Taylor Lorenz, the technology writer and podcaster, was talking about the internet of her dreams—a world free of alarmists and doomers and Big Brother.
“America obviously has so many problems, but the thing that we have is the First Amendment, and, to me, that’s what makes America the best country,” she told me. “I know it’s not the best country in every way, but it is one of the best countries to live in, because we have freedom of expression, and I think it’s being destroyed.”
We were in a little park next to Pine & Crane, a Taiwanese spot in downtown Los Angeles. It was just past noon, and we both had the vegan mapo tofu. I had a beer. Lorenz ordered a nonalcoholic apple cider.
She was wearing a mask, as she always does in public—it was black, probably an N95, nothing fancy. “I’m immunocompromised,” she explained. “Alcohol doesn’t work with the meds I’m on.”
Anyway, back to the internet.
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