Taylor Lorenz’s Power User

How Heated Rivalry Broke the Internet: Inside the Internet’s Biggest Breakout Fandom Mar 25, 2026

Show notes

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 explosive rise of the Heated Rivalry fandom and why it has the internet in a chokehold.

Fandom expert Allegra Rosenberg and writer Katherine Dee joined me to break down how the "subculture to culture" cycle that made the show a breakout hit. From its underground roots in hockey shipping and Tumblr culture to its overnight success on mainstream platforms like Threads and TikTok, we discuss the history of slash fanfiction, the "Fall Out Boy to Blackhawks" pipeline, and the "generational trauma" of fandom privacy.

We discuss the "Gateway Media" effect and how the show brought "normies" into the world of AO3 and shipping. We also discuss the clash between journalistic ethics and fandom privacy and what the show's massive success reveals about the future of media and fandom.

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This Is How The Internet Dies: Governments are Scrubbing the Web Mar 20, 2026

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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 break down the escalating censorship from Big Tech and governments that is burning our collective digital archive. Documentation of major historical events, war crimes, police violence, videos documenting things like ICE abductions, but also thousands of photos, websites, and archives that play a crucial role in documenting our cultural and political history are being systematically erased from the web.

This sort of mass censorship is escalating, especially as governments and tech platforms seek to remove any content that challenges mainstream media or government approved narratives.

In This Episode:

The Deletion of Human Rights Data: How YouTube erased 700+ videos from human rights organizations overnight.
The "Safety" Smokescreen: How laws like KOSA and the "child safety" narrative are being used to deputize platforms as government censors.
The Fall of the Archive: Why Reddit is blocking the Internet Archive and what it means for the future of information.
The Shadowban Economy: A look at how Meta and X (formerly Twitter) use algorithmic demotion to make dissent invisible.
ICE & Surveillance: The removal of apps like ICEBlock and the crackdown on community-sourced safety data.
The Global Free Speech Recession: Arrests for social media posts in the UK and internet shutdowns worldwide.

The Rise of Celebrity Clone Conspiracies w/ Will Sommer Mar 18, 2026

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Why Does The Internet Think Every Famous Person Is A Clone? The Jim Carrey Clone Conspiracy Explained

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🙏 Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/taylorlorenz

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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, and conspiracy communities are convinced something is off, from his face to his mannerisms. But it's not just him. A week after the Jim Carrey conspiracy went viral, people began claiming Benjamin Netanyahu was a clone or had a body double.

Will Sommer is a reporter at The Bulwark and author of the False Flag newsletter. He joins me to break down the Jim Carrey clone conspiracy theories, the rise of celebrity clone conspiracy theories in our culture, how crowdsourced AI driven investigations are fueling them, and what exactly is making half the internet so convinced that major figures in Hollywood, media and politics are secret body doubles.

From Paul McCartney’s “Paul is dead” rumor to Avril Lavigne’s alleged double, to modern TikTok investigations we dive into:

How social media fuels conspiracy theories
Why aging celebrities trigger these reactions
The role of AI
The psychology behind viral conspiracies

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How Section 230 Became Political : The Secret Campaign To Seize Power Over the Internet Mar 16, 2026

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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 Section 230 began, and how this extremely inconsequential law became vilified by the mainstream media. We also debunk the biggest myths about Section 230 and breaking down how the law actually works, and why removing it would make Big Tech even more powerful.

Read Mike's excellent Section 230 myth busting on Techdirt:

https://www.techdirt.com/2020/06/23/hello-youve-been-referred-here-because-youre-wrong-about-section-230-communications-decency-act/

ICE Wants to Shut Down His Clothing Brand: What Happens When the Govt Hates Your Merch Mar 13, 2026

Show notes

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 takedowns, letters from the LAPD, shipments seized by US Customs and Border Protection, and bans from advertising on virtually every major social platform including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Pinterest, and Etsy.

In this episode of Free Speech Friday, I sit down with him to talk about what it's really like to run an independent political clothing brand that challenges power. We talk about fashion and clothing as tools of resistance and the high price of using fashion as a tool for political criticism.

Clothing has long been a way to communicate political beliefs, from protest shirts to campaign merch. But in the era of social media platforms, algorithms, and online marketplaces, the boundaries of acceptable expression are constantly being tested.

The designs mentioned in this episode:⁠ https://www.thecolacorporation.com/collections/taylor⁠

THE FREE SPEECH 1A SWEATER:⁠ https://www.thecolacorporation.com/products/1a-sparks⁠

Topics discussed in this interview include:

• The rise of political merchandise online

• Social media censorship and advertising bans

• Etsy and TikTok removing controversial designs

• Police legal threats over a T-shirt slogan

• Government seizure of political clothing

• The Streisand effect and viral controversy

• Free speech and political expression through fashion

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How Bots Boosted Nicki Minaj's MAGA Pivot Mar 11, 2026

Show notes

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 Nicki Minaj’s sudden pro-Trump pivot was being secretly propped up by an army of tens of thousands of bots. But is this a case of genuine political shifting, or is it the result of "invisible machinery" running beneath the surface of our cultural life?

Pop culture commentator Olay Olurinatti joins me to dive deep into the 24-page report from the AI intelligence firm that claims over 18,000 bots were used to amplify Nicki’s conservative messaging. We explore Nicki's history, from her 2012 Mitt Romney praise to her "Black Barbies" resistance era, and unpack what changed and what role the internet, and platform incentives have played.

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