Derek Thompson (journalist)

Derek Thompson was born in McLean, Virginia, the son of Robert Thompson and Petra Kahn, both deceased.[2][3] Before graduating from high school, he appeared in several theatrical productions at the Folger Shakespeare Theater[4] and the Shakespeare Theater.[5] After attending the Potomac School, Thompson graduated from Northwestern University in 2008.[6][7]

Thompson has been a writer at The Atlantic since 2009.[8] Starting in November 2021, Thompson began hosting a weekly headline podcast entitled Plain English, part of The Ringer Podcast Network.[9] 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.[10]

Thompson has written two cover stories for the magazine. The first, "A World Without Work", is a widely referenced[11][12] 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.[13]

In 2017, Thompson published his first book, Hit Makers: How to Succeed in an Age of Distraction. It was a national bestseller[14] and winner of the American Marketing Association's Leonard L. Berry Marketing Book Award for the best marketing book of 2018.[15]

In February 2019, Thompson coined the term "workism", for the belief that employment is not only necessary for economic production but is also the centrepiece of one's identity and life purpose.[16][17][18]

In July 2020, he coined the term "hygiene theater" when referring to hygiene measures being taken during the COVID-19 pandemic that have done little to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and have provided a false sense of security.[19][20]

Thompson lives in Washington D.C., with his wife.[21]