Plain English with Derek Thompson

All-star VC Josh Wolfe of Lux Capital joins the show to talk about picking winners and losers, tech's rough start to the year, and his four favorite mottos for detecting BS and seeing reality clearly. Finally, Derek and Josh play a game of "Overrated or Underrated?" for the metaverse, NFTs, and space travel.

Host: Derek Thompson

Guest: Josh Wolfe

Producer: Devon Manze

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Wilt Chamberlain’s 100-point game. Joe DiMaggio’s 56-game hit streak. Jerry Rice's gazillion receiving records. Which of these athletic achievements is the most impressive in American sports history? And are any of them the most impressive ever? The Ringer's Ryen Russillo joins the pod to debate the most impressive achievements in football, basketball, baseball, and individual sports. Then, after making selections that will almost certainly infuriate at least half of all listeners, the guys compare the GOATs across sports to name the single most impressive accomplishment ever. (Hint: Ironically, the award goes to a non-American.)

Host: Derek Thompson

Guest: Ryen Russillo

Producer: Devon Manze

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What if I told you that the anti-vaccination trucker protests in Canada weren’t principally about vaccines or truckers (or even Canada)? The Atlantic’s David Frum joins to set us straight about what’s going on in Ottawa and the meme-ification of protest politics.

Host: Derek Thompson

Guest: David Frum

Producer: Devon Manze

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Derek goes deep with bestselling author Dan Pink on his new book, 'The Power of Regret.' This episode was recorded in front of a live audience at the Sixth & I historic synagogue in Washington, D.C.

Host: Derek Thompson

Guest: Dan Pink 

Producer: Devon Manze

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Kevin Roose of The New York Times returns to our pod, which is owned by Spotify, to talk about Joe Rogan’s podcast, which is exclusively licensed by Spotify. (That's transparency, folks.) Then we talk about Mark Zuckerberg’s big stock market wipeout, and Kevin explains the latest NFT controversy to Derek like he’s 5 years old.

Host: Derek Thompson

Guest: Kevin Roose

Producer: Devon Manze

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Jason Furman is a Harvard professor who served as a top economist for the Obama administration. More than just about anybody Derek spoke to last year, he nailed the rise in inflation. What did he see that others didn't? What's happening to inflation, the Great Resignation, labor shortages, and the Federal Reserve right now? And what will happen in 2022?

Host: Derek Thompson

Guest: Jason Furman

Producer: Devon Manze

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They’re the six largest tech companies in the world. What’s the most interesting thing about each of them? Shira Ovide, author of the On Tech newsletter from The New York Times, joins Derek to talk about why Norway is a snapshot of Tesla’s future, why Microsoft is so underrated, and why Apple stands alone among the tech giants in more ways than one.

Host: Derek Thompson

Guest: Shira Ovide

Producer: Devon Manze

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Americans owe $1.7 trillion in student loans, and some Democrats think the time has come to cancel this burden. Derek shares 10 big student-loan facts that shape the debate. Then Jordan Weissmann of Slate joins the podcast to talk about the proposal to cancel student debt, the best arguments for and against it, the modern history of student loans, and their economic and psychological burden.

Host: Derek Thompson

Guest: Jordan Weissmann

Producer: Devon Manze

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Morgan Housel, the bestselling author of ‘The Psychology of Money’ and a partner at Collaborative Fund, is back to talk Bitcoin, Peloton, tech stocks, financial media myths, the psychology of stock market corrections, and the long view of investing.

Host: Derek Thompson

Guest: Morgan Housel

Producer: Devon Manze

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Legendary journalist James Fallows joins to discuss the filibuster wars, Democrats’ Voting Rights Act, the political outlook for Joe Biden and the Democrats, and the media’s negativity bias (as exemplified, one might argue, in the headline to this very episode).

Host: Derek Thompson

Guest: James Fallows

Producer: Devon Manze

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Do movie theaters have a future? What should Disney do with ESPN? And is anybody watching Peacock? Derek’s favorite entertainment-media analyst Rich Greenfield joins the pod to talk about the future of TV, movies, and live sports.

Host: Derek Thompson

Guest: Rich Greenfield 

Producer: Devon Manze

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Okay, almost everybody. The Biden administration was wrong. Many critics of the Biden administration were also wrong. The Federal Reserve was wrong. Investors were wrong. Banks were wrong. And Bitcoin investors weren't exactly right, either. How did everybody miss the most important economic story of the year? Derek breaks down the highest inflation rate in 40 years and welcomes back his economic roundtable guests, the finance podcasters Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson. 

