Four Megatrends for 2024 in Tech, Economics, Media, and Weird Science

Derek shares what he considers the most important narratives of the moment, including the return of normalcy in economics, a big shift in sports media, Big Tech’s 1890 moment, and ... aliens.

If you have questions, observations, or ideas for future episodes, email us at PlainEnglish@Spotify.com.

In the following excerpt, Derek introduces the most exciting developments in economics, media, tech, and “weird science.”

Derek Thompson: Hello, everyone. Happy New Year. I’m Derek Thompson, and this is Plain English 2024. Today, it’s just me on the mic. In our first episode of the year, I wanted to collect some of my thoughts about the world and share four of the most important story lines of the moment, the four megatrends as I see them across economics, media, tech, and science.

And the task I’ve set up for myself is something like this. If someone approached me and they said, “Derek, what’s going on in the economy right now? I only have a few minutes, but quickly, in four or five minutes, just tell me what you think the most important story line that you see happening right now in econ is, or in media, or so forth. What is it?” And this podcast is my attempt to give you just that, across the subjects that we follow most closely on the show.

So let’s jump right into it. We’re going to do economics, then tech, then entertainment, and then finally a category that I’m calling weird science. Last week we had our breakthroughs of the year episode, and if you want to know what I think are the most important achievements and frontiers in biotech right now, you should listen to that episode from last week. I really loved the recording that we did with Dr. Eric Topol.

But that’s what’s happening in science, in the discoveries that could save people’s lives. Weird science is more like the world of discovery that is just damn fascinating, even though it has no immediate implication for our lives, for human lives. And you know what? I’m just going to tell you right now. The theme of the weird science chapter of this podcast, it’s aliens. So listen to the end of the show, and you will get five good minutes of me on aliens.

This excerpt was edited for clarity. Listen to the rest of the episode here and follow the Plain English feed on Spotify.

Host: Derek Thompson
Producer: Devon Baroldi

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