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. 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 plainenglish@spotify.com! Subscribe to our YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/@PlainEnglishwithDerekThompson

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Every guest on Plain English with Derek Thompson

219 guests, ranked by how many people never want them back.

1. —
   Laurie Santos

   The Surprising Truth About America's Friendship Crisis · 3 episodes

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2. —
   Anne Helen Petersen

   Work in America Is Broken—Can Remote Work Save Us? · Dec 2021

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3. —
   Austan Goolsbee

   Harsh Truths About 2024 and the Future of the U.S. Economy · 2 episodes

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4. —
   Ben Smith

   Ben Smith on the Future of News, How to Start a Media Company, and Why TikTok Is a Time Bomb · Oct 2022

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5. —
   Casey Newton

   When Will the Ukraine War End? (Plus: 10 Good Minutes on What the Hell Elon Musk Is Doing With Twitter) · Apr 2022

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6. —
   Charles Piller

   Fraud, Scandal, and Failure in the Fight Against Alzheimer's Disease · Feb 2025

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7. —
   Charlie Warzel

   Elon Musk’s Meltdown, the Death of Twitter, and the Chaotic Future of Social Media · 4 episodes

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8. —
   David Frum

   What American Media Is Getting Wrong About Canada’s Big Protests · 2 episodes

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9. —
   David Wallace-Wells
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10. —
    Emily Oster

    Vaccine Conspiracies, Fluoride Myths, and America’s Broken Public-Health Discourse · Nov 2024

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11. —
    Gideon Lewis-Kraus

    Are Flying Cars Finally Here? · May 2024

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12. —
    James Fallows

    UFOs and Aliens and Drones and Balloons: Understanding the U.S. Sky Wars · 2 episodes

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13. —
    Jeffrey Sonnenfeld
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14. —
    Joe Weisenthal

    The Media Theory That Explains “99% of Everything” · Feb 2026

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15. —
    John Johnson

    The Future of Entertainment, Part 2: What’s the Matter With Broadway? · Oct 2025

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16. —
    Kevin Roose

    Tech Talk: AI Supremacy, TikTok’s Fate, and Crypto Decadence · 8 episodes

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17. —
    Kyla Scanlon

    Could the Fed Break the World Economy? · Oct 2022

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18. —
    Liz Hoffman

    Silicon Valley Bank Collapse FAQ: Whose Fault Is It? How Can We Stop a Bank Panic? What Comes Next? · Mar 2023

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19. —
    Paul Tough

    Why Americans are Losing Faith in College · Sep 2023

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20. —
    Ross Andersen
    0 votes

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21. —
    Taylor Lorenz

    Should You Be Afraid of TikTok? · Apr 2022

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22. —
    Zeke Faux

    Inside the Trial of Sam Bankman-Fried · Oct 2023

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23. —
    Anne Applebaum

    How Ukraine Wins · 2 episodes

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24. —
    George Packer

    How Henry Kissinger’s Catastrophes and Triumphs Changed the World · Dec 2023

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25. —
    Juliette Kayyem

    China’s Spy Balloon Is Down. Cold War 2.0 Risks Are Rising. · Feb 2023

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26. —
    Matthew Ball
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27. —
    Olga Khazan

    It's Not Just You: America's Epidemic of Bad Behavior · Apr 2022

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28. —
    Ross Douthat

    Why the Iran War Is Tearing MAGA Apart · 2 episodes

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29. —
    Vinod Khosla
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30. —
    Alex Smith
    0 votes

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31. —
    Ben Thompson

    How AI Could Change Apple and Google, Writing and Music, and Everything Else · 2 episodes

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32. —
    Eli Dourado

    ChatGPT, Obesity Drugs, Exoplanet Images, and Medical Miracles: The Most Amazing Breakthroughs of 2022 · 2 episodes

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33. —
    Emily Wilson

    What Translator Emily Wilson Thinks of Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey' · Jul 2026

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34. —
    Ethan Mollick

    What Happens When AI Learns to Do Our Jobs · Oct 2025

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35. —
    Jack Clark

    Anthropic Thinks AI Might Destroy the Economy. It's Building It Anyway. · Mar 2026

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36. —
    Josh Wolfe

    Four Brilliant Frames for Finding the Next Big Thing, With Venture Capitalist Josh Wolfe. Plus, What's Eating Tech Stocks in 2022? · Feb 2022

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37. —
    Matt Belloni

    The Jimmy Kimmel Saga and America's Free-Speech Crisis · 5 episodes

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38. —
    Nick Epley

    Plain English BEST OF: The Antisocial Century · 2 episodes

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39. —
    Agnes Callard

    A Philosopher’s One-Word Theory for Why the World Feels So Weird · Jul 2026

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40. —
    Alex Stamos

    It May Be Time to Freak Out About AI · Aug 2026

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