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.
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Introducing Close All Tabs
lundi 10 février 2025 • Durée 02:00
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, Morgan tackles a new topic that might seem niche on the surface but is destined to impact our lives—both online and off. She pulls from experts, creators, 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.
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Influencer Endorsements Gone Wild
Épisode 4
mardi 14 janvier 2025 • Durée 36:43
This episode was originally published November 2, 2024.
In this final episode of the Close All Tabs miniseries, host Morgan Sung examines the increasing power of social media influencers in politics. Joined by WIRED senior tech and politics writer Makena Kelly, Morgan dives into the growing tensions between influencers and traditional journalists and explores how “shadow money” is quietly flowing to influencers for political endorsements, keeping the public in the dark about who’s funding content.
Read the transcript of this episode here.
Want to give us feedback on the series? Shoot us an email at podcasts@KQED.org
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Stan Wars, The Fandom Menace
mardi 14 janvier 2025 • Durée 33:52
This episode was originally published October 26, 2024.
In this episode of Close All Tabs, host Morgan Sung examines the rise of “stan culture” in politics, where passionate supporters rally around political figures with the same fervor typically reserved for pop stars. Morgan is joined by tech and culture reporter Kat Tenbarge to unpack the evolution of cults of personality in digital spaces, what makes some candidates more “stan-worthy” than others, and how all of this has troubling implications for public discourse.
Read the transcript here.
Want to give us feedback on the series? Shoot us an email at podcasts@KQED.org
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Couch F***** Memes vs The Truth
Épisode 2
mardi 14 janvier 2025 • Durée 36:47
This episode was originally published October 19, 2024.
In this episode of Close All Tabs, host Morgan Sung dives into the world of viral political memes with TechCrunch senior writer Amanda Silberling, unraveling the origins of the infamous JD Vance “couch rumor.” What began as a seemingly frivolous post on X about the Republican VP nominee spiraled into a meme with real-world consequences, shifting the tone of the race. Morgan is also joined by Imran Ahmed, CEO of the Center for Countering Digital Hate, to explore the fragile line between satire and disinformation in modern politics.
Read the transcript here.
Want to give us feedback on the series? Shoot us an email at podcasts@KQED.org
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From the Dean Scream to Brat Memes
Épisode 1
mardi 14 janvier 2025 • Durée 39:02
This episode was originally published October 12, 2024.
Welcome to Close All Tabs, a special KQED podcast series exploring the intersection of internet culture and politics. In this first episode, host Morgan Sung takes us through the evolution of online campaigning—from the early days of dial-up modems to today’s Twitch streams. We’ll revisit iconic moments like “the Dean scream” and “Pokemon Go to the polls,” examine how memes became a legitimate political force, and discuss why Kamala Harris and Donald Trump are turning to podcasters and streamers to reach voters.
Read the transcript here.
Want to give us feedback on the series? Shoot us an email at podcasts@KQED.org
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TikTok's Vibe Shift
Saison 1 · Épisode 5
mercredi 26 février 2025 • Durée 30:10
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 algorithm changed? Was the ban just a ruse? Has TikTok gone… conservative? In this episode, internet culture expert Taylor Lorenz joins Morgan to break down the answers to those questions. They’ll dig into the real reasons for the ban and what the future holds for progressive speech on an internet that has been drifting steadily to the right.
Read the transcript here.
Want to give us feedback on the series? Shoot us an email at CloseAllTabs@KQED.org
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Children of the Vlog
Saison 1 · Épisode 6
mercredi 5 mars 2025 • Durée 31:31
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 Family: The Fall of Ruby Franke.” The attention around Myka Stauffer and Ruby Franke has brought up questions about the dark side of family channels, and whether child influencers should have more say in their internet presence.
In this episode, Morgan takes us through the family channel industry and the lack of legal protections for children online. We’ll hear from a former “mommy blogger kid” who’s fighting for the next generation of internet child stars, as well as Fortesa Latifi, a journalist who covers the industry. Together we’ll explore how posting and consuming this kind of content impacts the children growing up on our screens.
Further reading:
Influencer Parents and The Kids Who Had Their Childhood Made Into Content
Read the transcript of the episode here
Want to give us feedback on the series? Shoot us an email at CloseAllTabs@KQED.org
You can also follow us on Instagram
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Waymo Problems
Saison 1 · Épisode 7
mercredi 12 mars 2025 • Durée 30:59
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 “ghost-like” autonomous vehicles have made a lot of people uneasy, some even going as far as to vandalize the cars. But what’s behind this hostility? In this episode, Morgan speaks with Bloomberg journalist Ellen Huet and robot law professor Ryan Calo to explore the rise of Waymo vandalism and its roots in our collective anxiety over artificial intelligence.
