondent of the New Yorker, Hessler originally came to China as a Peace Corps volunteer in 1996 and has been writing about the day-to-day life of the country ever since. In contrast with the ge…

1
Episode 2127: Andrew O'Hagan goes up the Caledonian Road in search of Truth, Justice and a Man in Blue 1:05:46

11d ago1:05:46

1:05:46

What a treat. LA Times book critic Bethanne Patrick and I got the opportunity to talk today with the great Andrew O’Hagan, author of Caledonian Road, his new blockbuster novel about the state of contemporary Britain. It’s a fabulous read and O’Hagan was no less fab, generously dedicating an hour to our questions. As O’Hagan explained, for all his h…

1
Episode 2126: Daniel Silva on why the Criminal Rich Collect the Masterpieces of Van Gogh, Vermeer and Picasso 36:17

12d ago36:17

36:17

Spy novelists often make excellent moralists and the American writer Daniel Silva, author of the Gabriel Allon series of best-selling thrillers, is a particularly sharp critic of contemporary morals. His new Allon thriller, A Death in Cornwall, focuses on money laundering, murder and mayhem in the art world. The novel is set in the contemporary Uni…

1
Shocking Supreme Court Ruling Granting Presidential Immunity Enables Future Autocrats 29:00

3d ago29:00

29:00

People for the American Way Executive Vice President Marge Baker: Shocking Supreme Court Ruling Granting Presidential Immunity Enables Future Autocrats Natural Resources Defense Council senior attorney and strategist David Doniger: Supreme Court Chevron Doctrine Ruling Jeopardizes Countless Federal Regulations Washington, D.C.-based policy consulta…

1
Episode 2125: Mike Maples on how to Break Patterns and Invent the Future 59:36

15d ago59:36

59:36

Earlier this week, I visited the offices of Floodgate Partners in Menlo Park to talk with its co-founding partner Mike Maples. As an early investor in Twitter, Twitch.tv and many other successful start-ups, Maples is one of Silicon Valley’s most respected venture capitalists. He is, to borrow the title of his new book, an investor in “Pattern Break…

1
Episode 2124: Jeremy Kahn's Survival Guide for our AI Future 43:39

16d ago43:39

43:39

In episode 2022, That Was The Week publisher Keith Teare and I violently disagreed about the current AI boom. Keith, the eternal techno-optimist, thinks AI is about to radically change everything; as the perennial techno-pessimist, I argued that much of the current Wall St AI insanity is a 21st version of 17th century Dutch tulip mania. But if we w…

1
Episode 2123: Mara Kardas-Nelson Reveals the Seductive Promise of Microfinance 41:55

17d ago41:55

41:55

The seductive promise of microfinance might have conveniently died in the Western media, but Muhammad Yunis’ alluring economic idea has actually wreaked unintentional havoc around the world. Mara Kardas-Nelson’s important new book, We Are Not Able to Live in the Sky, reveals the damage done by microfinance loans in developing world countries like S…

1
Episode 2122: Is the AI Tech Boom of the 2020s a Repeat of the Wall Street Mania of the Roaring 1920s? 38:49

18d ago38:49

38:49

Last week, That Was The Week publisher Keith Teare and I discussed whether Silicon Valley has an AI Bubble Problem. And we return to the same subject today, comparing today’s AI driven Wall Street techno-mania with the automotive centric Wall Street madness of the roaring 1920s. As usual, Keith is the optimistic, arguing that stock market booms are…

1
Episode 2121: PR exec Phil Elwood confesses to building a "counter-narrative" for some of the worst humans on the planet 34:17

19d ago34:17

34:17

Memoirs are usually morally uplifting reads with happy endings. But Phil Elwood’s new memoir, All the Worst Humans, is a confession of how Elwood, as a top DC based PR operative, created what he calls a “counter-narrative” for Assad, Gaddafi and the Qataris. Elwood isn’t proud about any of this. As he confessed to me, he still sleeps poorly and oft…

1
Episode 2120: Simon Reynolds on reasons to be cheerful about the AI cultural revolution 45:40

19d ago45:40

45:40

In 2011, Simon Reynolds is one of the world’s most prolific music journalists, came on KEEN ON to explain why the Internet has been bad for both musical artists and fans. Back then it took a brave man like Reynolds to argue against the supposedly cornucopian cultural potential of the Web 2 revolution. Today, in contrast, most mainstream cultural cr…

1
Episode 2119: Diane McLain Smith offers a way to reunite America 38:37

20d ago38:37

38:37

Our second July 4 interview features Diane McLain Smith, author of Remaking the Space Between Us: How Citizens Can Work Together to Build a Better Future For All. The problem with America, McLain Smith believes, is that “we the people have become the problem” with our endlessly divisive tribalism. But just as we are the problem, we can also be the …

1
Episode 2118: Former Prosecutor Debbie Hines on Black Lives, White Justice and her Quest for Reform 49:09

21d ago49:09

49:09

As the former Assistant Attorney General for Maryland, one would expect Debbie Hines to be a strong supporter of the American criminal justice system. But the Baltimore based veteran trial lawyer is unambiguously critical in her new memoir, GET OFF MY NECK, of what she sees as the structural racism of a “conveyer belt” American legal system which s…

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