Ever wonder where the internet stops and IRL begins? Close All Tabs breaks down how digital culture shapes our world through thoughtful insights and irreverent humor. From internet trends to AI slop to the politics of memes, Close All Tabs covers it all. How will AI change our jobs and lives? Is the government watching what I post? Is there life beyond TikTok? Host Morgan Sung pulls from experts, the audience, and history to add context to the trends and depth to the memes. And she’ll wrestle with as many browser tabs as it takes to explain the cultural moment we’re all collectively living. Morgan Sung is a tech journalist whose work covers the range of absurdity and brilliance that is the internet. Her beat has evolved into an exploration of social platforms and how they shape real-world culture. She has written for TechCrunch, NBC News, Mashable, BuzzFeed News and more. We love listening to shows about technology and culture like Power User with Taylor Lorenz, ICYMI, Wow If True, Hard Fork, There Are No Girls On the Internet, Endless Thread, Uncanny Valley from Wired, It’s Been a Minute, and You’re Wrong About. If you like them too, then trust us–you’ll like Close All Tabs.
The Pink Pill Pipeline and the Online War Against Birth Control
It starts with aspirational lifestyle content about “embracing your femininity,” but ends with alt-right ideology and conspiracy theories about reproductive care. This is the pink pill pipeline — one of the primary ways young women are radicalized online today. Seemingly innocuous content about dating advice, wellness tips, and pop culture leads to increasingly conservative and extremist talking points about how birth control is causing the fertility crisis or how women don’t need to vote. It’s all wrapped up in a glossy veneer of feminine empowerment. Reporter Kylie Cheung joins to discuss how seemingly apolitical content online is shifting the cultural narrative around reproductive rights through coordinated misinformation campaigns, and how to spot pink pill content for what it is. Guest: Kylie Cheung, staff reporter at Abortion, Every Day Further Reading/Listening: How Celebrity Smear Campaigns are Inspiring Attacks on Birth Control — Kylie Cheung, Abortion, Every Day Far right coming for women’s autonomy; birth control on chopping block — Cassie Miller, Southern Poverty Law Center We Need to Talk About the Pink-Pill Pipeline — Jessica Valenti, Abortion, Every Day I Caught a Secret Right-Wing Influence Operation Running In My Feed — Emily Amick, Emily In Your Phone The Long Campaign to Turn Birth Control Into the New Abortion — Katharine Mieszkowski, Reveal Inside Anti-Abortion Groups’ Campaign to Sell Women on Unreliable Birth Control “Alternatives” — Kiera Butler, Mother Jones Trump Is Going After Birth Control. Here’s Why. — Mary Ziegler, Politico The Trump Administration Is Overhauling Birth Control Access for the Pronatalist Movement — Jessica Washington, The Intercept Read the Transcript here Email us at CloseAllTabs@KQED.org Follow us on Instagram and TikTok Credits: Close All Tabs is hosted by Morgan Sung. Our team includes producer Maya Cueva, editor Chris Hambrick and senior editor Chris Egusa who also composed our theme song and credits music. Our intern is Lauren Yoon. Additional music from APM. Audio engineering by Brendan Willard. Audience engagement support from Maha Sanad. Jen Chien is our Director of Podcasts. Ethan Toven-Lindsey is our Editor in Chief. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
How the Furry Fandom Says Goodbye (Reload)
Anthrocon, the largest gathering of furries in the world, just celebrated its 20th anniversary in July — so we’re re-airing one of our favorite episodes yet. Furries are a community often known for wearing full-body animal suits at conventions — but the characters they inhabit, called “fursonas,” are much more than costumes. They’re deeply personal expressions of identity and creativity. So when someone in the furry fandom dies, how does the community say goodbye? In some cases, they take to VR. Since 2020, a furry named Changa Husky has been running the Furry Family Ofrenda, a virtual memorial space inspired by the Mexican holiday Día de los Muertos. It’s a place where furries gather to remember and celebrate the people — and fursonas — who have passed. In this episode, Morgan steps into that virtual world to explore what it means for a community to grieve both a person and the character they brought to life. Guests: Changa Husky, furry Vtuber and video producer Patch O’Furr, founder and writer, Dogpatch Press Further Reading/Listening: Who runs the internet? Furries — Dylan Reeve, The Spinoff Remembering Mark Merlino (1952-2024), a founder and soul of furry fandom — Patch O’Furr, Dogpatch Press The Fandom: A Furry Documentary — Ash Coyote, YouTube Never Ending Song - Doggo Edition — Changa Husky, YouTube Visit the Furry Family Ofrenda Read the Transcript here Email us at CloseAllTabs@KQED.org Follow us on Instagram and TikTok Editor’s Note: In this episode, we refer to some individuals only by their “fursona” names. We’ve chosen to use these names because members of the furry community are frequently subject to harassment, bullying, and doxxing, and many participants use online handles to maintain their safety and privacy. Credits: Close All Tabs is hosted by Morgan Sung. Our team includes producer Maya Cueva, editor Chris Hambrick and senior editor Chris Egusa who also composed our theme song and credits music. Our intern is Lauren Yoon. Additional music from APM. Audio engineering by Brendan Willard. Audience engagement support from Maha Sanad. Jen Chien is our Director of Podcasts. Ethan Toven-Lindsey is our Editor in Chief. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Are We Doomed If The Internet Goes Dark?
