Ben Keene
on Rebelliously Regenerating our Reading Habits
It all started with a “bad habit”: TSUNDOKU.
Yes, there is an actual Japanese word for our addiction to buying books and letting the unread pages pile up next to our bed, each one carrying the promise that “one day we’ll finally have the time to pause and read them!” Such a strangely symbolic image of modern life! It has never been easier to buy a book, yet it has never been harder for our digitally distracted minds to give her the attention and presence she needs.
Ben Keene believes we need to regenerate and resharpen our reading habits. He knows the feeling well. He was a “heavy tsundoku user”, but he soon learned that a book and the people you connect to around it can change your life for the better.
Ben’s a speaker, founder of Good with AI and Raaise, and he describes himself as a “non-professional professional.” His path has taken him from building a crowdfunded eco-village on a Fijian island to supporting climate startups, or helping leaders explore how AI can be used more consciously. But through all of these different chapters, the red thread was crystal clear: communities are places where transformation is possible.
A few years ago, he found himself tsundokuing, but the problem wasn’t in the books he chose: “It was me, not them. I just couldn’t build the momentum you sometimes need with non-fiction to beat that tricky quarter milestone without being sucked back into the nirvana of book browsing. Now I’m sure you can agree that not being able to finish a good book is up there with most of the world’s biggest problems!"
After many unread books later, he met another version of himself in another Ben (Ben Saul-Garner), who shared exactly “the same colossal curse of unfinished quality reads”. A conversation instantly became an experiment. That was how Rebel Book Club was born: “This is not your average book club. It’s reading in a fun, social, and disciplined way: a cocktail party that meets critical thinking. People come to learn, connect, and expand their minds.”
At the heart of all Ben’s ventures is one idea: community drives change. But the pillar needs to be trust. He loves shaking up conventional paths and creating spaces where people can move beyond passive inspiration and into meaningful bonding. He calls this method the Five Rs of Tribe Building: Reason, Ritual, Rhythm, Respect and Reward: “People are looking for meaning and momentum outside traditional systems. Community is creating a shared experience people genuinely want to return to.”
Community is our way back to pure belonging.
Read Ben Keene’s answers for Inspirators and sit with the question he has in mind for you: “What do you want to do with your time?”
Thank you, Ben, for being a Rebel Reader!
#INSPIRATORS QUESTIONNAIRE
Name: Ben Keene
Company / Institution: Rebel Book Club / Good with AI / Raaise.co
Title: Entrepreneur & Community Builder
Website: benkeene.com / goodwithai.org / rebelbook.club / raaise.co
LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benkeene/
Country of origin: United Kingdom
Country you currently live in: United Kingdom
Your definition of Regeneration: I recall a moment when I noticed this tent on a festival circuit called Chai Wallahs: great music, drinks, people, vibes! The description of why you should spend time at Chai Wallahs was: "Where good things come together." I love this idea!
When innovation, creativity, a strong sense of purpose and human energy gather, good things happen, and we improve ourselves and the world around us. That's regeneration.
A challenge you are currently navigating in your work: Scaling multiple impact ventures: a book club, an AI education business, and a climate tech platform - while staying true to the mission and community of each, whilst supporting and being present for our growing family.
Main driver that keeps you going: The belief that entrepreneurship can be a force for good - and wanting to model that for my three kids. Adventure, community, and the people I meet along the way who are quietly changing things.
An ancestral teaching or Indigenous worldview that changed how you see life:
"Nothing hard in this world. Only yourself. If you can manage yourself, you can manage anything." Pupu Epeli, the elder of Vorovoro Island, Fiji, where I lived for 5 years. Basically, don't worry too much about what you can't control, and focus on how you respond to each opportunity and challenge.
A human or more-than-human Inspirator who shaped who you are today:
My Dad, Graham Keene!
Even before he became the oldest Brit to climb Everest in 2022, he showed me that adventure can be business and nature-inspired, and that you really can carve your own path.
The trait you are most proud of in yourself: My curiosity for life and the world seems to grow stronger with age.
The trait you most value in others: Action. So many of us talk about changing, starting, or doing things, but only a few act. Whether they succeed or fail, I love that they get in the arena and try.
Passions & little things that bring you joy: Running regularly, reading books, time with my family and friends, building community around campfires, classrooms and kitchen tables, and travelling to new, wild places - islands, mountains, deserts - and spending time with local guides and communities.
A meaningful place to start for those at the beginning of the regeneration journey: Start turning up to stuff. Join a community. Read a book together. Start with curiosity, not guilt. Rebel Book Club exists precisely for this - books change how you see the world, and doing it together changes what you do about it.
Most used and abused clichés in sustainability that bother you: That our modern world is somehow separate from nature. We are nature! If more of us felt and lived this, things would change faster.
An honest piece of advice for young people who lose hope: All the great, positive changes in our world have happened because a small group of humans decided to act. To start. To try. Find your (positive) tribe and start doing. It feels great, and it might just play a part in a bigger story. You'll never feel more alive.
Must-read books that had a great impact on you: Tough Q!
Top 3 books that have shaped/made me...not necessarily because they're classics, but because when I read them, the idea and energy drove me to act.
· Remote by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson- opened my eyes to the possibility of working from anywhere
· Let My People Go Surfing by Yvon Chouinard - made me realise purposeful, fun business was possible
· The Beach by Alex Garland - the lust for adventure (and how not to do it)
Movies or documentaries you love: An Inconvenient Truth had a big impact on me. I love documentaries!
Websites or podcasts you visit frequently: Outrage & Optimism, Modern Wisdom, Ways to Change the World.
Music that makes you (and your heart) sing: Deep soulful house, peaceful piano, energised folk bands, old-school hip-hop, and 90s indie/grunge, big orchestras.
Places you travelled to that left a mark on you: The great rift valley of Kenya (sabbatical with the family), and the communities you lived alongside through Tribewanted - Sierra Leone, Fiji, Umbria (Italy). I also love home - South West England (Dorset, Devon, Cornwall).
Global Regenerative Voices we should follow:
Clover Hogan
Trends in Regeneration we should keep an eye on: AI for good, specifically how generative AI is being used to solve climate, nature, and healthcare challenges (the stories I'm writing about in my AI for Good book). Also, the rise of community-led movements over top-down sustainability programmes.
Events or gatherings we should attend for inspiration: Blue Earth Summit, Climate Connection, London Tech Week's impact tracks.
Educational resources or courses you recommend: Good with AI cohorts (goodwithai.org), THNK School of Creative Leadership, and Rebel Book Club as ongoing education through reading together.
Reasons to feel optimistic about our future: The number of people quietly building solutions, especially at the intersection of AI and impact. The stories I'm finding for AI for Good give me genuine hope: doctors using AI to reach patients they never could, conservationists mapping biodiversity in real time, entrepreneurs making climate fundraising accessible.
Reasons to feel pessimistic about our future: The speed of the crisis versus the speed of systemic change. And the risk that AI accelerates extraction faster than it accelerates regeneration.
Regenerative Leadership values much needed today: Everyone getting involved with purposeful work, and getting more capital into it.
The quote that inspires you:
"Keep your head in the clouds and feet on the ground."
Your quote that will inspire us:
