| Birth Date: | 18 May 1986 |
| Birth Place: | McLean, Virginia, U.S. |
| Alma Mater: | Northwestern University |
Derek Kahn Thompson (born May 18, 1986) is an American podcaster and journalist. A self-described progressive,[1] he is a staff writer at The Atlantic and the author of Hit Makers: How to Succeed in an Age of Distraction.
Derek Thompson was born in McLean, Virginia, the son of Robert Thompson and Petra Kahn.[2] [3] Before graduating from high school, he appeared in several theatrical productions at the Folger Shakespeare Theater[4] and the Shakespeare Theater.[5] After attending the Potomac School, Thompson graduated from Northwestern University in 2008.[6] [7]
Thompson has been a writer at The Atlantic since 2009.[8] Starting in November 2021, Thompson began hosting a weekly headline podcast entitled Plain English, part of The Ringer Podcast Network.[9] In 2018, he became the host of the technology and science podcast Crazy/Genius, which was nominated for an iHeartMedia Best Podcast Award in its first year.[10]
Thompson has written two cover stories for the magazine. The first, "A World Without Work", is a widely referenced[11] [12] essay on the meaning of work and automation's threat to the labor force. The second was a lengthy profile of X, the research and development division of Alphabet.[13]
In 2017, Thompson published his first book, Hit Makers: How to Succeed in an Age of Distraction. It was a national bestseller[14] and winner of the American Marketing Association's Leonard L. Berry Marketing Book Award for the best marketing book of 2018.[15]
, Thompson and his wife reside in Manhattan.[16]