Derek Thompson
Derek Thompson
About the show
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 podcast Plain English. Hear 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.
Hosts
Spotlight
Episode Breakdown
The Smoot-Hawley Tariff is one of the most infamous failures in the history of American politics. To suggest that it holds lessons for this moment in history is to state the obvious. Our guest is Douglas Irwin, an economist and historian at Dartmouth University and an expert on the economic debates of the Great Depression. We talk about the economic motivations of the Smoot-Hawley tariff, the congressional debates that shaped it, the president who signed it, and the legacy it left. We talk about the economic instinct to preserve the past—an instinct that has never gone away in American history—and the profound irony that some efforts to return America to its former glory can have the unintended effect of robbing America of a richer future.
Hosts
Hosts
Episode Breakdown
The Smoot-Hawley Tariff is one of the most infamous failures in the history of American politics. To suggest that it holds lessons for this moment in history is to state the obvious. Our guest is Douglas Irwin, an economist and historian at Dartmouth University and an expert on the economic debates of the Great Depression. We talk about the economic motivations of the Smoot-Hawley tariff, the congressional debates that shaped it, the president who signed it, and the legacy it left. We talk about the economic instinct to preserve the past—an instinct that has never gone away in American history—and the profound irony that some efforts to return America to its former glory can have the unintended effect of robbing America of a richer future.
The Latest Catch Every Episode
Abundance
By Derek Thompson and Ezra Klein • March 18
‘Abundance’ is Plain English host Derek Thompson and New York Times journalist Ezra Klein’s call to renew a politics of plenty, face up to the failures of liberal governance, and abandon the chosen scarcities that have deformed American life.More info
Spotlight
Episode Breakdown
Donald Trump’s tariff plan has set global markets on fire. What are they for? What are they trying to accomplish?
Fresh off his blackout-rage session on CNBC, Derek talks to Matthew Klein, the author of the Overshoot newsletter and coauthor, with economist Michael Pettis, of the widely acclaimed economics book Trade Wars Are Class Wars. We talk about the Trump tariffs, their place in history, the goal of reindustrialization, and why our problem with China is a malady worth solving—even if Trump’s medicine is just making us sicker.
Hosts
Hosts
Episode Breakdown
Donald Trump’s tariff plan has set global markets on fire. What are they for? What are they trying to accomplish?
Fresh off his blackout-rage session on CNBC, Derek talks to Matthew Klein, the author of the Overshoot newsletter and coauthor, with economist Michael Pettis, of the widely acclaimed economics book Trade Wars Are Class Wars. We talk about the Trump tariffs, their place in history, the goal of reindustrialization, and why our problem with China is a malady worth solving—even if Trump’s medicine is just making us sicker.
Plain History The Full Series
