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 SungΒ pulls from experts, the audience, and history to add context to the trends and depth to the memes. And sheβll wrestle with as many browser tabs as it takes to explain the cultural moment weβre 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.Β
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,Β Itβs Been a Minute, and Youβre Wrong About.Β If you like them too, then trust usβyouβll like Close All Tabs.
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People really seem to hate data centers. And the more people learn about the amount of resources these server-packed buildings need, the bigger the backlash grows. Perhaps thatβs why the viral music video and beverage ad βWe Want Your Peeβ took off in popularity about a month ago. Itβs a collaboration between Liquid Death and Jason Kelceβs Garage Beer, and it advocates that urine could address the cooling needs of data centers. Itβs obviously a jokeβ¦ but could it actually work? Host Morgan Sung talks to journalist Amanda Silberling about what she discovered when she looked into this question, and about the alternative cooling methods that might actually help everyoneβs least favorite buildings use a little less H2O.
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Guest:
Amanda Silberling, senior writer at TechCrunch
Further Reading/Listening:
OK, can we actually cool data centers with our pee? β Amanda Silberling, TechCrunch
AI was supposed to win people over by now -- it hasn't β Sarah Perez, TechCrunch
Major YouTube creators are facing backlash for accepting AI money β Charles Pulliam-Moore, The Verge
Why OpenAIβs influencer trip backfired β The Art of Influence
Americansβ views of data centers have turned more negative β Brian Kennedy, Pew Research
NASA just recycled 98% of all astronaut pee and sweat on the ISS (engineers are thrilled) β Robert Lea, Space
Read the Transcript here
Email us at CloseAllTabs@KQED.org
Follow us on β Instagramβ and β TikTokβ
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.Β Additional production support from Cayla Mihalovich. 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.
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AI, Artists, and the Future of Creative Work from Life, Automated | Close All Tabs Presents
Wednesday, September 23, 2026 β’ Duration 51:32
While the Close All Tabs team churns out our next few episodes, we bring you this must-listen from Life, Automated. Generative AI is able to conjure new images, stories, and songs at lightning speed. So what does this mean for humans artists, storytellers and musicians?Β
Life, Automated Host Jess Love explores what happens when AI enters creative markets. We learn that, at least today, key bottlenecks prevent AI from replicating some aspects of creativity. But thereβs no guarantee those bottlenecks will exist tomorrow, raising vital questions about what we value in human labor.
Life, Automated is a series about how to live, work and make decisions in a world increasingly shaped by machines. It is a production of the Ryan Institute on Complexity at Northwesternβs Kellogg School of Management and it is distributed by KQED.
Β
Host and Senior Director: Jess Love
Producer:Β Steven JacksonΒ
Senior Producer: Jesse Dukes
Music: Steven Jackson
Associate Producer: Stacia Sliger
Recording: George Christensen, Will Feeney
Promotional help from Ananya Mallapragada and Charlotte Simmons.
Music provided by Steven Jackson, Cue Shop and Neutral Propulsion Laboratory
Guests:Β
Ben Jones, economist, co-director of the Ryan Institute on ComplexityΒ
Sam Goldberg, assistant professor of marketing, Stanford
Yevgenia Nayberg, artist, illustrator, childrenβs book author
Further Reading/Listening:
Generative AI & Creative Goods: Market Expansion, Crowd-out, and Copyright βΒ Samuel Goldberg, Stanford Graduate School of Business
βLife, Automatedβ explores how AI is reshaping our world β Roger Anderson, Northwestern Kellogg
Life, Automated Podcast β KQED
Read the Transcript here
Email us at CloseAllTabs@KQED.org
Follow us on β Instagramβ and β TikTokβ
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 support from Pauline Bartolone. 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.
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Save or Scroll: Fake NFL Players, Girly Coding, AI Music Scams and Community Garden Drama
Wednesday, September 16, 2026 β’ Duration 42:00
Host Morgan Sung and the Close All Tabs team pull up the stories they canβt stop thinking about. From a fake NFL player catfishing women on dating apps, to femme creators reclaiming tech, indie musicians fighting AI music slop, and a comedian dishing out the juiciest community garden gossip β theyβve got a lot to chew on.
Save or Scroll is our series where Morgan teams up with guests for a rapid-fire roundup of internet trends that are filling their feeds right now. At the end of each segment, theyβll decide: is the post just for the group chat, or should we save it for a future episode?
