Plain English with Derek Thompson — Podcast Ad Analysis
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Longtime Atlantic tech, culture and political writer Derek Thompson cuts through all the noise surrounding the big questions and headlines that matter to you in his new podcast Plain English. Watch Derek and guests engage the news with clear viewpoints and memorable takeaways. New episodes drop every Tuesday and Friday, and if you've got a topic you want discussed, shoot us an email at [email protected]! Subscribe to our YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/@PlainEnglishwithDerekThompson
PodSkip has analyzed 1 episode of Plain English with Derek Thompson, averaging 4.0 ads per episode (7% of runtime).
AI Slop Is Breaking the Internet. Can We Save It?
Sep 01, 2026
So many people seem to hate AI, and it’s not just because it might displace millions of jobs, destroy the world, or deepen distrust in big corporations and government. The reason might actually be…
Why Everything Is Going to Keep Getting More Expensive
Aug 25, 2026
For much of the 21st century, the U.S. economy was built around cheap money. Today, though, interest rates are rising, and borrowing is getting much more expensive. At the same time, the federal…
Higher Education’s Age of ‘Insufferable Hypocrisy’
Aug 18, 2026
It would be an understatement to say that higher education is in crisis, as it faces attacks from both the current presidential administration as well as issues of its own making, like diversity…
It May Be Time to Freak Out About AI
Aug 14, 2026
Today, Derek talks with cybersecurity expert Alex Stamos about a recent wave of alarming AI cyberattacks. For decades, one of the biggest fears about AI has been that the machines will start doing…
Why Americans Hate Data Centers
Aug 11, 2026
It seems a universal fact that AI has become an indispensable part of the American economy. At the same time, opposing AI has also become one of the most influential causes in American politics…
Why America Is Switching From Booze to Weed
Aug 05, 2026
Two extraordinary trends are happening in the United States simultaneously. One is that alcohol consumption is declining precipitously. The share of Americans who drink has hit a record low since…
"The End of Reading Is Here"
Jul 28, 2026
There’s no doubt that reading is in decline. But what is that decline doing to the way we think? Derek talks with The Atlantic's Rose Horowitch about why Americans are reading fewer books than ever…
What Translator Emily Wilson Thinks of Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey'
Jul 22, 2026
Christopher Nolan's 'The Odyssey' has brought one of history's oldest stories back into the spotlight. It’s also sparked a fresh debate about what it means to adapt a classic.
Today, Derek is joined…
Why 'The Odyssey' Is the West’s Greatest Story
Jul 17, 2026
Christopher Nolan's 'The Odyssey' is finally here, but how exactly has a 3,000-year-old story endured long enough to become the foundation of Western storytelling? Derek is joined by Karen Ní…
A Philosopher’s One-Word Theory for Why the World Feels So Weird
Jul 14, 2026
Why does it feel like everything is more divided and exhausting than it used to be? Philosopher Agnes Callard has a surprisingly simple answer: the unicontext. It's her term for what happens when…
How Israel Is Transforming American Politics
Jul 07, 2026
Peter Beinart joins Derek to unpack a major shift inside the Democratic Party. As Democratic Socialist-backed candidates notch a string of surprising primary victories, one issue has emerged as a…
MEGAPOD: The Most Overrated American Who Ever Lived
Jul 03, 2026
To celebrate America's 250th birthday, Derek is joined for a history draft by three of the country's leading historians: Beverly Gage, H.W. (Bill) Brands, and Richard White. The goal isn't to revisit…
A Surprising Theory About the Future of War
Jun 30, 2026
From the bombing campaigns of World War II to the precision strikes of the modern era, for 80 years air power has defined modern warfare. But today, a new technology is changing the battlefield…
SpaceX, AI Bubble Fears, and The Age of the Trillion-Dollar, Zero-Profit Company
Jun 26, 2026
For decades, investors valued companies based on a familiar formula: Grow revenue, earn profits, and reward shareholders. But a new era may be beginning - one where trillion-dollar companies can lose…
The Iran War Is Ending. Everybody Lost.
