Derek Kahn Thompson (born May 18, 1986)^[1][2] is an American podcaster and journalist. A self-described progressive,^[3] he is a staff writer at The Atlantic, the author of Hit Makers: How to Succeed in an Age of Distraction, and the co-author of Abundance.

Derek Thompson was born in McLean, Virginia, the son of Robert Thompson and Petra Kahn.^[4][5] Before graduating from high school, he appeared in several theatrical productions at the Folger Shakespeare Theater^[6] and the Shakespeare Theater.^[7] After attending the Potomac School, Thompson graduated from Northwestern University in 2008.^[8][9]

Thompson has been a writer at The Atlantic since 2009.^[10] Starting in November 2021, Thompson began hosting a weekly headline podcast entitled Plain English, part of The Ringer Podcast Network.^[11] In 2018, he became the host of the technology and science podcast Crazy/Genius, which was nominated for an iHeartMedia Best Podcast Award in its first year.^[12]

Thompson has written two cover stories for the magazine. The first, "A World Without Work", is a widely referenced^[13][14] essay on the meaning of work and automation's threat to the labor force. The second was a lengthy profile of X, the research and development division of Alphabet.^[15]

In 2017, Thompson published his first book, Hit Makers: How to Succeed in an Age of Distraction. It was a national bestseller^[16] and winner of the American Marketing Association's Leonard L. Berry Marketing Book Award for the best marketing book of 2018.^[17] Thompson coauthored his next book, Abundance, with Ezra Klein.^[18] The book discusses factors impeding progress on development in the United States, including related to climate change and infrastructure.

Thompson describes himself as a secular Reform Jew.^[19] As of 2024, he and his wife reside in North Carolina with their daughter.^[20]

• Appearances on C-SPAN