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PODCAST

Plain English with Derek Thompson

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. Hear 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 plainenglish@spotify.com! You can also find us on tiktok at www.tiktok.com/@plainenglish_

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All Episodes

64:45

Why Fertility Rates Are Plunging—in the U.S., South...

Plain English with Derek Thompson ·

2023/06/13

Last year, there were 3,661,220 babies born in the U.S. That sounds like a lot. But historically speaking, it’s really not. It’s actually 15 percent below our peak in 2007. And it means America’s total fertility rate—the average number of babies a woman today is expected to have in her lifetime, based on current trends—is essentially stuck at its all-time record low. For decades, the U.S. birthrate has been below the so-called replacement level of 2.1. Today it’s around 1.6. Sometimes, I feel a

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53:00

Why So Many Young Men Are Lonely, Sexless, and...

Plain English with Derek Thompson ·

2023/06/06

Today’s episode is about the state of men in America. Last week, the non-profit institute Equimondo published a report on the state of men and boys in America: “Many men—especially younger men—are socially disconnected, pessimistic about the future, and turning to online anger," they wrote. "They are facing higher rates of depressive symptoms, suicidal thoughts, and a sense of isolation, as seen in the agreement of 65 percent that 'no one really knows me well.'" One survey is one survey. It doesn’t

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50:21

How Hollywood's Writers Strike Could Change the...

Plain English with Derek Thompson ·

2023/05/30

In May of this year, the Writers Guild of America went on strike. For weeks, TV and film writers have been walking in picket lines in Los Angeles and New York, and the strike threatens to bring TV and film development to a screeching halt. Historically, strikes both reflect history—the ever-changing business models behind the media we consume—and change history. The 2007-8 strike famously accelerated the rise of reality TV. Today’s guest is Matt Belloni, the host of the Ringer podcast 'The Town' and

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45:10

Why Youth Sports in America Are in Decline

Plain English with Derek Thompson ·

2023/05/23

In the last five years, high school sports participation has fallen for the first time on record. The number of boys playing high school sports today is lower than in any year since 2007. While travel leagues are thriving, local leagues are flailing—for football, soccer, baseball, basketball ... you name it. And this is happening, of course, in a decade when young people are spending less time in the physical world, less time with their friends, less time moving around, and more time sitting hunched

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88:11

The Future of War Is Here

Plain English with Derek Thompson ·

2023/05/16

Today’s episode is about how artificial intelligence will change the future of war. First, we have Brian Schimpf, the CEO of Anduril, a military technology company that builds AI programs for the Department of Defense. Next we have the Atlantic author Ross Andersen on how to prevent AI from blowing up the world. If you have questions, observations, or ideas for future episodes, email us at PlainEnglish@Spotify.com. You can find us on TikTok at www.tiktok.com/@plainenglish_ Host: Derek

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43:04

A Diet Conspiracy: Is Ice Cream Secretly Good for You?

Plain English with Derek Thompson ·

2023/05/09

Today’s episode is about a narrow question and a broad question. The narrow question is: Is ice cream secretly good for you? The broader question is about the nature of uncertainty and truth, how diet science actually works, and how bias plays a role in scientific discovery. Our guest is public health historian and journalist David Johns, who has reported on ice cream science for The Atlantic. If you have questions, observations, or ideas for future episodes, email us

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85:24

An Optimistic Guide to America’s Clean-Energy Future

Plain English with Derek Thompson ·

2023/05/02

The world is engaged in a multitrillion-dollar project to decarbonize the economy to slow or reverse climate change. But what exactly does that mean? How optimistic should we be that we can pull this off? And what new technology do we need to build to make it happen? This is a mega-pod with two guests. Ramez Naam is a writer, speaker, and one of the best technologists I know at explaining the progress we’re making toward building a clean-energy economy. And Vinod Khosla is one of the most famous

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65:05

The Most Important Thing Most Americans Misunderstand...

Plain English with Derek Thompson ·

2023/04/25

I am fascinated by sleep and also—perhaps, relatedly—not very good at it. Like tens of millions of Americans, I've had trouble falling asleep and staying asleep for most of my life. I also know that sleep is the glue that holds together health—a fact that sometimes haunts me as I toss and turn at night. Behind the fitness and health fads, what's the truth about insomnia? How dangerous is it? When do we know when we have a problem? How is it different from sleep deprivation? What have we learned

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70:12

How American Cities Can Avoid the ‘Urban Doom Loop’

Plain English with Derek Thompson ·

2023/04/18

Today’s episode is about the future of the American city. Many downtowns are "wounded renditions of their once-robust selves." Offices are empty. Commercial real estate is losing value, pulling down municipal tax revenue. Fewer commuters means less transit revenue. Fewer downtown shoppers means less downtown employment. This has led some economists to worry about an "urban doom loop." Dror Poleg, an author and adviser who writes about the future of cities, talks about the knock-on effects of urban

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55:10

Americans Die Younger Than People in Any Other Rich...

Plain English with Derek Thompson ·

2023/04/11

Today’s episode is about guns, drugs, cars, and a big question: Why do Americans die so much younger than people in any other rich country? Before the 1990s, average life expectancy in the U.S. was not much different than it was in western Europe: Germany, France, the U.K. But since the 1990s, something very strange and clearly bad has happened. Americans got much richer than Europeans. But American life spans have fallen behind those of Europeans so dramatically that today, the typical American has

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58:54

How Strong Is the Case Against Donald Trump?