Guests:
Ellen Huet, Features writer at Bloomberg News
Ryan Calo, Professor of Law at University of Washington
Further reading:
Waymo’s Expansion Provokes Anxieties of AI Takeover – Ellen Huet, Bloomberg
The next big robotaxi push is almost here — Harri Weber, Quartz
The Courts Can Handle the Deadly Uber Self-Driving Car Crash. But that doesn’t mean the law is ready for autonomous vehicles. — Ryan Calo, Slate
Good Robot, Bad Robot: Dark and Creepy Sides of Robotics, Autonomous Vehicles, and AI — Jo Ann Oravec, Professor at the University of Wisconsin
Read the transcript here.
Want to give us feedback on the series? Shoot us an email at CloseAllTabs@KQED.org
You can also follow us on Instagram
Credits:
This episode was reported and hosted by Morgan Sung. It was produced and sound designed by Maya Cueva. Chris Egusa is our Senior Editor. Additional editing by Jen Chien. Original music by Chris Egusa, with additional music from APM. Audience engagement support from Maha Sanad and Alana Walker. Katie Sprenger is our Podcast Operations Manager. Holly Kernan is our Chief Content Officer.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The Broligarchy Pt 1: Chronicles of the PayPal Mafia
Saison 1 · Épisode 9
mercredi 26 mars 2025 • Durée 37:29
The term “broligarchy” refers to the Silicon Valley elite tech leaders who have accumulated vast amounts of wealth, power, and now, political control over the last quarter century. In the first of a two-part series, Morgan dives deep into one highly influential subset of this “broligarchy,” the so-called PayPal Mafia. Joined by The Guardian reporter Chris McGreal, we explore this group’s rise to political prominence, and look at some of its members' roots in an oppressive political regime.
Guest:
Chris McGreal, Reporter for The Guardian
Further reading:
“How the roots of the ‘PayPal mafia’ extend to apartheid South Africa” — Chris McGreal, The Guardian
“‘White supremacists in suits and ties’: the rightwing Afrikaner group in Trump’s ear” — Chris McGreal, The Guardian
“Is South Africa ‘confiscating land’, targeting some groups as Trump claims?” — Qaanitah Hunter, Al Jazeera
Read the transcript here
Want to give us feedback on the series? Shoot us an email at CloseAllTabs@KQED.org
You can also follow us on Instagram
Credits:
This episode was reported and hosted by Morgan Sung. Our Producer is Maya Cueva. Chris Egusa is our Senior Editor. Additional editing by Jen Chien. Sound design by Maya Cueva and Chris Egusa. Original music by Chris Egusa, with additional music from APM. Mixing and mastering by Brendan Willard. Audience engagement support from Maha Sanad and Alana Walker. Katie Sprenger is our Podcast Operations Manager. Holly Kernan is our Chief Content Officer.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
What Happens if the Internet Archive Goes Dark?
Saison 1 · Épisode 8
mercredi 19 mars 2025 • Durée 34:29
For decades, the Internet Archive has preserved our digital history. Lately, journalists and ordinary citizens have been turning to it more than ever, as the Trump administration undertakes an ideologically-driven purge of government websites. But the Archive itself faces an existential threat. In this episode, Close All Tabs Senior Editor Chris Egusa joins Morgan to discuss his visit to the Internet Archive and its colorful founder Brewster Kahle, the legal battles that could shut it down permanently — and what losing it might mean for accountability and the preservation of history.
Guest:
Brewster Kahle, Founder of the Internet Archive
Further reading:
Inside the $621 Million Legal Battle for the ‘Soul of the Internet’ – Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone
Open Internet, web scraping, and AI: the unbreakable link — Julius Cerniauskas, TechRadar
Musicians demand music labels drop their Internet Archive lawsuit — Ian Carlos Campbell, Engadget
Read the transcript here.
Want to give us feedback on the series? Shoot us an email at CloseAllTabs@KQED.org
You can also follow us on Instagram
Credits:
This episode was reported and hosted by Morgan Sung. Our Producer is Maya Cueva. Chris Egusa is our Senior Editor. Additional editing by Jen Chien. Original music and sound design by Chris Egusa, with additional music from APM. Mixing, mastering, and additional sound design by Brendan Willard. Audience engagement support from Maha Sanad and Alana Walker. Katie Sprenger is our Podcast Operations Manager. Holly Kernan is our Chief Content Officer.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices