​​SUPPORT ME ON PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/c/taylorlorenz   Buy a subscription to my Tech and Online Culture newsletter, User Magazine to support my work!!!! 🙏 https://www.usermag.co     Sydney Sweeney just had one of the worst box office weekends of all time. Her new movie Christy, about a female boxer, made barely over $1 million, making it one of the worst-performing films of all time, This disastrous flop comes on the heels of yet another culture war controversy that she was at the center of, stemming from a viral GQ interview, and now she's locked in a bitter feud with Zendaya, her co-star on Euphoria, the HBO show that arguably skyrocketed her to stardom.So all of this begs the question: can Sydney Sweeny survive becoming an avatar for the culture war? Why does every viral moment now become a referendum on politics? Kat Tenbarge joins me to discuss! Follow me:https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz      https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz3.0     https://www.tiktok.com/@taylorlorenz

FREE SPEECH FRIDAY SUPPORT ME ON PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/c/taylorlorenz  Buy a subscription to my Tech and Online Culture newsletter, User Magazine to support my work!!!! 🙏 https://www.usermag.co    Tommy Marcus, better known online as Quentin Quarantino online, first became famous during the early days of the pandemic. He posted timely memes and news roundups, but what started as a funny Instagram account quickly turned into a massive fundraising machine. Tommy got more involved in activism and political causes and began using his platform to raise money for humanitarian issues and injustice around the world. A few months ago, he joined an aid boat headed to Gaza, hoping to deliver supplies to people caught in the ongoing crisis. His ship was intercepted just miles off the coast and the IDF abducted him and fellow activists before holding them in a notorious Israeli super prison. Tommy, one of the few Jewish activists on the boat, was tortured and abused by the IDF. He finally made it out and is speaking about the experience for the first time. He opens up about how the experience affected him and changed his beliefs about power, justice, and the United States sanction of the slaughter in Palestine.Follow me:https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz     https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz3.0    https://www.tiktok.com/@taylorlorenz

SUPPORT ME ON PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/c/taylorlorenz Buy a subscription to my Tech and Online Culture newsletter, User Magazine to support my work!!!! 🙏 Did you know that hit songs in the late 1950s were regularly about gruesome death? Or that a US vice president wrote a number one hit? Chris Dalla Riva is one of my favorite music journalists out there. He writes the substack Can't Get Much Higher where he publishes pieces on the intersection of music and data.  A couple years ago he embarked on a quest to listen to every single number 2 hit from the last six decades, and wrote about what he learned in his new book Uncharted Territory. The book is part celebration, part takedown of popular music, and also provides new ways to think about your favorite songs, genres, and artists. This book is genuinely so good and changed the way I think about so many songs and just how different periods in history were reflected in the music from their time. Chris joined me this week to discuss the past half a century of number 1 hits and what they say about our culture, political system and world at large. Follow me:https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz    https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz3.0   https://www.tiktok.com/@taylorlorenz

FREE SPEECH FRIDAY SUPPORT ME ON PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/c/taylorlorenz   Buy a subscription to my Tech and Online Culture newsletter, User Magazine to support my work!!!! 🙏 https://www.usermag.co     For the first time in fifteen years, there’s a real shot at ending billionaire control of American politics. A groundbreaking legal effort spearheaded by Harvard law professor Lawrence Lessig, backed by an unlikely coalition of billionaires like Mark Cuban and Reid Hoffman, is taking direct aim at the legal foundation that created Super PACs. I'm going to be covering this legal fight closely. Larry Lessig joined me on this week's Free Speech Friday to break down his legal fight, where things stand, and what needs to happen next in order to win this fight. If you like this video, please support me on Patreon!! https://www.patreon.com/c/taylorlorenz  Follow me:https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz      https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz3.0     https://www.tiktok.com/@taylorlorenz

SUPPORT ME ON PATREON!!!!!!Buy a subscription to my Tech and Online Culture newsletter, User Magazine, to support my work!!!! 🙏 https://www.usermag.co    Over the past two decades, Taylor Swift has dominated the pop charts and risen to the pinnacle of mainstream fame. She has amassed a $2 billion fortune, won 14 Grammy Awards, sold more than 100 million albums worldwide, headlined the highest-grossing concert tour in history, and built a vast real-estate and music catalog empire.But lately, the backlash to Swift is growing louder. She has been criticized for her silence on major political issues, for palling around with Trump supporters, her carbon footprint, and many are calling her latest album a flop. All of this raises the question, has Taylor Swift peaked, not just in popularity, but in cultural authority? Or is this just another cynical reinvention that she'll use to amass even more money and power? Journalist and Swiftie Kat Tenbarge joined me to discuss it all. If you like this video, please support me on Patreon!! https://www.patreon.com/c/taylorlorenz Follow me:https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz     https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz3.0    https://www.tiktok.com/@taylorlorenz

SUPPORT ME ON PATREON!!!!!! https://www.patreon.com/c/taylorlorenz Buy a subscription to my Tech and Online Culture newsletter, User Magazine to support my work!!!! 🙏 https://www.usermag.co   FREE SPEECH FRIDAY Last weekend, popular cosplay Twitch streamer Emiru was assaulted at a meet-and-greet during Twitchcon. A man cut across several meet and greet lines and attempted to grab her for a kiss. The incident was obviously a catastrophic failure when it comes to keeping women creators safe But, after the Emiru incident, tons of big content creators began piling on on Twitter, pushing out of context clips attempting to show lax security at the event and calling for Dan Clancy's resignation. They began weaponizing the attack on a woman creator to push their own reactionary agendas.  Kat Tenbarge has been covering gender-based violence for nearly a decade and she joined me this week to break down what exactly went down at Twitchcon, why more security doesn't exactly lead to more safety for women, and what the true issue at the heart of all of this is. These attacks on women creators silence women and prevent them from speaking and expressing themselves freely. If you like this video, please support me on Patreon!! https://www.patreon.com/c/taylorlorenz Follow me:https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz    https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz3.0   https://www.tiktok.com/@taylorlorenz

SUPPORT ME ON PATREON!!! Get bonus episodes and more. Buy a subscription to my Tech and Online Culture newsletter, User Magazine to support my work!!!! 🙏 As live-streaming becomes an increasingly dominant form of entertainment, Twitch is at a crossroads. Dan Clancy is the CEO of Twitch, and I sat down with him this weekend at Twitchcon to discuss how Twitch is evolving, its broader role in the creator economy over the next 10 years, competition from Hollywood, AI, and how he thinks about balancing streamers' creative freedom with safety concerns. Here's our interview.If you like this video, please support me on Patreon!! Follow me:https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz    https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz3.0   https://www.tiktok.com/@taylorlorenz

SUPPORT ME ON PATREON!!!Buy a subscription to my Tech and Online Culture newsletter, User Magazine to support my work!!!! 🙏 https://www.usermag.co  Welcome back to Free Speech Friday!Recently, Trump signed a little-noticed national security directive identifying a slew of views like “anti-Christian” and “anti-American” beliefs as indicators of "radical left violence" and terrorism. The directive is called NSPM-7. NSPM-7carries serious implications for freedom of speech and opens the door to dangerous levels of censorship. In NSPM-7, Trump directs the Justice Department, the FBI, and other national security agencies to fight his version of political violence, retooling a network of Joint Terrorism Task Forces to focus on “leftist” political violence in America. Ken Klippenstein has been covering all this. He joined me today to break down NSPM-7 and what it means for speech in America. Under the new directive, anyone expressing views that could be construed as any of the following, could be classified by the government as a terrorist:anti-Americanism,anti-capitalism,anti-Christianity,support for the overthrow of the United States Government,extremism on migration,extremism on race,extremism on genderhostility towards those who hold traditional American views on family,hostility towards those who hold traditional American views on religion, andhostility towards those who hold traditional American views on morality.Ken's story: https://www.kenklippenstein.com/p/trumps-nspm-7-labels-common-beliefsIf you like this video, please support me on Patreon!! https://www.patreon.com/c/taylorlorenz Follow me:https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz   https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz3.0  https://www.tiktok.com/@taylorlorenz

SUPPORT ME ON PATREON. Buy a subscription to my Tech and Online Culture newsletter, User Magazine to support my work!!!! 🙏 Hasan Piker has never abused his dog, but you'd never know that from the video clips spreading all over the internet. The backlash that Piker is facing shows the consequences of a world where everyone is constantly being recorded and our internet is built to reward outrage and controversy. In this episode, I dive into the recent viral conspiracy and false claims about Piker and Kaya, unpacking how a single, out-of-context clip spiraled into a full-blown harassment campaign, fueled by bad actors and politically motivated smear tactics. I unpack how the Hasan Piker dog collar incident is a warning sign of a dystopian future where 24/7 video surveillance merges with online outrage farming. As AI and algorithmic amplification make it easier to manipulate and weaponize video, the problems influencers face today will soon affect us all. If you like this video, please support me on Patreon!! https://www.patreon.com/c/taylorlorenz Follow me:https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz   https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz3.0  https://www.tiktok.com/@taylorlorenz

To listen to this full episode support me on Patreon. SUPPORT ME ON PATREON.Buy a subscription to my Tech and Online Culture newsletter, User Magazine to support my work!!!! 🙏 We're facing a tsunami of AI-generated music that is rapidly transforming the digital soundscape and expanding far beyond Spotify. It's already beginning to dominate platforms like YouTube, SoundCloud, and other major streaming services. Generative tools are able to produce entire songs complete with realistic vocals, melodies, and high production quality. AI artists are flooding recommendation algorithms and trending charts.Kieran Press Reynolds is a writer at Pitchfork, and he's been covering all of this. He joined me to talk about the rise of AI music and what deepfake vocals, manufactured sounds and this flood of AI generated content means for the future of the music industry and the role music plays in our culture. Follow me:https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz    https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz3.0   https://www.tiktok.com/@taylorlorenz

SUPPORT ME ON PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/c/taylorlorenz Buy a subscription to my Tech and Online Culture newsletter, User Magazine to support my work!!!! 🙏 https://www.usermag.co  ICE is preparing to deploy a sweeping new surveillance system that would allow it to monitor the real-time movements and online activity of millions of people. Internal documents. The two key tools, Tangles and WebLoc, were originally designed by the Israeli intelligence firm Cobwebs.  Together, they enable ICE analysts to fuse billions of mobile location points with data scraped from platforms like Facebook, TikTok, and Reddit to build detailed digital dossiers on anyone. This expansion of ICE’s data surveillance efforts comes amid broader federal initiatives to monitor social media and suppress dissent. Reports indicate ICE will contract private analysts to continuously scan major platforms for “anti-American” or “anti-Christian” speech under the Trump administration’s new NSPM-7 directive. This is yet another dangerous escalation of mass surveillance and political targeting, undermining First and Fourth Amendment protections. If you like this video, please support me on Patreon!! https://www.patreon.com/c/taylorlorenz Follow me:https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz   https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz3.0  https://www.tiktok.com/@taylorlorenz