What are the chances that the internet could go down forever? How bad for humanity would it be if it did? And what would a shift back to the before-times look like? These are the kinds of questions “doom reporter” Ben Bradford tries to answer in his new podcast, Are We Doomed? Morgan and Ben discuss the scenarios that might lead to a long-term internet outage — from severed undersea cables to a massive solar storm. And they tackle the most pressing question of all: will influencers survive the internet apocalypse? Guest: Ben Bradford, journalist and host of Are We Doomed? Further Reading/Listening: Are We Doomed? — Ben Bradford, Are We Doomed? We Try and Kill the Internet — Ben Bradford, Are We Doomed? Amazon Explains How Its AWS Outage Took Down the Web – Matt Burgess and Lily Hay Newman, WIRED The AWS Outage Bricked People’s $2,700 Smartbeds – Matthew Gault, 404 Media Complex Structure Supported by a Tiny Part – Know Your Meme A Stealth Attack Came Close to Compromising the World’s Computers – The Economist Read the Transcript here Email us at CloseAllTabs@KQED.org Follow us on Instagram and TikTok Credits: Close All Tabs is hosted by Morgan Sung. This episode was produced by Ana De Almeida Amara and Chris Egusa. Our team includes producer Maya Cueva, editor Chris Hambrick and senior editor Chris Egusa who also composed our theme song and credits music. Additional music from APM. Audio engineering by Brendan Willard. Audience engagement support from Maha Sanad. Jen Chien is our Director of Podcasts. Ethan Toven-Lindsey is our Editor in Chief. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
'Get The Flock Out': The Fight Over License-Plate Readers Heats Up
Flock Safety’s license plate readers have become a flashpoint for a debate across the country. On one side: law enforcement and their supporters, who say the cameras reduce crime and improve public safety. On the other: residents and advocates worried about a creeping surveillance state and the myriad security issues Flock has already been exposed for. Morgan talks to Bay Area reporters Roselyn Romero and Riley Cooke about the fight over Flock spreading throughout the region, what we still don’t know about how Flock’s data is used and how some residents are finding creative ways to push back. Guests: Roselyn Romero, public safety journalist at The Oaklandside Riley Cooke, reporter at Palo Alto Weekly Further Reading/Listening: We Hacked Flock Safety Cameras in under 30 Seconds — Benn Jordan, Youtube Palo Alto license plate data searched by hundreds of out-of-state agencies — Riley Cooke, Palo Alto Weekly Flock is quietly training Bay Area police to sway city leaders to buy surveillance tech — Roselyn Romero, The Oaklandside Flock Exposed Its AI-Powered Cameras to the Internet. We Tracked Ourselves — Jason Koebler, 404 Media Does Flock Safety Keep Women Safe? — Jayme Kusyk, Knock LA Police Have Reportedly Used License Plate Readers to Stalk Romantic Interests at Least 21 Times in Recent Years - Institute for Justice Home Depot and Lowe’s Downplay Customer Surveillance Threats — Whitney Curry Wimbish, The American Prospect Flock cameras in Hampton Roads surveil Black communities more intensely than white ones, CNU study says — Toby Cox, WHRO ICE Taps into Nationwide AI-Enabled Camera Network, Data Shows — Jason Koebler & Joseph Cox, 404 Media Who is paint bombing Oakland’s Flock cameras? — Eli Wolfe, The Oaklandside Across the US, people are dismantling and destroying Flock surveillance cameras — Brian Merchant, Blood In The Machine Has S.F. cracked how to fix the car break-in crisis? Here’s what is driving the decline — Rachel Swan, San Francisco Chronicle Read the Transcript here Email us at CloseAllTabs@KQED.org Follow us on Instagram and TikTok Credits: Close All Tabs is hosted by Morgan Sung. Our team includes producer Maya Cueva, editor Chris Hambrick and senior editor Chris Egusa who also composed our theme song and credits music. Additional music from APM. Audio engineering by Brian Douglas and Chris Egusa. Audience engagement support from Maha Sanad. Jen Chien is our Director of Podcasts. Ethan Toven-Lindsey is our Editor in Chief. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Meet the Grads Grappling With AI and Their Futures
Everyone seems to have an opinion about AI, but what about those who will likely be affected most — recent graduates? This cohort of grads is unique. They remember what classrooms were like before the emergence of ChatGPT in 2022, and have seen how it transformed the education world seemingly overnight. Today, we hear from three recent graduates in the Bay Area about their thoughts on AI, how it affected their education, and how they feel about their futures. This week, we’re sharing a recent episode from KQED podcast The Bay — a show that takes an in-depth look at stories from across the SF Bay Area. Read the Transcript here Email us at CloseAllTabs@KQED.org Follow us on Instagram and TikTok Credits: Close All Tabs is hosted by Morgan Sung. Our team includes producer Maya Cueva, editor Chris Hambrick and senior editor Chris Egusa who also composed our theme song and credits music. Additional music from APM. Audio engineering by Brendan Willard. Audience engagement support from Maha Sanad. Jen Chien is our Director of Podcasts. Ethan Toven-Lindsey is our Editor in Chief. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The $55B Deal That Has Sims Players Worried
