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 new 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! You can also find us on tiktok at www.tiktok.com/@plainenglish_
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The best podcast for learning English if you like current events and trending topics. Improve your English listening, learn new words, and build your confidence with the #1 English-learning podcast focused on current events and trending topics. Improve your English listening: Plain English episodes go a little slower than native speed so you can understand every word and improve your English listening little by little. Your host is Jeff. He's a native English speaker from the United States a ...
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Whether you’re a law student, an undergraduate considering law school, or a lifelong learner, join me as we demystify the law — one concept at a time, in 15 minutes or less. We break down complex legal principles into plain English, making the law accessible for everyone.
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Every day, we explore the world of crypto and blockchain in one minute and in plain English.
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Web3 in Plain English. So much of the tech content explains Web3 with buzz words and overlong articles that make no sense. This podcast will explain practical Web3 use cases that are easy to understand.
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The life of a criminal from early beginnings to life on the right side of the law. We take a deep dive into true crime stories and real prison experiences.
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Learn about copyright law in plain english. Brought to you by the staff of www.ResearchCopyright.com
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UX has a usability problem. Chris and Carla are on hand to help you navigate through the jargon, user flows and mind maps so you can concentrate on designing great things for users. **Disclaimer** The views on this podcast are ours and don’t represent the views of any former or current employers or clients.
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A fresh season for each new election from former government minister and ACT Party Deputy Leader Hon Heather Roy and TorquePoint business partner and former ACT Party candidate and ministerial staffer Dr Simon Ewing-Jarvie. TorquePoint runs the popular LobbyTorque experiential learning programme on effective political lobbying in New Zealand. With much media coverage reduced to soundbites, many are frustrated with the lack of real commentary from people who have worked in Parliament. Season ...
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The End of Reading
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1:01:57Something alarming is happening with reading in America. Leisure reading by some accounts has declined by about 50 percent this century. Literacy scores are declining for fourth and eighth graders at alarming rates. And even college students today are complaining to teachers that they can’t read entire books. The book itself, that ancient piece of …
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Today's story: Most contractions in English are simple combinations of two words, like “you’re” for “you are.” But some contractions don’t follow the usual pattern. In this lesson, we explore three unusual contractions—“ma’am,” “o’clock,” and “ain’t”—their origins, meanings, and when (or if) you should use them. Transcript & Exercises: https://plai…
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If you had to describe the U.S. economy at the moment, I think you could do worse than the word stuck. The labor market is stuck. The low unemployment rate disguises how surprisingly hard it is to find a job today. The hiring rate has declined consistently since 2022, and it's now closer to its lowest level of the 21st century than the highest. We’…
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Today's story: Scientists have discovered the ideal way to boil an egg, ensuring a perfectly firm white and a soft, nutrient-rich yolk. The secret? Alternating the egg between boiling and warm water for 32 minutes. This method preserves nutrients and improves texture—but it requires patience and precision. Transcript & Exercises: https://plainengli…
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Plain History: The Astonishingly Successful Presidency of James K. Polk
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1:05:02Who is the most successful president in American history? George Washington secured American independence. Abraham Lincoln preserved the union and ended slavery. Franklin D. Roosevelt ended the Depression, remade government, and won World War II. But if we define "success" as the ability to articulate your goals and achieve every single one of them…
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Today's story: Whether you live in cold weather, plan to visit, or are just curious, it's important to know how to protect yourself from extreme cold. Learn how to layer properly, choose the right gear, and protect yourself from frostbite and hypothermia. Transcript & Exercises: https://plainenglish.com/751 Full lesson: https://plainenglish.com/751…
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The Trump-Musk Doctrine: F-ck Around and Find Out
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1:03:49For the past month, chaos and confusion have gripped Washington and the federal government. Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, have served as an iron fist of the Trump administration—ransacking government agencies, lighting fires in various departments, and generally firing as many people as they can get away with. Much…
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Today's story: Many English words come from French, but some, like fiancé, façade, and résumé, keep their original spellings, accents, and even gendered forms. To make things even more confusing, some of these words don't mean the same thing in French and English. Transcript & Exercises: https://plainenglish.com/750 -- Upgrade all your skills in En…
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Is There a Scientific Case for Believing in God?
