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Derek Thompson
@DKThomp
Sign up for my new newsletter! (Link below) Also: Co-author of Abundance, host of Plain English, and contributing writer at The Atlantic.
Washington, D.C.
derekthompson.substack.com
Born May 18
Joined May 2009
2,092
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257.2K
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    Derek Thompson
    @DKThomp
    Jun 20, 2025
    Some personal news. Today, I’m leaving The Atlantic after almost 17 years and moving my writing to Substack. It would be convenient, for the purposes of crafting an exciting departure announcement, to have a dramatic exit story: a fight, a grievance, a shouting match with an
    1.5M
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    Derek Thompson
    @DKThomp
    Jul 20, 2022
    What happened is scientists discovered chlorofluorocarbons were bad for the ozone, countries believed them, the Montreal Protocol was signed, and CFC use fell by 99.7%, leading to the stabilization of the ozone layer, perhaps the greatest example of global cooperation in history.
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    Matt Walsh
    @MattWalshBlog
    Jul 20, 2022
    Remember when they spent years telling us to panic over the hole in the ozone layer and then suddenly just stopped talking about it and nobody ever mentioned the ozone layer again?
    Readers added context
    24 nations signed the Montreal Protocol limiting the use of CFCs in 1987. Scientists estimate that if the Montreal Protocol had never been implemented, the hole would have grown by 40 percent by 2013. Instead, the hole is expected to completely heal by 2050. smithsonianmag.com/science-nature…
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    Derek Thompson
    @DKThomp
    May 10, 2022
    The optics here are exquisite. No notes.
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    Bloomberg UK
    Bloomberg
    @BloombergUK
    May 10, 2022
    Prince Charles announces the government's top priority is to "help ease the cost-of-living for families," with a promise to "level up opportunity in all parts of the country" bloom.bg/3srLLZ0
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    Derek Thompson
    @DKThomp
    Aug 28, 2024
    Lots of directions to go with this, positive and negative, but I will just point out: There is a genre of 21st century male “I have perfected the game of life” routine that essentially assumes the absence of other people
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    Colin Yurcisin
    @ColinYurcisin
    Aug 26, 2024
    The routine that saved my life
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    Derek Thompson
    @DKThomp
    Feb 27, 2025
    Holy crap. Pancreatic is one of the deadliest cancers. New paper shows personalized mRNA vaccines can induce durable anticancer T cells that attack pancreatic cancer. 75% of patients cancer free at three years.
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    Vinod BalachandranMD
    @TheVinodLab
    Feb 19, 2025
    #mRNAvaccines for #PancreaticCancer (PDAC) PART4 1. Out today in @Nature nature.com/articles/s4158… 🧵👇🏽 [1/23]
    4M
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    Derek Thompson
    @DKThomp
    Jul 21, 2025
    Yes. Writing is not a second thing that happens after thinking. The act of writing is an act of thinking. Writing *is* thinking. Students, academics, and anyone else who outsources their writing to LLMs will find their screens full of words and their minds emptied of thought.
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    Derek Thompson
    @DKThomp
    Apr 5, 2023
    This is just silly. If NPR receiving less than 1% of its revenue from federal government programs makes it "state-affiliated media," does Tesla accepting a $465m loan from DOE and benefiting from EV consumer subsidies make it "state-affiliated enterprise"?
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    2.4M
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    Derek Thompson
    @DKThomp
    Apr 12, 2025
    Imagine trying to manage a supply chain right now. Every 48 hours, the White House is announcing, or un-announcing, or re-announcing, or creating massive carve outs to, a new trade rule. Why would anyone anywhere build a new factory under these conditions?
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    Mark Gurman
    @markgurman
    Apr 12, 2025
    BREAKING: President Donald Trump’s administration exempted smartphones, computers and other electronics from its so-called reciprocal tariffs in win for Apple (and shoppers). This lowers the China tariff from 125%. bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
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    Derek Thompson
    @DKThomp
    Feb 17, 2020
    How to fix Presidents' Day. 1. The two most common months for presidential birthdays are October and November. 2. So, Presidents' Day should be in early Nov on—hm, let's say—the 1st Monday. 3. Huh, that's about when America votes. 4. Presto: Voting Day is a national holiday.
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    Derek Thompson
    @DKThomp
    Apr 24, 2024
    New paper from Norway: Banning smartphones in school - significantly decreased doctors visits for psychological symptoms and diseases among girls - reduced bullying among both genders - improved girls’ GPA and attendance rates - largest effect sizes were among the poorest kids
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    Derek Thompson
    @DKThomp
    Jul 12, 2019
    "How Couples Meet" chart, updated July 2019 web.stanford.edu/~mrosenfe/Rose…
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    Derek Thompson
    @DKThomp
    Jun 30, 2020
    Either seatbelts work, or they don't. If you're requiring that they be installed in every car, then let people drive drunk at 100 mph the way the Founders intended. If they don't work, then let's stop manufacturing seatbelts entirely. Pick a narrative and stick to it.
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    Tomi Lahren
    @TomiLahren
    Jun 29, 2020
    Either masks work or they don’t. If you’re requiring them because they stop the spread then reopen everything. If they don’t work then the mandates are BS. Pick a narrative and stick to it.
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    Derek Thompson
    @DKThomp
    Jul 27, 2020
    I wrote about “Hygiene Theater”—how restaurants, gyms, and subways have wasted millions of dollars on fancy cleaning plans to defeat a mostly airborne plague and made Americans more confused and unsafe in the process.
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    Hygiene Theater Is a Huge Waste of Time
    From theatlantic.com
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    Derek Thompson
    @DKThomp
    Aug 13, 2019
    Barstool's world is covering - the unionized MLB - the unionized NFL - the unionized NBA - the unionized NHL - the unionized MLS ...