Plain English with Derek Thompson
Hosted by Derek Thompson · The Ringer
4.7from 7,824 ratings
- 404
- Episodes
- 207
- Transcribed
- 7,824
- Ratings
- Daily
- Cadence
- 2021
- First episode
About Plain English with Derek Thompson
Longtime Atlantic tech, culture and political writer Derek Thompson cuts through all the noise surrounding the big questions and headlines that matter to you in his new podcast Plain English. Watch Derek and guests engage the news with clear viewpoints and memorable takeaways. New episodes drop every Tuesday and Friday, and if you've got a topic you want discussed, shoot us an email at plainenglish@spotify.com! Subscribe to our YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/@PlainEnglishwithDerekThompson
- Publisher
- The Ringer
- Category
- news
- Language
- en
- Explicit
- No
- First episode
- 11 Nov 2021
- Latest episode
- 18 Sept 2026
Latest episodes
207 of 404 episodes have a transcript.
18 Sept 2026TRANSCRIPT
The Truth About Mississippi's Education "Miracle"
15 Sept 2026TRANSCRIPT
Why Experts Keep Getting the Economy So Wrong
11 Sept 2026TRANSCRIPT
What’s the Point of College?
Inside a recent episode
The Truth About Mississippi's Education "Miracle"
Published 18 Sept 2026 · Transcript excerpt
[…] There's something called the simple view of reading, which sort of takes all of this knowledge and tries to distill it down to something that is easy to understand for people. So when you talk about the simple view of reading, you talk about this basic equation that is word recognition multiplied by language comprehension gets reading comprehension. And when we talk about can you read, we really mean reading comprehension. Can you look at something and understand what it says? And does that have meaning to you in your brain? And when we talk about word recognition, this is where we talk about phonics. […]
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See plansWho has been a guest on Plain English with Derek Thompson
Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.
- Rachel Canter
- Jason Furman
- David Deming
- Liaquat Ahamed
- Max Spero
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
- Apple Podcasts (US)
- 4.7 / 5
- 2,148 ratings
- Spotify
- 4.6 / 5
- 5,676 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 64 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
- Quality
- 89
- Social presence
- 0
- YouTube
- 0
- Engagement
- 99
Pitching Plain English with Derek Thompson
- Guest appearances
- Books guests
Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting pitches.
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Questions about Plain English with Derek Thompson
Who hosts Plain English with Derek Thompson?
Derek Thompson host the show. Published by The Ringer.
How often do new episodes come out?
The show publishes daily, based on its RSS feed.
Does Plain English with Derek Thompson take guests?
Yes. Guests have been identified in episode analyses.
Where can I read transcripts?
207 of 404 episodes have a transcript on Pod Engine. Full transcripts are available with a Pod Engine plan.
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