Plain English with Derek Thompson
The Ringer
53 Listeners
All episodes
Best episodes
Seasons
Top 10 Plain English with Derek Thompson Episodes
Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best Plain English with Derek Thompson episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to Plain English with Derek Thompson for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite Plain English with Derek Thompson episode by adding your comments to the episode page.
Why American Health Care Is a "Broken System"
Plain English with Derek Thompson
12/13/24 • 83 min
Last week, UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was shot to death outside a hotel in Manhattan by a young man motivated by rage at the insurance industry. His rage is clearly felt widely. In the aftermath of the killing, many people seemed to delight in the man’s assassination. Their reaction was a grotesque illustration of something real: There is an enormous amount of anger and frustration about the state of American health care. And there ought to be. The U.S. is the most expensive health care system in the world, while for many people it delivers bad care at exorbitant prices.
But anger is not always a signal of accuracy. And while some of the most popular reasons to be furious at American health care are based on truth, many are based on misunderstandings and myths—especially about the insurance system.
This week, I wanted to present a calm and informed conversation with a health care expert to walk me through what I consider the biggest health care questions of the moment. Why are American health care costs so high? How much are insurers to blame? How do other countries handle health care differently? What can we learn from them? And what, if anything, should make us optimistic about the future of American health care?
Today we have two guests. First we have Jonathan Gruber, an economics professor at MIT and a key architect of several health care laws, including the 2006 Massachusetts health care reform and the Affordable Care Act. Jon walks me through the key drivers of health inflation and American anger at the health care system. The second, David Cutler, is an economics professor at Harvard who served as senior health care adviser for Barack Obama; he helps us think comparatively about the weaknesses and strengths of the U.S. health system and what reforms could help Americans live longer and healthier lives.
If you have questions, observations, or ideas for future episodes, email us at [email protected].
Host: Derek Thompson
Guests: Jonathan Gruber and David Cutler
Producer: Devon Baroldi
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
15 Listeners
3 Comments
3
Myth-Busting Wellness Hacks: Cold Plunges, Coffee, Alcohol, and Fitness Trackers
Plain English with Derek Thompson
04/04/23 • 55 min
Today, we go wading in the murky waters of 2023 wellness trends. We’re talking cold plunges, fitness trackers, and recovery scores. And on the more prosaic side, the real science of coffee and alcohol.
Today’s guests are Brad Stulberg and Steve Magness. They are the cofounders of The Growth Equation, a multimedia platform dedicated to health, excellence, and well-being. They are authors of ‘Peak Performance,’ ‘Do Hard Things,’ and ‘The Practice of Groundedness.’ And for quite a while I have considered them to be ideal guides in this hype-filled world of biomarkers, biohacks, and fitness.
If you have questions, observations, or ideas for future episodes, email us at [email protected]. You can find us on TikTok at www.tiktok.com/@plainenglish_
Host: Derek Thompson
Guests: Brad Stulberg and Steve Magness
Producer: Devon Manze
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
11 Listeners
Health Fads and Fictions: VO2 Max, Supplement Mania, Sunlight, and Immortality
Plain English with Derek Thompson
04/19/24 • 60 min
Today's show is a critical look at some of the most popular health fads of the moment, with return guests Steve Magness and Brad Stulberg, from the Growth Equation and the ‘FAREWELL’ podcast. We’re talking VO2 max, the benefits of sunlight, so-called morning and nighttime “stacks” (complex multivitamin routines for optimizing your energy and sleep), and Silicon Valley dreams of immortality. Plus, a rant from Derek about the supplement mania of independent media.
If you have questions, observations, or ideas for future episodes, email us at [email protected].
