Derek Thompson On Meaning In Our Web World
About this episode
Derek Thompson discusses the evolution of writing, the impact of technology on society, and the search for meaning in modern life.
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit andrewsullivan.substack.com Derek Thompson is a long-time writer at The Atlantic. His books include Hit Makers , On Work , and Abundance , which he co-wrote with Ezra Klein. Derek also has an excellent substack and hosts a podcast called “Plain English.” This episode was recorded on March 17. For two clips — on the impact of Abundance , and the difference between being alone and anti-social — head to our YouTube page . Other topics: growing up near DC; theater his first love; the two of us trading stories of stage acting; pursuing journalism after 9/11; how writing has evolved in the 21st century; conspiracy theories online; AI creating doubt; strategizing the Abundance book; Virtually Normal ; books as totems; blue vs red city governance; housing deregulation; “procedural fetish” vs Trumpian chaos; government spurring innovation; Derek’s piece “ The Anti-Social Century ”; OnlyFans; looking at smartphones in a gay bar; Kierkegaard; Camus; tradition as a ballast; meaning through limits; fatherhood; Hegseth reveling in dominance; Nietzsche; the tribalism of early humans; wokeness and the Trump cult; liquid modernity…
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