Plain History: How the Transcontinental Railroads Built the Modern World
Today’s pod is about the economic story of the moment. It’s about new technology that supporters claim will transform the U.S. economy, an infrastructure build-out unlike anything in living memory tha...
20 Aug 202555min
The Modern World Is Changing America’s Personality For the Worse
According to analysis by Financial Times writer John Burn-Murdoch, something extraordinary has happened to Americans’ personalities in the last decade. Longitudinal tests indicate that we’ve collectiv...
13 Aug 202547min
Will AI Usher In the End of Deep Thinking?
Last week, the Bureau of Economic Analysis published the latest GDP report. It contained a startling detail. Spending on artificial intelligence added more to the U.S. economy than consumer spending l...
6 Aug 202558min
The New Geography of Housing in America
Subscribe to Derek’s new Substack. In 1991, the median age of first-time homebuyers was 28. Now it’s 38, an all-time high. In 1981, the median age of all homebuyers was 36. Today, it’s 56—another all...
30 Jul 202542min
The Demise of Late-Night TV Is an Omen for American Culture
Even before the cancellation of 'The Late Show With Stephen Colbert,' the business of comedy was changing rapidly. Twenty years ago, comedians aspired to be late-night hosts, or to star in movies, or ...
23 Jul 202547min
If Trump’s Economic Ideas Are So Bad, Why Isn’t the U.S. Economy Doing Much Worse?
Sign up for Derek's Substack here. Harvard economist Jason Furman returns to the show to answer two big, burning questions. First, if Trump's economic ideas are as bad as most economists say, why isn...
17 Jul 202552min
Fertility Needs a Scientific Revolution
Couples are having kids much later in their lives. As young people spend more of their 20s and 30s getting established in their careers, and marriage is delayed, and home buying is delayed, the unstop...
16 Jul 202547min
The Mysterious Rise of Major Injuries in Professional Sports
Sign up for the Derek Thompson newsletter. In Game 7 of this year's NBA Finals, Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton tore his Achilles in the first quarter while attempting to drive to the basket o...
9 Jul 202554min
