Derek Thompson
@derekthompson.skystack.xyz
A newsletter about abundance and building a better world.
This is an automated Substack Account of https://derekthompson.substack.com
Discover more/Create at: @skystack.xyz
This is an automated Substack Account of https://derekthompson.substack.com
Discover more/Create at: @skystack.xyz
The Case For Prayer, Even If You're an Atheist • On the science of hope and hopelessness
The Case For Prayer, Even If You're an Atheist
On the science of hope and hopelessness
www.derekthompson.org
December 18, 2025 at 1:08 PM
The Case For Prayer, Even If You're an Atheist • On the science of hope and hopelessness
The 26 Most Important Ideas For 2026 • Modern trends and history lessons—across culture, politics, AI, economics, science, and the long story of progress. But first: an announcement!
The 26 Most Important Ideas For 2026
Modern trends and history lessons—across culture, politics, AI, economics, science, and the long story of progress. But first: an announcement!
www.derekthompson.org
December 10, 2025 at 4:07 PM
The 26 Most Important Ideas For 2026 • Modern trends and history lessons—across culture, politics, AI, economics, science, and the long story of progress. But first: an announcement!
How to Sound Like an Expert in Any AI Bubble Debate • There are 12 statistics, factoids, and studies that dominate every discussion about whether artificial intelligence is a bubble. Here's a deep-dive into all 12 arguments
How to Sound Like an Expert in Any AI Bubble Debate
There are 12 statistics, factoids, and studies that dominate every discussion about whether artificial intelligence is a bubble. Here's a deep-dive into all 12 arguments
www.derekthompson.org
November 25, 2025 at 4:09 PM
How to Sound Like an Expert in Any AI Bubble Debate • There are 12 statistics, factoids, and studies that dominate every discussion about whether artificial intelligence is a bubble. Here's a deep-dive into all 12 arguments
Trump's AI Policy Is Indefensible • Trump, the White House, and their defenders claim that trade is bad and tariffs are good. So how on earth do they defend America's AI policy, which is the opposite in every way?
Trump's AI Policy Is Indefensible
Trump, the White House, and their defenders claim that trade is bad and tariffs are good. So how on earth do they defend America's AI policy, which is the opposite in every way?
www.derekthompson.org
November 20, 2025 at 1:30 PM
Trump's AI Policy Is Indefensible • Trump, the White House, and their defenders claim that trade is bad and tariffs are good. So how on earth do they defend America's AI policy, which is the opposite in every way?
Are Young People Screwed? • It seems like everyone has suddenly agreed that young Americans have never had it worse. Let's investigate.
Are Young People Screwed?
It seems like everyone has suddenly agreed that young Americans have never had it worse. Let's investigate.
www.derekthompson.org
November 20, 2025 at 9:47 AM
Are Young People Screwed? • It seems like everyone has suddenly agreed that young Americans have never had it worse. Let's investigate.
The Monks in the Casino • A brief theory of young men, "the loneliness crisis," and life in the 21st century
The Monks in the Casino
A brief theory of young men, "the loneliness crisis," and life in the 21st century
www.derekthompson.org
November 20, 2025 at 9:47 AM
The Monks in the Casino • A brief theory of young men, "the loneliness crisis," and life in the 21st century
The Democrats Have a New Winning Formula • The affordability theory of everything
The Democrats Have a New Winning Formula
The affordability theory of everything
www.derekthompson.org
November 20, 2025 at 9:47 AM
The Democrats Have a New Winning Formula • The affordability theory of everything
AI Could Be the Railroad of the 21st Century. Brace Yourself. • In the 1800s, the railroads took over the economy, changed the way we work, and reshaped American politics. Sound familiar?
AI Could Be the Railroad of the 21st Century. Brace Yourself.
In the 1800s, the railroads took over the economy, changed the way we work, and reshaped American politics. Sound familiar?
www.derekthompson.org
November 20, 2025 at 9:47 AM
AI Could Be the Railroad of the 21st Century. Brace Yourself. • In the 1800s, the railroads took over the economy, changed the way we work, and reshaped American politics. Sound familiar?
How the Earth Invented Sleep • The Sunday Morning Post: The scientific connection between billion-year-old volcanos, oxygen, and your dreams
How the Earth Invented Sleep
The Sunday Morning Post: The scientific connection between billion-year-old volcanos, oxygen, and your dreams
www.derekthompson.org
November 20, 2025 at 9:47 AM
How the Earth Invented Sleep • The Sunday Morning Post: The scientific connection between billion-year-old volcanos, oxygen, and your dreams
Is This the New ‘Scariest Chart in the World’? • Since November 2022, the stock market is up more than 70 percent and job openings are down more than 30 percent. Nothing like this has happened in decades.
Is This the New ‘Scariest Chart in the World’?
Since November 2022, the stock market is up more than 70 percent and job openings are down more than 30 percent. Nothing like this has happened in decades.
www.derekthompson.org
November 20, 2025 at 9:47 AM
Is This the New ‘Scariest Chart in the World’? • Since November 2022, the stock market is up more than 70 percent and job openings are down more than 30 percent. Nothing like this has happened in decades.
Whose Cup Are You Filling? • Today's Sunday Morning Post: Attention, finitude, and a game of life
Whose Cup Are You Filling?
Today's Sunday Morning Post: Attention, finitude, and a game of life
www.derekthompson.org
November 20, 2025 at 9:47 AM
Whose Cup Are You Filling? • Today's Sunday Morning Post: Attention, finitude, and a game of life
Why AI Is Not a Bubble* • *The best arguments I've heard on the $10 trillion question of the moment
Why AI Is Not a Bubble*
*The best arguments I've heard on the $10 trillion question of the moment
www.derekthompson.org
November 20, 2025 at 9:47 AM
Why AI Is Not a Bubble* • *The best arguments I've heard on the $10 trillion question of the moment
Everything Is Television • A theory of culture and attention
Everything Is Television
A theory of culture and attention
www.derekthompson.org
November 20, 2025 at 9:47 AM
Everything Is Television • A theory of culture and attention
Self-Driving Cars Are Miracle Drugs. (Plus: Is the Youth Cancer Epidemic a Myth?)
