A Mind-Expanding Conversation About Human History and Happiness With Tim Urban
Sometimes on this show, we talk about the news. This episode is about the diametric opposite of the news. It’s about thinking deeply about human history and trying to appreciate the awesome length of ...
24 Maalis 202356min
The AI Revolution Could Be Bigger and Weirder Than We Can Imagine
Derek unpacks his thoughts about GPT-4 and what it means to be, possibly, at the dawn of a sea change in technology. Then, he talks to Charlie Warzel, staff writer at The Atlantic, about what GPT-4 is...
21 Maalis 20231h 1min
MAILBAG: Why Does the Internet Make Us Depressed? Where Does Good Writing Come From? Is College Worth It Anymore?
Derek answers your burning questions in a special mailbag episode! If you have questions, observations, or ideas for future episodes, email us at PlainEnglish@Spotify.com. You can find us on TikTok at...
17 Maalis 202338min
The SVB Debacle: The Biggest Myths, the Out-of-Control Blame Game, and the Worst Takes
Derek welcomes back the economic roundtable of Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson, cohosts of the 'Animal Spirits' podcast, to debate who killed Silicon Valley Bank, how much we should blame the Fed, how...
15 Maalis 202342min
Silicon Valley Bank Collapse FAQ: Whose Fault Is It? How Can We Stop a Bank Panic? What Comes Next?
RIP, SVB. America's 16th-largest bank was just destroyed by the largest bank run in U.S. history. To talk about what happened and what happens next, we have Liz Hoffman, business and finance editor at...
13 Maalis 202338min
"Industrial Policy" Is the Hottest Idea in Economics. What Could Go Wrong?
Under President Biden, the U.S. is pivoting toward what some people call “industrial policy”—that is, using the government to support key industries, like green energy manufacturing and the manufactur...
10 Maalis 202351min
How the Media Failed Its COVID Test: The Truth Behind the Lab Leak and Masking Debates
Today’s episode is a long one: It’s about the debate over media coverage of COVID. Three years after the fateful March of 2020, when it feels like the world shut down for COVID, we are revisiting two ...
7 Maalis 20231h 34min
Why Are American Teens So Unhappy? How Do We Solve This Crisis?
This is our second installment of happiness week on the Plain English podcast. On Tuesday, I spoke with the directors of the Harvard Study of Adult Development about what makes a good life, based on t...
3 Maalis 202355min
