Derek Thompson

People sometimes make fun of science that sounds stupid and random. Meanwhile, a study of lizard saliva turned into a peptide medication, which was turned into a diabetes medication, which was turned into a GLP1 weight loss drug, that just became the first therapy every approved for … sleep apnea

Unbelievable news. Pancreatic is one of the deadliest cancers. New paper shows personalized mRNA vaccines can induce durable T cells that attack pancreatic cancer, with 75% of patients cancer free at three years—far, far better than standard of care. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

The NYT article about Blake Lively’s lawsuit is incredible. Her director/costar’s PR team texting “Holy shit, I can’t believe how well our evil plan to destroy this woman’s reputation is working! Thank god no one will ever read these text messages!” back and forth to each other over and over

The scientific case against moderate drinking has been massively oversold. No, alcohol is not a medicine. And no, there is not strong evidence that ~1 drink a day has a clear lifetime mortality risk. open.substack.com/pub/derektho...

New pod: How Israel is transforming American politics, with Peter Beinart www.youtube.com/watch?v=papq...

America, 1926: An absurdly deep dive into what America was like 100 years ago www.derekthompson.org/p/america-19...

New newsletter: The rise and rise of the solo act The data is in: Solo entrepreneurs and tiny startups are becoming much more common and much more profitable. This has huge implications for the future of firms, wealth, social life, and even US tax revenue. www.derekthompson.org/p/ai-isnt-co...

New pod: 4 TRILLION DOLLARS. 3 COMPANIES. 0 PROFITS. SpaceX, Anthropic, and maybe OpenAI could all IPO in the same 12 month window for more than $1 trillion apiece. None of them are profitable. The rise of the trillion-dollar, zero-profit firm is an economic omen. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Glj_...

One year ago, I quit The Atlantic to start a Substack. Today, I write about: - the state of the business - what I’ve learned - the difference between viral essays in The Atlantic vs the Substack ecosystem www.derekthompson.org/p/the-derek-...

Happy Fathers Day to the best and most involved generation of dads in recorded history www.derekthompson.org/p/why-do-ric... www.derekthompson.org/p/why-do-ric...

New pod: THE TRUMP CORRUPTION SCANDAL DRAFT, with Isaac Saul This is the most corrupt administration in US history, with too many scandals to track. So Isaac and I ranked the worst of the absolute worst with a draft. Very fact-packed, very fun, very depressing. www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7zW...

America's health craze isn't so healthy. Diet, exercise, and discipline are virtues. Longer lives are good. But today's craze of health-maximization has an antisocial streak. At its extremes, it verges on a cult of self enhancement, which pulls us into ourselves and away from other people.

THE CULT OF THE ENHANCED SELF The post-pandemic fitness craze, MAHA, the cultural rise of Nietzschean tech moguls, the dawn of GLP-1s & supplements, and fitness trackers have combined to create a new cultural norm that is (unhealthily) obsessed w/ health www.derekthompson.org/p/the-cult-o...