Plain English with Derek Thompson ·

2023/04/06

Derek talks to ‘Semafor’ political reporter Dave Weigel about how the Trump indictment could reshape the election—or turn out to be a big ole nothing burger. But before that, Norman Eisen, a lawyer who served as cocounsel for the House Judiciary Committee during the first impeachment and trial of Donald Trump, argues that Alvin Bragg's case is much stronger than the conventional wisdom. If you have questions, observations, or ideas for future episodes, email us at PlainEnglish@Spotify.com. You can

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55:06

Myth-Busting Wellness Hacks: Cold Plunges, Coffee,...

Plain English with Derek Thompson ·

2023/04/04

Today, we go wading in the murky waters of 2023 wellness trends. We’re talking cold plunges, fitness trackers, and recovery scores. And on the more prosaic side, the real science of coffee and alcohol. Today’s guests are Brad Stulberg and Steve Magness. They are the cofounders of The Growth Equation, a multimedia platform dedicated to health, excellence, and well-being. They are authors of ‘Peak Performance,’ ‘Do Hard Things,’ and ‘The Practice of Groundedness.’ And for quite a while I have

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26:24

Eight Burning Questions About the Donald Trump...

Plain English with Derek Thompson ·

2023/03/31

Donald Trump has been indicted. But what do we actually know about the case against him? What will the charges be? Is there any legal precedent for the prosecution? What happens when he's arrested? Could he run for office from prison? How does this change the Republican presidential race? What about all those other investigations proceeding against Trump, in Georgia and D.C.? Is this indictment good for Donald Trump's presidential hopes in an underrated way or the beginning of a bigger downfall

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50:55

Why the Cult of Achievement in Schools Is Making...

Plain English with Derek Thompson ·

2023/03/28

Today’s episode is about how we think about success—and how our high school and college systems might be teaching us the wrong lessons about achievement and personal progress. Our guest is Lisa Damour, a psychologist and the author of three New York Times bestsellers, including 'The Emotional Lives of Teenagers.' If you have questions, observations, or ideas for future episodes, email us at PlainEnglish@Spotify.com. You can find us on TikTok at www.tiktok.com/@plainenglish_ Host: Derek

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58:16

A Mind-Expanding Conversation About Human History and...

Plain English with Derek Thompson ·

2023/03/24

Sometimes on this show, we talk about the news. This episode is about the diametric opposite of the news. It’s about thinking deeply about human history and trying to appreciate the awesome length of time and the finitude of our lives. It's an interview with Tim Urban, a blogger at the mind-expanding site Wait But Why, and the author of a new book What’s Our Problem: A Self-Help Book for Societies. If you don’t know Tim and his work, I would sum up his thing this way: Tim is a kind of alien. He has

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63:13

The AI Revolution Could Be Bigger and Weirder Than We...

Plain English with Derek Thompson ·

2023/03/21

Derek unpacks his thoughts about GPT-4 and what it means to be, possibly, at the dawn of a sea change in technology. Then, he talks to Charlie Warzel, staff writer at The Atlantic, about what GPT-4 is capable of, the most interesting ways people are using it, how it could change the way we work, and why some people think it will bring about the apocalypse. If you have questions, observations, or ideas for future episodes, email us at PlainEnglish@Spotify.com. You can find us on TikTok at

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40:53

MAILBAG: Why Does the Internet Make Us Depressed?...

Plain English with Derek Thompson ·

2023/03/17

Derek answers your burning questions in a special mailbag episode! If you have questions, observations, or ideas for future episodes, email us at PlainEnglish@Spotify.com. You can find us on TikTok at www.tiktok.com/@plainenglish_ Host: Derek Thompson Producer: Devon Manze Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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44:29

The SVB Debacle: The Biggest Myths, the...

Plain English with Derek Thompson ·

2023/03/15

Derek welcomes back the economic roundtable of Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson, cohosts of the 'Animal Spirits' podcast, to debate who killed Silicon Valley Bank, how much we should blame the Fed, how much we should blame Silicon Valley venture capital firms, whether this will change the direction of monetary policy, and whether the U.S. has too many banks in the first place. If you have questions, observations, or ideas for future episodes, email us at PlainEnglish@Spotify.com. You can find us on

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40:56

Silicon Valley Bank Collapse FAQ: Whose Fault Is It?...

Plain English with Derek Thompson ·

2023/03/13

RIP, SVB. America's 16th-largest bank was just destroyed by the largest bank run in U.S. history. To talk about what happened and what happens next, we have Liz Hoffman, business and finance editor at Semafor and the author of the book 'Crash Landing,' on the Fed’s response to the pandemic. If you have questions, observations, or ideas for future episodes, email us at PlainEnglish@Spotify.com. You can find us on TikTok at www.tiktok.com/@plainenglish_ Host: Derek Thompson Guest: Liz

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53:26

"Industrial Policy" Is the Hottest Idea in Economics....

Plain English with Derek Thompson ·

2023/03/10

Under President Biden, the U.S. is pivoting toward what some people call “industrial policy”—that is, using the government to support key industries, like green energy manufacturing and the manufacture of advanced computer chips. There is a strong case against industrial policy in economics: It’s the idea that governments do not know better than markets when it comes to picking winners, and industrial policy just wastes money and distorts the economy. But there’s another view, which is that

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338 results

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