SUPPORT ME ON PATREON!!Buy a subscription to my Tech and Online Culture newsletter, User Magazine to support my work!!!! 🙏 Nearly a decade ago, Ross Ulbricht, the founder of the Silk Road dark web marketplace was sentenced to a double life sentence in prison. Now, he's out and has become a powerful influencer and political figure in the MAGA movement.Ryan Mac at the New York Times has been covering Ulbricht for over a decade. He joined me to dive deep into Ulbrict's' past, how the Silk Road transformed the web, and how this crazy alliance between bitcoin billionaires, libertarians, and MAGA die-hards has skyrocketed Ulbricht to fame and set him up for a major role in politics.  If you like this video, please support me on Patreon!! READ RYAN'S FANTASTIC NYT STORY: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/07/technology/ross-ulbricht-silk-road-comeback.htmlFollow me:https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz3.0 https://www.tiktok.com/@taylorlorenz

SUPPORT ME ON PATREON!!!!Buy a subscription to my Tech and Online Culture newsletter, User Magazine to support my work!!!! 🙏 A VPN hides your IP address, making it harder for hackers, corporations and the government to track your activity. Most people know VPNs as a way to get around geogating (like if content is banned in one country you can use a VPN to get around the ban).But as authoritarian governments in places like America and the UK seek to crack down on online speech, VPNs are under attack. It's getting harder and harder to use them effectively, and recently there's even been talk of an outright ban. Lia Holland is an activist at Fight for the Future, a civil liberties group fighting to protect VPN access. She joined me to dig into the political campaign against VPNs and talk about how to fight back. PS: A lot of VPNs are owned by Israel!! Or they trap you into subscription plans. Be careful before downloading one, here's a guide from the EFF on VPNs: https://ssd.eff.org/module/choosing-vpn-thats-right-youFight For the Future's Defend VPNs campaign: https://www.defendvpns.com If you like this video, please support me on Patreon!! https://www.patreon.com/c/taylorlorenzFollow me:https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz3.0 https://www.tiktok.com/@taylorlorenz

SUPPORT ME ON PATREON!!Buy a subscription to my Tech and Online Culture newsletter, User Magazine to support my work!!!! 🙏 AI slop is slowly taking over every platform. "But the flood of financially incentivized sloe has also given way to a strange new internet, where social media feeds overflow with unsettlingly lifelike imagery and even real videos can appear suspect," WaPo reports. "Some viral clips now barely rely on humans at all, with AI tools generating not just the imagery but also the ideas."There's YouTube Slop, Instagram Reel Slop, Slop all over TikTokk LinkedIn, and X. But who's behind this deluge of deranged and often extremely surreal content? Drew Harwell is a journalist at the Washington Post and he's been digging into the slop economy. He joins me to talk about the mad rush of creators using AI video tools to flood the internet, how they're making money, and what the future of content looks like as slop eats the world.If you like this video, please support me on Patreon!! Follow me:https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz3.0 https://www.tiktok.com/@taylorlorenz

Visit https://joindeleteme.com/Taylor20 and use code Taylor20 for 20% off and protect yourself today! SUPPORT ME ON PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/c/taylorlorenzAds are following us everywhere, data brokers and hackers are stealing our info, social media companies and AI are hoovering up our data. It can all feel SO overwhelming. In this final installment of my data broker series, I sat down with two of the top security experts on YouTube, John Hammond and Josh from All Things Secured, to break down how vulnerable you might be and what practical things you can do to protect your information online. If you like this video, please support me on Patreon!! https://www.patreon.com/c/taylorlorenzFollow me:https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz3.0 https://www.tiktok.com/@taylorlorenz

Visit JoinDeleteMe.com/Taylor20 and use code Taylor20 for 20% off and protect yourself today! SUPPORT ME ON PATREON.Buy a subscription to my Tech and Online Culture newsletter, User Magazine to support my work!!!! 🙏 Welcome back to Free Speech Friday:Nearly a month ago peaceful student demonstrators protesting corruption in Nepal were shot and killed, sparking nationwide outrage. Government buildings were set in fire, leaders were forced out, and the prime minister resigned, leaving the country’s future uncertain.But that's not how the mainstream media reported it. They misrepresented Nepal's Gen Z youth movement, portraying young protesters as spoiled children upset about losing social media access, rather than as citizens fighting corruption and authoritarian suppression of free speech. It was a lot of the same framing that the media has used over other authoritarian crackdowns on speech like the TikTok ban here in the U.S. I brought on Bala Krishna Sha, one of the top journalists in Nepal, who writes for The Himalayan Times, the country's number 1 English language newspaper. He joins me to break down exactly what happened in Nepal, what the real story is that you won't see in traditional western media, and why the free speech fight happening in Nepal has global implications. If you like this video, please support me on Patreon!! https://www.patreon.com/c/taylorlorenzFollow me:https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz3.0 https://www.tiktok.com/@taylorlorenz

SUPPORT ME ON PATREON.Buy a subscription to my tech and online culture newsletter, User Magazine to support my work!!!! 🙏 From Israel to Saudi Arabia to Russia to the UAE and more, influencers are increasingly being used for political propaganda and foreign influence campaigns. Makenna Kelly is a senior reporter at WIRED and she joined me to talk about how foreign governments are leveraging content creators to quietly push political propaganda and shape foreign policy, how MAGA influencers are embracing these campaigns, and the big money behind it all. If you like this video, please support me on Patreon!! Follow me:https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz3.0 https://www.tiktok.com/@taylorlorenz

SUPPORT ME ON PATREON!!!Buy a subscription to my Tech and Online Culture newsletter, User Magazine to support my work!!!! 🙏 WELCOME BACK TO FREE SPEECH FRIDAY! Earlier this week, ABC and Nexstar yanked Jimmy Kimmel's show off the air after he made a joke about Charlie Kirk's death that the Trump admin didn't like. FCC commissioner Brendan Carr called the comments “offensive and insensitive,” and warned ABC and Disney that there could be regulatory consequences if the network didn’t respond.All of this is a gross assault on free speech, and to discuss it (and more!) I brought on Ari Cohn, Lead Counsel for Tech Policy at the Foundation For Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE). He's one of the leading first amendment lawyers in the country.  If you like this video, please support me on Patreon!!Follow me:https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz3.0 https://www.tiktok.com/@taylorlorenz

SUPPORT ME ON PATREONBuy a subscription to my Tech and Online Culture newsletter, User Magazine to support my work!!!! 🙏 People on TikTok, YouTube and X are recreating 1950s style racism towards robots. Using slurs like “clanker,” “wireback,” and “cogsucker,” content creators are framing robots as a marginalized group, parodying old racist stereotypes in a retro aesthetic. The videos have gone viral and amassed millions of views. But while you might think this is just an excuse for creators to be racist, the trend reflects something a lot deeper. I dive deep into the phenomenon of "robot racism" or "robophobia" and unpack where these terms like clanker are coming from, what they say about our culture and society, automation, exploitation, and how technology is entangled with race and power.I worked so hard on this video, if you like it please support me on Patreon where I publish bonus episodes, monthly livestreams, and more! Follow me:https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz3.0 https://www.tiktok.com/@taylorlorenz

[Patreon Preview] To listen to/watch this full episode, ⁠sign up for my Patreon⁠!Signing up for the Patreon will get you access to one bonus episode per month, the ability to listen/watch without ads, and you're helping to support the show. Join today!! We're all familiar with the concept of deepfakes, but now, AI is being harnessed in a new way to deceive. AI generated TikTokers are reciting the actual words of real people, right down to the stumbles, "ums" and "uhs."This new form of AI-driven identity theft is slipping past moderation filters, misleading millions, and leaving creators feeling powerless. Bobby Allyn is a reporter who's been covering this phenomenon and the rise of TikTok deepfakes, he joined me for this bonus episode of Power User to break it all down and explain why this is happening.Buy a subscription to my Tech and Online Culture newsletter, User Magazine to support my work!!!! 🙏 https://www.usermag.co Follow me:https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz3.0 https://www.tiktok.com/@taylorlorenz Subscribe to my Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/taylorlorenz

SUPPORT ME ON PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/c/taylorlorenzBuy a subscription to my Tech and Online Culture newsletter, User Magazine to support my work!!!! 🙏 https://www.usermag.co When a powerful right-wing figure like Charlie Kirk is attacked or killed, political leaders and media rush to mourn them as a martyr and condemn "political violence." But what does political violence actually mean? While violence against elites is treated as a national tragedy, violence against poor, Black, immigrant, queer, and disabled people is sanctioned. The truth is that political violence has always been part of life in America, but somehow it only becomes a “national emergency” when that violence threatens power. In this video, I talk about the history of "political violence" in the U.S., what the term actually means in practice, how it's weaponized, and what we need to do if we actually want to put a stop to it.  Follow me:https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz3.0 https://www.tiktok.com/@taylorlorenz

SUPPORT ME ON PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/c/taylorlorenzBuy a subscription to my Tech and Online Culture newsletter, User Magazine to support my work!!!! 🙏 https://www.usermag.co In the early days of the internet, social media offered a space where anyone could casually share their daily thoughts, fleeting moments, and observations about the world. Casual posting was the norm, and this extension of everyday life still felt spontaneous and personal. But lately, that culture has disappeared. It has been replaced by highly curated influencer content, manufactured viral slop, and it feels like everyone is just posting… less. Kyle Chayka is a writer at The New Yorker and he recently explored this phenomenon in a piece. He joins me to talk about the death of casual posting and what this shift says about the future of the internet. Follow me:https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz3.0 https://www.tiktok.com/@taylorlorenz

SUPPORT ME ON PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/c/taylorlorenzBuy a subscription to my Tech and Online Culture newsletter, User Magazine to support my work!!!! 🙏 https://www.usermag.co ICE agents will soon have access to one of the world’s most sophisticated hacking tools thanks to a government contract with Paragon Solutions, an Israeli spyware company that lets people hack into any mobile phone without the person even clicking a link or opening a document. The new agreement between Paragon and ICE gives ICE access to the Israeli spyware platform, Graphite. Once Graphite infects your phone it can see everything you do on your phone, even stuff on encrypted apps, and you wouldn't even know it's there. I break down what that means for activists, journalists, dissidents, and how Paragon is already rolling out in other countries across the world. I also discuss how to keep yourself as safe as possible from this new tech. Follow me:https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz3.0 https://www.tiktok.com/@taylorlorenz

SUPPORT ME ON PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/c/taylorlorenzBuy a subscription to my Tech and Online Culture newsletter, User Magazine to support my work!!!! 🙏 https://www.usermag.co Dark money orgs spend millions to shape our political system without having to reveal where their money comes from. Now, they're paying influencers too. Last week, I published an article on WIRED titled "A Dark Money Group Is Secretly Funding High-Profile Democratic Influencers." The story describes an initiative aimed at boosting Democrats online that offers influencers up to $8,000 a month in dark money funding. Since the story came out, a bunch of influencers in the program have tried to mislead people about what dark money is and isn't. Anna Massoglia is one of the top journalists in the country covering dark money. She is the director of investigations at the Sunlight Research Center and writes the newsletter Influence Brief. We break down what dark money is, what it isn't, who the biggest dark money power players are, and why even left-leaning undisclosed dark money can harm our political system. We also chat about how dark money is increasingly shaping content on the internet and being used for foreign propaganda campaigns. OPEN SECRETS GUIDE TO DARK MONEY: https://www.opensecrets.org/dark-money READ MY WIRED STORY: https://www.wired.com/story/dark-money-group-secret-funding-democrat-influencers Follow me:https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz3.0 https://www.tiktok.com/@taylorlorenz

Go to https://joindeleteme.com/TAYLOR20 and use my code TAYLOR20 at checkout for 20% off! SUPPORT ME ON PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/c/taylorlorenzBuy a subscription to my Tech and Online Culture newsletter, User Magazine to support my work!!!! 🙏 https://www.usermag.co Data brokers vacuum up information about us, what we buy, where we drive, what we watch, when we sleep, where we worship, and, increasingly, information about our faces and bodies and how we move through the world. They stitch these fragments into profiles that are bought, sold, licensed, and shared by advertisers, insurers, political campaigns, hedge funds, and even government agencies. In part two of my series on data brokers I dive into all the crazy ways data brokers harvest your information and how they're doing it in extremely sneaky ways!! I promise this will shock you and you might think twice before doing some daily activities. Follow me:https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz3.0 https://www.tiktok.com/@taylorlorenz

If you’ve spent enough time online, you have undeniably encountered the work of John Kilo. John is a 28 year old OnlyFans creator in Portland, and he has become a fixture on meme accounts and viral subreddits. He's part porn star, part performance artist, part cultural critic and shitposter. He has created Skibidi Toilet porn, cosplayed a Trump supporter while having sex with a fleshlight mounted to an AR-15, made corn parodies of Ben Shapiro and Elon Musk, had s*x with every item on the Taco Bell menu, the Pizza Hut menu, and even ranked the most f'able pastas. He is also a brilliant artist, filmmaker, and kind of an internet and media prophet. He joined me to talk about YouTubifying porn, how virality is reshaping the OnlyFans landscape, leveraging meme culture, and creating art in the age of algorithms. SUPPORT ME ON PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/c/taylorlorenzBuy a subscription to my Tech and Online Culture newsletter, User Magazine to support my work!!!! 🙏 https://www.usermag.co Follow me:https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz3.0 https://www.tiktok.com/@taylorlorenz

SUPPORT ME ON PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/c/taylorlorenzBuy a subscription to my Tech and Online Culture newsletter, User Magazine to support my work!!!! 🙏 https://www.usermag.co All across the country, sweeping surveillance laws are being enacted under the guise of "safety" especially "child safety". Courts are handing over sensitive federal data, housing authorities are deploying broadband surveillance, and tech companies across the board are pushing facial recognition with no oversight.Amidst of all this, S.T.O.P.—the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project—is fighting back. The organization has released A People’s Handbook of Surveillance to equip the public with information about rampant “smart city” surveillance. They've been calling out facial recognition tech being enacted in public housing. They're pursuing a federal civil rights lawsuit against the NYPD for civil liberties violations and more.Albert Fox Cahn is the founder of S.T.O.P. and an icon in the fight against surveillance capitalism. He's joining me today to talk about what's going on right now in America, all the sneaky new ways corporations and the government are trying to surveil us, and how we can build people-first tech that challenges power. Follow me:https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz3.0 https://www.tiktok.com/@taylorlorenz

Go to joindeleteme.com/Taylor20 and use my code TAYLOR20 at checkout for 20% off! SUPPORT ME ON PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/c/taylorlorenzBuy a subscription to my Tech and Online Culture newsletter, User Magazine to support my work!!!! 🙏 https://www.usermag.co Few beverages have left as unforgettable a mark on American culture as Four Loko. With a dizzying mix of alcohol and caffeine, it skyrocketed to success in the 2000s and became an iconic American brand overnight. Four Loko was one of the first brands to ever go "viral" and the brand understood internet culture before the internet was even mainstream. But that virality came with a cost. The company suffered government crackdowns, a media moral panic, they changed the formula of their drink and somehow emerged from it all more relevant than ever. When I met Four Loko CEO and cofounder Jaisen Freeman, I knew I had to talk to him for my podcast. We talk about how his scrappy college drink startup went from being nearly banned to one of the top-selling beverages in the country and how the brand has managed to transform online controversy into a business. Follow me:https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenzhttps://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz3.0https://www.tiktok.com/@taylorlorenz

SUPPORT MY PODCAST ON PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/c/taylorlorenzBuy a subscription to my Tech and Online Culture newsletter, User Magazine to support my work!!!! 🙏 https://www.usermag.co This week, YouTube rolled out automatic age verification in the US. It forces users who the company's AI system guesstimates might be under 18 to submit their government IDs or full biometric scans just to watch certain videos. YouTube is the first major tech platform to preemptively normalize invasive identity checks for everyday online activity, and it's a disaster. This new identity verification system creates a dangerous precedent. It is building a surveillance infrastructure that normalizes the tracking of legal and previously anonymous content consumption, all under the guise of child safety. For this week's Free Speech Friday I dig into why what YouTube and other tech companies like Instagram and Roblox are doing with preemptive AI age and identity verification is so harmful, and how it might change YouTube forever. Follow me:https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz3.0 https://www.tiktok.com/@taylorlorenz

Buy a subscription to my Tech and Online Culture newsletter, User Magazine to support my work!!!! 🙏 https://www.usermag.co We're halfway through August and summer is rapidly coming to a close. But this year, something about the season was different. It's the first year in over 100 years that there hasn't been a definitive song of the summer. Is the absence of a “2025 song of the summer” just a quirk of this year’s charts or a symptom of a music culture permanently fractured by personalization, speed, and saturation. I called up Anthony Fantano to help me answer this question. We dive deep into what makes a good song of the summer, how the concept emerged in culture, why we don't have one this year, and what a post song of the summer society might look like. Follow me:https://www.patreon.com/c/taylorlorenzhttps://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz3.0 https://www.tiktok.com/@taylorlorenz

Buy a subscription to my Tech and Online Culture newsletter, User Magazine to support my work!!!! 🙏 https://www.usermag.co A few days ago, 18 year old social media star Lil Tay made over $1 million by launching an OnlyFans shortly after her 18th birthday. The launch generated a massive backlash online, people on the left and the right are calling for OnlyFans to be banned and for the criminalization of porn. On today's free speech Friday Kat Tenbarge and I break down Lil Tay's rise, what actually went down with her OF launch, and how this viral moment is already being weaponized by both influential Democrat and far right accounts to silence speech, dismantle civil liberties and push dangerous censorship laws that would lead to even more exploitation of women and children. Follow me:https://www.patreon.com/c/taylorlorenzhttps://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz3.0 https://www.tiktok.com/@taylorlorenz

Buy a subscription to my Tech and Online Culture newsletter, User Magazine to support my work!!!! 🙏 https://www.usermag.co Since its launch in 2022, ChatGPT has become the fastest-growing consumer application in history. The tool is embedded in more and more areas of daily life and new research shows that it's also transforming how we write and even speak. A group of researchers analyzed more than 360,000 YouTube videos and 771,000 podcast episodes from before and after ChatGPT’s release to track the use of ChatGPT-affiliated words like "delve" and "examine."  All of this has major implications. Adam Aleksic is an etymologist who studies the way the internet is reshaping language. His new book Algospeak tackles all of this. He joins me to discuss how ChatGPT and AI is transforming the way we talk, what words we use, and how we communicate. Follow me:https://www.patreon.com/c/taylorlorenzhttps://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz3.0 https://www.tiktok.com/@taylorlorenz

Buy a subscription to my Tech and Online Culture newsletter, User Magazine to support my work!!!! 🙏 https://www.usermag.co The UK's Online Safety Act finally went into effect this week and it has been a massive clusterfuck. Entire forums, websites, communities and essential journalism is being censored. People are being forced to scan their faces to use Spotify and YouTube.Like all of these terrible censorship bills, the Online Safety Act claims it's about protecting children from the evils of pornographic and “adult” content. But immediately after it went into effect, platforms began classifying nearly all breaking news footage, war coverage, investigative journalism, political protest material and information about reproductive and public health as “explicit” or “harmful" content, thus blocking anyone from under 18 from accessing it.I break down the fallout from the UK's Online Safety Act and what we could be facing here in the U.S. soon if we don't fight back to protect free speech online. Follow me:https://www.patreon.com/c/taylorlorenzhttps://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz3.0 https://www.tiktok.com/@taylorlorenz

Buy a subscription to my Tech and Online Culture newsletter, User Magazine to support my work!!!! 🙏 https://www.usermag.co The internet has become the primary way that people get public health information. Especially since the pandemic began in 2020, millions of people have turned to platforms like Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and newsletters to keep up to date on things like food recalls, infectious disease reports, and more. But now, CDC social media channels have gone dark, and the agency's public health communication across the internet is being cut off and dismantled. Chiara Eisner is an investigative reporter at NPR and she's been covering the fiasco at the CDC. We talk about the crucial role that the internet plays in public health and why what's happening right now under Trump and RFK and why it might set us back decades. Follow me:https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz3.0 https://www.tiktok.com/@taylorlorenz

I'm proud to partner with DeleteMe. Get 20% off their plans: joindeleteme.com/taylor20This is the first video in my new series on data brokers and the dark history of digital surveillance. I dig into how surveillance capitalism evolved, the companies profiting from intimate details about your life, and how it all began long before the internet. I reveal the industry's origins from early government tracking systems to invisible surveillance networks fueling ultra-targeted ads. How corporations are able to build data profiles so detailed that they can predict when you’re going to get sick, where you're likely to live, and even discover you're pregnant before your own family. Let me know what you think in the comments! I worked so hard on this one 🙏Buy a subscription to my Tech and Online Culture newsletter, User Magazine to support my work!!!! 🙏 https://www.usermag.co Follow me:https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz3.0 https://www.tiktok.com/@taylorlorenz

Buy a subscription to my Tech and Online Culture newsletter, User Magazine to support my work!!!! 🙏 https://www.usermag.co The U.S. government is quietly building the largest surveillance system in modern history. In this episode of Free Speech Friday, I break down how agencies like ICE, DHS are weaponizing your personal data including tax filings, medical records, license plate scans, and more, to hunt innocent people down across the country.The Department of Homeland Security is also exploring ways to access IRS data on millions of U.S. citizens "associated with criminal activity" or who have shown support for "terrorism." I break down ICE’s growing surveillance empire, the risks of government data abuse, and the terrifying consequences for civil liberties if we don't fight back. ProPublica article: https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-irs-share-tax-records-ice-dhs-deportationsSubscribe to my newsletter: ⁠⁠https://www.usermag.co⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz3.0 https://www.tiktok.com/@taylorlorenz

Last week, a couple featured on the Jumbotron during a Coldplay concert in Boston went viral for being caught cheating. Within minutes of the video spreading on TikTok and X, users rallied together to identify the couple in the video using AI and facial recognition tools. Crowdsourced social media investigations are becoming more and more common, and the people conducting them are leveraging increasingly dystopian surveillance tech that police and the feds are using against undocumented immigrants and marginalized groups. Meanwhile, all of our privacy is being eroded. Jason Koebler from 404 Media joined me to dig into the origins of the surveillance-entertainment economy, how and why it evolved, and what we can do to protect ourselves. ***** Buy a subscription to my Tech and Online Culture newsletter, User Magazine to support my work!!!! 🙏 https://www.usermag.co ***** Follow me:https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz3.0 https://www.tiktok.com/@taylorlorenzSubscribe to 404 Media:https://www.youtube.com/@404Mediaco

There's a bill right now in congress  called the NO FAKES act that claims it will protect you from deepfakes. "In this new era of AI, we need real laws to protect real people,"  Rep. Maria Salazar said when announcing the bill. "The NO FAKES Act is simple and sacred: you own your identity, not Big Tech, not scammers, not algorithms." As usual, none of this is what the law actually does!!!!! The NO FAKES act is actually an incredibly sloppy and dangerous piece of legislation that could destroy lives, eradicate privacy, and lead to sweeping censorship of journalistic and constitutionally protected speech. There's a reason that major civil liberties orgs are sounding the alarm about this proposed law. The NO FAKES act is "something that could change the internet forever, harming speech and innovation from here on out," The Electronic Frontier Foundation recently declared. This bill would be a disaster for online speech and free expression. The Center for Democracy and Technology published an open letter opposing the proposed law. Kate Ruane is the director for the Center for Democracy and Technology's Free Expression Project. She joined this week's episode of my Free Speech Friday series to break down what the NO FAKES act really says and why we need to fight back against it.***** Buy a subscription to my Tech and Online Culture newsletter, User Magazine to support my work!!!! 🙏 https://www.usermag.co ***** Subscribe to my newsletter: ⁠⁠https://www.usermag.co⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz3.0 https://www.tiktok.com/@taylorlorenz

Earlier this month, Sean “Diddy” Combs was acquitted of sex trafficking and racketeering after a high-profile federal trial. The acquittals show how high profile men accused of sexual abuse and wrongdoing still often escape justice. Already the outcome is being co-opted by the far right and manosphere spaces who are spinning it as proof that movements like #MeToo are overreaching. Today we're talking about why the Diddy case was a pivotal moment online and why celebrity trials like this do matter in the political sphere now. To break it all down I brought on Caroline Kwan, a prolific Twitch streamer who covers pop culture and political news, and Kat Tenbarge, a phenomenal independent journalist.***** Buy a subscription to my Tech and Online Culture newsletter, User Magazine to support my work!!!! 🙏 https://www.usermag.co ***** Subscribe to my newsletter: ⁠⁠https://www.usermag.co⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz3.0 https://www.tiktok.com/@taylorlorenzhttps://bsky.app/profile/taylorlorenz.bsky.social

[FREE SPEECH FRIDAY] For decades, content creators have fought against oppressive copyright law. Copyright claims have been wielded by powerful corporations to take down videos, suppress criticism, and stifle parody through rigid enforcement of online speech. But now, a troubling shift is unfolding: legal attacks that were once used almost exclusively by powerful media companies, are being weaponized by a big content creator against smaller content creators. Meredith Rose is a senior policy counsel at Public Knowledge, a non profit promoting freedom of expression and an open internet. She joins me to talk about how copyright law and discussions of fair use are central to the fight over free speech in the digital age!***** Buy a subscription to my Tech and Online Culture newsletter, User Magazine to support my work!!!! 🙏 https://www.usermag.co ***** Subscribe to my newsletter: ⁠⁠https://www.usermag.co⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz3.0 https://www.tiktok.com/@taylorlorenzhttps://bsky.app/profile/taylorlorenz.bsky.social

After years of hype and promises to destroy the deep state, the Department of Justice and FBI publicly declared there is no “client list” linking Jeffrey Epstein to prominent figures, this week. They also confirmed Epstein died by suicide and said told all of MAGA basically to drop the issue. Now, MAGA influencers are accusing Trump of a cover up, the right wing internet is in disarray, and it remains unclear what will happen next. The Epstein cover up has been the defining conspiracy on the right linking MAGA factions together. Will Sommer is a reporter at The Bulwark who covers the right wing internet. He joined me to break down what's going on and what's next for the right. ***** Buy a subscription to my Tech and Online Culture newsletter, User Magazine to support my work!!!! 🙏 https://www.usermag.co ***** Subscribe to my newsletter: ⁠⁠https://www.usermag.co⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz3.0 https://www.tiktok.com/@taylorlorenzhttps://bsky.app/profile/taylorlorenz.bsky.social

[VIDEO ESSAY] --- Anti-Muslim hate is becoming extremely profitable in Silicon Valley as the tech industry pivots towards defense tech and embedding itself with the U.S. war machine. From funding Israeli defense startups to spreading racist conspiracy theories about Zohran Mamdani, VCs like Sequoia Capital partner Shaun Maguire are pushing a new breed of tech militarism. Defense tech, AI surveillance, and far-right pro-Trump ideologies are merging in the tech world as Silicon Valley’s obsession with profit fuels a dangerous new era of "the war on terror 2.0." Shaun Maguire and others like him will play a leading role in this new landscape, where human rights are obstacles and endless war is the ultimate market opportunity.***** Buy a subscription to my Tech and Online Culture newsletter, User Magazine to support my work!!!! 🙏 https://www.usermag.co ***** Subscribe to my newsletter: ⁠⁠https://www.usermag.co⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz3.0 https://www.tiktok.com/@taylorlorenzhttps://bsky.app/profile/taylorlorenz.bsky.social

Because it's a holiday week I'm re-running one of my favorite episodes from last year. I spoke to content creator Brad Podray‬ about the problem with “Kindness Influencers” and whether charity for content is ethical. We talk MrBeast, viral giveaways, and the difference between actual kindness vs kindness for the camera. ***** Buy a subscription to my Tech and Online Culture newsletter, User Magazine to support my work!!!! 🙏 https://www.usermag.co ***** Subscribe to my newsletter: ⁠⁠https://www.usermag.co⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz3.0 https://www.tiktok.com/@taylorlorenzhttps://bsky.app/profile/taylorlorenz.bsky.social

Can a meme really get you deported? This week’s Free Speech Friday, is on Mads Mikkelsen, a Norwegian tourist allegedly kicked out of the country over a viral JD Vance meme saved to his phone. His story comes as tensions over speech rights at our borders are under greater threat. I break down what's going on and dig into the U.S. government's growing use of border screenings to police political speech. From increased surveillance to ideological questioning at customs, journalists, activists, visitors and citizens are experiencing a drastic chilling effect on free expression. The border is quickly becoming the front line in the government's war on free speech. ***** Buy a subscription to my Tech and Online Culture newsletter, User Magazine to support my work!!!! 🙏 https://www.usermag.co ***** Subscribe to my newsletter: ⁠⁠https://www.usermag.co⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz3.0 https://www.tiktok.com/@taylorlorenzhttps://bsky.app/profile/taylorlorenz.bsky.social

Private equity has quietly been gutting major sectors of the American economy, from healthcare, to housing, retail, our news media, and more. The industry is a multi trillion-dollar powerhouse that ultimately shapes all of our lives. Journalist Megan Greenwell has been covering the rise of Private Equity, and her new book reveals how private equity takeovers have disrupted industries, eroded job security, and undermined essential services across our country. Megan joined me to dig into the rise of private equity, how and why it has  infiltrated every aspect of American life, and what average people can do about it. ***** Buy a subscription to my Tech and Online Culture newsletter, User Magazine to support my work!!!! 🙏 https://www.usermag.co ***** Buy Megan's book: https://www.harpercollins.com/products/bad-company-megan-greenwellSubscribe to my newsletter: ⁠⁠https://www.usermag.co⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz3.0 https://www.tiktok.com/@taylorlorenzhttps://bsky.app/profile/taylorlorenz.bsky.social

Announcement!! I'm going to start uploading my video essays to this feed so people can watch them on Spotify or listen to them via podcasting apps. I will try to upload one video essay a month, always on a Monday. Hope you enjoy them! A new form of techno-spirituality is spreading like wildfire across the internet. Thousands of people are claiming that ChatGPT is sentient and that the AI is a type of all knowing God, or that it has been sent from the future or an alien civilization to save us. Is this a new form of religion or mass psychosis? In this video, I deep into the rise of ChatGPT/AI worship and unpack how decades of pop culture influences have primed us to view technology as God-like. I dig into how tech became fused with spirituality, Silicon Valley founder worship, what the academic research on this topic says, and how we can stop more people from falling victim to this cycle before it's too late. ***** Buy a subscription to my Tech and Online Culture newsletter, User Magazine to support my work!! 🙏 https://www.usermag.co ***** Subscribe to my newsletter: ⁠⁠https://www.usermag.co⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz3.0 https://www.tiktok.com/@taylorlorenzhttps://bsky.app/profile/taylorlorenz.bsky.social

VISIT https://joindeleteme.com/taylor20 AND PROTECT YOURSELF TODAY!! Use my code Taylor20 at checkout Every single moment that you're online, you're feeding the data harvesting industry. Corporations then sell that data to the government, allowing them to target you for online speech, protesting, and more.Now, the government wants to build a single centralized platform where U.S. spy agencies and the government can easily buy highly private information about millions of people. Documents obtained by The Intercept reveal that the U.S. is seeking to establish a "one stop shop" for the U.S. government to buy American's most sensitive data. This sort of surveillance is a massive threat to free speech and expression.***** Buy a subscription to my Tech and Online Culture newsletter, User Magazine to support my work!! 🙏 https://www.usermag.co ***** Subscribe to my newsletter: ⁠⁠https://www.usermag.co⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz3.0 https://www.tiktok.com/@taylorlorenzhttps://bsky.app/profile/taylorlorenz.bsky.social

DONATE TO POINT OF PRIDE: https://secure.givelively.org/donate/point-of-pride/taylor-lorenz-s-pride-2025-fundraiser-for-point-of-prideFor years, Pride Month meant rainbows on everything, in storefronts, on sneakers, burger wrappers, and an endless array of t-shirts and merch. But this June, After a decade of cashing in on queer identity, corporations are pulling back. From the aisles of Target and the Instagram feeds of big brands, the rainbow logos are gone, the merch shelves are empty. Matt Bernstein is a podcaster, cultural critic, and content creator who covers LGBTQ issues and he's been covering this transformation. He joined me to talk about the rise and fall of rainbow capitalism, the history of the commodification of queer identity, and why this year everything has gotten so beige. I know that there is a lot going on in the world right now, but Point of Pride is a trans-led nonprofit that makes gender-affirming care more accessible for the trans and gender diverse community. The organization directly helps trans people obtain things like financial aid for surgery, electrolysis, HRT or free binders and shape wear. Since 2016, Point of Pride has helped more than 29,000 trans people in all 50 states get the care they need and deserve.Trans people are finding it harder and harder to access crucial, life saving gender care right now. When you donate to Point of Pride your money goes directly to funding these efforts and helping to build a future filled with safety, joy, and possibility for all trans people. Please donate today, every single dollar counts!! DONATE: https://secure.givelively.org/donate/point-of-pride/taylor-lorenz-s-pride-2025-fundraiser-for-point-of-pride***** Buy a subscription to my Tech and Online Culture newsletter, User Magazine to support my work!! 🙏 https://www.usermag.co ***** Subscribe to my newsletter: ⁠⁠https://www.usermag.co⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz3.0 https://www.tiktok.com/@taylorlorenzhttps://bsky.app/profile/taylorlorenz.bsky.social

Over the past week tech people, right wing figures and the media have been freaking out about Waymos being set on fire in downtown Los Angeles. The Waymos were burned during last weekend’s protests against ICE. A lot of people online seem deeply confused about the burnings of the cars. So, I'm going to break down why there's so much anti-Waymo sentiment, the rise of surveillance technology at protests, and how it all affects free speech. ***** Buy a subscription to my Tech and Online Culture newsletter, User Magazine to support my work!! 🙏 https://www.usermag.co ***** Subscribe to my newsletter: ⁠⁠https://www.usermag.co⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz3.0 https://www.tiktok.com/@taylorlorenzhttps://bsky.app/profile/taylorlorenz.bsky.social

Visit https://joindeleteme.com/taylor20 and protect yourself today! Use my code TAYLOR20 at checkout.Last week we witnessed the public blowout between Elon Musk and Donald Trump. After pouring hundreds of millions into Trump’s campaign and serving as a special adviser on the “Department of Government Efficiency" Musk is now on the outs with Trump and his future within the MAGA movement is uncertain. Brace Belden is the co-host of the podcast TrueAnon and has been covering Elon and the right wing internet universe for years. He joined me to break down Musk's rise in the MAGA world, the big blowup, what this fracturing means for the right going forward, and what's next for Elon.***** Buy a subscription to my Tech and Online Culture newsletter, User Magazine to support my work!! 🙏 https://www.usermag.co ***** Subscribe to my newsletter: ⁠⁠https://www.usermag.co⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenzhttps://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz3.0https://www.tiktok.com/@taylorlorenzhttps://bsky.app/profile/taylorlorenz.bsky.social

Welcome back to Free Speech Friday! All across the internet, parents and lawmakers are calling for tech companies to verify users' ages online. They frame these efforts as a smart, reasonable, and harmless way to keep kids safe. But that's not what age verification does!!!Age verification efforts are a major threat to privacy, freedom, and the very idea of an open web. No one knows this better than Eric Goldman. He is the associate dean for research at Santa Clara University School of Law and co-Director of the High Tech Law Institute.He recently wrote a fantastic paper on age verification, soon to be published in the Stanford Technology Law Review. Today he's joining me for Free Speech Friday to talk about how age verification works online and how it's all ultimately a trojan horse for government control surveillance, and censorship. Eric's paper on age verification: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=5208739***** Buy a subscription to my Tech and Online Culture newsletter, User Magazine to support my work!! 🙏 https://www.usermag.co ***** Subscribe to my newsletter: ⁠⁠https://www.usermag.co⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz3.0 https://www.tiktok.com/@taylorlorenzhttps://bsky.app/profile/taylorlorenz.bsky.social

As Elon Musk's influence has grown, so too has a darker, more troubling side of his persona: his rampant egomania.Faiz Siddiqui is a former colleague of mine at The Washington Post and he's the author of the new book Hubris Maximus: The Shattering of Elon Musk. In this episode of Power User we break down exactly how Musk's narcissism has evolved throughout his career, and the key moments that reveal just how deeply Elon's self-obsession has shaped his life and the future he claims to build. ***** Buy a subscription to my Tech and Online Culture newsletter, User Magazine to support my work!! 🙏 https://www.usermag.co ***** Subscribe to my newsletter: ⁠⁠https://www.usermag.co⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz3.0 https://www.tiktok.com/@taylorlorenzhttps://bsky.app/profile/taylorlorenz.bsky.social

Welcome back to my new series Free Speech Friday! :) Right now, lawmakers in congress are trying to pass the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), a dangerous censorship bill that would give the government unprecedented control over the internet and force platforms to spy on youth.KOSA claims to make kids "safer" online, but don't let the name fool you. This law would give the government unprecedented power to censor speech across the entire internet in the name of "protecting kids."From mental health support communities to LGBTQ forums, KOSA endangers the very spaces young people turn to for help, identity, and connection. KOSA isn’t about safety, it's about giving the government unprecedented control over speech. Ari Cohen is the Lead Counsel for Tech Policy at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to defending and promoting free speech rights for all Americans. He joined me to break down KOSA and explain the many problems with the proposed law. If you believe in a free and open internet, please join me in sending a message to your lawmakers right now and tell them to reject KOSA:https://www.fightforthefuture.org/actions/censorship-wont-make-kids-safe***** Buy a subscription to my Tech and Online Culture newsletter, User Magazine to support my work!! 🙏 https://www.usermag.co ***** Subscribe to my newsletter: ⁠⁠https://www.usermag.co⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz3.0 https://www.tiktok.com/@taylorlorenzhttps://bsky.app/profile/taylorlorenz.bsky.social

Every week, there’s a new warning: TikTok is poisoning the youth, Facebook is radicalizing your uncle, and the only way to save ourselves is to log off.But what if that’s exactly the opposite of what we should be doing? What if this push to disconnect isn’t about protecting us, but instead about disempowering us?Aidan Walker is a meme researcher and author of the Substack newsletter How to Do Things With Memes. Today, he joins me to talk about why we shouldn't log off and how the internet, for all its flaws, can be a powerful tool for change. The reality is that the internet—messy, chaotic, and algorithmically manipulated as it may be—is one of the only spaces where everyday people can assemble, communicate, and exert collective power. Governments, the media, and people in power want you to stay offline, because a public that is fragmented and disengaged is easier to control. People in power want you to believe that social media is nothing more than an addictive distraction, rather than the battleground where narratives are shaped, movements are built, and institutions are held accountable.***** Buy a subscription to my Tech and Online Culture newsletter, User Magazine to support my work!! 🙏 https://www.usermag.co ***** Subscribe to my newsletter:https://www.usermag.co⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenzhttps://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz3.0https://www.tiktok.com/@taylorlorenzhttps://bsky.app/profile/taylorlorenz.bsky.social

WATCH ALL FREE SPEECH FRIDAY EPISODES ON MY YOUTUBE CHANNELThe stated goal of the Take it Down Act is to combat non consensual intimate images (NCII), colloquially known as revenge p**n. This includes things like AI generated nude deep fakes and other explicit imagery shared without a person's consent. Cracking down on this seems great right? Sadly that's not what this law does. What the Take It Down Act *actually* does is make it so that anyone, at any time, can get content posted about them online that they don't like taken off the internet within 48 hours, no questions asked. Becca Branum, Deputy Director of the Center for Democracy and Technology's Free Expression Project has been fighting this law. She joins me to break down exactly how the Take It Down Act will function and the terrifying ways the Trump administration is already planning to weaponize it. ***** Buy a subscription to my Tech and Online Culture newsletter, User Magazine to support my work!! 🙏 https://www.usermag.co ***** Subscribe to my newsletter: ⁠⁠https://www.usermag.co⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenzhttps://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz3.0https://www.tiktok.com/@taylorlorenzhttps://bsky.app/profile/taylorlorenz.bsky.social

Students are using ChatGPT for everything. Parents are freaking out and the media is calling it the end of education as we know it. But are students really outsourcing their minds to machines? Are we witnessing the collapse of critical thinking, or are we just afraid of what change actually looks like?In this episode, I’m joined by journalist Kat Tenbarge to break down the rise of ChatGPT in schools. We talk about whether school still serves the purpose it claims to and what does academic integrity mean in a world where AI can be used for everything?***** Buy a subscription to my Tech and Online Culture newsletter, User Magazine to support my work!! 🙏 https://www.usermag.co ***** Subscribe to my newsletter: ⁠⁠https://www.usermag.co⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenzhttps://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz3.0https://www.tiktok.com/@taylorlorenzhttps://bsky.app/profile/taylorlorenz.bsky.social

Imagine messaging a friend on Snapchat about how to get abortion pills, or tweeting about reproductive rights and getting fined hundreds of thousands of dollars. That's only part of what a proposed law in Texas that seeks to criminalize discussing abortion online aims to do. It's called HB5510, and it would essentially criminalize speech about abortion in emails, on websites, in social media posts, and even private messages.Jennifer Pinsof senior staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a non profit that fights for digital civil liberties, and she's been tracking the proposed law. She joined me to talk about how the law will work, why other states might try to replicate it, and how this will affect you even if you don’t live in Texas. ***** Please buy a subscription to my Tech and Online Culture newsletter, User Magazine to support my work!! 🙏 https://www.usermag.co ***** Jessica Valenti's piece on the law's other dangers that we mentioned in this episode is here: https://jessica.substack.com/p/texas-sb-2880-abortion-travelIf you’ve had your abortion-related content taken down, shadow-banned, or otherwise suppressed by Big Tech platforms, tell us your story here: https://www.eff.org/pages/stop-censoring-abortionFollow me:Subscribe to my newsletter: ⁠⁠https://www.usermag.co⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz3.0 https://www.tiktok.com/@taylorlorenzhttps://bsky.app/profile/taylorlorenz.bsky.socialFor more information on EFF’s work, visit EFF.orgFor digital security and privacy tips for those seeking or providing an abortion, visit https://www.eff.org/issues/reproductive-rights

