Welcome back to Free Speech Friday! All across the internet, parents and lawmakers are calling for tech companies to verify users' ages online. They frame these efforts as a smart, reasonable, and harmless way to keep kids safe. But that's not what age verification does!!! Age verification efforts are a major threat to privacy, freedom, and the very idea of an open web. No one knows this better than Eric Goldman. He is the associate dean for research at Santa Clara University School of Law and c...
Jun 06, 2025•1 hr 4 min
As Elon Musk's influence has grown, so too has a darker, more troubling side of his persona: his rampant egomania. Faiz Siddiqui is a former colleague of mine at The Washington Post and he's the author of the new book Hubris Maximus: The Shattering of Elon Musk. In this episode of Power User we break down exactly how Musk's narcissism has evolved throughout his career, and the key moments that reveal just how deeply Elon's self-obsession has shaped his life and the future he claims to build. ***...
Jun 04, 2025•21 min
Welcome back to my new series Free Speech Friday! :) Right now, lawmakers in congress are trying to pass the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA), a dangerous censorship bill that would give the government unprecedented control over the internet and force platforms to spy on youth. KOSA claims to make kids "safer" online, but don't let the name fool you. This law would give the government unprecedented power to censor speech across the entire internet in the name of "protecting kids." From mental healt...
May 30, 2025•30 min
Every week, there’s a new warning: TikTok is poisoning the youth, Facebook is radicalizing your uncle, and the only way to save ourselves is to log off.But what if that’s exactly the opposite of what we should be doing? What if this push to disconnect isn’t about protecting us, but instead about disempowering us? Aidan Walker is a meme researcher and author of the Substack newsletter How to Do Things With Memes. Today, he joins me to talk about why we shouldn't log off and how the internet, for ...
May 29, 2025•42 min
WATCH ALL FREE SPEECH FRIDAY EPISODES ON MY YOUTUBE CHANNEL The stated goal of the Take it Down Act is to combat non consensual intimate images (NCII), colloquially known as revenge p**n. This includes things like AI generated nude deep fakes and other explicit imagery shared without a person's consent. Cracking down on this seems great right? Sadly that's not what this law does. What the Take It Down Act *actually* does is make it so that anyone, at any time, can get content posted about them o...
May 23, 2025•24 min
Students are using ChatGPT for everything. Parents are freaking out and the media is calling it the end of education as we know it. But are students really outsourcing their minds to machines? Are we witnessing the collapse of critical thinking, or are we just afraid of what change actually looks like? In this episode, I’m joined by journalist Kat Tenbarge to break down the rise of ChatGPT in schools. We talk about whether school still serves the purpose it claims to and what does academic integ...
May 22, 2025•41 min
Imagine messaging a friend on Snapchat about how to get abortion pills, or tweeting about reproductive rights and getting fined hundreds of thousands of dollars. That's only part of what a proposed law in Texas that seeks to criminalize discussing abortion online aims to do. It's called HB5510, and it would essentially criminalize speech about abortion in emails, on websites, in social media posts, and even private messages. Jennifer Pinsof senior staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Founda...
May 15, 2025•27 min
If you’ve ever wondered why news media obsesses over shoplifting but ignores wage theft, or why media outlets report a "shortage" of prison guards without questioning why we imprison so many people, you've probably encountered copaganda. In this episode, award-winning civil rights lawyer and author Alec Karakatsanis joins me to discuss his phenomenal new book, Copaganda: How Police and the Media Manipulate Our News, and to break down all the ways that our news ecosystem is polluted with pro-poli...
May 08, 2025•39 min
American police departments are using secretive AI technology to create lifelike AI personas designed to interact with real people online —like protesters and activists— for intelligence gathering. This tech is becoming more popular amid crackdowns on student protests against the war in Gaza. Leaked presentations reveal AI personas posing as various individuals, from divorced activists to teenage boys, in attempts to infiltrate online communities. 404 Media's Jason Koebler joins me to break down...
