Derek Thompson

Some personal news. Today, I’m leaving The Atlantic after almost 17 years and moving my writing to Substack. It would be convenient, for the purposes of crafting an exciting departure announcement, to have a dramatic exit story: a fight, a grievance, a shouting match with an editor that ended with me hurling a bunch of leather-backed Thoreau volumes across the open-plan office. That is not the case here. I love The Atlantic, and I'll remain a contributing writer there. But after almost two decades at one publication, I wanted to write for myself. The things I've published that I'm most proud of—whether it was the original abundance agenda essay, or my piece on workism—emerged from a very personal expression of frustration, or confusion, or curiosity. I want to know what my thinking and writing is like if I lean into a more independent and personal writing life. That's brought me to Substack, which is already home to an astonishing share of my overall reading. I'm excited to join their community and excited to build my own. The name of the newsletter should be easy to remember: Derek Thompson. The newsletter will have three main pillars 1. Abundance 2. The frontier of science and technology—GLP1s, AI, biotech, energy breakthroughs—covered in a way that’s both curious and skeptical 3. The anti-social century & the social crises of anxiety and aloneness Thanks to The Atlantic for 16.8 incredible years and thanks to everybody who follows me across the river. - dt

There is no one like Agnes Callard. And I have met everybody. ♥️💞👑

Everyone, including me, seems to agree the monoculture is dead. This pod makes a provocative case that it’s just been replaced by an even bigger, relentlessly negative and oppressively conformist version that this philosopher calls the “uni-context” and it rings depressingly true

I’m of a mind to vibe code a website that throws all these observational studies in a blender, lets you select from a lifestyle menu, and it tells you how long Science says you’re going to live. Eg - eat spicy food: 2x weekly - smoke: never - drink: daily - daily step avg: 7500 - weekly exercise minutes: 150 - sleep: 6.5 hours … etc, and the model spits out something like “Congrats, your total lifestyle benefit is … +18 months” Will the results be accurate? Hell no. Are the studies all high quality? Please. But will my crystal ball of life and death get the people talking? LFG

One of my hot takes is that the endlessly concern-trolled housing abundance movement is underrated. Who has scored more wins in a wider range of places and persuaded more different kinds of people over the past decade? slowboring.com/p/the-promise-…

@stevemagness Link?

A study found a 60% reduction in Alzheimer's risk for people who did at least 4 of the following: -150+ min of exercise -Didn't smoke -Didn't drink heavily -Ate a Mediterranean-style diet -Regularly engaged in cognitively stimulating activities (reading, playing games, etc.)

I emailed Derek from the other side of the planet with an urgent podcast request, like a guest at a wedding begging the DJ to play her favorite dance floor anthem. Behold! He delivered. Can’t wait to hear it.

The Uni-Context Theory of Everything: An edited transcript of my conversation with Agnes Callard derekthompson.org/p/a-philosophe…

New newsletter/pod: A PHILOSOPHER'S ONE-WORD THEORY OF WHY THE WORLD FEELS SO WEIRD Agnes Callard is a philosopher at the University of Chicago. Today she explains her theory of "the uni-context"—what it is, where it comes from, how it's transformed our experience of being alive, and how it explains: - the modern obsession with distraction and the management of our attention - why everything in art and design seems the same these days - why the news media is so interested in telling you how much the world sucks all the time - how every aspect of modern life becoming a global market makes it so hard to stop comparing ourselves to others - how telecommunications tech—from radio, to TV, to smartphones—succeeds by tapping into our "deep aversion to world closure" youtube.com/watch?v=LOdvmB…

Fun paragraph from LRB: "The gulf between Marxist theory and the reality in Xi’s China: - GDP and employment are overwhelmingly in the private sector - independent trade unions are illegal and labour unrest is suppressed in an unending fiesta of capital - a higher percentage of the population in China receives income from ownership of capital than in the UK, Japan or even the US ... Xi is a capitalist dictator who believes in Marxism."

Closer to state capitalism than market socialism. There is a difference Low emphasis on redistribution. Low emphasis on a free or even competitive markets. High emphasis on creating the political and policy conditions for pooling capital within profit-motivated enterprises

I’m so excited for people to hear today’s episode. I think Agnes Callard’s theory of the uni-context is one of the most original ideas I’ve heard in a long time.

@JeremiahDJohns @JerusalemDemsas @TheArgumentMag @KelseyTuoc @lxeagle17 Congrats!!!

Some personal news: I'm joining @TheArgumentMag as a staff writer where I'll be writing about culture, technology and politics. Thrilled to join @JerusalemDemsas, @KelseyTuoc, @lxeagle17 and the entire team there.

On the complaint that Nolan and Wilson's Odysseys sound "too modern": Everybody is going to have their own preferences, and there's no accounting for taste, but one of Emily Wilson's best points about modern expectations of ancient stories is that we want all of antiquity to sound like Shakespeare, but the Odyssey was composed ~3,000 years ago, while Hamlet is just 400 years old. We are much, much, much closer to Shakespeare than Shakespeare was to Homer.

since February, Chinese AI share of tokens used by US companies has quadrupled to almost 50% (Open Router data, via @pkedrosky)

Feeling good about my decision to do two Plain English episodes on The Odyssey during its first week in theaters

This story about the leftist consultants who discovered Graham Platner is full of absolutely wild tidbits

@ChachaMarquis @AJentleson nobody in this thread is saying "drinking is good for you" except for the invisible ppl you're inventing to justify anger you've already decided to feel

@DKThomp @AJentleson amazing how triggered people are by this. do you need to be told that drinking is good for you even though it obviously isn’t? we don’t know exactly how bad it is but is clearly bad & depends how much you use it. it degrades you. it’s obvious! make your choices & calm down!

I admire much of @DKThomp’s work but I can’t read another thing from him or anyone else stressing about having one, maybe two drinks a day.

nailed it

derek thompsons recent article inspired me to read more about alcohol im shocked by the est impact vs current narrative for instance, 7-14 drinks per wk reduces life expectancy by only 6 mos (!!) moreover, the negative effect is possibly offset by gains from deeper friendships