Power User with Taylor Lorenz
Power User explores how technology and the internet are upending our lives and the world around us. Each week, tech journalist Taylor Lorenz explores everything from online fame to emerging platforms, viral phenomena to the creator economy, and much more. Tune in on Thursdays for the most influential stories that Silicon Valley often ignores. From the Vox Media Podcast Network.
Episodes
May 23, 2024 • 42 mins
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 bathwate...
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May 16, 2024 • 33 mins
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...
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May 9, 2024 • 24 mins
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.
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May 2, 2024 • 36 mins
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 ...
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April 24, 2024 • 45 mins
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 ma...
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April 18, 2024 • 35 mins
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-generat...
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April 11, 2024 • 48 mins
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 ...
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April 4, 2024 • 29 mins
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.
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Full video of this episode will be ava...
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March 28, 2024 • 38 mins
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 o...
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March 21, 2024 • 46 mins
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 b...
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February 28, 2024 • 50 secs
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. From the Vox Media Podcast Network.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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