# Plain English with Derek Thompson A podcast by The Ringer. Longtime Atlantic tech, culture and political writer Derek Thompson cuts through all the noise surrounding the big questions and headlines that matter to you in his new podcast Plain English. Watch Derek and guests engage the news with clear viewpoints and memorable takeaways. New episodes drop every Tuesday and Friday, and if you've got a topic you want discussed, shoot us an email at plainenglish@spotify.com! Subscribe to our YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/@PlainEnglishwithDerekThompson Feed: https://feeds.megaphone.fm/plain-english ## Latest episodes - [What Does Effective Altruism Really Believe?](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1594471023/f565435845cd) (2026-10-27, 68 min): audio https://traffic.megaphone.fm/GLT8010039292.mp3 - [The AI Story Wall Street Doesn't Want to Hear](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1594471023/93628ddc9e8f) (2026-10-23, 47 min): audio https://traffic.megaphone.fm/GLT7190028640.mp3 - [AI Is Smarter Than Ever. So Where’s the Revolution?](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1594471023/0bbb83e8e344) (2026-10-20, 68 min): audio https://traffic.megaphone.fm/GLT9282227709.mp3 - [How Abundance Has Failed and Succeeded](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1594471023/b0209b89923e) (2026-10-16, 63 min): audio https://traffic.megaphone.fm/GLT4634166972.mp3 - [America’s Crisis of Social Connection, With Adam Grant](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1594471023/a8d7a7dd4f58) (2026-10-13, 64 min): audio https://traffic.megaphone.fm/GLT5290753044.mp3 - [Russia’s Plague Mystery and the Coming Age of Bioweapons](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1594471023/b3df4d8b6b99) (2026-10-09, 66 min): audio https://traffic.megaphone.fm/GLT5499895921.mp3 - [The Bitter Rivalries Behind the Race to Build Superintelligence](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1594471023/1796c7dcfa01) (2026-10-06, 67 min): audio https://traffic.megaphone.fm/GLT4298103525.mp3 - [Why the Midterms Suddenly Look So Bad for Republicans](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1594471023/83f4ac10fecb) (2026-10-02, 62 min): audio https://traffic.megaphone.fm/GLT5894799416.mp3 - [Why Things Become Popular, with Chuck Klosterman](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1594471023/f1522f69ba7f) (2026-09-29, 89 min): audio https://traffic.megaphone.fm/GLT9570603179.mp3 - [The Single Smartest Case Against AI Doom](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1594471023/bd53e7ce0c19) (2026-09-25, 62 min): audio https://traffic.megaphone.fm/GLT5689306875.mp3 - [The Truth About Mississippi's Education "Miracle"](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1594471023/d82dcd4c1154) (2026-09-18, 57 min): audio https://traffic.megaphone.fm/GLT6234623934.mp3 - [Why Experts Keep Getting the Economy So Wrong](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1594471023/fe4840492908) (2026-09-15, 59 min): audio https://traffic.megaphone.fm/GLT8017459033.mp3 - [What’s the Point of College?](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1594471023/7db57cbc03cc) (2026-09-11, 57 min): audio https://traffic.megaphone.fm/GLT6916114038.mp3 - [The New Book That Scares Big Tech](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1594471023/45ac2f55e5b3) (2026-09-08, 60 min): audio https://traffic.megaphone.fm/GLT4563123325.mp3 - [AI Slop Is Breaking the Internet. Can We Save It?](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1594471023/626a2bbf1f73) (2026-09-01, 57 min): audio https://traffic.megaphone.fm/GLT8901173661.mp3 - [Why Everything Is Going to Keep Getting More Expensive](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1594471023/d826b3661293) (2026-08-25, 42 min): audio https://traffic.megaphone.fm/GLT5150647559.mp3 - [Higher Education’s Age of ‘Insufferable Hypocrisy’](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1594471023/6f281f1e5e97) (2026-08-18, 63 min): audio https://traffic.megaphone.fm/GLT7293960930.mp3 - [It May Be Time to Freak Out About AI](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1594471023/272b614d6d1d) (2026-08-14, 78 min): audio https://traffic.megaphone.fm/GLT7864100036.mp3 - [Why Americans Hate Data Centers](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1594471023/5591f7b3f4d3) (2026-08-11, 63 min): audio https://traffic.megaphone.fm/GLT9382126039.mp3 - [Why America Is Switching From Booze to Weed](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1594471023/78e8b171e56f) (2026-08-05, 70 min): audio https://traffic.megaphone.fm/GLT5155736927.mp3 - ["The End of Reading Is Here"](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1594471023/8ec2d3c69bb9) (2026-07-28, 54 min): audio https://traffic.megaphone.fm/GLT6281567740.mp3 - [What Translator Emily Wilson Thinks of Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey'](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1594471023/f31f56b821a9) (2026-07-22, 60 min): audio https://traffic.megaphone.fm/GLT9084932026.mp3 - [Why 'The Odyssey' Is the West’s Greatest Story](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1594471023/0c551f0e2bd0) (2026-07-17, 64 min): audio https://traffic.megaphone.fm/GLT7490707787.mp3 - [A Philosopher’s One-Word Theory for Why the World Feels So Weird](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1594471023/e1b030a624d7) (2026-07-14, 59 min): audio https://traffic.megaphone.fm/GLT2384989145.mp3 - [How Israel Is Transforming American Politics](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1594471023/c45f88aeab59) (2026-07-07, 