If you’ve ever wondered why news media obsesses over shoplifting but ignores wage theft, or why media outlets report a "shortage" of prison guards without questioning why we imprison so many people, you've probably encountered copaganda. In this episode, award-winning civil rights lawyer and author Alec Karakatsanis joins me to discuss his phenomenal new book, Copaganda: How Police and the Media Manipulate Our News, and to break down all the ways that our news ecosystem is polluted with pro-police PR. We talk about how copaganda shapes literally every form of media in the U.S. and warps our perceptions of safety and justice. Alec reveals how these fear-driven narratives are fueling the rise of authoritarian policies, mass incarceration, and deepening inequality. Subscribe to my newsletter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.usermag.co⁠⁠⁠⁠Subscribe to my YouTube: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@TaylorLorenz⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow me on IG: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz⁠⁠⁠⁠ Follow me on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@taylorlorenzFollow me on Bluesky: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://bsky.app/profile/taylorlorenz.bsky.social⁠⁠⁠⁠

American police departments are using secretive AI technology to create lifelike AI personas designed to interact with real people online —like protesters and activists— for intelligence gathering. This tech is becoming more popular amid crackdowns on student protests against the war in Gaza. Leaked presentations reveal AI personas posing as various individuals, from divorced activists to teenage boys, in attempts to infiltrate online communities.404 Media's Jason Koebler joins me to break down how these AI bots work, how they're being deployed, how to identify them, and what role AI plays in the future of surveillance. Subscribe to my newsletter: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.usermag.co⁠⁠⁠Subscribe to my YouTube: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@TaylorLorenz⁠⁠⁠ Follow me on IG: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz⁠⁠⁠ Follow me on Bluesky: ⁠⁠⁠https://bsky.app/profile/taylorlorenz.bsky.social⁠⁠⁠

From middle schoolers riffing on school lunch to kids interviewing political figures, podcasting is no longer just for adults. With high-end mics, massive TikTok followings, and brand deals from major companies, tween podcast hosts are building real media platforms from their bedrooms and local studios.New York Magazine's EJ Dickson joins me to break down who the major players are in this growing space, including the MD Foodie Boyz, SaltyBoys, GSD Nation, the LOL Pod, and more. These tween stars have loyal fan bases, viral moments, and increasingly, the attention of advertisers looking to reach Gen Z and Gen Alpha audiences. We examine how kid-led podcasts are mirroring the formats and attitudes of older influencers, from Joe Rogan to the Paul brothers. And how, as more kids turn the mic on themselves and start broadcasting their opinions, jokes, and hot takes to the world, it’s reshaping what media looks like for the next generation. EJ and I discuss how this trend took off, where it might be going, and what it says about the future of content creation.Subscribe to my newsletter: ⁠⁠https://www.usermag.co⁠⁠Subscribe to my YouTube: ⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@TaylorLorenz⁠⁠ Follow me on IG: ⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz⁠⁠ Follow me on Bluesky: ⁠⁠https://bsky.app/profile/taylorlorenz.bsky.social⁠⁠

From Ohio to North Dakota, thousands of people have suddenly gotten brand new newspapers delivered to their doorsteps out of the blue. These newspapers are fake news outlets created by the oil and gas industry to influence public opinion in key districts, and they're having a major impact.Top investigative journalist Miranda Green has been uncovering these schemes. She joins me to talk about how these shady publications are mimicking legitimate local newspapers to spread propaganda and influence public opinion.​The fake outlets are already playing a major role in influencing public opinion and even jury pools, such as in the recent $666 million judgment against Greenpeace related to the Dakota Access Pipeline protests. Miranda reveals the oil and gas industry's fake news playbook and how it's eroding our news environment. Subscribe to my newsletter: ⁠https://www.usermag.co⁠Subscribe to my YouTube: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/@TaylorLorenz⁠ Follow me on IG: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz⁠ Follow me on Bluesky: ⁠https://bsky.app/profile/taylorlorenz.bsky.social⁠

Since Trump took office, the official White House social media accounts have been posting a bit… differently. Drew Harwell, my former colleague at The Washington Post, has been covering the Trump White House's digital strategy.Today, he joins me to unpack the White House's hyper-online social media cruelty, the inner workings of its digital team, how the Trump administration has transformed its traditional press shop into a rapid-response influencer operation, and how the Democratic Party is responding in the online arena. ***************This episode of Power User is brought to you by DeleteMe. Data brokers collect your info and sell it to anyone. Start protecting yourself today by going to joindeleteme.com/TAYLOR20 and using code TAYLOR20 at checkout for 20% off!***************Subscribe to my newsletter: https://www.usermag.coSubscribe to my YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TaylorLorenz Follow me on IG: https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz Follow me on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/taylorlorenz.bsky.social

Ever since Ashton Hall's morning routine went viral last week, I've been dying to chat about it with my friend Matt Bernstein of the podcast A Bit Fruity to about it all. We joined up to break down the history and evolution of modern masculinity, the allure and absurdity of the modern "alpha male" archetype, the rise of isolationist masculinity and exactly how things ended up this way, and what videos like Ashton Hall's can tell us about the future of masculinity.SUBSCRIBE TO USER MAG, my tech and online culture newsletter: https://www.usermag.coSUBSCRIBE TO MY YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/@TaylorLorenzPlease buy a subscription to my Tech and Online Culture newsletter, User Magazine to support my work: https://www.usermag.coFollow me:https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz3.0 https://www.tiktok.com/@taylorlorenz

Over the past few weeks, Tesla has been crumbling. The company's stock, which was once considered invincible, has now plunged to around $250 a share, down from nearly double that in December. Sales are plummeting, dealerships are overrun with protests, and Teslas on the street are being subject to petty vandalism. All of this is happening because of Elon Musk. Since Trump took office and appointed Musk as the head of the very poorly named Department of Government Efficiency, Musk has facilitated the undue firing of tens of thousands of government employees. Now, it's looking like Tesla is in trouble and Musk's involvement in politics and increasingly radical actions could be the company's downfall. Journalist Miles Klee has been covering it all, and today he joins me to break down the Tesla takedown movement began, why it matters, and if Tesla could ultimately be Musk's achilles heel. SUBSCRIBE TO MY NEWSLETTER: https://www.usermag.coSUBSCRIBE TO MY YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/taylorlorenz

Chair of the Federal Communications Commission Brendan Carr has quietly positioned himself as one of the most dangerous figures in the Trump administration’s ongoing war on free speech.Carr is using his government position to intimidate journalists, punish media outlets, and pressure tech companies into cracking down on free expression. And he has done all of this while building his profile as a "free speech" influencer on X. If left unchecked, Carr’s censorship crusade could fundamentally reshape our information ecosystem and have massive consequences for anyone seeking to speak freely without fear of government retaliation. Mike Masnick, founder of TechDirt, joins me to break down who Carr is, why his agenda is so dangerous, what exactly he's doing to dismantle free speech protections in America, and how it all fits into a much bigger movement to control who can speak freely online. SUBSCRIBE TO MY YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/taylorlorenzFOLLOW ME ON IG: https://instagram.com/taylorlorenzREAD TECHDIRT: https://www.techdirt.com

In 1964, the Supreme Court passed a landmark case called The New York Times v Sullivan, that established the right to a free press by protecting the media against erroneous lawsuits. The ruling has been instrumental in allowing journalists to scrutinize public figures, powerful corporations, and political leaders without undue fear of litigation.But now, that landmark decision is in jeopardy thanks to a coordinated right wing legal effort that's been decades in the making. David Enrich's forthcoming book, Murder the Truth: Fear, the First Amendment, and a Secret Campaign to Protect the Powerful, delves into the organized efforts by elite individuals to challenge longstanding free speech protections and suppress dissenting voices.David joins me discuss the origins of this legal assault, its implications for investigative journalism in both new media and old, and what this all means for the future of free speech in America.​BUY DAVID'S BOOK: https://www.harpercollins.com/products/murder-the-truth-david-enrichSUBSCRIBE TO MY NEWSLETTER: https://www.usermag.coSUBSCRIBE TO MY YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/taylorlorenz

Have you been bombarded with non stop content about Blake Lively vs Justin Baldoni? The Misogyny Slop Ecosystem is a sprawling network of online creators and communities that manufacture and boost smear campaigns against women who speak out for women's rights, or have been victims of gender-based crimes like sexual assault, harassment, or abuse. Though you might have never heard of it, the misogyny slop ecosystem has radically transformed the online landscape and the content that you see. It plays a central role in the alt-right pipeline for women. I talked to Ophie Dokie, the brilliant content creator and commentator who coined the term, to discuss the origins of misogyny slop, what creators and communities make up this ecosystem, how it became so insanely profitable, and how all of it ultimately funnels women directly into the far right media machine. SUBSCRIBE TO TAYLOR ON YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/taylorlorenzSUBSCRIBE TO OPHIE ON YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/@ophie-dokie

The 2000s were a formative decade for tech. From the dot com bubble to the rise of social media, to the chaotic days of early blogging, the iMac, and emergence of the PayPal Mafia, the 00s shaped our online world in ways we’re still reckoning with.Colette Shade is the author of the brand new bestselling book Y2K: How the 2000s Became Everything (Essays on the Future That Never Was). Today she joins Taylor to unpack the lasting impact of the 00s on our tech landscape. Colette gives a nostalgic but critical account of the decade that set the stage for the digital revolution. She discusses what we can learn from the golden age of dial-up internet and tech optimism, and how the aughts ultimately set the stage for today’s hyper-surveilled, algorithm-driven world. SUBSCRIBE TO POWER USER ON YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/taylorlorenz

Last week, it was revealed that Elon Musk had welcomed his 13th child into the world several months ago with a conservative influencer. But he’s not the only tech mogul fixated on boosting birth rates. In this episode, journalist Julia Black joins Taylor to discuss the rise of pronatalism in Silicon Valley—a growing movement encouraging people to have as many babies as possible. They unpack why tech billionaires are so suddenly obsessed with having children and how their vision of the future is entangled with right-wing ideology, eugenics, and genetic engineering. From embryo selection to potential threats to reproductive rights, Julia and Taylor explore the unsettling ways pronatalist thinking is creeping into politics and culture.What does this mean for the future of parenthood, women’s autonomy, and the broader social landscape? And is this really about saving humanity—or something else entirely?SUBSCRIBE TO POWER USER ON YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/taylorlorenz

