Doomscroll with Joshua Citarella Doomscroll 33: Taylor Lorenz
7 snips
Oct 20, 2025 
Taylor Lorenz, a journalist and author of "Extremely Online," dives deep into social media's impact on politics and culture. She explores the unsettling reality of dark money influencing today's influencers. The conversation also touches on youth meme culture, revealing its role in shaping political views and identities. Lorenz critiques how misinformation and mixed public health messaging have bred distrust, especially among younger generations. Lastly, she emphasizes the urgent need for transparency in media and the left's challenge in building online power against established funding disparities.
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Internet Returns Us To Medieval Dynamics
- The internet amplifies a return to pre-modern social dynamics: mysticism, stratified power, and nihilism.
- Taylor links this to capitalism and attention economies that reward conning and spectacle over shared institutions.
Mask And Push For Clean Air
- Mask consistently and promote better ventilation because airborne disease and pollution are real threats.
- Taylor urges using high-quality masks like KN95s and pushing for systemic upgrades like improved HVAC and far-UV where possible.
Personal Health Consequences From COVID
- Taylor shares that she contracted COVID despite vaccination and now has lasting organ damage and immunocompromise.
- She contrasts her privileges—platform, money, healthcare—with service workers who must return to work sick and risk long COVID.
