Power User with Taylor Lorenz
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© 2024
Description
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.
39 Episodes
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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."
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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.
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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.
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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?
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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.
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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!
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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