May 01, 2025•33 min
From middle schoolers riffing on school lunch to kids interviewing political figures, podcasting is no longer just for adults. With high-end mics, massive TikTok followings, and brand deals from major companies, tween podcast hosts are building real media platforms from their bedrooms and local studios. New York Magazine's EJ Dickson joins me to break down who the major players are in this growing space, including the MD Foodie Boyz, SaltyBoys, GSD Nation, the LOL Pod, and more. These tween star...
Apr 24, 2025•36 min
From Ohio to North Dakota, thousands of people have suddenly gotten brand new newspapers delivered to their doorsteps out of the blue. These newspapers are fake news outlets created by the oil and gas industry to influence public opinion in key districts, and they're having a major impact. Top investigative journalist Miranda Green has been uncovering these schemes. She joins me to talk about how these shady publications are mimicking legitimate local newspapers to spread propaganda and influenc...
Apr 17, 2025•42 min
Since Trump took office, the official White House social media accounts have been posting a bit… differently. Drew Harwell, my former colleague at The Washington Post, has been covering the Trump White House's digital strategy. Today, he joins me to unpack the White House's hyper-online social media cruelty, the inner workings of its digital team, how the Trump administration has transformed its traditional press shop into a rapid-response influencer operation, and how the Democratic Par...
Apr 10, 2025•38 min
Ever since Ashton Hall's morning routine went viral last week, I've been dying to chat about it with my friend Matt Bernstein of the podcast A Bit Fruity to about it all. We joined up to break down the history and evolution of modern masculinity, the allure and absurdity of the modern "alpha male" archetype, the rise of isolationist masculinity and exactly how things ended up this way, and what videos like Ashton Hall's can tell us about the future of masculinity. SUBSCRIBE TO USER MAG, my tech ...
Apr 03, 2025•53 min
Over the past few weeks, Tesla has been crumbling. The company's stock, which was once considered invincible, has now plunged to around $250 a share, down from nearly double that in December. Sales are plummeting, dealerships are overrun with protests, and Teslas on the street are being subject to petty vandalism. All of this is happening because of Elon Musk. Since Trump took office and appointed Musk as the head of the very poorly named Department of Government Efficiency, Musk has facilitated...
Mar 27, 2025•26 min
Chair of the Federal Communications Commission Brendan Carr has quietly positioned himself as one of the most dangerous figures in the Trump administration’s ongoing war on free speech. Carr is using his government position to intimidate journalists, punish media outlets, and pressure tech companies into cracking down on free expression. And he has done all of this while building his profile as a "free speech" influencer on X. If left unchecked, Carr’s censorship crusade could fundamen...
Mar 20, 2025•54 min
In 1964, the Supreme Court passed a landmark case called The New York Times v Sullivan, that established the right to a free press by protecting the media against erroneous lawsuits. The ruling has been instrumental in allowing journalists to scrutinize public figures, powerful corporations, and political leaders without undue fear of litigation. But now, that landmark decision is in jeopardy thanks to a coordinated right wing legal effort that's been decades in the making. David Enrich'...
Mar 13, 2025•44 min
Have you been bombarded with non stop content about Blake Lively vs Justin Baldoni? The Misogyny Slop Ecosystem is a sprawling network of online creators and communities that manufacture and boost smear campaigns against women who speak out for women's rights, or have been victims of gender-based crimes like sexual assault, harassment, or abuse. Though you might have never heard of it, the misogyny slop ecosystem has radically transformed the online landscape and the content that you see. It pla...
Mar 06, 2025•52 min
The 2000s were a formative decade for tech. From the dot com bubble to the rise of social media, to the chaotic days of early blogging, the iMac, and emergence of the PayPal Mafia, the 00s shaped our online world in ways we’re still reckoning with. Colette Shade is the author of the brand new bestselling book Y2K: How the 2000s Became Everything (Essays on the Future That Never Was). Today she joins Taylor to unpack the lasting impact of the 00s on our tech landscape. Colette gives a nostalgic b...
Feb 27, 2025•28 min
Last week, it was revealed that Elon Musk had welcomed his 13th child into the world several months ago with a conservative influencer. But he’s not the only tech mogul fixated on boosting birth rates. In this episode, journalist Julia Black joins Taylor to discuss the rise of pronatalism in Silicon Valley—a growing movement encouraging people to have as many babies as possible. They unpack why tech billionaires are so suddenly obsessed with having children and how their vision of the future is ...
