Taylor Lorenz’s Power User

Why Every Hit Pop Song Sounds the Same Now

SUPPORT ME ON PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/c/taylorlorenz [https://www.patreon.com/c/taylorlorenz]  Buy a subscription to my Tech and Online Culture newsletter, User Magazine [https://www.usermag.co⁠   ] to support my work!!!! 🙏 Did you know that hit songs in the late 1950s were regularly about gruesome death? Or that a US vice president wrote a number one hit? Chris Dalla Riva is one of my favorite music journalists out there. He writes the substack Can't Get Much Higher [https://www.cantgetmuchhigher.com/] where he publishes pieces on the intersection of music and data.   A couple years ago he embarked on a quest to listen to every single number 2 hit from the last six decades, and wrote about what he learned in his new book Uncharted Territory. The book is part celebration, part takedown of popular music, and also provides new ways to think about your favorite songs, genres, and artists. This book is genuinely so good and changed the way I think about so many songs and just how different periods in history were reflected in the music from their time.  Chris joined me this week to discuss the past half a century of number 1 hits and what they say about our culture, political system and world at large.  Follow me: https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz [https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz]     https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz3.0 [https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz3.0]    https://www.tiktok.com/@taylorlorenz [https://www.tiktok.com/@taylorlorenz]

The New Legal Fight to Destroy Super PACs Forever

FREE SPEECH FRIDAY  SUPPORT ME ON PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/c/taylorlorenz [https://www.patreon.com/c/taylorlorenz]    Buy a subscription to my Tech and Online Culture newsletter, User Magazine to support my work!!!! 🙏 https://www.usermag.co [https://www.usermag.co]      For the first time in fifteen years, there’s a real shot at ending billionaire control of American politics.  A groundbreaking legal effort spearheaded by Harvard law professor Lawrence Lessig, backed by an unlikely coalition of billionaires like Mark Cuban and Reid Hoffman, is taking direct aim at the legal foundation that created Super PACs.  I'm going to be covering this legal fight closely. Larry Lessig joined me on this week's Free Speech Friday to break down his legal fight, where things stand, and what needs to happen next in order to win this fight.  If you like this video, please support me on Patreon!! https://www.patreon.com/c/taylorlorenz [https://www.patreon.com/c/taylorlorenz]   Follow me: https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz [https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz]       https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz3.0 [https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz3.0]      https://www.tiktok.com/@taylorlorenz [https://www.tiktok.com/@taylorlorenz]

Has Taylor Swift Finally Peaked? Why Billionaires Can't Make Good Art

SUPPORT ME ON PATREON [https://www.patreon.com/c/taylorlorenz⁠  ]!!!!!! Buy a subscription to my Tech and Online Culture newsletter, User Magazine [https://www.usermag.co⁠    ], to support my work!!!! 🙏 https://www.usermag.co [https://www.usermag.co]     Over the past two decades, Taylor Swift has dominated the pop charts and risen to the pinnacle of mainstream fame. She has amassed a $2 billion fortune, won 14 Grammy Awards, sold more than 100 million albums worldwide, headlined the highest-grossing concert tour in history, and built a vast real-estate and music catalog empire. But lately, the backlash to Swift is growing louder. She has been criticized for her silence on major political issues, for palling around with Trump supporters, her carbon footprint, and many are calling her latest album a flop.  All of this raises the question, has Taylor Swift peaked, not just in popularity, but in cultural authority? Or is this just another cynical reinvention that she'll use to amass even more money and power? Journalist and Swiftie Kat Tenbarge joined me to discuss it all.  If you like this video, please support me on Patreon!! https://www.patreon.com/c/taylorlorenz [https://www.patreon.com/c/taylorlorenz]  Follow me: https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz [https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz]      https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz3.0 [https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz3.0]     https://www.tiktok.com/@taylorlorenz [https://www.tiktok.com/@taylorlorenz]

A Woman Streamer Was Assaulted, Is Twitch To Blame?

SUPPORT ME ON PATREON!!!!!! https://www.patreon.com/c/taylorlorenz  [https://www.patreon.com/c/taylorlorenz] Buy a subscription to my Tech and Online Culture newsletter, User Magazine to support my work!!!! 🙏 https://www.usermag.co  [https://www.usermag.co]  FREE SPEECH FRIDAY  Last weekend, popular cosplay Twitch streamer Emiru was assaulted at a meet-and-greet during Twitchcon. A man cut across several meet and greet lines and attempted to grab her for a kiss. The incident was obviously a catastrophic failure when it comes to keeping women creators safe   But, after the Emiru incident, tons of big content creators began piling on on Twitter, pushing out of context clips attempting to show lax security at the event and calling for Dan Clancy's resignation. They began weaponizing the attack on a woman creator to push their own reactionary agendas.    Kat Tenbarge has been covering gender-based violence for nearly a decade and she joined me this week to break down what exactly went down at Twitchcon, why more security doesn't exactly lead to more safety for women, and what the true issue at the heart of all of this is. These attacks on women creators silence women and prevent them from speaking and expressing themselves freely.  If you like this video, please support me on Patreon!! https://www.patreon.com/c/taylorlorenz  [https://www.patreon.com/c/taylorlorenz] Follow me: https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz     [https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz] https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz3.0    [https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz] https://www.tiktok.com/@taylorlorenz [https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz]

Can Twitch Survive? CEO Dan Clancy at Twitchcon

SUPPORT ME ON PATREON [https://www.patreon.com/c/taylorlorenz ]!!! Get bonus episodes and more. Buy a subscription [https://www.usermag.co   ] to my Tech and Online Culture newsletter, User Magazine [https://www.usermag.co   ] to support my work!!!! 🙏 As live-streaming becomes an increasingly dominant form of entertainment, Twitch is at a crossroads. Dan Clancy is the CEO of Twitch, and I sat down with him this weekend at Twitchcon to discuss how Twitch is evolving, its broader role in the creator economy over the next 10 years, competition from Hollywood, AI, and how he thinks about balancing streamers' creative freedom with safety concerns. Here's our interview. If you like this video, please support me on Patreon!! [https://www.patreon.com/c/taylorlorenz ] Follow me: https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz [https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz]     https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz3.0 [https://www.instagram.com/taylorlorenz3.0]    https://www.tiktok.com/@taylorlorenz [https://www.tiktok.com/@taylorlorenz]