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

Derek Thompson was born in McLean, Virginia, the son of Robert Thompson and Petra Kahn.^[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]

As of 2018^[update], Thompson and his wife reside in Washington, D.C..^[16]