Taylor Lorenz’s Power User

The Billionaire Who Built a Private Surveillance State
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Sports arenas and concert venues are becoming high-tech surveillance "deep states." In this video, I dive into the explosive Wired report by Noah Shachtman and Robert Silverman that reveals how the owner of a ton of NYC concert venues and sports arenas uses facial recognition and private investigators to track, monitor, and ban anyone he deems an enemy.
From tracking trans women at Pride Night to banning lawyers and 14-year-old kids for social media posts, the level of surveillance at MSG, Radio City, and The Sphere is unprecedented. 
Is this the future of privacy for sports fans and concert-goers? I sat down with Noah Shachtman to discuss the chilling secrets of the new billionaire surveillance machine.
Full WIRED story: https://www.wired.com/story/madison-square-garden-jim-dolan-surveillance-machine

AI companies are secretly waging a massive PR campaign targeting women.
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In the past year, OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, and Meta have launched an aggressive PR campaign to rebrand artificial intelligence for women, especially mothers and teen girls. Suddenly AI isn't an existential threat or a labor displacement machine. It's a "lifestyle accessory," a "creative tool," and your new girly best friend.
 
Kat Tenbarge of Spitfire News joins me to expose the AI "Hot Girl Economy" and how tech giants are using aesthetic trends to Trojan-horse AI into our daily lives. We cover everything from viral Studio Ghibli filters and the AI puppy photo craze, to how startups like Higgsfield are targeting fashion influencers. 
 
We discuss what this "AI girly pop era" is designed to distract you from: extreme labor displacement, massive energy consumption, and the tech industry becoming increasingly intertwined with the US War Machine.
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Is Silicon Valley actually making progress, or are they just breaking the world for profit? 
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In this episode of Free Speech Friday, I’m joined by legal scholar and surveillance expert Albert Fox Cahn to dismantle the "Move Fast and Break Things" ethos that has dominated tech for a decade. From the multibillion-dollar failure of the Metaverse to the "innovation theater" of the Apple Vision Pro, we explore why the most hyped technologies are often the most disastrous.
We dive deep into the dark side of home security, revealing how Ring cameras have turned from safety tools into a massive surveillance network for law enforcement, sometimes even recording your most private moments without a warrant.
We also tackle the "AI bubble," the myth of police body cameras, and why the "boring" analog solutions are often the safest bet for our future. 
Albert is the founder of the Surveillance Technology Oversight Project (S.T.O.P.) and the author of the new book, Move Slow and Upgrade: The Power of Incremental Innovation.

Iranian LEGO videos mocking the US government are taking over the internet. 
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We are living in an era where global internet culture and meme warfare are just as influential as traditional media and LEGOs are being used to create the most effective messaging around the US-Iran war.
I sat down with Areeba Fatima, a journalist for Dropsite News, who's been reporting on the team behind "Explosive Media," the group of seemingly Gen Z Iranians producing this viral content.
We dive deep into how these LEGO videos are actively reshaping Americans' perceptions of modern warfare, and why this content is uniquely bridging the gap across the American political spectrum.
🔥 EXCLUSIVE BONUS EPISODE: I tracked down and interviewed a member of Explosive Media, the team in Iran behind these viral LEGO videos. To hear directly from the Iranians making these LEGO videos, watch the full bonus interview on my Patreon or Substack.
🙏 Patreon: ⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/cw/taylorlorenz⁠    ⁠ 
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We discuss: 
How these viral LEGO videos are actively reshaping how Americans view our war with Iran.

The fascinating Telegram history of Explosive Media, revealing they started as young internet natives posting about sports, exams, and movies before the war escalated.

Why mainstream liberal accounts and right-wing podcasters in America are both sharing this content by the millions.

How this Gen Z team uses AI to bypass sanctions, generate rap songs, and tap directly into global internet culture.

The relentless cat-and-mouse game of Explosive Media getting banned from platforms like YouTube and X, only to immediately return.

Support Independent Journalism: I currently have zero brand sponsors or advertising partners. My work is solely funded by viewers like you. If you value this content, please consider supporting me so I can keep producing these deep dives
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Are we losing our right to online privacy entirely? 
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In this episode of Free Speech Friday, I sat down with Cindy Cohn, former head of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and author of the new book Privacy's Defender. We dive deep into the secret history of the early internet, the terrifying reality of mass online surveillance by the US government, and how "age verification" laws sweeping the US will destroy digital civil liberties for everyone.
 
Cindy explains how the NSA and FBI use massive legal loopholes like Section 702 to secretly access your data for domestic purposes, the massive security dangers of forcing users to upload their IDs to access apps like Discord, and why the fight to protect encryption is more crucial now than ever. 
If you care about your digital rights, free speech, and the future of the open web, this is a must-watch conversation!! 
 
Topics Covered:
The 90s hacker origins of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF)

How the Bernstein case saved internet encryption

Post-9/11 mass surveillance and the government's data grab

Why the FBI and NSA's use of Section 702 threatens your privacy

The truth about the government buying your personal data from private brokers

Why age verification laws banning users under 16 create massive security risks

How to fight back and become part of the next generation of privacy advocates