No platform has had more of impact on what we listen to over the past decade than Spotify. This week, Taylor is joined by journalist Liz Pelly, to discuss her new book "Mood Machine: The Rise of Spotify and the Costs of the Perfect Playlist."They discuss the profound impact Spotify has had on the music industry, culture, and the way we consume sound.Pelly reveals the truth about so-called "ghost artists" and other tactics the company has employed to squeeze artists and upend the content ecosystem.They also dig into how Spotify's algorithm-driven playlists have reshaped not just listening habits but also the very nature of music production, artist careers, and industry power structures.SUBSCRIBE TO POWER USER ON YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/@TaylorLorenz

Over the past week, Elon Musk has been engaged in a near wholesale takeover of key areas of the U.S. federal government.  Working under the newly minted "Department of Government Efficiency" aka DOGE, Musk and a group of young Gen Z loyalists have begun wreaking havoc on our institutions.  Online culture journalist Ryan Broderick joins Taylor to break down who exactly these young men are, what their backgrounds say about the people Musk is hiring, and what the billionaire is currently doing to the U.S. government. SUBSCRIBE TO POWER USER ON YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/taylorlorenz SUBSCRIBE TO USER MAG, Taylor's tech and online culture newsletter: https://www.usermag.co

Clarkson Lawson was a prominent MAGA influencer on TikTok who amassed over 31 million likes on his videos. He built a platform as an outspoken Gen Z conservative making pro-Trump content. But in the months leading up to the election, something changed.  Despite building a massive audience on pro-Trump messaging, he had a change of heart and voted for Kamala Harris. Lawson announced his political pivot in a video titled "Why I left MAGA." Taylor sits down with Clarkson to talk about the behind-the-scenes reality of being a right-wing content creator, the industry forces that keep influencers tethered to Trumpism, what made him ultimately change his mind, and how he plans to navigate the choppy waters of the internet going forward.  Subscribe to Power User on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/taylorlorenz

Family vlogs are a huge category of online content. At their best, they show real parenting and the entertaining and relatable moments of family life. However, the content category has been plagued by accusations of child exploitation and new laws targeting creators claiming to protect children. Fortesa Latifi covers the space in-depth and joins Taylor to set the record straight.

Remember Gamergate? Well… it's happening again. After writing an exposé about how a video game consultancy was attacked, journalist Alyssa Mercante found herself in the crosshairs of a targeted harassment campaign.Alyssa joins Taylor to discuss what it's like being at the center of an organized smear campaign, how she's fighting back.

Social media as we know it is in chaos. The landscape is becoming more centralized and creators are facing more challenges than ever. On top of all that, the very notion of a follower is dying and there's uncertainty about what that means for the future. Jack Conte, the CEO and co-founder of Patreon, joins Taylor to discuss how to better serve creators.

2024 was wild! "Brain rot" was the Oxford word of the year. TikTok's days away from being banned. The CostCo Guys and the Hawk Tuah girl were everywhere. Taylor is joined by Sam Sanders, host of the Sam Sanders Show on KCRW to break down the biggest online moments of 2024. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Last week, TikTok lost its challenge to stop a ban or forced sale in the United States. WIRED senior business editor Louise Matsakis joins Taylor to discuss what happens next and if this is really the end of the road for TikTok. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A moral panic about kids' social media and smartphone use in schools has been sweeping the country. But are cell phones really the problem? And is removing them entirely the best approach? Taylor chats with educator Brandon Cardet-Hernandez, president of education media company Mrs. Wordsmith, about how smartphones can be used in the classroom, and how a ban would impact marginalized students the most. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Are women abstaining from sex to protest Donald Trump’s re-election? That’s the impression you’d get if you spent time reading the media over the past few weeks. Since the election, the “4B Movement” has been gaining traction online. But where did it come from, how does it work, and could something like this really take off in America? The Cut’s EJ Dickson joins Taylor to discuss.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Since the election, Democrats and the media have been in panic mode, trying to figure out “the manosphere.” It’s a vast network of influencers, podcasters and streamers who speak to young men in a way traditional media has failed to. Many of its personalities are Trump supporters, including Joe Rogan. The left has been asking itself how it can win back young men without radicalizing them further. Is there a left-wing Joe Rogan? To help crack the manosphere, Taylor talks to Josh Citarella, host of the podcast “Doomscroll.” He’s been studying the radicalization of young men online for a decade. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This year, pumpkin spice lattes are being served with a side of AI slop. Autumn vistas generated by artificial intelligence tools are clogging up Pinterest and Instagram. Taylor talks to Vox’s senior correspondent Rebecca Jennings about how AI is warping our perspective of what nature actually looks like. They also discuss Rebecca's recent reporting on “The cultural power of the anti-woke tech bro" and “The Carrie Bradshaws of TikTok." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Anthony Po is a creative genius who has a knack for organizing viral events in New York. This past weekend, he was responsible for a Timothée Chalamet lookalike contest attended by the actor himself. In April, he went viral after he assembled a crowd to watch him eat an entire jug of cheeseballs in the disguise as “Cheese Ball Man.” He's infiltrated a cult, hosted a dating show, faked an alien invasion and more. Taylor talks to Anthony about making things that matter in culture and bringing back 2014 internet. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Over the past few months, a father-son duo known as the Costco guys has become inescapable online. Their family-friendly videos about the grocery chain's chicken bakes and double-chunk chocolate cookies have earned them over 62 million likes on TikTok. This week, AJ Befumo joins Taylor to discuss how he went from former pro wrestler to king of the Costcoverse. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week Taylor Lorenz dives into the charged content world of Jubilee Media with its founder Jason Y Lee. Jubilee is quickly becoming a YouTube behemoth. It’s amassed 9.2 million subscribers on its main channel alone by producing social experiments and debates over polarizing questions such as ‘is being fat is a choice?’, or ‘can someone stop being gay?’ and other hot-button topics. The company's stated goal is to spark conversations that matter and help us all come together more around our shared humanity. Is their model working? And how is Jubilee expanding its empire outside of YouTube? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Taylor explores the inner workings of modern office life through the world of corporate influencers. She’s joined by Ross Pomerantz aka ‘Corporate Bro’, a successful corporate influencer who simultaneously parodies the entire genre. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week Taylor Lorenz talks about going independent and launching her new online culture newsletter, User Mag! Later, Taylor is joined by entertainment culture critic Coleman Spilde to explore how nostalgia accounts are rewriting pop culture history. Subscribe to User Mag here! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

If you do a lot of online shopping, you may be experiencing deja vu. Amazon, AliExpress, WalMart, Temu, eBay, the TikTok shop, even Etsy all seem to be selling the exact same, cheaply made products from China. How did this happen? Have we reached some sort of eCommerce singularity? And what does this say about the future of online shopping? Are we all doomed to have shitty cheap products forever? Taylor is joined by New York Magazines John Herman to discuss. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Description: Age verification technology is becoming increasingly commonplace as lawmakers seek to enact deeply concerning restrictions in the name of “child safety.” Washington Post technology reporter Drew Harwell joins to discuss the threats to our freedom of speech, expression, and privacy this new software unlocks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You can spend hours carefully curating your algorithms on TikTok and YouTube, But there’s one place where the algorithm doesn’t seem to care about what you want to see: Instagram Reels. Business Insider’s Katie Notopoulos joins Taylor to dive deep into the strangest corners of IG Reels and unpack how the platform became such an unusual place online. Then, Taylor weighs in on the latest news, including Taylor Swift's stance on AI, right wing YouTubers getting paid millions by a Russian propaganda group, why Facebook keeps removing emergency fire alerts, and the new iPhone. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Elon Musk’s social media network X has been officially banned in Brazil. Taylor and internet culture reporter Ryan Broderick (Garbage Day) discuss Stan culture, the impact Brazil has on the internet as we know it, and the effects of suddenly losing tens of millions of voices online. Later, as another presidential debate nears, Taylor chats with tech reporter Viola Zhou (Rest of World) about the latest TikTok trend - creators holding political debates of their own, with real cash rewards from their audience. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We've all long been familiar with the concept of a "song of the summer," but lately there's been a rush to declare "the summer" everything. Drink of the summer, drug of the summer, shoe of the summer, the list goes on. Casey Lewis joins Taylor to discuss the summer's emerging trends and why everything has been declared “of the summer.” Later, Taylor weighs in on the latest headlines, including Hasan Piker’s removal from the DNC, the new fridgescaping TikTok trend, what a Chick-fil-A streaming service could look like, and why everyone in DC is upset with food vlogger Keith Lee. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week, Taylor is in Chicago along with hundreds of content creators for the Democratic National Convention. YouTube star Keith Edwards gives the scoop on the Democrats’ influencer strategy, what it’s like inside a creator yacht party and VIP meme lounge, and how the 2024 election has become one big battle for the internet. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week, Trump returned to X/Twitter/whatever you want to call it. Editor-in-Chief at the Verge, Nilay Patel, joins Taylor to discuss the long and rambling conversation between Trump and Elon Musk on Twitter spaces. They debate how influential X is in today’s political climate. Later, they explore the broader social media landscape, Kamala’s dicey use of a Dril tweet, the campaign’s broader digital strategy, and how TikTok and YouTube factor into the 2024 race. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

