Taylor Lorenz’s Power User

Latest Episodes:

Why we can’t stop doxxing people for fun Jul 23, 2025

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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.
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AI Deepfake Panic is Killing Free Speech Jul 18, 2025

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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.

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Diddy And The Death of #MeToo: How Diddy’s Trial Was Weaponized Online Jul 16, 2025

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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.

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Is a YouTuber Using Copyright Law to Silence Speech? Jul 11, 2025

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[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!

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MAGA's Epstein Crashout And What's Next w/ Will Sommer Jul 09, 2025

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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.

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Silicon Valley Wants Endless War Jul 07, 2025

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[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.

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Are kindness influencers bad? Jul 02, 2025

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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.

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Deported Over a JD Vance Meme Jun 27, 2025

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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.

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Private Equity Is Destroying America Jun 25, 2025

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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.

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ChatGPT Is Becoming A Religion: The Rise of People Worshiping A.I. Jun 23, 2025

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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.

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