How Abundance Has Failed and Succeeded
Oct 16, 2026
A year and a half after 'Abundance,' Derek Thompson and Ezra Klein’s book about why America has become so bad at building things, the time has come for reflection. Some commentators declare the…
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).
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America’s Crisis of Social Connection, With Adam Grant
Oct 13, 2026
Americans spend more time alone than ever, as parties, nights out with friends, and dinner gatherings become less common. Cellphones, social media, TV, and the internet have made it easier than ever…
Russia’s Plague Mystery and the Coming Age of Bioweapons
Oct 09, 2026
AI apocalypse, recession fears, sky-high mortgage rates, and now, the plague? Last week, a researcher at a plague institute in Siberia died after developing severe pneumonia, sparking rumors of…
The Bitter Rivalries Behind the Race to Build Superintelligence
Oct 06, 2026
Sam Altman, Dario Amodei, and Demis Hassabis are three of the most important figures in AI superintelligence, but each of them have very different ideas about what this technology should become and…
Why the Midterms Suddenly Look So Bad for Republicans
Oct 02, 2026
Last year, Republicans were the heavy favorites to hold the Senate in the following years midterms. Now, however, prediction markets and political forecasters see a very different race. Today, Nate…
Why Things Become Popular, with Chuck Klosterman
Sep 29, 2026
What makes a hit a hit? Why do some bands make it while others fade into obscurity? Chuck Klosterman’s new book imagines an alternate history of 20th century music and uses it to explore why some…
The Single Smartest Case Against AI Doom
Sep 25, 2026
With new breakthroughs in math and biology alongside reports of AI agents escaping and hacking systems, suffice it to say AI has had an interesting few weeks. How worried should we be about it…
The Truth About Mississippi's Education "Miracle"
Sep 18, 2026
Education outcomes have been getting worse across much of the world, with reading and math scores falling to historic lows. The U.S. has seen some of the steepest declines in decades.
But, why does…
Why Experts Keep Getting the Economy So Wrong
Sep 15, 2026
Expert economists keep making predictions about America’s financial future, and those predictions keep being … wrong. Over the past few years, we’ve heard warnings about a recession, inflation…
What’s the Point of College?
Sep 11, 2026
Trust in American higher education is near a historic low. Tuition has soared, and the payoff for a college degree is now in question as graduates face a weird and challenging job market…
The New Book That Scares Big Tech
Sep 08, 2026
In the late 19th century, a railroad boom fueled by easy money, speculative investment, and new technology helped kick off one of the worst financial crises in American history. Sound kind of…
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…