Feb 20, 2025•29 min
No platform has had more of impact on what we listen to over the past decade than Spotify. This week, Taylor is joined by journalist Liz Pelly, to discuss her new book "Mood Machine: The Rise of Spotify and the Costs of the Perfect Playlist." They discuss the profound impact Spotify has had on the music industry, culture, and the way we consume sound. Pelly reveals the truth about so-called "ghost artists" and other tactics the company has employed to squeeze artists and upen...
Feb 13, 2025•31 min
Over the past week, Elon Musk has been engaged in a near wholesale takeover of key areas of the U.S. federal government. Working under the newly minted "Department of Government Efficiency" aka DOGE, Musk and a group of young Gen Z loyalists have begun wreaking havoc on our institutions. Online culture journalist Ryan Broderick joins Taylor to break down who exactly these young men are, what their backgrounds say about the people Musk is hiring, and what the billionaire is currently do...
Feb 06, 2025•30 min
Clarkson Lawson was a prominent MAGA influencer on TikTok who amassed over 31 million likes on his videos. He built a platform as an outspoken Gen Z conservative making pro-Trump content. But in the months leading up to the election, something changed. Despite building a massive audience on pro-Trump messaging, he had a change of heart and voted for Kamala Harris. Lawson announced his political pivot in a video titled "Why I left MAGA." Taylor sits down with Clarkson to talk about the ...
Jan 30, 2025•52 min
Family vlogs are a huge category of online content. At their best, they show real parenting and the entertaining and relatable moments of family life. However, the content category has been plagued by accusations of child exploitation and new laws targeting creators claiming to protect children. Fortesa Latifi covers the space in-depth and joins Taylor to set the record straight.
Jan 23, 2025•31 min
Remember Gamergate? Well… it's happening again. After writing an exposé about how a video game consultancy was attacked, journalist Alyssa Mercante found herself in the crosshairs of a targeted harassment campaign. Alyssa joins Taylor to discuss what it's like being at the center of an organized smear campaign, how she's fighting back.
Jan 16, 2025•36 min
Social media as we know it is in chaos. The landscape is becoming more centralized and creators are facing more challenges than ever. On top of all that, the very notion of a follower is dying and there's uncertainty about what that means for the future. Jack Conte, the CEO and co-founder of Patreon, joins Taylor to discuss how to better serve creators.
Jan 09, 2025•36 min
2024 was wild! "Brain rot" was the Oxford word of the year. TikTok's days away from being banned. The CostCo Guys and the Hawk Tuah girl were everywhere. Taylor is joined by Sam Sanders, host of the Sam Sanders Show on KCRW to break down the biggest online moments of 2024. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Dec 19, 2024•39 min
Last week, TikTok lost its challenge to stop a ban or forced sale in the United States. WIRED senior business editor Louise Matsakis joins Taylor to discuss what happens next and if this is really the end of the road for TikTok. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Dec 12, 2024•41 min
A moral panic about kids' social media and smartphone use in schools has been sweeping the country. But are cell phones really the problem? And is removing them entirely the best approach? Taylor chats with educator Brandon Cardet-Hernandez, president of education media company Mrs. Wordsmith, about how smartphones can be used in the classroom, and how a ban would impact marginalized students the most. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Dec 05, 2024•33 min
Are women abstaining from sex to protest Donald Trump’s re-election? That’s the impression you’d get if you spent time reading the media over the past few weeks. Since the election, the “4B Movement” has been gaining traction online. But where did it come from, how does it work, and could something like this really take off in America? The Cut’s EJ Dickson joins Taylor to discuss. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Nov 21, 2024•14 min
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 streamers who speak to young men in a way traditional media has failed to. Many of its personalities are Trump supporters, including Joe Rogan. The left has been asking itself how it can win back young men without radicalizing them further. Is there a left-wing Joe Rogan? To help crack the manosphere, Taylor talks to Josh Citarella, host o...
Nov 14, 2024•25 min
