Derek
Thompson:
The Evolution
of Work 

We live in a time where many fear technology will permanently replace some workers. Thompson discusses how work shaped the American identity in the last 200 years and how automation will both change and reaffirm the meaning that people derive from work. He asks if people displaced from boring jobs will seek new, more rewarding activities or whether technology will usher in an age of idleness.

Derek Thompson is a senior editor at The Atlantic, where he writes about economics, technology, and pop culture for the magazine and the website. He is the author of the 2015 cover story, “A World Without Work” and an expert on millennials. A news analyst on NPR’s “Here and Now,” he appears regularly on television, including CBS, CNBC, and MSNBC. Thompson is currently working on a book about the economics and psychology behind hits in pop culture. In 2012, he appeared in FOLIO: magazine’s 15 Under 30, was one of Min’s People to Watch, and his blog was named one to follow by Reuters’ Counterparties blog, newsletter, and website.

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