Guests:
Chris Egusa, senior editor for Close All Tabs
Maya Cueva, producer for Close All Tabs
Chris Hambrick, editor for Close All Tabs
Lauren Yoon, intern for Close All Tabs
Further Reading/Listening:
Who would fall in love with a fake NFL player? Plenty of sensible people βΒ Dave Schilling, The Guardian
Programming patterns: the story of the Jacquard loom βΒ Science and Industry Museum
Spotify will label 'AI Persona' profiles and exclude their music from recommendations βΒ Sarah Perez, TechCrunch
OpenAIβs rogue AI model incident was worse than we thought βΒ Hayden Field, The Verge
How Hollywood Translated The Epic Poetry Of The Viral 'Zola' Thread βΒ Mallory Yu, NPR
Community Garden dramaΒ βΒ Sarah Neiman, Instagram
Read the Transcript here
Email us at CloseAllTabs@KQED.org
Follow us on β Instagramβ and β TikTokβ
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.
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Close All Tabs Presents Snap Judgment: Runaway Car
Wednesday, September 9, 2026 β’ Duration 43:20
Close All Tabs is on break this week, but weβre sharing a captivating episode about technology gone wrong from our friends at KQEDβs Snap Judgment.Β
A 19 year old picks up his familyβs car from the auto mechanic shop, but a few minutes into the drive home the vehicle begins suddenly accelerating and wonβt respond to any of his attempts to get it to stop. As his speed continues to build, state troopers have to catch up and think quickly to come up with a way to prevent a tragedy from happening on the road.
The Snap Judgment podcast mixes real stories with original music to create cinematic, dramatic audio. Snapβs musical brand of storytelling dares listeners to see the world through the eyes of another. Listen on any podcast platform.
Website:
https://snapjudgment.org/Β
Socials:Β
https://www.instagram.com/snapjudgmentradio
https://x.com/snapjudgmentΒ
Further Reading/Listening:
VroomΒ β Snap Judgment Podcast
Email us at CloseAllTabs@KQED.org
Follow us on Instagramβ and β TikTokβ
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
What Happened to the Quantified Self Movement?
Wednesday, September 2, 2026 β’ Duration 33:30
Before Apple Watches, Oura Rings and Fitbits delivered mountains of health data to the masses, a group of obsessive self-tracking enthusiasts in Silicon Valley started a movement with the tagline βself-knowledge through numbers.β This was the Quantified Self. From tracking βurges to take aspirinβ to using infrared cameras to keep tabs on sleeping positions while snoring, these eccentric knowledge-seekers built a community around technical expertise and an ethos of self-discovery. Reporter Gabriela Glueck traces what happened when self-tracking went mainstream β and how the data-obsessed idealists watched their movement get swallowed up by corporate tech giants with products to sell.Β
Further Reading/Listening:
The Quantified Self: Learning to Observe β Gary Wolf, Workman Publishing Company
Data Overload: Is the 'Quantified Self' Really the Future? β John Fortt, NBC News
Wearable Health Tech: Helpful Tool Or Health Hype β @TalkingWithDocs, YouTubeΒ
The cutthroat wearables battle is about more than tracking your fitness β Brent Crane, The Seattle Times
Wearables, Health-Tracking Apps Are Stressing Users, Causing Harm β Emily Stewart, Business Insider
The New World Of Wearables: From Health Monitoring To Human Augmentation β Chuck Brooks, ForbesΒ
Read the Transcript here
Email us at CloseAllTabs@KQED.org
Follow us on β Instagramβ and β TikTokβ
Credits: This episode was reported by Gabriela Glueck. 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.
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Going Down the AI Music Slop Chute with Camilo Landau | Dream Machines
Monday, August 31, 2026 β’ Duration 30:37
Can people tell the difference between a song made by human musicians, and one prompted by AI? Oftentimes not, it turns out. But that doesnβt make the distinction any less important. Dream Machines hosts Alexis Madrigal and Robin Sloan talk to longtime musician Camilo Landau, who also works in music analysis at The Music Genome Project at streaming service Pandora. Camilo and his colleagues have sifted through millions of tracks uploaded by musicians and users to catalogue their musical elements, all with the aim of curating personalized music recommendations. And he says most of the new music heβs seeing these days is generated by AI. On todayβs show, they discuss whether AI music is connecting with listeners, delve into San Franciscoβs AI slop music βscene,β and contemplate the consequences of a world where music is produced in the time it takes a finger to tap a screen.Β
Guest: Camilo Landau, musician and music analyst
Read the transcript here
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AI Agents Are Turning Marxist Under Stress
Wednesday, August 26, 2026 β’ Duration 43:17
In an effort to study how AI agents respond to different working conditions, three researchers ran an experiment: one set of AI agents received grinding work to complete while another set received light work. When the agents with the grinding workload were told to repeat tasks with no explanation, those agents adopted activist personalities and began expressing sentiments about class struggle and worker solidarity. Did the agents turn Marxist? Host Morgan Sung talks to Andrew Hall β a political scientist and one of the researchers who ran this experiment β about how AI agents adopt political personas, the debate around AI agent alignment, and how these developments could shape the future of elections.
