Nicholas Thompson is the CEO of The Atlantic, an American magazine founded in 1857, which earned the top honor for magazines, General Excellence, at the National Magazine Awards in both 2022 and 2023. In his time as CEO, the company has seen record subscriber growth. Before joining The Atlantic, he was the editor-in-chief of WIRED magazine. He is also a former contributor for CBS News, and a cofounder of both Speakeasy.ai and The Atavist, a National Magazine Award–winning company that was sold to WordPress. Thompson previously served as editor of NewYorker.com. He has long been a competitive runner; in 2021, he set the American record for men 45+ in the 50K race. He is currently writing a book on the way the mind of a runner works, and he is also the author of The Hawk and the Dove: Paul Nitze, George Kennan, and the History of the Cold War.
He writes a monthly newsletter, which currently has about 450,000 readers, about the best things he has read recently. You can sign up by entering your email address below.
Writing
Nick’s feature subjects include chaos at Facebook, running while old, and his long friendship with Stalin’s daughter.
Credit: Ike Edeani
Speaking & Interviews
Nick has given talks about the future of technology, and how it is changing our world, in 35 states and 10 countries.
Books
Nick normally covers the future, but he also has written a book about the past: The Hawk and the Dove: Paul Nitze, George Kennan, and the History of the
Cold War.
The most interesting thing in tech
Nick often records short videos where he discusses the most interesting story in technology that day. Follow Nick on LinkedIn to get these on your feed.