Podcast Episodes
Back to Search‘The Anti-Social Century’: America’s Epidemic of Solitude—and How to Fix It
Season 4 Episode 2
My new feature for The Atlantic magazine is called "The Anti-Social Century." It's a long article that revolves around a simple point: Americans are …
1 year, 6 months ago
The Big 2025 Economy Forecast: AI and Big Tech, Nuclear’s Renaissance, Trump vs. China, and What’s Eating Europe?
Season 4 Episode 1
Happy new year! And what better way to celebrate the freshly torn calendar page than by welcoming one of Derek's favorite writers to the show to tell…
1 year, 6 months ago
The Year's Biggest Breakthroughs in Science and Tech (Feat.: OK, But Seriously, What Is Quantum Computing?)
Season 3 Episode 71
Our final episode of the year is also my favorite annual tradition: conversations with scientists about the most important and, often, just plain min…
1 year, 6 months ago
A Mysterious Health Wave Is Breaking Out Across the U.S.
Season 3 Episode 70
Why do Americans die younger than citizens of other rich countries? The most important reason is that life in America is inexcusably dangerous. The U…
1 year, 6 months ago
The Productivity Paradox: Why Less Is More With Oliver Burkeman
Season 3 Episode 69
So, here’s a scenario: It’s Monday. And you open up whatever calendar or planner or to-do list you use to organize the essential activities of the up…
1 year, 7 months ago
Why American Health Care Is a "Broken System"
Season 3 Episode 68
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 indus…
1 year, 7 months ago
Is Crypto Entering a New Golden Age—or Just a New Era of Failed Promises?
Season 3 Episode 67
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 technol…
1 year, 7 months ago
Megapod: Why Is There So Much BS in Psychology?
Season 3 Episode 66
In the last decade, several major findings in social psychology have turned out to be hogwash—or, worse, even fraud. This has become widely known as …
1 year, 7 months ago
Vaccine Conspiracies, Fluoride Myths, and America’s Broken Public-Health Discourse
Season 3 Episode 65
Emily Oster, professor of economics at Brown University, joins the show to talk about Robert F. Kennedy Jr., his theories about fluoride and vaccines…
1 year, 8 months ago
The Self-Driving Revolution Is Real—and It Could Be Spectacular
Season 3 Episode 64
What would a world of self-driven cars look like? How would it change shopping, transportation, and life, more broadly?
A decade ago, many people were…
1 year, 8 months ago