Power User with Taylor Lorenz

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 civil liberties organization Fight for the Future. They unpack lawmakers' concerns—sifting through the politics and red flags behind the effort —and trade theories about what lawmakers hope to achieve with the legislation now in the Senate.

Later, Taylor weighs in on MrBeast’s big new Amazon deal, why AI-generated images of Jesus made of live shrimp are going viral on Facebook, the return of the Facebook Poke, and LinkedIn's foray into gaming.

• You can find Evan Greer on Twitter/X @evan_greer; Mastadon @evangreer; and Bluesky @evangreer.bsky.social.
• Full video of this episode will be available on Taylor's YouTube channel.

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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 podcast metrics, and the poverty porn drama on YouTube.

Later, Taylor’s joined by Brad Podray, a.k.a. Scumbag Dad, to unpack the problem with “Kindness Influencers” — those creators who give money to strangers who are seemingly down on their luck.

• You can find Brad Podray on Tiktok @thescumbagdad
• Full video of this episode will be available on Taylor's YouTube channel.

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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, 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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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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