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1:08:51This is a conversation I've wanted to have for a long time. It's about the decline of religion in America, the value of faith, the case for belief, and the rational reasons to believe in God. My guest is the New York Times columnist Ross Douthat. He is a Catholic conservative. From an identity checkbox standpoint, we are very different people. But …
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Today's story: Paris's Notre Dame Cathedral was nearly destroyed in a devastating fire in 2019. In the years since, thousands of artisans and specialists worked to restore the 850-year-old cathedral. The roof was rebuilt using oak from French forests. The massive pipe organ was disassembled, cleaned, and reassembled. The limestone exterior was pres…
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Why is it so hard to find a cure for Alzheimer’s? A simple answer is that the brain and its disorders are complicated. But as today’s guest, Charles Piller, writes, there’s another, more sinister factor at play. His new book, 'Doctored,' traces an incredible, true story of fraud, arrogance, and tragedy in the quest to cure Alzheimer’s. In the last …
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Today's story: Saturday Night Live, or SNL, is a late-night comedy show that mixes short sketches, parodies, and music. The sketches poke fun at everyday situations, celebrities, products, and current events. What makes it special is that it's written quickly each week and performed live before a studio audience. This year, it celebrates its fiftie…
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The Energy Story of the Moment: The Unstoppable Rise of Solar Vs. the Unmovable Demand for Global Fossil Fuels
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1:12:27Fans of green energy like me face some inconvenient truths about the global energy picture. First, coal sounds like a dirty technology that the rich world is moving on from. But nearly 9 billion tons of coal were burned last year—an all-time high. Second, "peak oil" is a prediction that many analysts have thrown around in the past few years, but oi…
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Today's story: English isn’t descended from Latin, but some Latin phrases have made their way into everyday use. This lesson explores eight Latin phrases, such as ""circa,"" ""quid pro quo,"" and ""status quo,"" that are still used in English today, plus some fun facts about Latin's influence on other fields. Transcript & Exercises: https://plainen…
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The 5 Types of Wealth
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1:03:19Wealth isn’t just about financial security, according to today’s guest, Sahil Bloom. It’s about time wealth (the freedom to control our own schedules), social wealth (deep relationships with family and friends), mental wealth (the space to think clearly about the most important questions in life), and physical wealth (health and vitality). Bloom’s …
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Today's story: Neon signs have lit up city streets for about a century. But building owners are increasingly swapping hand-blown neon tubes for sleek LED bulbs. The new bulbs are cheaper, easier to maintain, and more energy-efficient. But the old neon signs are a nostalgic part of urban history. What will cities be like without them? Transcript & E…
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Are GLP-1 Drugs "the Greatest Medical Breakthrough of the 21st Century"?
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1:04:13In the past few years, we've learned that GLP-1 drugs don’t just help with diabetes or increase people’s feelings of fullness to help them lose weight. They have broad effects on substance abuse and behavior. They even seem to help with otherwise incurable illnesses, like Alzheimer's and schizophrenia. This month, a team of scientists studying 2 mi…
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Today's story: The British Parliament recently voted to advance a bill that would legalize medically-assisted dying in England and Wales. Supporters argue that those with terminal illnesses should have the right to avoid suffering at the very end of their lives. Opponents are concerned about social pressure, a slippery slope, and the role of doctor…
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"Today's story: Nightclubs around the world are closing their doors earlier than ever before, and some of the world's biggest party hotspots are hosting fewer all-night parties. Club owners and party organizers face tighter regulations and higher costs. But the real culprit is simply that this generation of young people is less interested in club c…
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Tech Talk: AI Supremacy, TikTok’s Fate, and Crypto Decadence
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1:04:17Today, tech talk with an old friend of the pod, Kevin Roose of The New York Times, who is also host of the 'Hard Fork' podcast. This is a show about everything. And it’s going to remain a show about everything because I’m a little bit interested in everything. But one cost of that purposeful lack of narrow focus is that sometimes you fail to commun…
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Today's story: Every winter, Girl Scouts and their parents fan out across schools, offices, and community events, soliciting orders for cookies. Customers have just one chance per year to satisfy their cravings for Thin Mints, Do-Si-Dos, and Samoas. But it’s not just the customers who benefit—the girls learn skills like sales, planning, and custome…
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Plain History Volume 1: Who Killed President James Garfield?
