Derek Thompson
The Atlantic
New York, NY, United States
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Recent articles by Derek:
Stop Trying to Ask ‘Smart Questions’
“Can you just explain this to me like I barely know anything about this subject?” → Read More
The Surprising Reason for the Decline in Cancer Mortality
Behavioral changes and screenings may be just as important as treatments, if not more so. → Read More
The Consolidation-Disruption Index Is Alarming
Science has a crummy-paper problem. → Read More
Why America Doesn’t Build What It Invents
The U.S. just made a breakthrough in nuclear-fusion technology. Will we know how to use it? → Read More
Why the Age of American Progress Ended
Invention alone can’t change the world; what matters is what happens next. → Read More
Your Creativity Won’t Save Your Job From AI
Robots were once considered capable only of unimaginative, routine work. Today they write articles and create award-winning art. → Read More
The Housing Market Has Gone From Bad to Worse
In 15 years, we’ve had a historic housing crash, a historic housing crunch, a historic pandemic-fueled buying spree, and a historic mortgage-rate spiral. → Read More
What Moneyball-for-Everything Has Done to American Culture
You can make a thing so perfect that it's ruined. → Read More
‘What People Don’t Get About My Job,’ According to Workers
Misconceptions about pastors, playwrights, postal workers, and other professionals → Read More
Your Career Is Just One-Eighth of Your Life
Five pieces of career advice, shaped by economics, psychology, and a little bit of existential math → Read More
America Is a Rich Death Trap
It’s not just the pandemic. For citizens of a wealthy country, Americans of every age, at every income level, are unusually likely to die, from guns, drugs, cars, and disease. → Read More
All the Personal-Finance Books Are Wrong
They tend to treat their readers like fools without willpower. So you could argue that they’re wrong for the right reasons. → Read More
Why Urban Life Suddenly Got Way More Expensive
It’s not just inflation. It’s the end of the Millennial Consumer Subsidy. → Read More
Why Do Americans Think the Economy Is So Terrible?
A mentality that explains a lot about the economy, electoral politics, and human nature → Read More
Nine Worrying Signs About the Economy
Is the U.S. destined to have a recession in 2022? → Read More
What’s Behind America’s Shocking Baby-Formula Shortage?
America’s baby-formula shortage has gone from curious inconvenience to full-blown national crisis. In many states, including Texas and Tennessee, more than half of formula is sold out in stores. Nationwide, 40 percent of formula is out of stock—a twentyfold increase since the first half of 2021. As parents have started to stockpile formula, retailers such as Walgreens, CVS, and Target have all… → Read More
Work in Progress
Sign up for the Work in Progress newsletter by Derek Thompson, available Weekly. → Read More
The Forgotten Stage of Human Progress
Invention is easily overrated, and implementation is often underrated. → Read More
Disney vs. DeSantis Is the Future of Politics
This is how a culture war death spirals. → Read More
Are America’s Biggest Cities Shrinking or Booming?
Pop quiz: What do the metros of New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Miami, Boston, Seattle, San Francisco, San Diego, Minneapolis–St. Paul, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C., have in common? They are all among the 20 largest metropolitan areas in the country. All of their populations were growing in 2011. And then, in 2021, they all shrank by a combined 900,000 people, according to an analysis… → Read More