Welcome back, my newsletter!

I'll be sending out the best of the internet every week

Hi! If you’re getting this email it means that you signed up for my newsletter at some point over the past 5 years. Now that book promo and some other projects have calmed down and I have a bit more time, I’m bringing it back.

Each week I’ll be sending a bunch of links to things I’m reading and seeing online, a video of my latest podcast episode (subscribe to my weekly tech news show Power User wherever you get your podcasts!), and I’ll probably write some original stuff on here too if I have time.

So without further ado, here’s a few things that were on my radar this week…

Here’s a pretty cool 12-hour timelapse of what happened to American Airlines, Delta, and United flights after the CrowdStrike hack forced a nationwide ground stop of the airlines.

The Joever needle keeps creeping to the right.

J.D. Vance left his Venmo public, and also maybe his Spotify?

A few years ago TikTok made Christmas in August a thing, now we’re doing Summerween.

The first full time content creator is running for federal office in Utah.

Jules Terpak did a great deep dive on why X should bring back public likes.

Whom up auramaxxing?

Meet the Costco Guys, the Father-Son Duo Behind the Song of the Summer

EJ Dickson at Rolling Stone talked to A.J. and Big Justice, the TikTok famous father-son duo behind the song no one can get out of their head, "We Bring the BOOM." The duo discuss Costco, the Rizzler, double chocolate chunk cookies, and why their eyebrows are so immaculate. - Rolling Stone

A One-Man Telemundo on TikTok

Carlos Espina is among a new kind of social media personalities whom politicians, especially those in the Biden White House, view as modern-day broadcasters. - NY Times

25 years in, SpongeBob SquarePants is succeeding where The Simpsons has failed

“SpongeBob SquarePants has figured out how to make its deep roster of weirdos into its secret formula. The show is now playing around in its decades-old sandbox of characters to push itself into an even weirder direction than ever before.” - Polygon

AI models have been training on your favorite creators’ YouTube videos

Wired and Proof News published a report showing over 48,000 popular YouTube channels have had their videos scraped and used for AI training data. Channels scraped include MeBeast, Marques Brownlee, Jacksepticeye, PewDiePie, and many others. - WIRED

Chinese ecommerce giants cash in on Trump shooting

Chinese e-commerce platforms like Temu are selling apparel featuring image of a bleeding, fist-pumping Trump. - Al Jazeera

How partnerships between athletes and brands are beginning to resemble influencer deals

“As influencer spending continues to rise, advertising cash is trickling down to emerging athletes with lower public profiles. Deals are getting shorter in duration, are constructed with Instagram or TikTok in mind — and, increasingly, are being struck without the involvement of the teams, clubs and tours that traditionally acted as gatekeepers between players and advertisers.” - Digiday

Your Sims Can Soon Be Polyamorous, Complete With Boundaries and Jealousy Settings

The update will be available as part of the new Sims 4 expansion pack Lovestruck, which drops on July 25. Why not! - Them

An Algorithm Told Police She Was Safe. Then Her Husband Killed Her.

Spain has become reliant on an algorithm to score how likely a domestic violence victim is to be abused again and what protection to provide — sometimes leading to fatal consequences. - NY Times

The 18-Year-Old High Schooler Behind the RNC’s Creator Strategy

Brilyn Hollyhand, an 18-year-old high school student from Tuscaloosa, Alabama led this year’s RNC influencer strategy. More than 100 social media influencers, who post about everything from conservative politics to fitness and gaming traveled to Milwaukee, including the Nelk Boys. It was the first time a major political convention is giving creators access typically reserved for traditional media outlets. The Democratic National Convention Committee will also provide influencers with credentials to attend its Chicago convention. - The Information

Flipped birds, selfies and stares: A day in the life of Portland’s Cybertruck owner

Travis Carter has one of the two Tesla trucks in all of Maine. He says he's shy and doesn't like the limelight – but when he's behind the wheel, all eyes are on him. - Portland Press Herald

Right-wing influencers use Trump assassination attempt to attack DEI

I wrote about how diversity and inclusion efforts have become a popular target for conservatives online. - Washington Post

PODCAST

This week on Power User, Mike Rothschild, the author of The Storm Is Upon Us: How QAnon Became a Movement, Cult, and Conspiracy Theory of Everything, joined me to chat about the explosion of Trump rally shooting conspiracy theories and the rise in conspiracism among anti-Trump influencers on platforms like Threads and X.

Got a hot tip or a good link I should read? What do you want to see more of from this newsletter? Reach out on taylor.lorenz@washpost.com and let me know.

For more great content follow my meme page or join my Instagram broadcast channel where I share links all week long.

Until next week!