John Dickerson

John Dickerson is co-anchor of "CBS Evening News" and anchor of "CBS Evening News Plus." He is also a Contributing Writer to The Atlantic and is co-host of the Slate Political Gabfest.

  • 03/24/2023: Chat GPT on the difference between how to think about important issues.

    There is a gap in American public conversation between what gets covered and what is objectively important. Presidential campaigns exacerbate this gap. I asked Chat GPT to list the important stories and then I asked Chat GPT to list the stories about issues that impact the greatest number of Americans, which is a rough proxy for perhaps what we should talk about. Look at how the lists differ.
    What are the most important stories in American life today?
    As an AI language model, I don’t have personal opinions or emotions. However, here are some important stories that have been widely reported and discussed in American life today:
    1. COVID-19 pandemic: The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic continues to have a significant impact on American life, with rising cases and hospitalizations, vaccine distribution, and debates around mask mandates and other public health measures.
    2. Climate change and environmental issues: Climate change continues to be a major issue in American life, with extreme weather events, rising sea levels, and other environmental concerns.
    3. Racial justice and police reform: The killing of George Floyd and other Black Americans by police sparked nationwide protests and calls for racial justice and police reform, leading to ongoing discussions and policy changes.
    4. Immigration: The ongoing debate over immigration policies, including border security, refugee resettlement, and DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals), continues to be a major topic in American life.
    5. Political polarization: Political polarization and division continue to be major issues in American life, with ongoing debates around election integrity, voting rights, and the role of government.

    These are just a few of the important stories in American life today, and there are many others as well.

    What are the most important issues in America ranked by the number of people they directly affect?

    As an AI language model, I do not have access to real-time data on the number of people affected by different issues. However, here are some issues that affect a significant portion of the American population:

    1. Healthcare: The healthcare system affects nearly everyone in the United States, whether through access to medical care, health insurance, or the high cost of prescription drugs.
    2. Economic inequality: Economic inequality affects a large portion of the population, with disparities in income, wealth, and access to education and job opportunities.
    3. Education: Education is important for nearly everyone in the United States, with access to quality education and student debt being major concerns.
    4. Climate change and environmental issues: Climate change and environmental issues affect everyone in the United States, from extreme weather events to air and water pollution.
    5. Gun violence: Gun violence affects a significant portion of the population, with ongoing debates around gun control, mass shootings, and community safety.

    These are just a few examples of issues that affect a significant portion of the American population, and there are many others as well. The impact of different issues can vary depending on factors such as location, socioeconomic status, and other individual factors.

    • More Notions

  • 03/14/2023: T.R. Barista

    Another important contribution to history: presidents as wrestlers. Or, in Teddy Roosevelt’s case, a Brooklyn barista.

  • 03/14/2023: Essay for our 3/13/23 Show

    How it started: How it wound up: View this post on Instagram   A post shared by Prime Time with John Dickerson (@dickersonprimetime)

  • 03/14/2023: Tricky balance for presidents in a bank panic

    Usually, I’d just post this to the Twitter thread connecting public events to the book The Hardest Job in the World, but this passage is too big:

  • 03/07/2023: Quiet Hired

    Quiet hired seems like a good new term for an old thing. That’s distinct from fad expressions to name things that don’t exist or that have existed forever but aren’t illuminated by the new phrase. A wave of the Quiet Hired might lead to a Quiet Riot.

  • 03/07/2023: Getting off your Phone is just the first step

    Thank you to The Dispatch for the link to this article by Rhiannon Williams in MIT Review: “The problem isn’t necessarily the amount of time you’re spending scrolling on the phone as much as what you’re looking at.” The piece touches on something I wrote about in this piece for The Atlantic, which is about […]

  • 03/04/2023: Happy Birthday Time Magazine

    Time magazine celebrated its 100th birthday on March 3rd. We’re coming up on the 30th anniversary of my first professional byline on March 22, 1993. Tanks to Joelle Attinger, John Stacks, Sam Gwynne, Jonathan Beaty and Jill Smolowe for that first shot: It was not for a few months that I’d get a top byline […]

  • 03/04/2023: The Calvin Coolidge Colonic

  • 03/03/2023: Runaway Presidency

    When you are president, things can get out of hand: This is from Jimmy Carter’s White House diary. It demonstrates something about Carter but also the benefit of a presidential retreat where a president can have a minor mishap like this and it won’t get blown out of proportion by the press. Think it wouldn’t? […]

  • 03/02/2023: AI Rendering of Presidents with Mullets

    This Twitter thread of presidents with mullets is hit or miss, but reminds that LBJ essentially grew a mullet at the end of his life: It kinda came to that: https://t.co/qoZwjxBF4i pic.twitter.com/vRCsu57Zgz — John Dickerson (@jdickerson) March 2, 2023  

  • 03/02/2023: The Most Rarefied Presidential List

    The ranking of presidents provides hours of enjoyment for professionals and hobbyists alike. This ranking is perhaps the greatest of all: “…soon, remains of George Washington, Ronald Reagan, John F. Kennedy, and Dwight D. Eisenhower will join the DNA and cremated remains of many of the people who worked on Star Trek and be blasted into […]