Maybe you need to go back to Jr. High English...
"The ambiguity here comes from “a lot of” appearing to be a noun phrase when it’s actually not used in the same way. It is used not as a grouping noun but like a quantifying adverb, like “many”. While a singular verb is appropriate with nouns that define the plural into a singular group, “a lot of” refers to a quantity rather than a grouped unit – modifying the verb as “many” would. So the verb agrees with the noun that “a lot of” qualifies, rather than “a lot”. We can therefore have either “are a lot of” or “is a lot of” depending on the noun. Mostly, we will use “There are a lot of” with countable nouns, when we discuss plurals, and “There is a lot of” with uncountable nouns.
There are a lot of apples.
There is a lot of meat.
It’s deceptive, but a good example of how exceptions to some of the simple rules of English can work – because words can be used for functions that are not what they immediately appear to be."
https://englishlessonsbrighton.co.uk/there-is-a-lot-of-vs-there-are-a-lot-of/
Also:
https://www.grammarly.com/blog/there-is-there-are/