Derek Thompson

4 weeks ago | fwiw.substack.com | Ezra Klein |Derek Thompson |David Tvrdon

Hi there 👋As I promised a while ago, here is a follow up to my last message. Some house keeping first. I will be moving this newsletter/blog away from Substack to WordPress to my personal website. So the newsletter won’t longer be FWIW, but will be under my name. If you do not wish to get any more updates, feel free to unsubscribe, otherwise I will be moving the database to the new site in April. Of course, you can still unsubscribe then.

Nov 22, 2024 | theringer.com | Derek Thompson

Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images Emily Oster, professor of economics at Brown University, joins the show to talk about Robert F. Kennedy Jr., his theories about fluoride and vaccines, and how the media and science community should treat the most controversial topics. This is a new age of science and information, where trust seems to be shifting from institutions like the FDA and CDC to individuals like RFK Jr. and Oster, and I consider her a model of public health communication.

Nov 15, 2024 | theringer.com | Derek Thompson

Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images What would a world of self-driven cars look like? How would it change shopping, transportation, and life, more broadly? A decade ago, many people were asking these questions, as it looked like a boom in autonomous vehicles was imminent. But in the last few years, other technologies—crypto, the metaverse, AI—have stolen the spotlight.

Nov 8, 2024 | theringer.com | Derek Thompson

AP Images/Ringer illustration Derek shares his big-picture theory for Trump’s victory. Then, Republican pollster Kristen Soltis Anderson explains how Trump shifted practically the entire electorate to the right.

Nov 4, 2024 | theringer.com | Derek Thompson

Photo by John Smith/VIEWpress via Getty Images Today’s guest (our final preelection guest) is David Wasserman, political analyst with the Cook Political Report, who also helps out with the NBC decision desk. There are dozens, maybe hundreds, of people whose job on election night is to help Americans understand when we can safely call specific districts and states for Congress, Senate, or the presidency. However, I truly don’t think I know anybody whose calls I trust more than David’s.