When shareholders of gaming giant Electronic Arts approved an acquisition of the company by a group that includes Jared Kushner’s private equity firm and the Saudi Public Investment Fund late last year, it rocked the entertainment industry. The sale worth an estimated $55 billion sent the player community of the EA-owned game The Sims scrambling, afraid that a game known as a haven for LGBTQ+ expression might be changed for the worse. In this second part of our exploration of the inclusive history of The Sims franchise, we dive into what the deal might mean for the game, how it’s reshaping the future of the industry, and why a popular Sims streamer is ready to walk away from the game in protest. Guests: Kayla Sims, Twitch streamer and YouTuber known as “lilsimsie” Zefrine, Twitch streamer and organizer with The Players Alliance Loel Phelps, senior game design director at Maxis Jessica Croft, senior designer at EA on The Sims 4 Further Reading/Listening: Bay Area Gamers Rally Against Electronic Arts’ $55 Billion Acquisition — Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman, KQED 'Gaming is the new oil:' How the EA buyout 'diverges from the traditional playbook' — Nicole Carpenter, Game Developer Congressman Teams Up With Popular Sims Streamer To Oppose Saudi Purchase Of EA — Nathan Grayson, Aftermath US representative Maxwell Frost protests Saudi buyout of EA — Diego Argüello, Game Developer Sims streamers are distancing themselves from EA, but for some the choice is hard — Ash Parrish, The Verge EA Advertisement Isn't New: A Look Back At The Sims' History With Brands (And What Comes Next) — Callum Bowyer, Sims Community Private Equity's EA Takeover: Corruption, Contradictions, and Exploitation — Daniel Stone, Center for Economic and Policy Research Read the Transcript here Email us at CloseAllTabs@KQED.org Follow us on Instagram and TikTok Credits: Close All Tabs is hosted by Morgan Sung. Our team includes producer Maya Cueva, editor Chris Hambrick and senior editor Chris Egusa who also composed our theme song and credits music. Additional music from APM. Audio engineering by Brendan Willard and Chris Egusa. Audience engagement support from Maha Sanad. Jen Chien is our Director of Podcasts. Ethan Toven-Lindsey is our Editor in Chief. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
A Queer History of The Sims
“Did The Sims make you gay?” is a long-running joke among Sims players. For millions, The Sims has been more than a video game — it’s been a place to experiment, tell stories, and explore identity. Long before LGBTQ representation became common in mainstream games, The Sims allowed same-sex relationships, helping create a devoted queer fan base that reshaped what players expected from virtual worlds. In this episode, Morgan Sung talks with The Sims 4 senior designer Jessica Croft and Electronic Arts’ senior game design director Loel Phelps about the game’s unlikely emergence as one of the most queer-inclusive franchises in gaming. They explore the legendary story of how same-sex romance accidentally made it into the original game, the challenges of translating sexuality and gender into game systems, why so many LGBTQ players discovered their own identities in The Sims long before they felt safe doing so in real life — and why some players are worried about where the game might be headed. Guests: Jessica Croft, senior designer and lead designer at EA on The Sims 4 Loel Phelps, senior game design director at Maxis Further Reading/Listening: The Kiss That Changed Video Games — Simon Parkin, The New Yorker Unearthed The Sims design docs show the internal debate over same-sex relationships — Steven Messner, PC Gamer Did The Sims make you gay? - a video essay. — Alexander Avila, YouTube The Sims Knew I Was Queer Before I Did — Megan Elliot, BRICKS Magazine Gay weddings for Russia: How The Sims became a battleground for the LGBTQ+ community — Tom Regan, The Guardian The Sims designer says that the series’ diversity is “critical, especially at times like now” as the games must recognise “the fundamental truths of our humanity” to stay successful — Lewis White, FIVR Read the Transcript here Email us at CloseAllTabs@KQED.org Follow us on Instagram and TikTok Credits: Close All Tabs is hosted by Morgan Sung. Our team includes producer Maya Cueva, editor Chris Hambrick and senior editor Chris Egusa who also composed our theme song and credits music. Additional production help from Francesca Fenzi. Additional music from APM. Audio engineering by Brendan Willard and Chris Egusa. Audience engagement support from Maha Sanad. Jen Chien is our Director of Podcasts. Ethan Toven-Lindsey is our Editor in Chief. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
How To Prove You're Not AI
During a recent phone call, BBC tech columnist Thomas Germain couldn’t convince his aunt that he wasn’t AI. Being unable to distinguish a real person from a fabricated version is a problem born from the sheer volume of AI-generated content flooding the internet — and one that’s increased dramatically in the last year alone. Even world leaders are now plagued by the issue: a glitchy video of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sparked an enduring conspiracy theory that he was really dead and his public appearances on social media were an AI-driven cover up. In a world where everything looks fake, how do we know what’s real? Thomas joins the show to explain how we got here, where we might be headed, and a surprisingly analog technique that could save you from getting scammed by a deepfaked version of a loved one. Guest: Thomas Germain, co-host of the podcast The Interface, and tech columnist at the BBC. Further Reading/Listening: I tried to prove I'm not AI. My aunt wasn't convinced — Thomas Germain, BBC The Interface Podcast — BBC Benjamin Netanyahu is struggling to prove he’s not an AI clone — Jess Weatherbed, The Verge Cascade of A.I. Fakes About War With Iran Causes Chaos Online — Stuart A. Thompson and Alexander Cardia, The New York Times AI is intensifying a 'collapse' of trust online, experts say — Angela Yang, NBC News Deepfakes, Elections, and Shrinking the Liar’s Dividend — Josh A. Goldstein, Brennan Center for Justice Read the Transcript here Email us at CloseAllTabs@KQED.org Follow us on Instagram and TikTok Credits: Close All Tabs is hosted by Morgan Sung. Our team includes producer Maya Cueva, editor Chris Hambrick and senior editor Chris Egusa who also composed our theme song and credits music. Additional music from APM. Audio engineering by Brendan Willard. Audience engagement support from Maha Sanad. Jen Chien is our Director of Podcasts. Ethan Toven-Lindsey is our Editor in Chief. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Escaping the Surveillance Pricing Trap
When JetBlue replied to an angry customer on X that they should clear their cookies for a better flight price, it seemed to confirm a long-held consumer belief: companies use your personal data to determine what you should pay in real-time based on your urgency, habits and identity. It’s what’s known as surveillance pricing. According to economic sociologist Lindsay Owens, the practice is rampant. She says companies have been investing for years in sophisticated tools meant to squeeze every last dollar out of consumers — and for the most part, it’s legal. Lindsay joins Morgan to talk about how we got here, the U.S. laws designed to fight back against surveillance pricing and what you can personally do to sidestep the practice. Guest: Lindsay Owens, executive director of Groundwork Collaborative Further Reading: The Tiger Mom Tax: Asians Are Nearly Twice as Likely to Get a Higher Price from Princeton Review — Julia Angwin, Surya Mattu and Jeff Larson, Pro Publica The hidden way using a rewards card can cost you more — Geoffrey A. Fowler, Washington Post Issue Spotlight: The Rise of Surveillance Pricing — FTC Staff, Federal Trade Commission Why surveillance pricing bans are suddenly gaining traction this year (and not just in California) — Khari Johnson, CalMatters Influencers are peddling 'the library hack' as a way to score cheaper flights. Whether it works is beside the point — Grace Snelling, Fast Company Read the Transcript here Email us at CloseAllTabs@KQED.org Follow us on Instagram and TikTok Credits: Close All Tabs is hosted by Morgan Sung. Our team includes producer Maya Cueva, editor Chris Hambrick and senior editor Chris Egusa who also composed our theme song and credits music. Additional production help from Francesca Fenzi. Additional music from APM. Audio engineering by Brendan Willard. Audience engagement support from Maha Sanad. Jen Chien is our Director of Podcasts. Ethan Toven-Lindsey is our Editor in Chief. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Musk v. Altman Was Peak Silicon Valley Theatrics
For three weeks, all eyes were on a salacious courtroom drama unfolding in Oakland, California. The Musk v. Altman trial had everything you’d expect from a favorite soap opera: Backstabbing? Check! Secret diary entries? Check! Pleading text messages? Check! And two billionaire buddies turned rivals duking it out over who did or did not steal a charity. Morgan and KQED’s Rachel Myrow explore the trial highlights, outcome and the big question: what was it all for? Guests: Rachael Myrow, senior editor, Silicon Valley News Desk at KQED Further Reading/Listening: Federal Court Rules Against Elon Musk in His Bitter Feud With Sam Altman — Katie DeBenedetti and Rachael Myrow, KQED Everyone at the Musk v. Altman Trial Is Using Fancy Butt Cushions — Paresh Dave, WIRED Musk v. Altman proved that AI is led by the wrong people — Hayden Field, The Verge Sam Altman May Control Our Future—Can He Be Trusted? — Ronan Farrow and Andrew Marantz, The New Yorker Advice for 2026 commencement speakers: Don't bring up AI — Jude Joffe-Block and Michelle Aslam, NPR Read the Transcript here Email us at CloseAllTabs@KQED.orgFollow us on Instagram and TikTokCredits: Close All Tabs is hosted by Morgan Sung. Our team includes producer Maya Cueva, editor Chris Hambrick and senior editor Chris Egusa who also composed our theme song and credits music. Additional music from APM. Audio engineering by Brendan Willard. Audience engagement support from Maha Sanad. Jen Chien is our Director of Podcasts. Ethan Toven-Lindsey is our Editor in Chief. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Iran Is Winning The Slopaganda War
