Plain English
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How the Media Failed Its COVID Test: The Truth Behind the Lab Leak and Masking Debates
Derek Thompson welcomes Dan Engber and Jason Abaluck to the podcast to discuss some of the more contentious debates of the COVID-19 pandemic
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Why Are American Teens So Unhappy? How Do We Solve This Crisis?
Derek spoke with Matthew Biel of MedStar Georgetown University Hospital about rising teenage unhappiness and what we can do to fix it
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Happiness in America, Part 1: The Secret to a “Good Life,” According to an 80-Year Study
Derek chats with Robert Waldinger and Marc Schulz about what their study teaches us about the secrets to a fulfilling life
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The Science of How Music Hits Have Changed in the Last 60 Years
Derek welcomes Chris Dalla Riva to discuss the subtle and not-so-subtle ways that music hits have changed since the 1960s
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Bing Chatbot Gone Wild and Why AI Could Be the Story of the Decade
The New York Times’ Kevin Roose joins to discuss developments in artificial intelligence
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UFOs and Aliens and Drones and Balloons: Understanding the U.S. Sky Wars
The United States has shot down four objects over North American skies recently. What are we looking at, and what are we shooting at?
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Why Everybody Is Wrong About a Recession and Housing’s Great Comeback
Derek and Conor Sen break down the housing turnaround that could define the 2023 economy
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The Spectacular Rise and Fall of Fake Meat in America
Derek and Deena Shanker talk about the spectacular rise and fall of fake meat—and what it tells us about food, taste, politics, and technology
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China’s Spy Balloon Is Down. Cold War 2.0 Risks Are Rising.
"Balloongate" offers a useful hook to evaluate the relationship between the U.S. and China during a period of extraordinarily high tensions
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Econ Megapod: The Debt Ceiling Is Dumb, and the Inflation “Crisis” Might Be Over
New York Times economics reporter Jeanna Smialek and economist Jason Furman join to discuss the debt-ceiling showdown that’s enveloping Washington, fears of the U.S. government running up the tab, and more
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The Dark Side of Being Obsessed With Productivity
Author Oliver Burkeman joins to discuss people’s relationship to happiness and time
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How AI Could Change Apple and Google, Writing and Music, and Everything Else
Ben and Derek talk about ChatGPT, Stable Diffusion, the state of generative AI, and how the biggest tech companies will try to use these new tools
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Why Big Tech’s Jobs Bubble Burst. Plus, SBF’s Scandal Deepens.
Plus, William Cohan talks about the biggest unanswered questions around SBF’s FTX bankruptcy proceedings and his forthcoming criminal case
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America Isn’t Ready for the Weight-Loss-Drug Revolution That’s Coming
Derek and Susan Z. Yanovski talk about the stakes of anti-obesity medication, why diet and exercise don’t work for so many people, and how these weight-loss drugs could help American health care
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How Americans Got Everything About Food—Fat, Sugar, and Obesity—“Entirely Backwards”
Dr. David Ludwig explains why scientists still haven’t arrived at a consensus on obesity, why he thinks the conventional wisdom about calories and fat is wrong, and what he thinks is really going on
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True or False: 10 Controversial Predictions About the Future of Streaming, Tech, and Media
Derek runs through several predictions and provocations that he’s hearing and throws all of them at smart media analyst Rich Greenfield
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Why There Is So Much Bullshit in Science
Derek speaks with professor Russell Funk about the decline of progress in science
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The 2023 Economy FAQ: Is Recession Inevitable? Will Housing Crash? Can Tech Recover?
Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson joins to discuss the topsy-turvy 2022 economy and this year’s markets
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‘PE’ Greatest Hits: Thompson and Klosterman Debate Why Society Got So Negative
Derek Thompson re-boosts one of the show’s most popular episodes of the year
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‘PE’ Greatest Hits: Derek and Ryen Debate the Most Impressive Sports Statistic of All Time
Derek looks back on his conversation with Ryen Russillo about the most impressive sports statistic of all time
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ChatGPT, Obesity Drugs, Exoplanet Images, and Medical Miracles: The Most Amazing Breakthroughs of 2022
Derek talks to economist and writer Eli Dourado about the most exciting scientific and technological discoveries of the year
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Sperm Counts Are Falling All Over the World—Why?
Average sperm counts have fallen by 50 percent worldwide, Harvard’s Jorge Chavarro is here to discuss the data behind this major shift
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Who’s Afraid of a Four-Day Work Week?
Juliet Schor talks about how work and the economy might be reorganized in her vision of a four-day work week
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Why the Bad Guys—in China, Russia, Iran, and the U.S.—Are Having a Terrible Winter
A year ago, the rise of authoritarianism across the world was ascendant. But at this very moment, the opposite narrative seems like it might just be the most important story in the world.
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Why America Is Suffering a “Friendship Recession”
Derek talks with economist Bryce Ward about the causes and consequences of the rise of alone time in America
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Thanksgiving Mega-Pod: Bob Iger’s Power Grab, SBF’s Scandal, and Elon Musk’s Omnishambles
Derek offers a big-picture explanation for why everything in tech and media—from Elon Musk and Twitter to Bob Iger and Disney—seems to be falling apart at the same time
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If China Invades Taiwan, Is It World War III?
Today’s episode is about China’s turn toward authoritarianism—and why it might be one of the most important stories in the world
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A Crypto Catastrophe: The Stunning Fall of FTX—and What Comes Next
William D. Cohan joins to discuss finance frauds and his new book ‘Power Failure’
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Instant Reaction Pod: Midterm Election Winners, Losers, Surprises, and Takeaways
Derek also discusses why America is so terrible at counting votes
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Elon Musk’s Reign of Chaos and Mark Zuckerberg’s Metaverse Madness
What the hell is happening at these social media companies and, beyond the lurid details and gossip, what does it say about the larger ecosystem?
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America in the Age of Conspiracy: QAnon, JFK, Aliens, and More
Derek is joined by the hosts of ‘Stuff They Don’t Want You to Know’ to discuss conspiracy theories and how they’re affecting America today
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How the U.S. Housing Market Became Such a Dumpster Fire
Derek is joined by Tracy Alloway and Joe Weisenthal to discuss what the hell is going on with American real estate