Shows / Taylor Lorenz’s Power User
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
- Taylor Lorenz’s Power User
Why Democrats won't create a left-wing Joe Rogan
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…
- Taylor Lorenz’s Power User
AI’s destroying seasonal content
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…
- Taylor Lorenz’s Power User
The mastermind behind the Timothée Chalamet lookalike contest
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…
- Taylor Lorenz’s Power User
Into the Costcoverse with AJ Befumo
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…
- Taylor Lorenz’s Power User
Are Jubilee videos healing or polarizing?
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…
- Taylor Lorenz’s Power User
Inside the strange world of corporate influencers
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…
- Taylor Lorenz’s Power User
How nostalgia accounts are destroying pop culture history
This week Taylor Lorenz talks about going independent and launching her new online culture newsletter, User Mag! Later, Taylor is joined by entertainment…
- Taylor Lorenz’s Power User
Why online retailers all sell the same crappy products
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…
- Taylor Lorenz’s Power User
The Problem with Age Verification Online
Description: Age verification technology is becoming increasingly commonplace as lawmakers seek to enact deeply concerning restrictions in the name of “child…
- Taylor Lorenz’s Power User
Why is Instagram Reels so unhinged?
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…
- Taylor Lorenz’s Power User
Brazil's X ban upends stan accounts + political debates take over TikTok
Elon Musk’s social media network X has been officially banned in Brazil. Taylor and internet culture reporter Ryan Broderick (Garbage Day) discuss Stan…
- Taylor Lorenz’s Power User
The ultimate summer trend recap + a Chick-fil-A streaming service
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…
- Taylor Lorenz’s Power User
Inside the DNC’s influencer extravaganza, from yacht partying to meme lounge
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…
- Taylor Lorenz’s Power User
Can Elon and Twitter save Trump? + Kamala plays with fire online
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…
- Taylor Lorenz’s Power User
Can MrBeast be canceled? + Tim Walz mania and minions on a cross
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…
- Taylor Lorenz’s Power User
Is Skibidi Toilet the Next Hollywood Blockbuster?
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…
- Taylor Lorenz’s Power User
Is Kamala Harris a political meme stock?
Politics and social media were inextricable this week. Joe Biden announced his dropout via X and other social platforms — and after he endorsed Kamala Harris…
- Taylor Lorenz’s Power User
The rise of ‘BlueAnon' + Trump shooting merch + RNC influencers
Minutes after a gunman attacked Donald Trump at a rally, conspiracy theories flourished on social media. Did Trump fake it? Was it a false flag? These are the…
- Taylor Lorenz’s Power User
Inside the most toxic live-streaming platform + NATO influencers
Kick, a is home to some of the most reprehensible behavior on the internet. Creators have live-streamed themselves accosting people on the street, sexually…
- Taylor Lorenz’s Power User
An influencer’s battle against her snark subreddit
For the past several years, influencer Lily Chapman has been plagued by a relentless community of women online. They congregated in a snark subreddit dedicated…
- Taylor Lorenz’s Power User
Why do so many people think a top Stanford researcher is a CIA agent?
An online smear campaign painted a top Stanford researcher as a censorship supervillain, whose goal was to silence free speech and delete 22 million tweets…
- Taylor Lorenz’s Power User
Do you speak Brain Rot? How the internet is changing language
Over the past few months, the term “brain rot” has gone from essentially meaning chronically online, to a fully fledged meme and ironic slang language. Adam…
- Taylor Lorenz’s Power User
Is it ever okay to film strangers in public? + Trump’s new TikTok + MrBeast hits #1
The record-breaking Instagram account @world_record_egg has returned to publicly express its support for Palestine. Trump joins TikTok and immediately amasses…
- Taylor Lorenz’s Power User
Is a Tech Utopia a Dystopia for Everyone Else?
Meet the powerful centimillionaire who dreams of a sovereign San Francisco where tech millionaires wear gray T-shirts to signal their allegiance and…
- Taylor Lorenz’s Power User
'Zombie Facebook' takes over + ScarJo vs OpenAI
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…
- Taylor Lorenz’s Power User
Is the celebrity 'blockout' working? + TikTok creators sue the U.S.
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…
- Taylor Lorenz’s Power User
What's up with Fake Podcast Ads, AI Audiobooks and the Audio Creator Economy?
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…
- Taylor Lorenz’s Power User
Are "Industry Plants" Real? + 'The Social Network' Sequel
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…
- Taylor Lorenz’s Power User
Sell or Die. TikTok’s Sophie’s Choice + MKBHD on his viral ‘takedowns’
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…
- Taylor Lorenz’s Power User
Drake & Kendrick's AI Rap Beef + TikTokkers Against Biden
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…
- Taylor Lorenz’s Power User
Is Social Media Destroying Kids’ Lives? + Elon’s Secret X Account
A moral panic has been emerging lately. People in the media, government, and across the internet are declaring that children are suffering an unprecedented…
- Taylor Lorenz’s Power User
The Real Estate Content Boom + The Worst Day on the Internet
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…
- Taylor Lorenz’s Power User
Kindness Influencers and Poverty Porn + Is Huberman Cancelled?
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…
- Taylor Lorenz’s Power User
Should we ban TikTok? + MrBeast’s Amazon deal, and what's up with Shrimp Jesus?
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…
- Taylor Lorenz’s Power User
Introducing Power User with Taylor Lorenz
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…