Taylor Lorenz’s Power User

Elon Musk has evolved far beyond a billionaire CEO. 
SUPPORT MY WORK: 
Buy a paid subscription to my newsletter at usermag.co  
Support my work on Patreon for bonus episodes, monthly Q&A livestreams, and more: http://patreon.com/taylorlorenz   
According to political theorists Quinn Slobodian and Ben Tarnoff, Musk has created an entirely new ideology called “Muskism” — a system where technology companies merge with state power, AI shapes politics, and billionaires become more powerful than governments.
In this episode of Free Speech Friday, I sit down with Quinn Slobodian, co-author of the new book Muskism, to break down how Elon Musk’s worldview went from Silicon Valley optimism to tech authoritarianism. We discuss Tesla, SpaceX, Starlink, Neuralink, AI censorship, OpenAI, Grok, surveillance, DOGE, data centers, Silicon Valley’s shift toward defense tech, and why Musk’s influence now reaches into every part of society.
We also unpack:
Elon Musk’s political transformation

The rise of Muskism

AI paranoia and “woke AI”

Why Silicon Valley is embracing militarization

Musk’s obsession with reproduction and population decline

How SpaceX and Starlink could reshape global power

The future of AI and surveillance capitalism

Why tech billionaires are becoming impossible to escape

What happens if AI becomes smarter than humans at most jobs?
SUPPORT MY WORK: 
Buy a paid subscription to my newsletter at usermag.co 
Support my work on Patreon for bonus episodes, monthly Q&A livestreams, and more: http://patreon.com/taylorlorenz 
Researchers, economists, and top AI executives are increasingly warning about the rise of a “permanent underclass”,  a future where millions of workers lose not just their jobs, but their economic value altogether. In this episode of Power User, I sit down with writer Jasmine Sun to unpack the terrifying idea that artificial intelligence could permanently reshape class, wealth, labor, and power in America.
We discuss OpenAI, Anthropic, AGI, automation, white collar layoffs, Silicon Valley ideology, AI job displacement, universal basic income, data center protests, populism, and whether society is prepared for what’s coming next.
Could AI destroy upward mobility? Will automation create mass unemployment? Are tech companies being honest about the future they’re building?
We cover:
The permanent underclass theory explained
Who is actually pushing this idea
OpenAI's shifting stance on job displacement
Leading the Future and AI lobbying
Why AI is different from past tech hype
Policy failures and democratic backlash
What China is doing differently
What workers should actually do now
#AI #Tech #Technology #ArtificialIntelligence #FutureOfWork #AGI #OpenAI #Anthropic #SiliconValley #TechNews #JobAutomation #AIJobs #TechIndustry

What’s really driving the growing backlash against AI and Silicon Valley?
Support my independent journalism: 
🙏 Patreon: ⁠https://www.patreon.com/cw/taylorlorenz           ⁠ 
🗞️ Buy a paid subscription to my Substack: ⁠https://www.usermag.co    
From burning data centers to celebrating an attack on Sam Altman’s house, the anti‑tech backlash has escalated. In this episode of Free Speech Friday, I sit down with journalist and author Brian Merchant to unpack the rise of anti AI sentiment, the growing anger toward Big Tech, and why public hostility toward companies like OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google keeps escalating.
We discuss:
Why the AI backlash exploded so quickly

The connection between AI fear and distrust in capitalism

Why people are protesting data centers

The rise of anti tech politics

AI doomers and effective altruism

Sam Altman and Silicon Valley PR failures

Whether AI companies created their own crisis

How automation fears are shaping public opinion

Why people feel powerless against Big Tech

The future of AI regulation and resistance

Brian Merchant is the author of Blood in the Machine, a book about the original Luddites and the history of anti technology movements.
If you’re interested in AI, ChatGPT, Silicon Valley, automation, tech criticism, labor politics, or the future of the internet, we break down the cultural and political forces shaping the AI era.
Subscribe for more interviews and deep dives on AI, internet culture, media, tech, and politics.

Ben Shapiro’s Media Empire Is Collapsing
Support my independent journalism: 
🙏 Patreon: ⁠https://www.patreon.com/cw/taylorlorenz          ⁠ 
🗞️ Buy a paid subscription to my Substack: ⁠https://www.usermag.co   
For the last decade, Ben Shapiro and The Daily Wire dominated the digital landscape. From Facebook to chart-topping podcasts, they seemed untouchable. But in 2025, the data tells a different story. With a 90% drop in YouTube views, massive layoffs, and the high-profile exit of CEO Jeremy Boreing, the "Conservative Disney" empire is crashing and burning.
The Bulwark's Will Sommer joins me on this week's episode of Power User to dive deep into the rise and fall of Ben Shapiro. We break down the explosive internal feud with Candace Owens, the catastrophic failure of his Hollywood ambitions, how a changing Facebook algorithm killed their traffic overnight, and what his fall reveals about the future of conservative media. 
We cover:
The Daily Wire layoffs and financial struggles.

Why Ben Shapiro is losing his audience to creators like Candace Owens and Tucker Carlson.

The failure of "Anti-Woke" entertainment and the "Conservative Hollywood" dream.

How the death of Charlie Kirk created a massive fracture in the MAGA movement.

Why Ben Shapiro is irrelevant to Gen Z and Gen Alpha.

What if everything you've been told about technological progress is a lie?
Support my independent journalism: 
🙏 Patreon: ⁠https://www.patreon.com/cw/taylorlorenz         ⁠ 
🗞️ Buy a paid subscription to my Substack: ⁠https://www.usermag.co       
AI is changing society faster than ever, but resistance to technology is not new. For this week's Free Speech Friday I spoke with academic Thomas Dekeyser, author of Techno Negative, about the history of anti-technology movements, from the Luddites smashing machines in the Industrial Revolution to anarchist groups bombing computer companies in the 1980s.
We discuss AI, labor automation, surveillance, moral panic, Silicon Valley ideology, tech CEOs, machine breaking, environmental destruction, and why backlash against technology keeps returning throughout history. We also explore whether technological progress actually benefits ordinary people, or mainly serves corporations and power. Sometimes it's not what you think!
Topics include:
Why anti-AI movements are growing

Big Tech and labor exploitation

AI moral panic and conspiracy theories

Environmental costs of AI

Surveillance and control

The politics of technological progress

Why people resist new technology

Silicon Valley and deregulation