Plain English with Derek Thompson
The Ringer
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 plaine…
Episodes
- Russia’s Plague Mystery and the Coming Age of Bioweapons
Oct 9, 2026
- The Bitter Rivalries Behind the Race to Build Superintelligence
Oct 6, 2026
- Why the Midterms Suddenly Look So Bad for Republicans
Oct 2, 2026
- Why Things Become Popular, with Chuck Klosterman
Sep 29, 2026
- The Single Smartest Case Against AI Doom
Sep 25, 2026
- The Truth About Mississippi's Education "Miracle"
Sep 18, 2026
- Why Experts Keep Getting the Economy So Wrong
Sep 15, 2026
- What’s the Point of College?
Sep 11, 2026
- The New Book That Scares Big Tech
Sep 8, 2026
- AI Slop Is Breaking the Internet. Can We Save It?
Sep 1, 2026
- Why Everything Is Going to Keep Getting More Expensive
Aug 25, 2026
- Higher Education’s Age of ‘Insufferable Hypocrisy’
Aug 18, 2026
- It May Be Time to Freak Out About AI
Aug 14, 2026
- Why Americans Hate Data Centers
Aug 11, 2026
- Why America Is Switching From Booze to Weed
Aug 5, 2026
- "The End of Reading Is Here"
Jul 28, 2026
- What Translator Emily Wilson Thinks of Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey'
Jul 22, 2026
- Why 'The Odyssey' Is the West’s Greatest Story
Jul 17, 2026
- A Philosopher’s One-Word Theory for Why the World Feels So Weird
Jul 14, 2026
- How Israel Is Transforming American Politics
Jul 7, 2026
- MEGAPOD: The Most Overrated American Who Ever Lived
Jul 3, 2026
- A Surprising Theory About the Future of War
Jun 30, 2026
- SpaceX, AI Bubble Fears, and The Age of the Trillion-Dollar, Zero-Profit Company
Jun 26, 2026
- The Iran War Is Ending. Everybody Lost.
Jun 23, 2026
- The Donald Trump Corruption Scandal Draft
Jun 19, 2026
- The Most Exciting Month of Medical Breakthroughs in Years
Jun 16, 2026
- Old-igarchy: How the Elderly Conquered American Power
Jun 12, 2026
- How Modern Fatherhood Is Changing Men’s Brains
Jun 9, 2026
- What 400,000 Essays Reveal About AI and Creativity
Jun 5, 2026
- The Surprising Truth About America's Friendship Crisis
Jun 2, 2026
- Why the NBA Feels Broken—and Why the League Can’t Fix It
May 29, 2026
- The Men Who Think Toxic Feminism Destroyed America
May 22, 2026
- Does Anybody Know How to Solve an American Debt Crisis?
May 19, 2026
- The Global Fertility Crisis Is Worse Than You Think
May 15, 2026
- The Case Against the AI Job Apocalypse
May 12, 2026
- Why American Happiness Just Fell Off a Cliff
May 8, 2026
- One of the Deadliest Cancers in America May Have Met Its Match
May 5, 2026
- Why Too Much Freedom Is the Enemy of Success
May 1, 2026
- Why the Iran War Is Tearing MAGA Apart
Apr 28, 2026
- The Triple Crisis That’s Breaking Hollywood—and Changing the Future of Movies
Apr 24, 2026
- The Most Powerful and Dangerous AI Model Yet
Apr 21, 2026
- The Whole World Is Fighting About Energy
Apr 14, 2026
- ‘The Job Market for Young People Is Brutal’
Apr 10, 2026
- America's Religious Revival Is a Mirage
Apr 8, 2026
- Is China the Winner of the Iran War?
Apr 3, 2026
- Why We're Addicted to ‘Sh*tty Flow’
Mar 31, 2026
- Anthropic Thinks AI Might Destroy the Economy. It's Building It Anyway.
Mar 27, 2026
- America's Tax System Is Broken
Mar 24, 2026
- The Casino-ification of America
Mar 20, 2026
- "Yes, AI Is a Bubble. There Is No Question."
Mar 17, 2026