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1:00:15This is the first episode of a little experiment we’re trying this year, a podcast within a podcast on history that we’re calling, simply enough, 'Plain History.' There are, I am well aware, a great number of history podcasts out there. But one thing I want to do with this show is to pay special attention to how the past worked. In this episode, fo…
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Today's story: Jimmy Carter, who died at the end of 2024, was America's 39th president. His term in office was marked by challenges, and he suffered a lopsided loss in the 1980 election. But after he left office, he founded one of the most influential global nonprofits. The Carter Center has had an extraordinary positive impact on humanity in areas…
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Today's episode has been a long time coming. For years, more scientists and health influencers have claimed that even moderate drinking does serious damage to one's health. As someone who likes being healthy and also loves a glass of wine (or scotch), Derek really wanted to understand this issue more deeply. This week, he published a long article i…
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Today's story: Australia’s new law bans children under 16 from social media, but two key questions remain: how will platforms verify user ages, and what exactly counts as a social media platform? So much of the online world has at least some social component: will teen book nerds be kicked off Goodreads? Transcript & Exercises: https://plainenglish…
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The L.A. Fires: How They Happened, Climate Change’s Role, and What the City Must Do Now
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1:06:36With so many confusing narratives unfolding around a fire that is still raging out of control, I wanted to talk to somebody I knew and trusted to get stories like this right. Robinson Meyer is the founder and editor of Heatmap News and a former staff writer at The Atlantic, where he covered climate news and related disasters. We talk about why this…
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Today's story: Australia has passed a law that will prohibit children under 16 from accessing social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram. The law aims to protect kids from cyberbullying and mental health issues, but critics say it's an unfair restriction on kids' freedom to connect online. Transcript & Exercises: https://plainenglish.com/740 …
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‘The Anti-Social Century’: America’s Epidemic of Solitude—and How to Fix It
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1:12:47My new feature for The Atlantic magazine is called "The Anti-Social Century." It's a long article that revolves around a simple point: Americans are now spending more time alone than ever. This surging solitude is changing our personalities, our politics, our culture, and our relationships. On this episode, University of Chicago psychologist Nick E…
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Send us a text In this episode of Law School in Plain English: Torts, we dive into the world of the “Reasonable Person”—the unsung hero of legal liability. But what happens when this paragon of predictably meets their chaotic counterpart, the Unreasonable Person? Join us for an engaging, humorous exploration of fairness, responsibility, and what it…
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Today's story: Processed foods are widely considered unhealthy and are associated with obesity and cardiovascular disease. But what, exactly, is unhealthy about them? New research attempts to tease out which processed foods are most associated with bad health. Transcript & Exercises: https://plainenglish.com/739 Full lesson: https://plainenglish.co…
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The Big 2025 Economy Forecast: AI and Big Tech, Nuclear’s Renaissance, Trump vs. China, and What’s Eating Europe?
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1:12:50Happy new year! And what better way to celebrate the freshly torn calendar page than by welcoming one of Derek's favorite writers to the show to tell us what's in store for the 2025 economy. Michael Cembalest is the chairman of market and investment strategy for JPMorgan Asset Management, and the author of the truly spectacular newsletter, 'Eye on …
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Today's story: Here are three major stories to follow in 2025: Donald Trump’s return and its impact on global trade, the potential endgame for the Ukraine-Russia war, and the evolving role of artificial intelligence in business and society. Transcript & Exercises: https://plainenglish.com/738 Full lesson: https://plainenglish.com/738 -- Upgrade all…
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Over the course of 31 years and over 900 half-hour episodes, Fred Rogers was a friendly television neighbor and mentor to generations of American children, who knew him as simply "Mr. Rogers." A new movie, starring Tom Hanks as Mr. Rogers, explores the impact he had on children. He wasn't afraid to confront topics big and small and always spoke to …
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