Taylor Lorenz’s Power User

Taylor Lorenz

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.

  1. 2d ago

    Visa Could Ruin the Internet

    What if you woke up tomorrow and completely lost access to your bank account, credit cards, PayPal, and Venmo, all because of something you posted online?  SUPPORT MY WORK:  Buy a paid subscription to my newsletter at usermag.co     Support my work on Patreon for bonus episodes, monthly Q&A livestreams, and more: http://patreon.com/taylorlorenz      In this episode of Free Speech Friday, Rainey Reitman, advisor at the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and author of the new book "Transaction Denied" joins me to dive deep into the terrifying reality of financial censorship and how major banks and payment processors are quietly becoming the ultimate gatekeepers of internet speech.  Reitman reveals how a handful of massive financial institutions are bypassing the First Amendment to act as privatized censors, deciding what journalism you can support, what political nonprofits you can donate to, and what ideas are considered "misinformation." From the early financial blockade of WikiLeaks to recent debanking scandals involving independent journalists and nonpartisan advocacy groups, this hidden digital infrastructure controls your life more than you realize.  SUPPORT INDEPENDENT JOURNALISM: This channel has ZERO sponsors, and speaking out on financial censorship isn't advertiser-friendly. If you get value from this show, support my work so I can keep making these videos! 👉 Support on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/taylorlorenz  👉 Support on Substack: https://www.usermag.co/subscribe  👉 Pick up a copy of Rainey Reitman's "Transaction Denied" here: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/804543/transaction-denied-by-rainey-reitman/  *(Note: Half of all book proceeds go directly to the Freedom of the Press Foundation)* We discuss:  The Nightmare of Financial Censorship How Payment Processors Got So Much Power The Rise of E-Commerce & Speech Dependency PayPal, WikiLeaks, and Chelsea Manning Censorship by Proxy: How the Government Pressures Banks The Visa Lawsuit That Could Ruin the Internet

    29 min

  2. 4d ago

    Why AI Doom Content Is Everywhere

    Have you noticed your social media feeds suddenly flooding with terrifying content about AI existential risk? From TikTok clips warning about "AI psychosis" to viral YouTube shorts claiming chatbots are pushing people to the brink, the anti-AI movement has taken over the internet... But what if these "anti-AI" influencers aren't actually what they seem? SUPPORT MY WORK:  Buy a paid subscription to my newsletter at usermag.co    Support my work on Patreon for bonus episodes, monthly Q&A livestreams, and more: http://patreon.com/taylorlorenz     In this week's episode of Power User, Washington Post journalist Natasha Tiku join me to pull back the curtain on the massive, billionaire-funded "anti-AI" astroturf campaign. We track the money and expose how the exact same millionaires and billionaires building the world's largest AI companies (like OpenAI and Anthropic) are quietly paying influencers thousands of dollars to promote AI doomsday scenarios. We dive deep into the 25-year history of the AI safety movement, from Eliezer Yudkowski’s rationalist blogs and Harry Potter fan fiction to Effective Altruism and the "paperclip maximizer" theory. We talk about how Silicon Valley elites are co-opting VERY genuine public anxieties about jobs and real-world harms related to AI technology in order to push their own pro-AI, anti-regulatory agendas. We also talk about how to spot the hidden corporate pipelines, dark money nonprofits, and staged research papers designed to control the narrative around AI. If you're seeing AI doomer videos all over your feed, please watch this one! ✨ SUPPORT THE CHANNEL:  👉 Substack Newsletter: http://usermag.co  👉 Patreon: patreon.com/taylorlorenz  Nitasha's WaPo story on all this: https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2026/04/18/ai-doom-influencers-safety/