Jun 23, 2026
Four months ago, the U.S. and Israel launched a surprise attack on Iran. Supporters predicted a decisive victory that would curb Iran’s nuclear ambitions and reshape the balance of power in the…
The Donald Trump Corruption Scandal Draft
Jun 19, 2026
What is Donald Trump good at? In his second administration, he promised lower prices, stronger manufacturing, and an end to foreign conflicts. Instead, inflation has risen, blue-collar job growth has…
The Most Exciting Month of Medical Breakthroughs in Years
Jun 16, 2026
For years, scientists worried that medical progress was slowing down. Drug development became more expensive than ever with more complex clinical trials, and even then, many new treatments offered…
Old-igarchy: How the Elderly Conquered American Power
Jun 12, 2026
Prior to the 1930s, old age in America often meant poverty. But thanks to Social Security, Medicare, medical advances, and rising asset prices, over the past 90 years, older Americans have become one…
How Modern Fatherhood Is Changing Men’s Brains
Jun 09, 2026
Humans are unusual dads. Across the animal kingdom, dads are often absent from child-rearing altogether. But among humans, fatherhood takes many forms, and in the last half century, it has changed…
What 400,000 Essays Reveal About AI and Creativity
Jun 05, 2026
For generations, we've defined creativity by its products: the novel, the painting, the song, the breakthrough idea. We look at the work, and from the work we see the creator as “creative.” But AI is…
The Surprising Truth About America's Friendship Crisis
Jun 02, 2026
Modern loneliness is often treated as a simple problem: People are simply spending more time alone. But what if that's not the whole story? Over the last several years, Derek has written about…
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Why the NBA Feels Broken—and Why the League Can’t Fix It
May 29, 2026
The NBA’s vibes have been unusually awful recently. There has been widespread hand-wringing about the homogenization of modern offenses and the league’s notoriously weak regular-season TV ratings. A…
The Men Who Think Toxic Feminism Destroyed America
May 22, 2026
Over the past century, attitudes about gender roles have become one of the clearest dividing lines in the country. Many Republicans, both men and women, say men are getting a raw deal in modern…
Does Anybody Know How to Solve an American Debt Crisis?
May 19, 2026
On his 40th birthday, Derek Thompson takes a step back and looks at how his thinking on the national debt has changed. Back when he first covered fiscal policy, concern about government borrowing was…
The Global Fertility Crisis Is Worse Than You Think
May 15, 2026
Fertility rates are collapsing around the world. In rich countries and poor ones, in secular societies and religious ones, people are having fewer children than ever before. Some explanations focus…
The Case Against the AI Job Apocalypse
May 12, 2026
For the past few years, Silicon Valley executives and economists have warned that artificial intelligence could wipe out millions of jobs. Some companies have even blamed AI for layoffs. But what if…
Why American Happiness Just Fell Off a Cliff
May 08, 2026
America is richer than ever. Unemployment is low. Wages are high. According to traditional metrics, the economy looks strong. So why are Americans feeling so bad?
Today, Derek talks with bestselling…
One of the Deadliest Cancers in America May Have Met Its Match
May 05, 2026
Hard to detect and almost impossible to treat, pancreatic cancer has long been one of medicine’s most ruthless killers. For decades, it’s been the cancer that science couldn’t crack. But that might…
Why Too Much Freedom Is the Enemy of Success
May 01, 2026
Freedom is one of the few ideas everyone agrees on. Surely more choice and autonomy is a good thing, right? But what if our endless pursuit of freedom is actually making us more anxious, less…
Why the Iran War Is Tearing MAGA Apart
Apr 28, 2026
For nearly a decade, critics have predicted that this would be the moment Trumpism finally fractures - January 6, the overturning of Roe v. Wade, endless internal feuds, even Trump’s online beef with…