Plain English with Derek Thompson

News analysis and conversations on technology, culture and politics AI summary

The Ringer Visit website › News · EN · 419 episodes · latest 2026-11-13

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What it is about

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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Latest episodes

Jensen Huang’s Downfall Is So Much More Than a Sex Scandal

2026-11-13 · 1 hr 4 min

What happens when the guy at the center of an entire industry is suddenly embroiled in a scandal involving corporate espionage, alleged affairs, and national security? Nvidia founder Jensen Huang’s sudden resignation…
Who Will Emerge as the New Face of the GOP?

2026-11-10 · 1 hr 6 min

The 2026 midterms have left Republicans reeling and Democrats riding a historic wave after a series of missteps by the president and his administration. The last time we saw a political moment like this was in 1974,…
The Six Lessons of the 2026 Midterms

2026-11-06 · 1 hr 10 min

Ten years after Donald Trump stunned the world by winning the 2016 election, his political movement may be approaching its end. Tuesday’s midterms delivered a historic rebuke to the Republican Party, with Democrats…
The Midterms and the End of the Boomer Political Era

2026-11-03 · 1 hr 13 min

Well, it’s midterm day in America, and on my mind are three huge questions for tonight. Number 1: How much water is in the blue wave? Number 2: Everyone’s talking about the cost of living, inflation, and affordability,…
The Netflix Crisis Isn’t What It Seems

2026-10-30 · 54 min

No matter how you look at it, Netflix is having a pretty bad year. Stock is down, growth has slowed, the company recently laid off roughly 1,000 people, and it dismissed its chief content officer and its head of film.…
What Does Effective Altruism Really Believe?

2026-10-27 · 1 hr 7 min

What exactly is effective altruism? Beginning in the early 2010s as a nerdy way to rethink the most cost-effective charity, the movement has since grown into a broader philosophy for thinking about just about everything…
The AI Story Wall Street Doesn't Want to Hear

2026-10-23 · 47 min

The answer to whether AI is a bubble comes down to supply and demand. Is there enough demand to justify the enormous investment in chips and data centers? If businesses keep paying more for AI every year, the debt is…
AI Is Smarter Than Ever. So Where’s the Revolution?

2026-10-20 · 1 hr 8 min

AI can analyze anything, write anything, solve almost any puzzle. But struggle strengthens our brains and sharpens our minds ... and removing it entirely may come with a dire cost. Derek Thompson explores the paradoxes…
How Abundance Has Failed and Succeeded

2026-10-16 · 1 hr 3 min

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 abundance agenda dead. If…
America’s Crisis of Social Connection, With Adam Grant

2026-10-13 · 1 hr 3 min

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 to fill our free…

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Publisher details

Oldest episode in feed: 11/2021 · over 5 years
Typical length: 53 min
Format: Episodic Newest first, episodes stand alone

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