Taylor Lorenz’s Power User

SpaceX just pulled off the biggest IPO in history and made Elon Musk the world's first trillionaire. But is it all built on a fantasy?
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In this week's episode of Power User, I sit down with Ryan Mac, the main New York Times reporter covering SpaceX and co-author of Character Limit: How Elon Musk Destroyed Twitter, to unpack how SpaceX went from a startup mocked by aerospace veterans to a $2+ trillion company that governments, militaries, and your retirement fund now depend on.
We trace the full story from the early rocket explosions, the near-bankruptcy before Falcon 1 reached orbit in 2008, the NASA contract that saved the company, and how reusable rockets and Starlink turned SpaceX into an unstoppable money machine with 10,000 satellites in orbit. 
We dive deep into Elon's trillion-dollar bet on "orbital data centers," his plan to move AI infrastructure into space, the acquisition of xAI, the Cursor deal, a possible Tesla–SpaceX merger, and his 82% voting control that makes him almost impossible to challenge.
Is Elon Musk now too big to fail? Has he escaped the gravity of accountability? Or will his dreams of putting data centers in space come crashing back to Earth? And if/when that happens, who's left holding the bag? Ryan and I get into all of it.
In this episode:
– How SpaceX was founded and almost died
– Why Starlink became the company's cash engine
– Reusable rockets, barge landings, and the "chopsticks" catch
– The plan to put AI data centers in space (and why experts are skeptical)
– Inside the record-breaking SpaceX IPO
– How index funds and 401ks got pulled into SpaceX
– Elon's 82% control and the road to "Elon Inc"
– Whether Musk is now the most powerful man on Earth

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Over the past few months, Peter Thiel has become fully infatuated with Argentina. He bought a house there, enrolled his kids in school, has been attending local soccer matches, playing chess with locals, and the Argentine government is exploring offering the billionaire permanent residence and citizenship.
But why Argentina? Why now? Ryan Mac is a reporter at the New York Times and he's been covering Peter Theil's increased fascination with the country. Today, he's joining me to unpack Thiel's new obsession, and why other billionaires also seem taken by Argentina lately.

Hasan Piker On The Terrifying Future Of Internet Surveillance
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 Hasan Piker joined me for this week's Free Speech Friday for a wide-ranging conversation about online censorship, government surveillance, digital ID laws, Section 230, TikTok, KOSA, free speech, the JAWBONE Act, internet privacy, and the growing pressure campaigns targeting creators and political commentators.
We discuss: 
• The rise of online censorship around the world
• The Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA)
• Government surveillance and digital ID requirements
• The future of online anonymity
• Section 230 and why it matters
• TikTok, Big Tech, and content moderation
• Government pressure on social media platforms
• Free speech on the left and the right
• The Jawbone Act
• How new internet laws could impact creators, journalists, activists, and everyday users
As governments push new regulations in the name of safety, misinformation, and national security, the debate over free speech, privacy, censorship, and online freedom is becoming more important than ever. 

#HasanPiker #FreeSpeech #Censorship #KOSA #Section230 #TikTok #Privacy #Surveillance #InternetFreedom #TechPolicy

Why is Kalshi suddenly everywhere? 
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Prediction markets like Kalshi and Polymarket have become one of the most powerful forces in American media, politics, and culture. In this episode of Power User, I sit down with NPR's Bobby Allyn, the country's top prediction-markets reporter, to break down how Kalshi went from a tiny startup that 50 lawyers refused to represent to an inescapable cultural juggernaut backed by the Trump family, celebrities, and major news organizations.
We dig into how Kalshi exploited a legal loophole to bring sports betting and election betting to every state, why Donald Trump Jr. became an advisor to both Kalshi and Polymarket, and how the companies called the 2024 election for Trump before the mainstream media would, cementing their place in the MAGA universe. Bobby explains the rise of Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour, Polymarket's offshore "crypto bad boy" founder Shane Coplan, and the regulatory war happening right now inside the CFTC.
We also cover the dark side nobody is talking about: undisclosed influencer marketing flooding your feed, the Timothée Chalamet Kalshi deal, secret ads during the NBA playoffs, the Mr. Beast video editor insider trading scandal, betting markets on wildfires and war, and the casinoification of the entire economy. We dig into the lawsuits, the looming Supreme Court showdown, and whether this whole gambling empire could vanish overnight! 
We cover:
How Kalshi went from a rejected idea to a multi-billion dollar empire.

The shocking court ruling that changed everything in 2024.

Why MAGA influencers embraced prediction markets early.

The Mr. Beast video editor insider trading scandal.

How sports gambling bans were bypassed with a loophole.

Timothée Chalamet's controversial Kalshi ad.

The media's role in normalizing this "gambling for everything".

Why Democrats and Republicans are fighting over regulation.

The lawsuits that could end Kalshi.

What happens when you can bet on wildfires, wars, and more.

Just in time for Pride month, Marsha Blackburn and the Heritage Foundation's anti-LGBTQ censorship is back (now supported by OpenAI).
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The Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) is back, and this time, the White House is reportedly negotiating a deal to pass it in exchange for federal preemption of state AI laws. In this episode of Free Speech Friday, I break down why KOSA is one of the most dangerous internet censorship bills in Congress, why tech billionaires like Sam Altman and Elon Musk actually SUPPORT it, and what the media is getting completely wrong about this so-called "trade-off."
I'm joined by Ari Cohn, one of the top First Amendment lawyers in the country, to explain exactly how KOSA's "duty of care" provision will force platforms to mass-censor content, including LGBTQ voices, mental health support communities, reproductive health information, and more. 
We cover the junk science behind the social media moral panic, the age verification privacy nightmare, how the FTC could become the internet's censor-in-chief, and why we've seen this exact panic before with comic books, video games, and television.
Click the link below to take action now!!! https://www.badinternetbills.com 
In this video, we cover:
What the Kids Online Safety Act actually does

How KOSA could impact social media platforms

Age verification and online privacy issues

The potential effects on LGBTQ communities, mental health resources, and online speech

Why Elon Musk and OpenAI support KOSA.

The reality of age verification and the death of online privacy.

How KOSA targets niche communities and support groups.