65 min): audio https://traffic.megaphone.fm/GLT7292969388.mp3 - [MEGAPOD: The Most Overrated American Who Ever Lived](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1594471023/ee2ba46ad610) (2026-07-03, 70 min): audio https://traffic.megaphone.fm/GLT5700213426.mp3 - [A Surprising Theory About the Future of War](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1594471023/ed9d99dffeeb) (2026-06-30, 57 min): audio https://traffic.megaphone.fm/GLT4922781543.mp3 - [SpaceX, AI Bubble Fears, and The Age of the Trillion-Dollar, Zero-Profit Company](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1594471023/9625850a8b42) (2026-06-26, 54 min): audio https://traffic.megaphone.fm/GLT9827005883.mp3 - [The Iran War Is Ending. Everybody Lost.](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1594471023/f1a0202e9085) (2026-06-23, 57 min): audio https://traffic.megaphone.fm/GLT7036760567.mp3 - [The Donald Trump Corruption Scandal Draft](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1594471023/7c851b64c675) (2026-06-19, 69 min): audio https://traffic.megaphone.fm/GLT2664111737.mp3 - [The Most Exciting Month of Medical Breakthroughs in Years](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1594471023/3b76f1a0b19d) (2026-06-16, 60 min): audio https://traffic.megaphone.fm/GLT5065087635.mp3 - [Old-igarchy: How the Elderly Conquered American Power](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1594471023/5a3e0a316cd5) (2026-06-12, 62 min): audio https://traffic.megaphone.fm/GLT4934575862.mp3 - [How Modern Fatherhood Is Changing Men’s Brains](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1594471023/113e2c2df037) (2026-06-09, 65 min): audio https://traffic.megaphone.fm/GLT2090669447.mp3 - [What 400,000 Essays Reveal About AI and Creativity](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1594471023/3f8cbbc4efd9) (2026-06-05, 57 min): audio https://traffic.megaphone.fm/GLT5095474342.mp3 - [The Surprising Truth About America's Friendship Crisis](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1594471023/bbccfdd60326) (2026-06-02, 59 min): audio https://traffic.megaphone.fm/GLT5374177793.mp3 - [Why the NBA Feels Broken—and Why the League Can’t Fix It](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1594471023/b19ed5cf5ea4) (2026-05-29, 58 min): audio https://traffic.megaphone.fm/GLT3398879194.mp3 - [The Men Who Think Toxic Feminism Destroyed America](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1594471023/cf41a7d03a3d) (2026-05-22, 60 min): audio https://traffic.megaphone.fm/GLT7074384441.mp3 - [Does Anybody Know How to Solve an American Debt Crisis?](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1594471023/d9d4506fb9a3) (2026-05-19, 62 min): audio https://traffic.megaphone.fm/GLT7237739258.mp3 - [The Global Fertility Crisis Is Worse Than You Think](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1594471023/7c2387e8bfd5) (2026-05-15, 62 min): audio https://traffic.megaphone.fm/GLT1751402580.mp3 - [The Case Against the AI Job Apocalypse](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1594471023/20d04bef98eb) (2026-05-12, 55 min): audio https://traffic.megaphone.fm/GLT3492276298.mp3?updated=1778689875 - [Why American Happiness Just Fell Off a Cliff](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1594471023/8c9831e6d5ce) (2026-05-08, 61 min): audio https://traffic.megaphone.fm/GLT2863741826.mp3?updated=1778254298 - [One of the Deadliest Cancers in America May Have Met Its Match](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1594471023/e07e9a5eb4a2) (2026-05-05, 46 min): audio https://traffic.megaphone.fm/GLT7002137810.mp3?updated=1777964516 - [Why Too Much Freedom Is the Enemy of Success](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1594471023/7f175913d1ab) (2026-05-01, 50 min): audio https://traffic.megaphone.fm/GLT9305542082.mp3?updated=1777598507 - [Why the Iran War Is Tearing MAGA Apart](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1594471023/1fc3d2f854ea) (2026-04-28, 59 min): audio https://traffic.megaphone.fm/GLT1403975659.mp3?updated=1777349136 - [The Triple Crisis That’s Breaking Hollywood—and Changing the Future of Movies](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1594471023/be943aa21235) (2026-04-24, 71 min): audio https://traffic.megaphone.fm/GLT4182546329.mp3?updated=1777008267 - [The Most Powerful and Dangerous AI Model Yet](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1594471023/c5a03d30357d) (2026-04-21, 63 min): audio https://traffic.megaphone.fm/GLT9229672057.mp3?updated=1776739574 - [The Whole World Is Fighting About Energy](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1594471023/1d95b7ac279e) (2026-04-14, 65 min): audio https://traffic.megaphone.fm/GLT9119043588.mp3?updated=1776151673 - [‘The Job Market for Young People Is Brutal’](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1594471023/a377c455c817) (2026-04-10, 68 min): audio https://traffic.megaphone.fm/GLT8711494293.mp3?updated=1775802799 - [America's Religious Revival Is a Mirage](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1594471023/73c8807e3baf) (2026-04-08, 69 min): audio https://traffic.megaphone.fm/GLT4324303469.mp3?updated=1775626811 - [Is China the Winner of the Iran War?](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1594471023/6075cccba221) (2026-04-03, 53 min): audio https://traffic.megaphone.fm/GLT8150073060.mp3?updated=1775186465 Shows are listed from Apple Podcasts' charts and directory, and Podcast Index where it is used. Every show and episode belongs to its publisher and plays from the publisher's own feed; this site hosts none of them.