AI-generated Lego videos have become a tool of war. Since the U.S.-Israel war with Iran began in late February, increasingly elaborate videos featuring LEGO figures and catchy rap lyrics have been flooding our feeds. They're shareable, surprisingly high quality and they're deeply critical of the U.S. and Trump. They're also propaganda. Welcome to the age of "slopaganda" — where AI Slop meets information warfare. Michał Klincewicz, assistant professor of computational cognitive science, joins Morgan to break down the rise of slopaganda, what it's doing to our information ecosystem and why the U.S. is losing the meme war. Guest: Michał Klincewicz, assistant professor of computational cognitive science at Tilburg University. Further Reading/Listening: Slopaganda: The interaction between propaganda and generative AI — Michal Klincewicz, Mark Alfano, and Amir Ebrahimi Fard, Filosofiska Notiser Slopaganda wars: how (and why) the US and Iran are flooding the zone with viral AI-generated noise — Mark Alfano and Michal Klincewicz, The Conversation ‘Vengeance for all’: How Iran’s Lego videos won narrative war against Trump | US-Israel war on Iran News — Alia Chughtai, Al Jazeera The Team Behind a Pro-Iran, Lego-Themed Viral-Video Campaign — Kyle Chayka, The New Yorker YouTube removes pro-Iran channel producing anti-Trump videos — Alex MacDonald, Middle East Eye ‘We want the mullahs gone’: economic crisis sparks biggest protests in Iran since 2022 — Deepa Parent and William Christou, The Guardian Read the Transcript here Email us at CloseAllTabs@KQED.org Follow us on Instagram and TikTok Credits: Close All Tabs is hosted by Morgan Sung. Our team includes producer Maya Cueva, editor Chris Hambrick and senior editor Chris Egusa who also composed our theme song and credits music. Additional music from APM. Audio engineering by Brendan Willard. Audience engagement support from Maha Sanad. Jen Chien is our Director of Podcasts. Ethan Toven-Lindsey is our Editor in Chief. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
How an OnlyFans Model and a Cosplayer Are Fighting Nonconsensual Deepfake Porn
We’re diving into the world of nonconsensual deepfake porn and why this problem reaches far beyond influencers and sex workers. When users on X started asking Grok to generate explicit images of real women and girls without their consent, Twitch streamer and OnlyFans creator Morgpie watched the harassment spiral in real time. Cosplayer and software engineer Zander Small saw firsthand how nonconsensual images affected his girlfriend, a SFW creator, and her friends. The two decided to team up to build tools that help creators detect leaks, remove deepfakes, and reclaim control over their images online. Note: This episode contains mentions of gender-based violence and nonconsensual intimate imagery, which may be triggering for some listeners. Guests: Morgpie, OnlyFans creator and cofounder of Fanlock Zander Small, content creator and cofounder of Fanlock Further Reading/Listening: Influencers take on AI deepfakes with their own creator protection agency — Virginia Glaze, Dextero Musk’s Grok AI chatbot is still making sexual deepfakes, despite X’s promise to stop it — David Ingram, NBC News The Deepfake Nudes Crisis in Schools Is Much Worse Than You Thought — Matt Burgess, WIRED Take It Down Act: How to use it to remove revenge porn — Jasmine Mithani, The 19th Image-Based Sexual Abuse Laws: Combat Nonconsensual AI Deepfakes — RAINN AI & Tech-Enabled Sexual Abuse: Risk & Prevention — RAINN Deepfake Statistics 2025: AI Fraud Data & Trends — Mohammed Khalil, DeepStrike Read the Transcript here Email us at CloseAllTabs@KQED.org Follow us on Instagram and TikTok Credits: Close All Tabs is hosted by Morgan Sung. Our team includes producer Maya Cueva, editor Chris Hambrick and senior editor Chris Egusa who also composed our theme song and credits music. Additional music from APM. Audio engineering by Brendan Willard. Audience engagement support from Maha Sanad. Jen Chien is our Director of Podcasts. Ethan Toven-Lindsey is our Editor in Chief. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
My Therapist Is a Chatbot (Reload)
What happens when your therapist is… a chatbot? For KQED health reporter Lesley McClurg, it started with a late-night spiral over dating. Instead of texting a friend, she opened ChatGPT and got the kind of calm, reassuring advice she needed. It worked… maybe a little too well. Lesley joins Morgan to dig into the rise of AI therapy, why so many people are turning to chatbots for emotional support, and what they might be risking in the process. These systems promise something traditional mental health care often can’t: instant, affordable, judgment-free access. But there are limits and, sometimes, serious consequences. Note: This episode includes discussions of suicide and mental health conditions. Listener discretion is advised. This episode first aired on April 23rd, 2025 Guest: Lesley McClurg, KQED health correspondent Further Reading/Listening: Can AI Replace Your