Host: Derek Thompson
Guests: Steve Magness & Brad Stulberg
Producer: Devon Baroldi
Links:
The ‘FAREWELL’ podcast: https://thegrowtheq.com/farewell-podcast/
The FDA's note on dietary supplement regulation: https://www.fda.gov/news-events/rumor-control/facts-about-dietary-supplements
Joe Rogan's supplement stack: https://jrelibrary.com/articles/joe-rogans-supplement-stack/
Huberman's sleep stack: https://www.nsdr.co/post/andrew-hubermans-sleep-cocktail
The Mayo Clinic on creatine: https://www.mayoclinic.org/drugs-supplements-creatine/art-20347591
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
6 Listeners
The News Media’s Dangerous Addiction to ‘Fake Facts’
Plain English with Derek Thompson
06/07/24 • 47 min
What do most people not understand about the news media? I would say two things. First: The most important bias in news media is not left or right. It’s a bias toward negativity and catastrophe. Second: That while it would be convenient to blame the news media exclusively for this bad-news bias, the truth is that the audience is just about equally to blame. The news has never had better tools for understanding exactly what gets people to click on stories. That means what people see in the news is more responsive than ever to aggregate audience behavior. If you hate the news, what you are hating is in part a collective reflection in the mirror. If you put these two facts together, you get something like this: The most important bias in the news media is the bias that news makers and news audiences share toward negativity and catastrophe. Jerusalem Demsas, a staff writer at The Atlantic and the host of the podcast Good on Paper, joins to discuss a prominent fake fact in the news — and the psychological and media forces that promote fake facts and catastrophic negativity in the press.
If you have questions, observations, or ideas for future episodes, email us at [email protected].
Host: Derek Thompson
Guest: Jerusalem Demsas
Producer: Devon Baroldi
Links:
"The Maternal-Mortality Crisis That Didn’t Happen" by Jerusalem Demsas https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/05/no-more-women-arent-dying-in-childbirth/678486/
The 2001 paper "Bad Is Stronger Than Good" https://assets.csom.umn.edu/assets/71516.pdf
Derek on the complex science of masks and mask mandates https://www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/archive/2023/03/covid-lab-leak-mask-mandates-science-media-information/673263/
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
4 Listeners
1 Comment
1
Is Crypto Entering a New Golden Age—or Just a New Era of Failed Promises?
Plain English with Derek Thompson
12/06/24 • 52 min
The crypto industry seems poised for a new golden age. But what exactly does that mean? Who would benefit? And, oh by the way, what does this technology do other than serve as a set of assets to bet to the moon?
I have lots of questions about the state of crypto right now. Last week, Bitcoin traded above $100,000 for the first time in history. Its price has skyrocketed since Donald Trump’s win, as a wave of investors bet that the next four years will mark a new renaissance. And this isn’t just a time for optimism. It’s also a time for recrimination. In the last few weeks, several major tech figures, including the venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, have condemned democrats for what they describe as an illegal war on crypto.
Austin Campbell is finance vet, an adjunct professor at Columbia Business School, and the founder of Zero Knowledge Consulting. Today, we talk about the purported war on crypto, starting with the origins of "debanking" practices under Obama; we talk about why crypto now seems like a majority-republican technology in an industry that has historically been democratic; we talk about the biggest use cases of crypto around the world; and Austin tells me why he thinks many people in the industry still aren't thinking clearly about the future of finance.
Host: Derek Thompson
Guest: Austin Campbell
Producer: Mike Wargon
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
3 Listeners
Is Old Music Killing New Music?
Plain English with Derek Thompson
08/03/22 • 55 min
Why does it seem like the old is eating the new in pop culture? This year, the song of the summer is arguably Kate Bush’s “Running Up That Hill”—which was released in 1985. It was launched by the most-watched global TV show of the summer, 'Stranger Things'—an homage to the 1980s. In movies, the biggest hit of the season is 'Top Gun: Maverick'—a sequel to the 1986 film. The '80s was four decades ago!
The triumph of nostalgia and familiarity in culture is deeper than one summer. The five biggest movies of this year are the second 'Top Gun,' the second 'Doctor Strange', the sixth 'Jurassic Park', the 14th Batman-related film, and the fifth 'Despicable Me'. Amazing original films, like 'Everything Everywhere All At Once', show up here and there, but as far as slam dunk blockbusters go, the last decade has suffered from a new movie curse.
There's a new music curse, too. Total music consumption is rising across album sales, track purchases, and streaming. But consumption of new music is down. The entire growth in music is happening in so-called catalog music, or older songs.
What's happening here? Today’s guest is Ted Gioia. We talk about his viral essay “Is old music killing new music?”, the dearth of young stars in Hollywood, and the rise of risk-aversion in American culture and business.
If you have questions, observations, or ideas for future episodes, email us at [email protected]. You can find us on TikTok at www.tiktok.com/@plainenglish_
Host: Derek Thompson
Guest: Ted Gioia
Producer: Devon Manze
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
3 Listeners
Breathing Is Easy. But We’re Doing It Wrong.
