Derek Thompson
Senior Editor, The Atlantic
Derek Thompson is a staff writer at The Atlantic and host of the podcast Plain English. He is the author of Hit Makers and the co-author of Abundance alongside Ezra Klein, which explores the case for renewing the politics of plenty in the modern world.
“You can debate all sorts of things about how the texture of American life has changed. What you can’t debate is the sheer, objective, existential fact that Americans are more alone than ever.”
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12 min
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“I’d prefer to think about a different axis, which is, should government be more or less effective? Should government work faster or slower?”
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8 min
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“The disease is the fact that liberalism, which used to be an ideology of building, has become an ideology of blocking.”
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01:17:12 min
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There’s a reason you can’t stop you head boppin’ to block-rockin’ beats, and why you can’t get a song’s hook out of your head.
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5 min
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The scandalous history of the Billboard Hot 100 is the perfect analogy for how Donald Trump’s popularity broke the rigid power structure of American politics.
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4 min
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Is coolness wearing a leather jacket and slicking your hair back? Or is it “a measured rebellion” within established boundaries? One big thinker tells us that being “cool” is sort of like a cult, at least from a sociological standpoint.
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4 min
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History is littered with thousands of things that tried to appeal to everyone and yet failed miserably. If you want true success, try to appeal to a core group.
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4 min
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Here’s why your brain’s biases are a win for fake news, and a pay day for Facebook.
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9 min
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So, how do you make something popular? Simple! You just update something old. This applies to storytelling, design, and even tech gadgets.
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7 min
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