    45 min

  3. May 22

    Elon Musk’s Final Plan: A Dangerous Blueprint For World Domination

    Elon Musk has evolved far beyond a billionaire CEO.  SUPPORT MY WORK:  Buy a paid subscription to my newsletter at usermag.co   Support my work on Patreon for bonus episodes, monthly Q&A livestreams, and more: http://patreon.com/taylorlorenz    According to political theorists Quinn Slobodian and Ben Tarnoff, Musk has created an entirely new ideology called “Muskism” — a system where technology companies merge with state power, AI shapes politics, and billionaires become more powerful than governments. In this episode of Free Speech Friday, I sit down with Quinn Slobodian, co-author of the new book Muskism, to break down how Elon Musk’s worldview went from Silicon Valley optimism to tech authoritarianism. We discuss Tesla, SpaceX, Starlink, Neuralink, AI censorship, OpenAI, Grok, surveillance, DOGE, data centers, Silicon Valley’s shift toward defense tech, and why Musk’s influence now reaches into every part of society. We also unpack: Elon Musk’s political transformation The rise of Muskism AI paranoia and “woke AI” Why Silicon Valley is embracing militarization Musk’s obsession with reproduction and population decline How SpaceX and Starlink could reshape global power The future of AI and surveillance capitalism Why tech billionaires are becoming impossible to escape

    36 min

  4. May 20

    The AI Job Apocalypse: Silicon Valley Is Bracing for a Permanent Underclass w/ Jasmine Sun

    What happens if AI becomes smarter than humans at most jobs? SUPPORT MY WORK:  Buy a paid subscription to my newsletter at usermag.co  Support my work on Patreon for bonus episodes, monthly Q&A livestreams, and more: http://patreon.com/taylorlorenz  Researchers, economists, and top AI executives are increasingly warning about the rise of a “permanent underclass”,  a future where millions of workers lose not just their jobs, but their economic value altogether. In this episode of Power User, I sit down with writer Jasmine Sun to unpack the terrifying idea that artificial intelligence could permanently reshape class, wealth, labor, and power in America. We discuss OpenAI, Anthropic, AGI, automation, white collar layoffs, Silicon Valley ideology, AI job displacement, universal basic income, data center protests, populism, and whether society is prepared for what’s coming next. Could AI destroy upward mobility? Will automation create mass unemployment? Are tech companies being honest about the future they’re building? We cover: The permanent underclass theory explained Who is actually pushing this idea OpenAI's shifting stance on job displacement Leading the Future and AI lobbying Why AI is different from past tech hype Policy failures and democratic backlash What China is doing differently What workers should actually do now #AI #Tech #Technology #ArtificialIntelligence #FutureOfWork #AGI #OpenAI #Anthropic #SiliconValley #TechNews #JobAutomation #AIJobs #TechIndustry

    52 min

  5. May 15

    Silicon Valley Is Losing Control w/ Brian Merchant

    What’s really driving the growing backlash against AI and Silicon Valley? Support my independent journalism:  🙏 Patreon: ⁠https://www.patreon.com/cw/taylorlorenz           ⁠  🗞️ Buy a paid subscription to my Substack: ⁠https://www.usermag.co     From burning data centers to celebrating an attack on Sam Altman’s house, the anti‑tech backlash has escalated. In this episode of Free Speech Friday, I sit down with journalist and author Brian Merchant to unpack the rise of anti AI sentiment, the growing anger toward Big Tech, and why public hostility toward companies like OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google keeps escalating. We discuss: Why the AI backlash exploded so quickly The connection between AI fear and distrust in capitalism Why people are protesting data centers The rise of anti tech politics AI doomers and effective altruism Sam Altman and Silicon Valley PR failures Whether AI companies created their own crisis How automation fears are shaping public opinion Why people feel powerless against Big Tech The future of AI regulation and resistance Brian Merchant is the author of Blood in the Machine, a book about the original Luddites and the history of anti technology movements. If you’re interested in AI, ChatGPT, Silicon Valley, automation, tech criticism, labor politics, or the future of the internet, we break down the cultural and political forces shaping the AI era. Subscribe for more interviews and deep dives on AI, internet culture, media, tech, and politics.

