
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 plainenglis... more
| Publishes | Twice weekly | Episodes | 372 | Founded | 4 years ago |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of Listeners | Categories | News CommentaryNews | |||

Freedom is one of the few ideas everyone agrees on. Surely more choice and autonomy is a good thing, right? But what if our endless pursuit of freedom is actually making us more anxious, less creative, and holding us back from reaching our full poten... more
For nearly a decade, critics have predicted that this would be the moment Trumpism finally fractures - January 6, the overturning of Roe v. Wade, endless internal feuds, even Trump’s online beef with Pope Leo. And yet the movement endures. Derek is j... more
Hollywood is in the middle of a triple crisis. You can measure it in tickets, jobs, and ideas.
Start with tickets. The best year for the movie business this century was 2002, when Americans and Canadians bought 1.6 billion tickets, or about five per... more
Two weeks ago, Anthropic announced an AI model so capable and so dangerous that it decided not to release it to the public.
The model, codenamed Mythos, could autonomously infiltrate computer systems around the world, exploit security vulnerabilitie... more
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Covers all perspectives other than strawmanning conservatives.
Mr abundance corners someone with a wonderful analogy that AI is like Nuclear weapons. Whoops. Doesn’t follow up despite the weird guy answering literally and that we also have implications for chemical weapons???!! Ouch. Big J Journalist card revoked sorry Derrick.. your book sucked but I can blame that on Ezra easily but the podcast/ home court? Yow!!
This podcast is very informative and I enjoy listening to Derek but I feel the format can be a bit rambling where the conversation continues long after the expected conclusion and then cuts without an outro. I don’t think I will keep this podcast in my weekly rotation because it takes more mental energy to listen to as I go about my day than similar shows.
I really found most of Dean Ball’s arguments circular and empty. Essentially, things will be different because things will be different… an example of current right wing intelligentsia.
The topic of discussion interested me which led to me listening, but honestly it had very little to no value. The host is poorly informed, but very opinionated about topics. The guest honestly didn’t have much insight or real original or novel thoughts. The discussion was surface level and lacked any interesting context or insight. Ignorant biases were pervasive in the discussion and frankly colored the entirety of the podcast. Should have known better given that it is produced under the ringer ... more
Key themes from listener reviews, highlighting what works and what could be improved about the show.
How this podcast ranks in the Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube charts.
Spotify | #34 | |
Apple Podcasts | #13 | |
Apple Podcasts | #60 | |
Apple Podcasts | #9 | |
Apple Podcasts | #17 | |
Apple Podcasts | #81 |
Recent interactions between the hosts and their guests.
Listeners, social reach, demographics and more for this podcast.
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This podcast engages with a diverse range of relevant topics spanning technology, culture, politics, and public health. With a focus on making complex subjects accessible, it often features discussions about current affairs, societal changes, and scientific advancements, all presented through a lens of clear analysis and thoughtful dialogue. Notably, the host frequently invites experts from various fields, ranging from economics to neuroscience, driving discussions that engage both the intellect and the public's curiosity. The ability to tackle hard-hitting questions while maintaining a conversational tone sets it apart, making it appealing for listeners who appreciate depth without the jargon.
Rephonic provides a wide range of podcast stats for Plain English. We scanned the web and collated all of the information that we could find in our comprehensive podcast database. See how many people listen to Plain English and access YouTube viewership numbers, download stats, audience demographics, chart rankings, ratings, reviews and more.
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Rephonic provides comprehensive predictive audience data for Plain English, including gender skew, age, country, political leaning, income, professions, education level, and interests. You can access these listener demographics by upgrading your account.
To see how many followers or subscribers Plain English has on Spotify and other platforms such as Castbox and Podcast Addict, simply upgrade your account. You'll also find viewership figures for their YouTube channel if they have one.
These podcasts share a similar audience with Plain English:
1. The Bill Simmons Podcast
2. The Press Box
3. The Ezra Klein Show
4. The Rewatchables
5. The Zach Lowe Show
Plain English launched 4 years ago and published 372 episodes to date. You can find more information about this podcast including rankings, audience demographics and engagement in our podcast database.
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Rephonic pulls ratings and reviews for Plain English from multiple sources, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Castbox, and Podcast Addict.
View all the reviews in one place instead of visiting each platform individually and use this information to decide if a show is worth pitching or not.
Rephonic provides full transcripts for episodes of Plain English. Search within each transcript for your keywords, whether they be topics, brands or people, and figure out if it's worth pitching as a guest or sponsor. You can even set-up alerts to get notified when your keywords are mentioned.
Recent guests on Plain English include:
1. Sean Fennessey
2. Nat Bullard
3. Rogé Karma
4. Ryan Burge
5. Alex Turnbull
6. Jack Clark
7. Gabriel Zucman
8. McKay Coppins
To view more recent guests and their details, simply upgrade your Rephonic account. You'll also get access to a typical guest profile to help you decide if the show is worth pitching.