Plain English with Derek Thompson
06/14/24 • 54 min
Today’s episode is about the science of breathing—from the evolution of our sinuses and palate, to the downsides of mouth breathing and the upsides of nasal breathing, to specific breath techniques that you can use to reduce stress and fall asleep fast. Our guest is James Nestor, the author of the bestselling book 'Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art.'
If you have questions, observations, or ideas for future episodes, email us at [email protected].
Host: Derek Thompson
Guest: James Nestor
Producer: Devon Baroldi
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
3 Listeners
Why Americans Stopped Hanging Out—and Why It Matters
Plain English with Derek Thompson
02/27/24 • 70 min
Today’s episode is about the extraordinary decline in face-to-face socializing in America—and the real stakes of the country’s hanging-out crisis.
From 2003 to 2022, American adults reduced their average hours of face-to-face socializing by about 30 percent. For unmarried Americans, the decline was even bigger—more than 35 percent. For teenagers, it was more than 45 percent.
Eric Klinenberg is a sociologist and the director of the Institute for Public Knowledge at New York University. He is the author of several books on the rise of living alone and the decline of social infrastructure. His latest is _'_2020: One City, Seven People, and the Year Everything Changed.' And he's not afraid to challenge the popular notion of an epidemic of loneliness in America. “There is no good evidence that Americans are lonelier than ever," he has written. Today, Eric and I talk about teens and parenting, the decline of hanging out, why America sucks at building social infrastructure, and why aloneness isn’t always loneliness.
If you have questions, observations, or ideas for future episodes, email us at [email protected].
Host: Derek Thompson
Guest: Eric Klinenberg
Producer: Devon Baroldi
Why Americans Suddenly Stopped Hanging Out: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2024/02/america-decline-hanging-out/677451/
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
3 Listeners
Donald Trump vs. the FBI: Everything We Know About the Investigation So Far
Plain English with Derek Thompson
08/16/22 • 44 min
I've never before recorded an episode specifically about Donald Trump. I guess I’ve been holding out for the chaos that typically swirls around him to exceed an extremely high bar of freaky nonsense. This week, I am forced to conclude that the bar has been surpassed. The January 6 investigations in D.C. and the New York state business investigation are newsworthy on their own. But last week, federal agents descended on Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s private club and Florida home, and came away with a trove of top secret documents and papers. This investigation could implicate the president as an agent of law-breaking espionage. Or it could lead to ... nothing at all. In this episode, the author, CNN analyst, and former government official Juliette Kayyem joins the show to separate fact from speculation and to help us imagine several ways this saga could end.
If you have questions, observations, or ideas for future episodes, email us at [email protected]. You can find us on TikTok at www.tiktok.com/@plainenglish_
Host: Derek Thompson
Guest: Juliette Kayyem
Producer: Devon Manze
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
3 Listeners
The Biggest Breakthroughs in Science Happening Right Now
Plain English with Derek Thompson
12/27/23 • 63 min
If you're looking for a hopeful and mind-expanding conversation to round out the year, this one is for you.
It's our breakthroughs of the year episode, covering 2023's biggest achievements in science and tech, including space technology, life extension, fusion, gene editing, vaccines, and, of course, GLP-1s.
It has become a 'Plain English' tradition—after weeks of stories that often take us into sad areas, like anxiety, depression, and war—to close the year with a nerdy conversation about the most important developments at the frontier of science and technology. Today's frontier guide is Dr. Eric Topol. He is the founder and director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute and a bestselling author on the future of medicine.
If you have questions, observations, or ideas for future episodes, email us at [email protected].
Host: Derek Thompson
Guest: Eric Topol
Producer: Devon Baroldi
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
3 Listeners
Show more best episodes
Show more best episodes
Featured in these lists
FAQ
How many episodes does Plain English with Derek Thompson have?
Plain English with Derek Thompson currently has 267 episodes available.
What topics does Plain English with Derek Thompson cover?
The podcast is about News, News Commentary and Podcasts.
What is the most popular episode on Plain English with Derek Thompson?
The episode title 'Why American Health Care Is a "Broken System"' is the most popular.
What is the average episode length on Plain English with Derek Thompson?
The average episode length on Plain English with Derek Thompson is 51 minutes.
How often are episodes of Plain English with Derek Thompson released?
Episodes of Plain English with Derek Thompson are typically released every 4 days.
When was the first episode of Plain English with Derek Thompson?
The first episode of Plain English with Derek Thompson was released on Nov 11, 2021.
Show more FAQ
Show more FAQ