Taylor Lorenz’s Power User

Eric Goldman, Associate Dean for Research and law professor specializing in internet law and Section 230 policy. He unpacks what algorithms really are and why even simple chronological feeds are algorithms. They discuss how algorithm rules shape moderation, competition, and who controls online speech. Politics, age-verification dangers, and ways to preserve a diverse, competitive web also come up.

Ross Anderson, Staff writer at The Atlantic who investigates AI, national security, and surveillance. He unpacks the Pentagon’s showdown with AI firms over autonomous weapons and mass surveillance. Short, sharp stories about a $200M contract fight, Anthropic pushing back on lethal uses, OpenAI stepping in, and why commercial data access sparked a national controversy.

Ryan Broderick, investigative writer behind Garbage Day and Panic World, unpacks Jeffrey Epstein's strange ties to early internet culture. He traces Epstein's SEO and Wikipedia manipulations, links to 4chan and gaming economies, crypto experiments with elites, and efforts to influence Silicon Valley and political movements. Short, provocative conversations about power, secrecy, and online networks.

Sarah Phillips, a digital human rights organizer at Fight for the Future, fights for free expression and online access to reproductive health information. She unpacks the history of censorship from the Comstock Act to modern legal attacks. Conversations cover how moral panics and laws like SESTA/FOSTA threaten sex ed, abortion funds, secure messaging, and efforts to repeal Section 230.

Colin McDonnell, an attorney at FIRE defending online free expression. He discusses government pressure on Apple and Facebook to remove ICE-tracking apps and large Facebook groups. He explains how platforms complied quickly, legal arguments about recording law enforcement, claims of doxxing versus protected speech, and why courts must block government coercion of tech companies.

Emmanuel Maiberg, a reporter at 404 Media who dug up leaked documents on Alpha School, explains how a $65,000 AI-driven school really operates. He recounts chaotic AI lesson plans, rampant hallucinations, heavy surveillance of students, and scraping third-party platforms. Short, sharp takes on media hype, human tutors patching failures, and the ethics of treating kids like test subjects.

Siri Dahl, activist and adult-industry creator advocating for sex worker rights, explains how FOSTA-SESTA reshaped online safety and censorship. They cover Backpage's shutdown, platform-wide adult-content bans, and how policy pushed marginalized workers into danger. The conversation traces moral panics, Big Tech’s role, and warns against repeating these harms with new legislation.

Alec Karakatsanis, civil rights lawyer and author of Copaganda, digs into the rise of police body cameras and the surveillance industry behind them. He traces early fundraising, the marketing pivot that sold cameras as accountability, how footage is managed to shape narratives, and why cameras on ICE are a misleading fix. Short, sharp, and provocative.

Ilana Klein, a WIRED journalist who reported on the logging-off movement, breaks down the rise of minimalist dumb phones and the booming business around digital detox. She explores how 2016’s algorithm shift changed online life, the politics and school bans fueling a moral panic, and why logging off is often a privileged, commercialized choice.

Sen. Ron Wyden, U.S. Senator and co-author of Section 230, explains the law’s origins and why treating platforms as speakers would upend the internet. He discusses political attacks from both sides, the role of big money and lobbying, risks of repeal for online communities, and the stakes for privacy, surveillance advertising, and marginalized voices.