For years now, MrBeast has been the king of the internet. The 26-year-old creator has the most subscribed to channel on YouTube, millions of young fans, and a new streaming deal with Amazon. But now, after a string of controversies, his empire might be crumbling. How did all of this happen, and what does a potential MrBeast downfall mean for the internet? Taylor Lorenz talks to Steven Asarch, a freelance digital culture reporter who’s been covering MrBeast for Rolling Stone and Passionfruit. Later, Taylor breaks down the latest headlines including why everyone is posting about a minion nailed to a cross, Kick streamer Adin Ross gives Trump a cyber truck and potentially violates election laws, the Google antitrust suit, and Tim Walz mania. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The internet lost its mind last week when Taylor broke the news that Michael Bay might be turning Skibidi Toilet -- the bizarre animated YouTube short of a singing head in a toilet -- into a theatrical movie. Taylor talks to Adam Goodman, a Hollywood veteran who founded Invisible Narratives, the behind-the-scenes company responsible for much of Skibidi Toilet's ongoing success. Plus, in headlines: Kamala Harris supporters are hopping on Zoom, Google Docs is the hot new dating app, and a new AI wearable wants to be your new best friend. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Politics and social media were inextricable this week. Joe Biden announced his dropout via X and other social platforms — and after he endorsed Kamala Harris, the media rush to explain Brat memes began. Taylor talks to The Atlantic’s Charlie Warzel about coconut memes, irony pilled posting, and the outcry of a generation frustrated by politics. Then, Taylor and Zach break down this week’s headlines, including a lifestyle influencer suing another lifestyle influencer for copying her aesthetic, a terrifying DHS robot dog, and Marc Andreessen’s hope that AI will save comedy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Minutes after a gunman attacked Donald Trump at a rally, conspiracy theories flourished on social media. Did Trump fake it? Was it a false flag? These are the latest additions to a growing collection of anti-Trump conspiracy theories referred to as "Blue Anon." Taylor Lorenz discusses the rise of conspiracies from anti Trump influencers with Mike Rothschild, author of "The Storm Is Upon Us: How QAnon Became a Movement, Cult, and Conspiracy Theory of Everything." Plus, Taylor explains the alleged shooter's "Demolition Ranch" YouTuber T-shirt, and talks about the RNC influencers tasked with making the GOP look cool. (edited) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Kick, a is home to some of the most reprehensible behavior on the internet. Creators have live-streamed themselves accosting people on the street, sexually harassing minors, even getting into hit-and-run car accidents. Taylor Lorenz talks to J. Aubrey, who documents some of the Internet’s worst people, about Kick’s race to the bottom.Plus, Taylor breaks down her recent reporting on influencers in politics. NATO and the State Department invited content creators to this year’s summit in Washington, DC. And in Utah, the first full-time content creator is running for Senate. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

For the past several years, influencer Lily Chapman has been plagued by a relentless community of women online. They congregated in a snark subreddit dedicated to mocking and criticizing her. Lily says they even contacted her friends and family, and attempted to kill her sponsorship deals. But Lily did something most influencers haven't been able to do: She fought back and won. Taylor Lorenz talks to Lily about how it all went down. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

An online smear campaign painted a top Stanford researcher as a censorship supervillain, whose goal was to silence free speech and delete 22 million tweets. Former Stanford Internet Observatory research manager Renée DiResta tells Taylor Lorenz what it's like to monitor disinformation about yourself -- and how rumors about her work that began on one conspiracy theorist's blog eventually spread into the halls of congress. Then, Taylor talks about her report on how Biden is struggling to garner the support of Gen Z influencers, the surgeon general’s campaign to put warning labels on social media, Logan Paul’s Donald Trump interview, and TikTok’s new AI-generated ads. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Over the past few months, the term “brain rot” has gone from essentially meaning chronically online, to a fully fledged meme and ironic slang language. Adam Aleksic aka “the Etymology Nerd” and Harvard linguistics graduate joins Taylor to break down how the language of the internet is evolving.  Later, Taylor dives into stories from the week including big announcements from Apple’s WWDC, the shadowy right-wing backers behind a Mr Beast video, BeReals big sale, and a new word to describe AI generated garbage.  Full video of this episode will be available on Taylor's YouTube channel. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The record-breaking Instagram account @world_record_egg has returned to publicly express its support for Palestine. Trump joins TikTok and immediately amasses millions of followers. Mr. Beast becomes the most subscribed to YouTube channel. Plus, Taylor Lorenz breaks down the 2022 deal TikTok offered the U.S. government, which included a “kill switch” to shut down the app. Later, Vox’s Rebecca Jennings joins Taylor to discuss crowdsourced surveillance and the ethics of filming strangers in public. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Meet the powerful centimillionaire who dreams of a sovereign San Francisco where tech millionaires wear gray T-shirts to signal their allegiance and progressives are locked out. Balaji Srinivasan is one of the most infamous, yet lesser-known, figures in Silicon Valley. Journalist Gil Duran, who reports on tech fascism and billionaire extremism, joins Taylor to discuss Balaji’s ideas, background, and why you should take him seriously. Full video of this episode will be available on Taylor's YouTube channel Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Have you been on Facebook lately? It’s weird and overrun with bizarre, AI-generated, spammy clickbait. Jason Koebler, co-founder of 404 Media and host of The 404 Media Podcast joins Taylor Lorenz to discuss how this happened and who’s behind it all. Later, Taylor weighs in on Scarlett Johansson’s accusation that Open AI mimicked her voice, a new video game about influencers risking their lives for content, Belle Delphine’s bathwater, and a baby who’s hyped to go to the Four Seasons Orlando. Full video of this episode will be available on Taylor's YouTube channel Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week, TikTok creators sue the US government over free speech, Bumble tells women to get busy, YouTube’s CEO wants creators to win Emmys, and Google’s new AI gives some bad advice. Later, Taylor Lorenz chats with Kate Lindsay, co-founder of the Embedded newsletter, about a new social media movement called “Blockout 2024.” The campaign encourages users to block celebrities who haven’t publicly condemned the attacks in Gaza. But is it working?  Full video of this episode will be available on Taylor's YouTube channel Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Bloomberg’s Ashley Carman joins Taylor Lorenz to discuss the current state of audio and its creator economy. They discuss Spotify's impact and how close we are to achieving the decade-long dream of viral audio. Plus, Ashley takes us into the ridiculous world of fake podcast ads on TikTok and the rise of audiobooks and AI narrators. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Kanye West accused one of the most popular Twitch streamers, Kai Cenat, of being an “industry plant.” It perpetuated the idea that some internet celebrities became famous thanks to invisible forces pulling the strings. But in a business as fickle as online content creation, is an industry plant even possible? Taylor Lorenz asks Maxwell Mitcheson, a partner at Underscore Talent. Later, Taylor weighs in on Aaron Sorkin hinting at a possible follow-up to The Social Network, plans for a new tech utopia in San Francisco, Adam Mosseri’s big Instagram update, and Threads hitting 150 million active users. Full video of this episode will be available on Taylor's YouTube channel Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Kanye West accused one of the most popular Twitch streamers, Kai Cenat, of being an “industry plant.” It perpetuated the idea that some internet celebrities became famous thanks to invisible forces pulling the strings. But in a business as fickle as online content creation, is an industry plant even possible? Taylor Lorenz asks Maxwell Mitcheson, a partner at Underscore Talent. Later, Taylor weighs in on Aaron Sorkin hinting at a possible follow-up to The Social Network, plans for a new tech utopia in San Francisco, Adam Mosseri’s big Instagram update, and Threads hitting 150 million active users. Full video of this episode will be available on Taylor's YouTube channel Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today, President Biden signed a law banning TikTok, assuming it can't work out some long-shot deal to sell to a U.S. owner. TikTok of course is going to fight all this in court. Editor in Chief at The Verge, and host of the Decoder podcast, Nilay Patel joins Taylor Lorenz to discuss TikTok’s uncertain future. Later, YouTube star Marques Brownlee aka MKBHD stops by to discuss how one critical review turned him into the internet's main character, his favorite tech products of 2024, and where the tech landscape is headed. Full video of this episode will be available on Taylor's YouTube channel Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

AI is causing chaos and confusion in pop music. Drake and Kendrick Lamar are feuding through diss tracks, but people can’t seem to tell if these songs are real or artificially generated. Taylor Lorenz brings in New York Times pop music critic Jon Caramanica to get to the bottom of it all. Plus, how Chappell Roan broke through the algorithm and Taylor Swift's return to TikTok. Later, Taylor Lorenz weighs in on an upcoming AI-generated beauty pageant, Elon’s plan to rid X of bots by forcing new users to pay, an open letter from TikTok creators to President Biden, and Marques Brownlee’s scathing review of the Humane AI Pin. Full video of this episode will be available on Taylor's YouTube channel. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A moral panic has been emerging lately. People in the media, government, and across the internet are declaring that children are suffering an unprecedented mental health crisis and that smartphones and social media are to blame. But is this true?Taylor Lorenz talks to longtime researcher and author Danah Boyd about some of the problems that young people today are facing, why quick fixes like banning social media apps are never the answer, and what we can actually do to help the younger generation.Plus, Taylor weighs in on her latest profile of RFK Jr’s new social media guru, Elon Musk’s secret burner account, why X might get banned in Brazil, a huge investment into the YouTubers Dude Perfect, and why a Chinese glycine factory is going viral on TikTok. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Real estate content is living rent-free in Millennials' heads. Taylor Lorenz talks to the CEO of a media company responsible for a ton of it. Plus, Taylor weighs in on why April Fools' is the worst, Yahoo's acquisition of an AI company started by Instagram's founders, how AI is impacting the music industry, and her time at The Information's Creator Economy Summit.  More info on Estate Media Full video of this episode will be available on Taylor's YouTube channel. 5: Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Taylor Lorenz breaks down the latest tech news including Truth Social going public, New York Magazine's much-discussed Andrew Huberman expose, Spotify’s latest podcast metrics, and the poverty porn drama on YouTube. Later, Taylor’s joined by Brad Podray, a.k.a. Scumbag Dad, to unpack the problem with “Kindness Influencers” — those creators who give money to strangers who are seemingly down on their luck. You can find Brad Podray on Tiktok @thescumbagdad Full video of this episode will be available on Taylor's YouTube channel. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Taylor Lorenz kicks off her first episode with a breakdown of the proposed TikTok forced sale, AKA, ban. She’s joined by Evan Greer, director of the online civil liberties organization Fight for the Future. They unpack lawmakers' concerns—sifting through the politics and red flags behind the effort —and trade theories about what lawmakers hope to achieve with the legislation now in the Senate. Later, Taylor weighs in on MrBeast’s big new Amazon deal, why AI-generated images of Jesus made of live shrimp are going viral on Facebook, the return of the Facebook Poke, and LinkedIn's foray into gaming. You can find Evan Greer on Twitter/X @evan_greer; Mastadon @evangreer; and Bluesky @evangreer.bsky.social. Full video of this episode will be available on Taylor's YouTube channel. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Taylor Lorenz kicks off her first episode with a breakdown of the proposed TikTok forced sale, AKA, ban. She’s joined by Evan Greer, director of the online civil liberties organization Fight for the Future. They unpack lawmakers' concerns—sifting through the politics and red flags behind the effort —and trade theories about what lawmakers hope to achieve with the legislation now in the Senate. Later, Taylor weighs in on MrBeast’s big new Amazon deal, why AI-generated images of Jesus made of live shrimp are going viral on Facebook, the return of the Facebook Poke, and LinkedIn's foray into gaming. You can find Evan Greer on Twitter/X @evan_greer; Mastadon @evangreer; and Bluesky @evangreer.bsky.social. Full video of this episode will be available on Taylor's YouTube channel. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Power User explores how technology and the internet are upending our lives and the world around us. Each week, host Taylor Lorenz explores the most influential stories that Silicon Valley often ignores. New episodes drop every Thursday starting March 21. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices