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Derek Thompson (journalist)

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Derek Thompson
Derek Thompson speaks at a bookstore
Thompson in 2017
Born (1986-05-18) May 18, 1986 (age 39)
McLean, Virginia, U.S.
EducationNorthwestern University (BA)
Occupations
  • Journalist
  • podcaster

Derek Kahn Thompson (born May 18, 1986)[1][2] is an American podcaster and journalist. He is a contributing writer at The Atlantic.[3] He is the author of Hit Makers: How to Succeed in an Age of Distraction and, with Ezra Klein, the co-author of Abundance.

Early life

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Derek Thompson was born in McLean, Virginia, the son of Robert Thompson and Petra Kahn.[4][5] Before graduating from high school, he appeared in several theatrical productions at the Folger Shakespeare Theater[6] and the Shakespeare Theater.[7] After attending the Potomac School, Thompson graduated from Northwestern University in 2008 with a triple major in journalism, political science, and legal studies.[8][9][10]

Career

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Thompson has been a writer at The Atlantic since 2009.[11] Starting in November 2021, Thompson began hosting a weekly headline podcast entitled Plain English, part of The Ringer Podcast Network.[12] In 2018, he became the host of the technology and science podcast Crazy/Genius, which was nominated for an iHeartMedia Best Podcast Award in its first year.[13]

Thompson has written three cover stories for the magazine. The first, "A World Without Work", is a widely referenced[14][15] essay on the meaning of work and automation's threat to the labor force. The second was a lengthy profile of X, the research and development division of Alphabet.[16] The third, "The Anti-Social Century," published in the magazine's February 2025 issue, points out that Americans are spending more time alone than ever before.[17] Thompson contends that this surge in solitude is fundamentally reshaping personalities, politics, and culture, noting that people are increasingly opting for solitude even when it doesn't make them happier.[18]

In 2017, Thompson published his first book, Hit Makers: How to Succeed in an Age of Distraction. It was a national bestseller[19] and winner of the American Marketing Association's Leonard L. Berry Marketing Book Award for the best marketing book of 2018.[20] Thompson coauthored his next book, Abundance, with Ezra Klein.[21] The book argues that shortages of key pillars of "the good life" — housing, energy, healthcare, and innovation — are the result of artificial, policy-driven scarcities in liberal policy-making.[22][23]

After 17 years at The Atlantic, Thompson left his full-time role to write independently on Substack in June 2025. In a post explaining the move, he cited a desire for more editorial freedom and to write for himself after almost two decades at a single publication.[24] He will remain a contributing writer at The Atlantic.

Personal life

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Thompson describes himself as a secular Reform Jew.[25] As of 2025, he and his wife reside in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, with their daughter.[26] He is a subscriber to effective altruism.[27]

Bibliography

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  • Thompson, Derek (2017). Hit makers: the science of popularity in an age of distraction. New York: Penguin Press. ISBN 978-1-101-98032-3.
  • Thompson, Derek (2023). On Work: Money, Meaning, Identity. Zando. ISBN 978-1-63893-073-0.
  • Klein, Ezra; Thompson, Derek (2025). Abundance. New York: Avid Reader Press. ISBN 978-1-6680-2348-8.

References

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  1. ^ "Derek Thompson". Berklee. Retrieved April 1, 2025.
  2. ^ "Masks off! Party time?". Apple Podcasts. Vox Media Podcast Network. Retrieved April 1, 2025.
  3. ^ "Derek Thompson, The Atlantic". The Atlantic. November 7, 2025. Retrieved November 17, 2025.
  4. ^ "Bob Thompson Obituary". Legacy.com.
  5. ^ "Petra Kahn Obituary". Legacy.com. Retrieved September 9, 2022.
  6. ^ "For Grandy, No More Gopher". The Washington Post.
  7. ^ "Fleshing Out King John". The Washington Post.
  8. ^ "Career Day: Finding Their Calling - Potomac School". www.potomacschool.org. Retrieved February 14, 2023.
  9. ^ "Author Derek Thompson Returns to NU to Discuss New Book". The Daily Northwestern. May 4, 2017.
  10. ^ "Derek Thompson | Berklee". www.berklee.edu.
  11. ^ "Derek Thompson Author Page". TheAtlantic.com.
  12. ^ Thompson, Derek (November 11, 2021). "Introducing 'Plain English with Derek Thompson'". The Ringer. Retrieved December 21, 2021.
  13. ^ "iHeartMedia Podcast Awards".
  14. ^ "Derek Thompson - A World Without Work". YouTube.
  15. ^ "Challenges loom as tech takeover grows". CBS.com. June 24, 2015.
  16. ^ "Google X and the Science of Radical Creativity". TheAtlantic.com. October 10, 2017.
  17. ^ Thompson, Derek (January 8, 2025). "The Anti-Social Century". The Atlantic. ISSN 2151-9463. Retrieved November 17, 2025.
  18. ^ "'The Anti-Social Century': America's Epidemic of Solitude—and How to Fix It - The Ringer". www.theringer.com. Retrieved November 17, 2025.
  19. ^ "Hit Makers". Penguin Random House.
  20. ^ "The Leonard L. Berry Marketing Book Award". AMA.org.
  21. ^ Wallace-Wells, Benjamin (March 3, 2025). "Do Democrats Need to Learn How to Build?". The New Yorker. ISSN 0028-792X. Retrieved March 17, 2025.
  22. ^ Kazis, Noah (March 27, 2025). "Abundance by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson review – make America build again". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved November 17, 2025.
  23. ^ Hawkins, John (June 6, 2025). "Can a book help the left rebuild the good life? Ezra Klein's Abundance is the talk of Washington – and Canberra". The Conversation. Retrieved November 23, 2025.
  24. ^ Thompson, Derek. "Why I'm Joining Substack". www.derekthompson.org. Retrieved November 17, 2025.
  25. ^ "Derek Thompson's X account". February 5, 2025.
  26. ^ "Derek Thompson - The Ringer". TheRinger.com. December 20, 2024.
  27. ^ Thompson, Derek (June 15, 2015). "The Most Efficient Way to Save a Life". The Atlantic. The Atlantic Monthly Group. Retrieved March 18, 2017.
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