Taylor Lorenz’s Power User
Taylor Lorenz explores how technology and the internet are upending our lives and the world around us. Each week, she explores everything from online fame to emerging platforms, viral phenomena, the creator economy, and much more. Tune in every Wednesday for regular episodes and every Friday for "Free Speech Friday," her series on tech policy and the fight for civil liberties online.
Episodes
Should AI be protected by free speech laws?
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In this episode of Free Speech Friday, I sit down with Corbin K. Barthold, Internet Policy Counsel at Tech Freedom, to discuss one of the most controversial legal papers of the year: "Why the First Amend...
There’s a hidden social hierarchy on the internet
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Is your Instagram "low class"? While we like to think of the internet as a universal playground, a new digital class war is emerging. From the way you use filters to the number of emojis in your...
[PATREON PREVIEW] Is Geese a Psyop? How the Music Industry Fakes Virality
Subscribe to my Patreon to get this and other bonus Power User podcast episodes!!
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The Brooklyn band Geese has sparked a massive "industry plant" controversy in 2026 after...
The Billionaire Who Built a Private Surveillance State
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Sports arenas and concert venues are becoming high-tech surveillance "deep states." In this video, I dive into the explosive Wired report by Noah Shachtman and Robert Silverman that reveals how...
AI companies are secretly waging a massive PR campaign targeting women.
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In the past year, OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, and Meta have launched an aggressive PR campaign to rebrand artificial intelligence for women, especially mothers and teen girls. Suddenly...
Is Silicon Valley actually making progress, or are they just breaking the world for profit?
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In this episode of Free Speech Friday, I’m joined by legal scholar and surveillance expert Albert Fox Cahn to dismantle the "Move Fast and Break Things"...
Iranian LEGO videos mocking the US government are taking over the internet.
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We are living in an era where global internet culture and meme warfare are just as influential as traditional media and LEGOs are being used to create the most effective messaging...
Are we losing our right to online privacy entirely?
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In this episode of Free Speech Friday, I sat down with Cindy Cohn, former head of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and author of the new book Privacy's Defender. We dive deep into the secret hi...
Skibidi Toilet changed how storytelling works on YouTube. But behind the scenes, things got messy.
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Back in 2023, a creator named Alexey (better known as DaFuqBoom) launched a super weird, viral series about a singing head in a toilet called Skibidi Toilet. It ...
AI Surveillance is taking over our schools. Support my independent journalism:🙏 Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/taylorlorenz 🗞️ Buy a paid subscription to my Substack: https://www.usermag.co Kent Myrtle, a Wichita bus driver, has been blowing the whistle on AI-powered cameras being installed on school buses. From Wichita to Massachusetts, school districts are partnering with companies like Samsara and BusPatrol to implemen...
Kyle Chayka is a writer for the New Yorker, and on this week's Power User he joins me to break down the rise of AI fruit slop dramas.
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Millions and millions of TikTok users are tuning into an AI generated short form show called Fruit Love Island. On the show, AI generated f...
[SPECIAL BONUS EPISODE]
Why the internet is trying to "end" Chappell Roan.
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Twitch streamer and cultural commentator Caroline Kwan joins me to break down the massive viral controversy surrounding Chappell Roan. What started as a passing interaction at a ...
Everything you've been told about the "social media addiction" trial is wrong.
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Everyone is celebrating the $400 million fine against Meta and Mark Zuckerberg, but it's a massive win for Big Tech. In this episode of Free Speech Friday, journalist Kat Tenbarge and I debunk ...
This show created one of the fastest fandoms ever.
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Over the past few months, a series born from a niche, self-published Canadian romance novel became one of the biggest cultural phenomenons on the internet. In this episode of Power User, I dive deep into the explo...
The Internet Is Being Deleted.
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We are witnessing a massive, systematic erasure of digital history. From war crime investigations to grassroots activism and historical archives, the "permanent" web is vanishing.
In this episode of Free Speech Friday, I ...
Why Does The Internet Think Every Famous Person Is A Clone? The Jim Carrey Clone Conspiracy Explained
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After his appearance at the Cesar Awards in Paris, the internet exploded with a bizarre theory: Jim Carrey had been replaced by a clone or body double. TikTok, X, ...
What is Section 230 and why is everyone trying to kill it?
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In the latest episode of my Section 230 mini-series I’m joined by Mike Masnick, founder of Techdirt and host of the amazing Section 230 podcast Otherwise Objectionable.
Mike breaks down how the whole drama around Sectio...
BUY COLA CORP APPAREL: https://www.thecolacorporation.com (None of this is sponsored, I just really want people to support him!!!!)
Support my independent journalism:
🙏 Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/taylorlorenz
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What happens when the government doesn't like your t-shirts?
Joe, founder of Cola Corporation, has dealt with DMCA ta...
Is The Nicki Minaj Bot Scandal the Future of Politics?
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The lines between entertainment, celebrity beef, and political propaganda are blurring. A few weeks ago, a POLITICO report sent shockwaves through Stan Twitter and the MAGA internet.
The story reported that N...
Are social media algorithms actually destroying the internet?
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🙏 Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/taylorlorenz
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In this episode of my Section 230 series, I sit down with Eric Goldman, Associate Dean for Research and Professor at Santa Clara Law, and one of the nation's foremost experts on internet law, to de...
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