    42 min

  6. May 13

    Ben Shapiro’s Empire Is Crumbling w/ Will Sommer

    Ben Shapiro’s Media Empire Is Collapsing Support my independent journalism:  🙏 Patreon: ⁠https://www.patreon.com/cw/taylorlorenz          ⁠  🗞️ Buy a paid subscription to my Substack: ⁠https://www.usermag.co    For the last decade, Ben Shapiro and The Daily Wire dominated the digital landscape. From Facebook to chart-topping podcasts, they seemed untouchable. But in 2025, the data tells a different story. With a 90% drop in YouTube views, massive layoffs, and the high-profile exit of CEO Jeremy Boreing, the "Conservative Disney" empire is crashing and burning. The Bulwark's Will Sommer joins me on this week's episode of Power User to dive deep into the rise and fall of Ben Shapiro. We break down the explosive internal feud with Candace Owens, the catastrophic failure of his Hollywood ambitions, how a changing Facebook algorithm killed their traffic overnight, and what his fall reveals about the future of conservative media.  We cover: The Daily Wire layoffs and financial struggles. Why Ben Shapiro is losing his audience to creators like Candace Owens and Tucker Carlson. The failure of "Anti-Woke" entertainment and the "Conservative Hollywood" dream. How the death of Charlie Kirk created a massive fracture in the MAGA movement. Why Ben Shapiro is irrelevant to Gen Z and Gen Alpha.

    44 min

  7. May 8

    Stop Feeling Helpless About AI: The Violent History of Resisting Technology

    What if everything you've been told about technological progress is a lie? Support my independent journalism:  🙏 Patreon: ⁠https://www.patreon.com/cw/taylorlorenz         ⁠  🗞️ Buy a paid subscription to my Substack: ⁠https://www.usermag.co        AI is changing society faster than ever, but resistance to technology is not new. For this week's Free Speech Friday I spoke with academic Thomas Dekeyser, author of Techno Negative, about the history of anti-technology movements, from the Luddites smashing machines in the Industrial Revolution to anarchist groups bombing computer companies in the 1980s. We discuss AI, labor automation, surveillance, moral panic, Silicon Valley ideology, tech CEOs, machine breaking, environmental destruction, and why backlash against technology keeps returning throughout history. We also explore whether technological progress actually benefits ordinary people, or mainly serves corporations and power. Sometimes it's not what you think! Topics include: Why anti-AI movements are growing Big Tech and labor exploitation AI moral panic and conspiracy theories Environmental costs of AI Surveillance and control The politics of technological progress Why people resist new technology Silicon Valley and deregulation

    38 min

  8. May 6

    The Most Dangerous Lie on the Internet: The 62 Million Men Hoax Explained

    The Lie Created To Strip Your Rights Online Support my independent journalism:  🙏 Patreon: ⁠https://www.patreon.com/cw/taylorlorenz        ⁠  🗞️ Buy a paid subscription to my Substack: ⁠https://www.usermag.co       In March, a CNN investigation into a "Global Academy" of 62 million men allegedly drugging and assaulting women broke the internet. But the most viral story of the year was built on a foundation of misleading statistics and bad journalism.  Journalist Kat Tenbarge joins me to debunk the "62 Million Men" narrative. We dig into how this story was used to manufacture consent for dangerous new censorship laws and who is actually behind the movement to repeal Section 230. In this video, we cover: Why the "62 million" figure is a misleading traffic stat, not a count of criminals. The connection between CNN’s reporting and far-right Christian nationalist groups like Exodus Cry. How the "Global Academy" branding was manufactured from a single interview quote. The real-world harm of FOSTA-SESTA and why new "safety" bills like KOSA actually endanger victims. How mainstream media organizations lobby against free speech to protect their own business interests. Don't let emotional propaganda dictate tech policy. We look at the systemic failures of the legal system and why villainizing platforms instead of perpetrators is a losing battle for women's rights. If you’ve seen the “62 million men” claim, you need to watch this.

    56 min
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About

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.

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