The Atlantic’s Nick Thompson Is The Fastest Runner In Publishing: On Setting Age-Group Records, Beating Cancer, & Why Media Must Survive AI

You can’t outrun your past. Believe me, I’ve tried.

But I’m learning that when it catches up—and it always does—you have a choice: quicken your pace and keep running, or do an about face and face it head on.

Everyone wants to transcend their inherited limitations, but many approach it backwards, believing escape comes through achievement or distance alone. Instead, transformation is the by-product of pursuits less obvious: Reconciling with patterns you’ve unconsciously perpetuated. Running toward what terrifies you. Creating daily practices so small they’re imperceptible. Discovering that what imprisons you might also liberate you.

This is my experience. And it’s the experience of today’s guest.

Here to illuminate this paradox is Nick Thompson.

Nick is CEO of The Atlantic, an elite marathoner who runs faster at 50 than he did at 30, and author of the deeply personal memoir The Running Ground. He holds American age-group records and survived thyroid cancer that left him unable to walk. Getting fired from CBS in under an hour became the catalyst for eventually running one of America’s leading magazines.

But Nick’s trajectory really begins with his father’s dramatic descent—from Rhodes Scholar to running a brothel in Bali, an arc that shaped his path and the patterns Nick inherited. Nick’s insights about post-traumatic growth, the cognitive constructs that influence our physical limits, and “tiny imperceptible tailwinds” emerge from this crucible of reconciliation—the same crucible we all face when we finally stop running and start reckoning.

Today, we discuss:

• Father-Son Reconciliation Through Running
• Getting Fired from CBS in Under an Hour
• Cancer, Misdiagnosis & Post-Traumatic Growth
• Why Your Mind Creates Your Physical Limits
• AI’s Threat to Reality & Media’s Future

For those who prefer a visual experience, the conversation is available on YouTube. As always, the audio version streams wild and free on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

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Peace + Plants,