Host: Derek Thompson

Guests: Michael Batnick & Ben Carlson 

Producer: Devon Manze

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Derek talks about the rise of the "Vaxxed and Done" movement before reviewing the latest omicron data with John Burn-Murdoch, data superstar at the Financial Times.

Host: Derek Thompson

Guest: John Burn-Murdoch 

Producer: Devon Manze

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Let’s kick off the new year with a bit of techno-optimism! After a miserable start to this decade, we can still have a Roaring Twenties. In this episode, ‘Plain English’ presents a tour of the frontier of science and technology with Derek’s favorite innovation writer, the economist Eli Dourado.

Host: Derek Thompson

Guest: Eli Dourado

Producer: Devon Manze

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David Frum joins Derek to talk about rising and falling polarization by race, gender, education, and place—and what it tells us about America's strange new politics.

Host: Derek Thompson

Guest: David Frum

Producer: Devon Manze

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Morgan Housel, Collaborative Fund partner and author of the bestseller 'The Psychology of Money,' joins the pod to debate what we're getting wrong about inflation, the Great Resignation, robots, and investing.

Host: Derek Thompson

Guest: Morgan Housel

Producer: Devon Manze

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New York Times tech columnist Kevin Roose is back to talk about the Age of Elon, why tech’s most famous founders are acting so weird, and why I’m wrong about remote work. Plus, a 2022 prediction.

Host: Derek Thompson

Guest: Kevin Roose

Producer: Devon Manze

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Derek is obsessed with the trial of disgraced Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes—and he hopes you are too. Days away from the trial's end, Derek and Rebecca review the most jaw-dropping evidence in the case, the cringiest text messages, the biggest wins for the prosecution, the best moments for the defense, and the larger meaning of the tech trial of the century.

Host: Derek Thompson

Guest: Rebecca Jarvis

Producer: Devon Manze

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Bryan Curtis from The Ringer’s ‘The Press Box’ podcast joins Derek to hand out grades to the news media for its coverage of Biden, the pandemic, and more. 

Host: Derek Thompson

Guest: Bryan Curtis

Producer: Devon Manze

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Derek talks to Anne Helen Petersen, the coauthor of 'Out of Work: The Big Problem and Bigger Promise of Working from Home,' about Americans' relationship to our jobs, work as an identity, and burnout as a policy choice.

Host: Derek Thompson

Guest: Anne Helen Petersen

Producer: Devon Manze

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In our first weekend special, Andrew interviews Derek about the state of the economy, and Derek interviews Andrew about the various plagues of U.S. politics.

Host: Derek Thompson

Guest: Andrew Yang

Producer: Devon Manze

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Derek talks to The Atlantic's Anne Applebaum on the decline of democracy and the rise of a new form of authoritarianism in Russia, China, Europe, and the U.S.

Host: Derek Thompson

Guest: Anne Applebaum

Producer: Devon Manze

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Dr. Peter Hotez talks to Derek about what we know about the new COVID-19 variant (a little), what we don't know (a lot), and when we'll know more.

Host: Derek Thompson

Guests: Dr. Peter Hotez

Producer: Devon Manze

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The Atlantic's Amanda Mull joins the podcast to debate Derek about which COVID-19–related cultural trends will thrive or fade in the 2020s.

Host: Derek Thompson

Guest: Amanda Mull

Producer: Devon Manze

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Our first Economic Roundtable discusses rising prices, the Great Resignation, labor shortages, the supply chain mess, Joe Biden’s puking approval numbers, and what the White House can do to turn things around. 

Host: Derek Thompson

Guests: Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson 

Producer: Devon Manze

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In our first episode, The New York Times’s Kevin Roose joins the show to walk Derek through the metaverse, crypto, NFTs, and the maybe-BS or maybe-brilliant future of technology.

Host: Derek Thompson

Guest: Kevin Roose

Producer: Devon Manze

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Longtime Atlantic writer Derek Thompson breaks down your weekly headlines in his new podcast, ‘Plain English.’ From tech to politics to culture, Derek and his expert guests cut through the noise surrounding the news and tackle the big questions that matter to you. ‘Plain English’ launches November 16, with new episodes dropping every Tuesday and Friday.

Host: Derek Thompson

Producer: Devon Manze

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