Derek Thompson (journalist)

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Derek Kahn Thompson (born May 18, 1986) is an American journalist. He is a staff writer at The Atlantic and the author of Hit Makers: How to Succeed in an Age of Distraction.

Early life[]

Derek Thompson was born in McLean, Virginia, the son of Robert Thompson and Petra Kahn, both deceased.[1] Before graduating from high school, he appeared in several theatrical productions at the Folger Shakespeare Theater[2] and the Shakespeare Theater.[3] Thompson graduated from Northwestern University in 2008.[4]

Career[]

Thompson has been a writer at The Atlantic since 2009.[5] 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.[6]

Thompson has written two cover stories for the magazine. The first, "A World Without Work", is a widely referenced[7][8] 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.[9]

In 2017, Thompson published his first book, Hit Makers: How to Succeed in an Age of Distraction. It was a national bestseller[10] and winner of the American Marketing Association's Leonard L. Berry Marketing Book Award for the best marketing book of 2018.[11]

On July 27, 2020, Thompson 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.[12][13]

Personal life[]

Thompson lives in Washington D.C.[14]

Since 2016 he is a member of Giving What We Can, a community of people who have pledged to give at least 10% of their income to effective charities.[citation needed]

References[]

  1. ^ "Bob Thompson Obituary".
  2. ^ "For Grandy, No More Gopher". The Washington Post.
  3. ^ "Fleshing Out King John". The Washington Post.
  4. ^ "Author Derek Thompson Returns to NU to Discuss New Book". The Daily Northwestern.
  5. ^ "Derek Thompson Author Page". TheAtlantic.com.
  6. ^ "iHeartMedia Podcast Awards".
  7. ^ "Derek Thompson - A World Without Work". YouTube.
  8. ^ "Challenges loom as tech takeover grows". CBS.com.
  9. ^ "Google X and the Science of Radical Creativity". TheAtlantic.com.
  10. ^ "Hit Makers". Penguin Random House.
  11. ^ "The Leonard L. Berry Marketing Book Award". AMA.org.
  12. ^ Thompson, Derek (2020-07-27). "Hygiene Theater Is a Huge Waste of Time". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2021-02-22.
  13. ^ Landsverk, Gabby (2020-10-14). "5 bogus coronavirus protection measures that are just 'hygiene theater' — and 2 things that actually do work". Insider. Retrieved 2021-02-22.
  14. ^ "How Manhattan Became a Rich Ghost Town". TheAtlantic.com.
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