Plain English
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Why Does the Internet Hate Amber Heard?
It’s the trial of the century—kind of. The legal showdown between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard has captivated the country, and Derek is a bit confused. Why is everybody talking about this miserable celebrity relationship?
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The Mystery of America’s Missing Baby Formula
Derek chats with economist Scott Lincicome about how we got here and how we can get back to a rational baby formula policy in America
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Why the U.S. Could Be Headed For the “Weirdest Recession Ever”
Plus, what’s the long-term viability of cryptocurrency?
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Market Meltdown: We Are in the Middle of the Second Dot-Com Bubble
Investor and entrepreneur Jason Calacanis gives us a brief history of the 21st century tech industry, explains why this is like and unlike the summer of 2000, and makes some bold predictions about crypto and the economy
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The Future of AI Is Thrilling, Terrifying, Confusing, and Fascinating
Derek and bestselling author Steven Johnson discuss what advancements in AI will mean for the future of work, morality, and economics
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The 300-Year History of Abortion in America—in 30 Minutes
Derek and historians of abortion Mary Ziegler and Karissa Haugeberg provide a a fast, factual guide to how we got to this moment in America
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How Would the End of Roe v. Wade Change America?
Derek breaks down the ramifications of the reported Supreme Court leak
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Economic Mystery Hour: How Low Will Stocks Go? Is a Recession Inevitable?
Plus, debating the good and not-so-good reasons for canceling student debt
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Why Is It So Hard to Predict the Next Great Quarterback?
Derek and David Berri discuss the complicated process behind finding the most important position in football
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The End of the Golden Age of Streaming
Derek Thompson is joined by Rich Greenfield and Nick Papantonis for a big media hellscape roundup that touches on Netflix, CNN+, and whatever the hell is going on between Disney and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis
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Instant Reaction Pod! Elon Musk Buys Twitter. So, What Happens Next?
Derek Thompson and Charlie Warzel discuss how the acquisition could change media, tech, and politics
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Why Are American Teenagers So Sad and Anxious?
Derek is joined by Jonathan Haidt, a social psychologist at New York University, to discuss the effects of social media and the evolution of parenting
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How Joe Biden Lost Millennials
Pollster and politics writer Kristen Soltis Anderson joins the show to talk about Biden’s eroding approval among young people and what it means for November
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The News About Shanghai’s COVID Lockdown Is Shocking. The Reality Might Be Worse.
Derek is joined by writer and tech analyst Dan Wang to discuss China’s COVID Zero policy and whether protests could make a difference to the Chinese Communist Party
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Instant Reaction Pod! Elon Musk Offers to Buy 100 Percent of Twitter.
Derek welcomes Stratechery writer Ben Thompson to talk about why Twitter is one of the most important companies in the world, why it’s so undervalued, and what Musk could do with it privately
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When Will the Ukraine War End?
Plus: 10 good minutes on what Elon Musk is doing with Twitter
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It’s Not Just You: America’s Epidemic of Bad Behavior
Derek and Olga Khazan of ‘The Atlantic’ talk about how America lost its damn mind and review the most obvious and interesting theories for what’s really behind this bad-behavior epidemic
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Why U.S. Population Growth Crashed to a Record Low
Derek explains how immigration, birth rates, and the pandemic have all affected America’s slow pace of growth
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Should You Be Afraid of TikTok?
Derek breaks down Meta’s issues with its social media rival
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What Is the “Don’t Say Gay” Law Really About?
Plus, the big Disney vs. DeSantis showdown in Florida
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How Ukraine Wins
Derek talks to The Atlantic’s Anne Applebaum about Zelensky’s global appeal, the roots of Putin’s lust for empire, and Ukraine’s prospects for victory
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Could Putin’s War Crash the U.S. Economy?
Derek is joined by Jason Furman to discuss the worldwide economic impacts of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
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Five Reasons Putin’s War Was Doomed From the Start
Russia military analyst Rob Lee and diplomacy expert Max Bergmann explain how Ukraine is shocking Russia—and the world
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Why a No-Fly Zone Over Ukraine Could Be—Literally—the Worst Idea Ever
The author and foreign policy critic Robert Wright joins the podcast to debate the pros and cons of a no-fly zone
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“Every Person Is Ready to Die for Our Country”: Five Ukrainians on Life Inside Putin’s War Zone
Ukrainians who live in—or have recently fled from—Kyiv tell Derek what it’s like living in the Ukrainian capital, escaping to Poland, and returning to Kyiv to fight the Russian army
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What Putin Will Do Next and the West’s Unprecedented “Financial War” on Russia
Derek discusses the economic effects of war
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Russia’s Economic Meltdown, Putin’s Big Mistake, and the West’s Financial War Against Vlad and His Cronies
Derek discusses sanctions imposed by the U.S. and Europe
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How Putin’s War Will End
Derek considers five ways that the war in Ukraine could end with University of Chicago professor Paul Poast
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What Vladimir Putin Wants—and How Russia’s War in Ukraine Could Reshape the World
Derek discusses the impact of the recent attacks
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Four Brilliant Frames for Finding the Next Big Thing, With Venture Capitalist Josh Wolfe
Plus, what’s eating tech stocks in 2022?
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The Great Debate: What’s the Single Most Amazing Sports Statistic in U.S. History?
Derek is joined by Ryen Russillo to settle the debate and name the greatest GOAT across all sports
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What American Media Is Getting Wrong About Canada’s Big Protests
David Frum joins to discuss what’s happening in Ottawa