Self-Driving Cars Are Miracle Drugs. (Plus: Is the Youth Cancer Epidemic a Myth?)
www.derekthompson.org
November 20, 2025 at 9:47 AM
Self-Driving Cars Are Miracle Drugs. (Plus: Is the Youth Cancer Epidemic a Myth?)
This Is How the AI Bubble Will Pop • The AI infrastructure boom is the most important economic story in the world. But the numbers just don't add up.
This Is How the AI Bubble Will Pop
The AI infrastructure boom is the most important economic story in the world. But the numbers just don't add up.
www.derekthompson.org
November 20, 2025 at 9:47 AM
This Is How the AI Bubble Will Pop • The AI infrastructure boom is the most important economic story in the world. But the numbers just don't add up.
Why Are Liberals More Depressed? • Mental health, ideology, and the psycho-politics of the future
Why Are Liberals More Depressed?
Mental health, ideology, and the psycho-politics of the future
www.derekthompson.org
November 20, 2025 at 9:47 AM
Why Are Liberals More Depressed? • Mental health, ideology, and the psycho-politics of the future
TSMP: If Placebos Work So Well, Why Not Prescribe Sugar Pills For Everything? • A Sunday Morning Post about the strange wonder of placebo effects in medicine and society, with brief appearances by Indiana Jones and William James
TSMP: If Placebos Work So Well, Why Not Prescribe Sugar Pills For Everything?
A Sunday Morning Post about the strange wonder of placebo effects in medicine and society, with brief appearances by Indiana Jones and William James
www.derekthompson.org
November 20, 2025 at 9:47 AM
TSMP: If Placebos Work So Well, Why Not Prescribe Sugar Pills For Everything? • A Sunday Morning Post about the strange wonder of placebo effects in medicine and society, with brief appearances by Indiana Jones and William James
The End of Thinking • The rise of AI's "thinking" machines is not the problem. The decline of thinking people is.
The End of Thinking
The rise of AI's "thinking" machines is not the problem. The decline of thinking people is.
www.derekthompson.org
November 20, 2025 at 9:47 AM
The End of Thinking • The rise of AI's "thinking" machines is not the problem. The decline of thinking people is.
The 25 Most Interesting Ideas I've Found in 2025 (So Far) • Charts and history lessons—across culture, politics, AI, economics, health, science, and the long story of progress
The 25 Most Interesting Ideas I've Found in 2025 (So Far)
Charts and history lessons—across culture, politics, AI, economics, health, science, and the long story of progress
www.derekthompson.org
November 20, 2025 at 9:47 AM
The 25 Most Interesting Ideas I've Found in 2025 (So Far) • Charts and history lessons—across culture, politics, AI, economics, health, science, and the long story of progress
All the Sad Young Terminally Online Men • Political violence is like a lightning bolt: sudden, surprising, seemingly random, yet always emerging from a local weather system. Do not forget that we all make the weather.
All the Sad Young Terminally Online Men
Political violence is like a lightning bolt: sudden, surprising, seemingly random, yet always emerging from a local weather system. Do not forget that we all make the weather.
www.derekthompson.org
November 20, 2025 at 9:47 AM
All the Sad Young Terminally Online Men • Political violence is like a lightning bolt: sudden, surprising, seemingly random, yet always emerging from a local weather system. Do not forget that we all make the weather.
The Age of Diagnosis: How the Over-Medicalization Of Everything Makes Us Sick, Anxious, and Lost • Or: Why does it seem like every psychological condition is an "epidemic" these days?
The Age of Diagnosis: How the Over-Medicalization Of Everything Makes Us Sick, Anxious, and Lost
Or: Why does it seem like every psychological condition is an "epidemic" these days?
www.derekthompson.org
November 20, 2025 at 9:47 AM
The Age of Diagnosis: How the Over-Medicalization Of Everything Makes Us Sick, Anxious, and Lost • Or: Why does it seem like every psychological condition is an "epidemic" these days?
Trump’s Formula to Conquer the Economy, the Colleges, and Everything Else • Step one: Create pain. Step two: Demand tribute. Step three: Repeat.
Trump’s Formula to Conquer the Economy, the Colleges, and Everything Else
Step one: Create pain. Step two: Demand tribute. Step three: Repeat.
www.derekthompson.org
November 20, 2025 at 9:47 AM
Trump’s Formula to Conquer the Economy, the Colleges, and Everything Else • Step one: Create pain. Step two: Demand tribute. Step three: Repeat.
What’s Happening to the Economy Is Obvious to Anyone Paying Attention • This is the road to stagflation
What’s Happening to the Economy Is Obvious to Anyone Paying Attention
This is the road to stagflation
www.derekthompson.org
November 20, 2025 at 9:47 AM
What’s Happening to the Economy Is Obvious to Anyone Paying Attention • This is the road to stagflation
The Boring Truth About Why America Got Fat • The truth about calories, ultra-processed food, and why “myth-busting” media sometimes makes more myths
The Boring Truth About Why America Got Fat
The truth about calories, ultra-processed food, and why “myth-busting” media sometimes makes more myths
www.derekthompson.org
November 20, 2025 at 9:47 AM
The Boring Truth About Why America Got Fat • The truth about calories, ultra-processed food, and why “myth-busting” media sometimes makes more myths