Close All Tabs
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Close All Tabs
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...
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Beyond the AI Hype Machine
When ChatGPT launched in 2022, it kicked off what some have called the “AI hype machine” — a frenzy of promotion and investment that has sent some tec...
The All-Seeing Eyes of Modern Dating
What happens to dating when every misstep has the potential to go viral? That’s what happened in 2022, when social media posts warning about a few bad...
In Search of Thock: The Quest for the Perfect Keyboard
“Clacky,” “Poppy,” and "Thocky" may sound like the latest cereal elves, but they’re actually terms to describe the sounds of typing on a mechanical ke...
AI Prophets and Spiritual Delusions
AI delusions, chatbot psychosis, AI-induced religious mania… The phenomenon goes by many names, but the common thread is the same: someone starts talk...
Groypers, Doxxing and Charlie Kirk’s Death as a S***post
What is a “groyper?” The term began trending on Google in the aftermath of Charlie Kirk’s death. Kirk, the right-wing podcaster and Turning Point USA...
23andMe (andGeneticPrivacy)
When 23andMe filed for bankruptcy earlier this year, it set off alarm bells among privacy experts and consumers alike. According to a 2025 survey, abo...
From MIT’s TeachLab: The Homework Machine
The Close All Tabs team is taking the week off, but we wanted to share something else we think you’ll be into: a new mini series from MIT’s TeachLab P...
Teachers Strike Back Against AI Cheating
Cheating in school isn’t new. But with AI making it easier than ever, teachers face a new challenge: where to draw the line and how to make sure stude...
Before ChatGPT, There Were 'Shadow Scholars'
Thousands of writers in Kenya make their living ghostwriting academic papers for wealthy Western students. It’s an industry known as “contract cheati...
Does Gen Z Have A Staring Problem?
Have you heard of the “Gen Z stare”? It’s the blank look some Gen Zers seem to give instead of the usual greetings or small talk—and it’s the latest s...
Is Algospeak Coming for Us?
Social media creators started using words like “unalive” and “seggs” to dodge algorithmic filters that might suppress “inappropriate” content. But the...
Save or Scroll: ICE + Influencers, Data Hygiene on Grindr, and Labubu Desserts
In another installment of Save or Scroll, Morgan teams up with internet culture writers Daysia Tolentino and Moises Mendez II to dig into the stories...
Bonus: A Big Win for the Internet Archive
Who decides what is and isn’t a library? The Internet Archive now has federal depository status, joining a network of over 1,100 libraries that archiv...
OGs of Tech: A Latino Engineer in Silicon Valley
In a field obsessed with the future, sometimes it’s worth looking back. OGs of Tech is a new occasional series from Close All Tabs that looks beyond t...
Teens Under the Influence (of Chatbots)
Young people are increasingly turning to AI “companion chatbots” to meet their emotional needs. But a new study shows that these chatbots, which are d...
How the Furry Fandom Says Goodbye
Furries are often known for wearing full-body animal suits at conventions — but the characters they inhabit, called “fursonas,” are much more than cos...
Curls, Coils, and Pixels: Researchers Crack the Code on Black Hair Animation
The animation industry has long struggled to get Black hair right — from the infamous “Killmonger locs,” named after the Black Panther character and c...
The Spotify Effect, Pt 2: Micro-Genre Madness
Spotify didn’t just change how we listen to music — it changed what a genre even is. In this episode, producer and rapper Quinn reflects on being thru...
Elon's Great Crash-Out / Unmasked in LA
Elon Musk and President Trump breaking up? LA protesters clashing with law enforcement? Waymos on fire (again)? Things have been moving fast the last...
The Spotify Effect, Pt 1: Ghosts in the Playlist
Spotify has morphed from a straightforward music library and search engine into a data-driven system built to feed you songs to match your mood and op...
Do You Hear What I Hear? Audio Illusions and Misinformation
Are you old enough to remember the “Magic Eye” optical illusion mania that gripped the nation in the 90’s—random patterns that you had to squint at ju...
Why Can’t Hentai Go Legit?
Hentai, sexually explicit Japanese animation (anime) and comics (manga), is a genre that’s been criticized for depicting violent or ethically question...
The Surveillance Machine, Pt 2: No Opt-Out
Think you can opt out of surveillance? Think again. Our locations, behaviors, and images are being tracked at unprecedented levels — and private tech...
The Surveillance Machine, Pt 1: How We Got Here
The tools of high tech surveillance are increasingly all around us: security cameras in public and embedded in doorbells, location data on your phone,...
Recession Indicator Memes Are Getting Too Real
Recession indicator memes are everywhere, pointing to everything from office wear at the club to Lady Gaga’s return to pop music as signs of looming e...
How Safe is AI Therapy?
After a divorce, KQED health reporter Lesley McClurg felt anxious over the prospect of dating again. On a whim, she turned to ChatGPT for a little emo...
Twitter on a Vape: Puff, Post, Pollute
In this episode, tech reporter Samatha Cole shares what happened when she tried to “vape the internet” after seeing a viral post about a disposable to...
Save or Scroll: Manosphere Mornings, Luigi Sex Tape Rumors, and the Art of the Hard Launch
We can’t cover every wild post from every corner of the internet — and not everything online warrants a full multi-tab journey. That’s where Save or S...
The Broligarchy Pt 2: Is this Techno-Fascism?
The ”broligarchy” didn’t come together in a vacuum — this combination of extreme wealth, right wing leanings, and an anti-establishment point of view...
The Broligarchy Pt 1: Chronicles of the PayPal Mafia
The term “broligarchy” refers to the Silicon Valley elite tech leaders who have accumulated vast amounts of wealth, power, and now, political control...
What Happens if the Internet Archive Goes Dark?
For decades, the Internet Archive has preserved our digital history. Lately, journalists and ordinary citizens have been turning to it more than ever,...
Waymo Problems
Self-driving Waymo robotaxis have become a familiar sight in cities like San Francisco and Los Angeles, but not everyone is happy about that. These “g...
Children of the Vlog
The world of family vlogging is under scrutiny after the release of two new documentaries: HBO’s “An Update on Our Family” and Hulu’s “Devil in the Fa...
TikTok's Vibe Shift
On January 18, 2025, TikTok went down for U.S. users. After just 14 hours, it was back. Since then, questions have been swirling online. Has the algor...
Introducing Close All Tabs
New episodes drop weekly starting February 26!
Tech journalist Morgan Sung spends most of her day online—so you don’t have to. Each week, Morga...
Influencer Endorsements Gone Wild
This episode was originally published November 2, 2024.
In this final episode of the Close All Tabs miniseries, host Morgan Sung examine...
Stan Wars, The Fandom Menace
This episode was originally published October 26, 2024.
In this episode of Close All Tabs, host Morgan Sung examines the rise of “stan c...
Couch F***** Memes vs The Truth
This episode was originally published October 19, 2024.
In this episode of Close All Tabs, host Morgan Sung dives into the world of vira...
From the Dean Scream to Brat Memes
This episode was originally published October 12, 2024.
Welcome to Close All Tabs, a special KQED podcast series exploring the intersect...