Therapist? The Benefits, Risks and Unsettling Truths - Lesley McClurg, KQED The AI therapist can see you now - Katia Riddle, NPR Woebot, a Mental-Health Chatbot, Tries Out Generative AI - Casey Sackett, Devin Harper, and Aaron Pavez, IEEE Spectrum AI Prophets and Spiritual Delusions — Close All Tabs New Studies Reveal Mental Health Blindspots of AI Chatbots — Marlynn Wei, Psychology Today AI in the mental health care workforce is met with fear, pushback — and enthusiasm — Rhitu Chatterjee, NPR Read the Transcript here Email us at CloseAllTabs@KQED.org Follow us on Instagram and TikTok Credits: Close All Tabs is hosted by Morgan Sung. Our team includes producer Maya Cueva, editor Chris Hambrick and senior editor Chris Egusa who also composed our theme song and credits music. Additional music from APM. Audio engineering by Brendan Willard. Audience engagement support from Maha Sanad. Jen Chien is our Director of Podcasts. Ethan Toven-Lindsey is our Editor in Chief. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Somebody’s Watching Me: The Crackdown on Stalkerware
In 2018, researcher Eva Galperin made a discovery about a colleague. He had been sexually abusing women for decades, and threatening to expose their private information using “stalkerware” — hidden applications that allow people to spy on another person’s private life through their mobile device. This set Eva on a new path. She went on to found the Coalition Against Stalkerware, a network of researchers and advocacy groups working to limit the spread of stalkerware and support survivors of tech-enabled abuse. Eva joins Morgan to talk about how her background in cybersecurity allowed her to help countless survivors of stalkerware abuse, and how activists and researchers are beginning to turn the tide against a sprawling, largely hidden industry. Guest: Eva Galperin, director of cybersecurity at the Electronic Frontier Foundation Further Reading/Listening: What is stalkerware? — Coalition Against Stalkerware Hacked, leaked, exposed: Why you should never use stalkerware apps — Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai, TechCrunch When whisper networks let us down — Sarah Jeong, The Verge Spyware Company Leaves ‘Terabytes’ of Selfies, Text Messages, and Location Data Exposed Online — Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai, Vice A massive 'stalkerware' leak puts the phone data of thousands at risk — Zack Whittaker, TechCrunch Support King, banned by FTC, linked to new phone spying operation — Zack Whittaker, TechCrunch EFF Teams Up With AV Comparatives to Test Android Stalkerware Detection by Major Antivirus Apps — Eva Galperin, Electronic Frontier Foundation Read the Transcript here Email us at CloseAllTabs@KQED.org Follow us on Instagram and TikTok Credits: Close All Tabs is hosted by Morgan Sung. Our team includes producer Maya Cueva, editor Chris Hambrick and senior editor Chris Egusa who also composed our theme song and credits music. Additional music from APM. Audio engineering by Brendan Willard and Brian Douglass. Audience engagement support from Maha Sanad. Jen Chien is our Director of Podcasts. Ethan Toven-Lindsey is our Editor in Chief. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The H-1B Visa Process But Make It a Video Game
Life on an H-1B visa — a visa that lets U.S. companies hire foreign-born workers for specialized jobs — is difficult, unpredictable, and has gotten even harder under the Trump administration. A new gaming studio, Reality Reload, is trying to capture that experience in a mobile game. It’s called H1B.Life, and it simulates the difficult choices, competing priorities, and personal sacrifices visa holders face — complete with chaotic design elements, like all-powerful “gods” who control your fate. KQED reporter Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman joins Morgan to break down the game’s surprising design choices, the mission behind it, and the stories he heard from people navigating the H1-B process. Guest: Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman, reporter at KQED Further Reading/Listening: What Does It Take to Get a H-1B Visa? This Video Game Shows Just How Complicated It Is — Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman, KQED Meta, Google, and Amazon slash H-1B petitions after Trump's visa crackdown — Geoff Weiss, Melia Russell, Andy Kiersz, and Alex Nicoll, Business Insider Faculty Warn Against State Bans on H-1B Visas — Jessica Blake, Inside Higher Ed H-1B Visa Restrictions Will Hurt America’s Research Potential, Experts Say — Shelby Bradford, PhD, The Scientist US Tech Visa Applications Are Being Put Through the Wringer — Lauren Goode, Wired A New Game Turns the H-1B Visa System Into a Surreal Simulation — Zeyi Yang, Wired Read the Transcript here Email us at CloseAllTabs@KQED.org Follow us on Instagram and TikTok Credits: Close All Tabs is hosted by Morgan Sung. Our team includes producer Maya Cueva, editor Chris Hambrick and senior editor Chris Egusa who also composed our theme song and credits music. Additional music from APM. Audio engineering by Brendan Willard. Audience engagement support from Maha Sanad. Jen Chien is our Director of Podcasts. Ethan Toven-Lindsey is our Editor in Chief. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Save or Scroll: Looksmaxxing, AI Fruit Love Island, BTS Arirang, and Meta Lawsuits
In a spring installment of Save or Scroll, Morgan teams up with culture journalist Steffi Cao to dig into the stories they can’t stop thinking about. From looksmaxxing to AI Fruit Love Island, BTS’ new album, and Meta losing a landmark series of lawsuits, they’ve got a lot to discuss. Save or Scroll is our series where we team up with guests for a rapid-fire roundup of internet trends that are filling our feeds right now. At the end of each segment, they’ll decide: is the post just for the group chat, or should we save it for a future episode? Guest: Steffi Cao, culture journalist Further Reading/Listening: More from Steffi Cao — Substack Inside Clavicular’s Thirsty Tour of New York City — Kieran Press-Reynolds, GQ Why Steroids Are Now Turning Young Men into Dangerous Incels — Steffi Cao, The Daily Beast ‘Fruit Love Island’ is TikTok’s most popular AI-generated series. It’s now facing trouble in paradise — Jude Cramer, Fast Company There’s Something Very Dark About a Lot of Those Viral AI Fruit Videos — Kat Tenbarge, Wired Who Decides If BTS’s Album ‘Arirang’ is ‘Korean Enough’? — Jiye Kim, Teen Vogue BTS’s Arirang comeback was supposed to be a triumph. What happened? — Nadira Goffe, Slate Meta and YouTube ordered to pay $3 million to young woman in social media addiction trial — Jasmine Mithani, The 19th What the Verdict Against Meta and Google Says About the Way We Live Now — Jeannie Suk Gersen, The New Yorker The Truth About the Social Media Addiction Trial — Taylor Lorenz, Free Speech Friday Read the Transcript here Email us at CloseAllTabs@KQED.org Follow us on Instagram and TikTok Credits: Close All Tabs is hosted by Morgan Sung. Our team includes producer Maya Cueva, editor Chris Hambrick and senior editor Chris Egusa who also composed our theme song and credits music. Additional music from APM. Audio engineering by Brendan Willard. Audience engagement support from Maha Sanad. Jen Chien is our Director of Podcasts. Ethan Toven-Lindsey is our Editor in Chief. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The Secret Lives of Mormon Momfluencers
Only 2% of Americans identify as members of the Church of Latter-day Saints — and yet a striking number of American social media influencers are Mormon. Why? The answer lies in a mix of religious doctrine, early internet adoption, and some surprising financial incentives. In this episode, author and journalist Fortesa Latifi returns to the show to unpack her research for her new book, Like, Follow, Subscribe: Influencer Kids and the Cost of a Childhood Online. She breaks down the hidden industry behind Mormon “momfluencers,” how these creators both uphold and push against a patriarchal system, and why the trad wife fantasy can be damaging far beyond their audience. Plus, she and Morgan tackle the question hanging over reality TV fans everywhere: “Will MomTok survive this?” Guest: Fortesa Latifi, journalist and author of Like, Follow, Subscribe: Influencer Kids and the Cost of a Childhood Online. Further Reading/Listening: Like, Follow, Subscribe: Influencer Kids and the Cost of a Childhood Online — Fortesa Latifi, Simon & Schuster the Mormon Church pays its influencers — Fortesa Latifi, What’s The Vibe A Refresher on the Mormon MomTok Drama — Danielle Cohen, Olivia Truffaut-Wong, and Julia Reinstein, The Cut 'The Bachelorette' Cast Taylor Frankie Paul For The Mess. They Got It. So, Who's To Blame? — Katherine Singh, Refinery 29 'The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives' Shows the Trad Wife Reality — Quinci LeGardye, Marie Claire Does the LDS Church pay influencers? Well, actually, yes. — Dylan Eubank, The Salt Lake Tribune Meet the queen of the ‘trad wives’ (and her eight children) — Megan Agnew, The Times Tradwife life isn't as good as it looks on TikTok — just ask former tradwives — Isabella Gomez Sarmiento, NPR Read the Transcript here Email us at CloseAllTabs@KQED.org Follow us on Instagram and TikTok Credits: Close All Tabs is hosted by Morgan Sung. Our team includes producer Maya Cueva, editor Chris Hambrick and senior editor Chris Egusa who also composed our theme song and credits music. Additional music from APM. Audio engineering by Brendan Willard. Audience engagement support from Maha Sanad. Jen Chien is our Director of Podcasts. Ethan Toven-Lindsey is our Editor in Chief. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Bee Movie, "We Are Charlie Kirk," and the Enduring Bait-and-Switch Meme
According to all known laws of aviation, there is no way a bee should be able to fly. Its wings are too small to get its fat little body off the ground. The bee, of course, flies anyway because bees don't care what humans think is impossible. In 2007, Bee Movie hit theaters with a strange plot and was considered a box office flop. Nearly two decades later, it’s somehow more relevant than ever, not because of the movie itself, but because of what happened next. The script became a meme, then a prank, then, eventually, a tool for protest. In this episode, host Morgan Sung traces the evolution of bait-and-switch memes, from early internet shock images to the rise of the “Never Gonna Give You Up” rickroll, all the way to TikTok-era pranks that burn out as quickly as they go viral. Along the way, she talks to Bee Movie co-writer Spike Feresten about how the film became an unlikely internet icon, and to digital rhetoric expert Bret Strauch about what makes a meme actually stick. Guests: Spike Feresten, screenwriter and comedian Bret Strauch, assistant professor of digital media, University of Colorado Boulder Further Reading/Listening: Behind the scenes content on the making of this episode! MEMES, Part 3: Gotta make you understand — Endless Thread A Complete History of Bee Movie’s Many, Many Memes — Paris Martineau, Intelligencer Why Did Bee Movie Become A Meme? — Joshua Kristian McCoy, GameRant The Josh Hutcherson ‘Whistle’ edit meme, explained — Ana Diaz, Polygon ‘His courage our own’: This Charlie Kirk tribute song is blowing up on Spotify. Was it made by a human—or AI? — Braden Bjella, The Mary Sue Read the Transcript here Email us at CloseAllTabs@KQED.org Follow us on Instagram and TikTok Credits: Close All Tabs is hosted by Morgan Sung. Our team includes producer Maya Cueva, editor Chris Hambrick and senior editor Chris Egusa who also composed our theme song and credits music. Additional music from APM. Audio engineering by Brendan Willard. Audience engagement support from Maha Sanad. Jen Chien is our Director of Podcasts. Ethan Toven-Lindsey is our Editor in Chief. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
To Hack a Tractor: How Farmers Won the Right to Repair
What do pissed off farmers and broken McFlurry machines have to do with each other? More than you’d think. Both are part of the story behind the modern right-to-repair movement. In this episode, Jason Koebler, tech journalist and co-founder at 404 Media, explains how an unlikely alliance between Midwestern farmers and electronics repair technicians helped win right-to repair protections across multiple states — and why the farmers’ fight to fix their own tractors is far from over. Guest: Jason Koebler, tech journalist and co-founder of 404 Media Further Reading/Listening: It Is Now Legal to Hack McFlurry Machines (and Medical Devices) to Fix Them — Jason Koebler, 404 Media The Walls Are Closing in on John Deere’s Tractor Repair Monopoly — Jason Koebler, 404 Media EPA Affirms Farmers’ Right to Repair — Lisa Held, Civil Eats The Latest Repair Battlefield Is the Iowa Farmlands—Again — Boone Ashworth, Wired How John Deere hijacked copyright law to keep you from tinkering with your tractor — Luke Hogg, Reason Magazine Tractor-Hacking Farmers Are Leading a Revolt Against Big Tech's Repair Monopolies — Jason Koebler, Vice Why American Farmers Are Hacking Their Tractors With Ukrainian Firmware — Jason Koebler, Vice Read the Transcript here Email us at CloseAllTabs@KQED.org Follow us on Instagram and TikTok Credits: Close All Tabs is hosted by Morgan Sung. Our team includes producer Maya Cueva, editor Chris Hambrick and senior editor Chris Egusa who also composed our theme song and credits music. Additional producing support by Gabriela Glueck. Additional music from APM. Audio engineering by Brendan Willard. Audience engagement support from Maha Sanad. Jen Chien is our Director of Podcasts. Ethan Toven-Lindsey is our Editor in Chief. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The Fight for Your Right to Repair
Today’s culture of overconsumption urges us to simply throw broken items away and buy new ones. But there’s a growing shift to treat non-working devices differently. In this episode, we dig into the “right to repair” movement with Louis Rossmann, a repair technician, YouTuber and consumer rights advocate. Rossmann has spent years pushing back against the companies that make our devices harder, or even impossible, to fix. From parts pairing to “authorized repair” loopholes, we unpack how tech companies maintain control over the products you’ve already paid for. As devices like phones and even cars move toward subscription-based use models, we examine the question ‘do you truly own something if you can’t repair it?’ Guest: Louis Rossmann, repair technician and advocate at Rossman Repair Group Further Reading/Listening: The Gloves Are Off in the Fight for Your Right to Repair — Boone Ashworth, WIRED Apple founder Steve Wozniak backs right-to-repair movement — BBC Clippy is back—this time as a mascot for Big Tech protests — Eve Upton-Clark, Fast Company Wheelchair Users Are Finally Winning the Right to Repair — Julia Métraux, Mother Jones A Growing ‘Right to Repair’ Culture in California — Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman, KQED’s The Bay Read the Transcript here Email us at CloseAllTabs@KQED.org Follow us on Instagram and TikTok Credits: Close All Tabs is hosted by Morgan Sung. Our team includes producer Maya Cueva, editor Chris Hambrick and senior editor Chris Egusa who also composed our theme song and credits music. Additional producing support by Gabriela Glueck. Additional music from APM. Audio engineering by Brendan Willard. Audience engagement support from Maha Sanad. Jen Chien is our Director of Podcasts. Ethan Toven-Lindsey is our Editor in Chief. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
