Nicholas Thompson Runs Publications, Runs Competitively, and Never Runs Out of Insights
Totally Booked with Zibby
Zibby Owens
4.5 • 643 Ratings
🗓️ 5 February 2026
⏱️ 23 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This book isn’t just about running. It’s about perseverance, focus, choices, mastery, drive, and fatherhood. Nicholas Thompson has had many swoon-worthy literary jobs, including being an editor at The New Yorker, editor-in-chief at Wired magazine, and now running The Atlantic. His personal story includes his career trajectory and how he became one of the top runners in his age group worldwide. The Running Ground is instructive, inspirational, and truly interesting. We spoke about all of it.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hi, this is Zibi Owens, and you're listening to Totally Booked with Zibby. Formerly, moms don't have time to read books. In my daily show, I interview today's latest, best-selling, buzziest, or underrated authors and story creators, whose work I think is worth your time. As a bookstore owner, publisher, author, and obviously podcaster, I get a comprehensive |
| 0:24.0 | look at everything that's coming out and spend my time curating the best books so you don't |
| 0:29.3 | have to. |
| 0:30.3 | Stay in the know, get insider insights, and connect with guests like I do every single day. |
| 0:36.2 | For more information, go to zibbimedia.com and follow me on |
| 0:39.7 | Instagram at Zibby Owens. I truly, truly enjoyed talking to Nicholas Thompson, who wrote |
| 0:49.8 | The Running Ground, a father, a son, and the simplest of sports. I devoured this book. It's not |
| 0:56.2 | just about running. It's about life, endurance, persistence, overcoming odds, decision-making, fatherhood, |
| 1:06.1 | being a son, being a husband. I mean, there is a lot in this book, and it is the type of memoir you can |
| 1:14.6 | really sink your teeth into. And I just loved it. Plus, I learned a lot. I love learning, |
| 1:20.6 | and I learned a lot about running and technique and the control you have over your mind and body, |
| 1:31.6 | and it was just great. So you have to check it out. |
| 1:37.4 | Nick 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 |
| 1:43.0 | 2023. |
| 1:47.5 | In his time as CEO, the company has seen record subscriber growth, |
| 1:51.3 | and before joining the Atlantic, he was the editor-in-chief of Wired Magazine. |
| 1:56.1 | He's also a former contributor for CBS News and has previously served as editor. |
| 1:59.5 | It doesn't say here, but he was also at The New Yorker for a while, |
| 2:01.6 | which is a really pivotal point in the book. |
| 2:10.1 | He has long been a competitive runner, and in 2021, he set the American record for men 45 and up in the 50K race. |
| 2:11.4 | Oh my gosh, 50K. |
| 2:13.2 | I can't even walk like 50 blocks. |
... |
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