r/OutOfTheLoop

Why is Taylor Lorenz such a divisive and controversial figure across both the left and right? I saw that she was on the Adam Friedland podcast. And the few times I’ve listened to her podcast or seen her on alternative media, she seemed pretty smart. I know she had her recent expose about how she highlighted how lots of left-wing influencers are being funded which received praise as well as criticism. In addition, she revealed the identity of the Libs of TikTok influencer, though most of everything she reported was publicly available information, so it’s not really “doxxing”. At least that’s my understanding.

The only thing I could think of that rubbed me the wrong way was how she has taken the position that social media isn’t a net negative harm and a lot of people are just having a moral panic about it.

Is she just seen as like a grifter opportunist or a tabloid writer rather than a journalist?

https://youtu.be/MkETvKTq2r8?si=MlGPEDpqkV358WMk

Don’t get me wrong: I am no fan whatsoever. But I noticed a few days ago everyone started dunking on betting markets. Did all the anti-gamblers come together to campaign against Kalshi, Polymarket, and the likes? Are there any upcoming court cases? It almost seems… counterintuitive to give these sites a platform. À la how the anti-drug campaign “D.A.R.E.” actually increased curiosity/usage of illicit drugs.

1. John Oliver segment: https://youtu.be/ZN4njIQcSR4?si=nCKSFYZtBn14n9wO

2. Patrick Boyle video: https://youtu.be/e0nsou-1Q2k?si=CofalwSqZy5vtmBi

3. Science journal article: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aee3932

4. https://www.niemanlab.org/2026/04/prediction-markets-are-breaking-the-news-and-becoming-their-own-beat/

I know that Mandelson is the (former?) ambassador from the UK to the USA and that the PM is being questioned about some.. background checks on the man? (What exactly is this vetting about?) But I have no idea what exactly happened, how this surfaced and why it's all over the news in the UK. Can anyone please throw me a bone? Thank you!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/ce35qnexlv8t

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2026/04/21/starmer-mandelson-scandal-olly-robbins-evidence-live/

https://www.ft.com/content/6689df7b-de45-4e7b-acc4-1929a6e61bd8?syn-25a6b1a6=1

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2026/apr/21/olly-robbins-peter-mandelson-vetting-keir-starmer-uk-politics-latest-news-updates

So I was recently clued in to the controversy regarding a creator called "benjammin" on GIPHY, who for some reason recreates other GIFs of himself in a generic American colonial outfit, and then mass reports the originals so only his version is accessible. You can see the stark difference in GIF search results by trying to search for a GIF of basically anything on Reddit (which uses GIPHY) versus on Discord or Gboard (which use Tenor). The Reddit/GIPHY search will invariably show almost exclusively images of this benjammin guy, while the Tenor search will have what you're most likely actually looking for. There have been discussions all over Reddit about this recently, e.g. here: https://www.reddit.com/r/whenthe/comments/1of23ky/and_this_is_why_i_dont_use_giphy/

But Tenor is also not immune to weird, recurring GIF creators. There's this weird series of GIFs featuring a really ugly puppet with a nose ring called "Jeffy" that shows up in almost any GIF search on Tenor. For example, simply searching for "gross" gives one of the first results as this just insanely unsettling GIF: https://tenor.com/view/sml-jeffy-spinach-yucky-gross-gif-26468474

Furthermore both platforms have a tendency for GIFs containing references to specific people to show up. It's less common but a lot of times when I'm searching GIFs I will see reaction GIFs that are subtitled something like "[random username] moment".

How do these kinds of GIFs get so much attention from the algorithm? Who even are these people and what is the deal with their obsession with mass-producing these low-quality slop GIFs? Do they make money off of it somehow? And are these platforms not aware of how easily abused their service seems to be?

https://imgur.com/a/fWcHkZb

I keep seeing it in memes everywhere and I have no idea where it’s from or what this meme is called.

On videos where someone is doing something that might have some controversy, a lot of time, there is somebody that says that the person/group "is not suicidal," "loves living," etc.

I've seen it in places from Mamdani announcing a new tax and the GamersNexus documentary on the GPU black market (before it was taken down). I can't find any other examples right now.

Is it showing support? Is it clarifying anything? Is it a reference to the CIA's highest honor in journalism?

There has been a video circulating of Barack Obama and New York mayor Zohran Mamdani singing The Wheels on the Bus to children in a classroom and news outlets seem very upset by it and I can't figure out why. I tried looking in comment sections and people say it's "indoctrination" but indoctrination for what? Wheels on the Bus has been sang to small children for decades and nobody viewed it as indoctrination to ride the bus? Other people say "they're grooming kids to vote for Obama" but Obama has been out of office for more than a decade? Others say "if this were Trump, everyone would blow their lids!". Wasn't Donald Trump just signing things for children saying "if it were Biden this would be signed with an automated pen!". What is the controversy?

https://youtube.com/shorts/CgMqLPc5d2E?si=9spGMsoliEZO2fOz

I guess I’m lacking context on who this guy is and the story but it seems awful.

https://www.tmz.com/2026/04/20/celeste-rivas-cause-of-death-released-in-d4vd-murder-case/

I've been seeing reports about the Strait of Hormuz being re-closed and gas prices in the US jumping to $6.50 per gallon. There's also talk about a potential visit by Trump to Pakistan to broker a deal with Iran.

​Is this officially confirmed? What is the current status of the energy war and how is it affecting global oil markets? ​More context here: https://thecivilianpost.blogspot.com/2026/04/us-iran-energy-war-oil-crisis.html

https://deadline.com/2026/04/legend-of-aang-last-airbender-leaked-online-paramount-probe-1236863416/

I've been sailing the high seas for a quite an amount of time since a lot platforms started to form. I don't like my series/movies to be so divided between different streaming platforms (it would cost around 100 dollars a month (that is what 50% of my groceries cost), or 1,200 a year just to stay subscribed to everything).

When Legend of Aang Last Airbender got leaked (yeah, I watched it, lol) I was surprised, I was expecting this by October. Then I went over here (Reddit) to check if this was an actual leak and yeah. Most of the comments were just people happy Paramount+ was hacked and I saw the hate for Paramount+

So, I am genuinely curious, where's this hate coming from? (I don't live in USA so if there's any movement over there I am totally unaware of it, I just like the tea (Uncle Iroh tea))

https://imgur.com/a/IlosSTg

Is this a meme? What does it mean?