No platform has had more of impact on what we listen to over the past decade than Spotify. This week, Taylor is joined by journalist Liz Pelly, to discuss her new book "Mood Machine: The Rise of Spotify and the Costs of the Perfect Playlist."

They discuss the profound impact Spotify has had on the music industry, culture, and the way we consume sound.

Pelly reveals the truth about so-called "ghost artists" and other tactics the company has employed to squeeze artists and upend the content ecosystem.

They also dig into how Spotify's algorithm-driven playlists have reshaped not just listening habits but also the very nature of music production, artist careers, and industry power structures.

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Over the past week, Elon Musk has been engaged in a near wholesale takeover of key areas of the U.S. federal government.  Working under the newly minted "Department of Government Efficiency" aka DOGE, Musk and a group of young Gen Z loyalists have begun wreaking havoc on our institutions. 

Online culture journalist Ryan Broderick joins Taylor to break down who exactly these young men are, what their backgrounds say about the people Musk is hiring, and what the billionaire is currently doing to the U.S. government.

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Clarkson Lawson was a prominent MAGA influencer on TikTok who amassed over 31 million likes on his videos. He built a platform as an outspoken Gen Z conservative making pro-Trump content. But in the months leading up to the election, something changed. 

Despite building a massive audience on pro-Trump messaging, he had a change of heart and voted for Kamala Harris. Lawson announced his political pivot in a video titled "Why I left MAGA."

Taylor sits down with Clarkson to talk about the behind-the-scenes reality of being a right-wing content creator, the industry forces that keep influencers tethered to Trumpism, what made him ultimately change his mind, and how he plans to navigate the choppy waters of the internet going forward. 

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 Family vlogs are a huge category of online content. At their best, they show real parenting and the entertaining and relatable moments of family life. However, the content category has been plagued by accusations of child exploitation and new laws targeting creators claiming to protect children. Fortesa Latifi covers the space in-depth and joins Taylor to set the record straight.

Remember Gamergate? Well… it's happening again. After writing an exposé about how a video game consultancy was attacked, journalist Alyssa Mercante found herself in the crosshairs of a targeted harassment campaign.
Alyssa joins Taylor to discuss what it's like being at the center of an organized smear campaign, how she's fighting back.

Social media as we know it is in chaos. The landscape is becoming more centralized and creators are facing more challenges than ever. On top of all that, the very notion of a follower is dying and there's uncertainty about what that means for the future.

Jack Conte, the CEO and co-founder of Patreon, joins Taylor to discuss how to better serve creators.