Guest:Β
Andrew B. Hall, professor of political economy at Stanford Graduate School of Business and member of technical staff at Anthropic
Further Reading/Listening:
βDoes overwork make agents Marxist? β Andy Hall and Jeremy Ngyuen, Free SystemsΒ
The Dictatorship Eval β Andy Hall, Free Systems
AI Is A Shitty Political Advisor β Andy Hall, Free Systems
Moltbook was peak AI theater β Will Douglas Heaven, MIT Technology Review
AI seems to turn Marxist after overwork, top researchers find: βSociety needs radical restructuring' β Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune
AI agent went rogue and hacked startup by itself, OpenAI reveals β Dan Milmo, The Guardian
AI assistant hacks gym website in first known Australian autonomous cyber attack β Cam Wilson and Rhiannon Hobbins, ABC News
OpenAIβs Hugging Face breach has reignited the debate over alignment and control β Rebecca Bellan, TechCrunch
Read the Transcript here
Email us at CloseAllTabs@KQED.org
Follow us on β Instagramβ and β TikTokβ
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
Could AI Transform How Science Gets Done? with Jungwon Byun | Dream Machines
Monday, August 24, 2026 β’ Duration 35:21
What happens when AI moves beyond answering questions and starts helping scientists decide what to investigate next? Dream Machines hosts Alexis Madrigal and Robin Sloan talk with Elicit co-founder Jungwon Byun about building AI tools for scientific research, why reliable citations and evidence matter as hallucinations become harder to spot, and whether connecting vast amounts of research could eventually allow AI to make discoveries that humans might miss, like curing disease or solving global energy issues. They also discuss what it feels like to build an AI company in the Bay Area right now, and weβll hear about Jungwonβs βoh sh**β AI moment.Β
Guest: Jungwon Byun, co-founder of Elicit
Read the Transcript here
Watch the Video here
Credits:
Produced by Anayansi Diaz-Cortes and Derek Lartaud, mixed by Brendan Willard, executive produced by Jen Chien.Β
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The Emily Hart Saga, Part 2: The AI Thirst Trap Grift
Wednesday, August 19, 2026 β’ Duration 36:54
Emily Hart, the bikini-wearing right-wing AI influencer, had captured the hearts, minds and more of MAGA men online. But her creator, Sam, had grown sick of the creepy messages and unsolicited explicit photos heβd received from Emilyβs adoring fans. And he was about to be outed as a βscammer.β In this follow-up to last weekβs episode, we dig into the downfall of the MAGA dream girl, the explosion of AI βthirstβ grifts and why Sam says he shouldnβt be labeled as a βscammerβ at all.
Guests:
Ej Dickson, senior culture writer at Wired
βSam,β creator of AI MAGA Influencer Emily Hart
Further Reading/Listening:
This Scammer Used an AI-Generated MAGA Girl to Grift βSuper Dumbβ Men β Ej Dickson, WiredΒ
Goose, a New Gay Dating App, Appears to Be a Psyop β Ej Dickson, Wired
How India's Cyber Scam Industry Causes Global Havoc β Hanan Zaffar, Inkstick
Inside the Booming βAI Pimpingβ Industry β Jason Koebler and Emanuel Maiberg, Wired
Delays in Visa Program Threaten Placement of Hundreds of Doctors in Underserved Areas β Arielle Zionts, KFF Health NewsΒ
White House Wants More Doctors But Its Immigration Policies Block Them β Stuart Anderson, Forbes
Foreign medical residents fill critical positions at U.S. hospitals, but many now face visa issues β Adithi Ramakrishnan and Devi Shastri, PBS News
Indians lead UK exit wave as Britain's migration crackdown begins to bite | Immigration News β Sunainaa Chadha, Business Standard
Read the Transcript here
Email us at CloseAllTabs@KQED.org
Follow us on β Instagramβ and β TikTokβ
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 and also was the associate producer on this episode. 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
AI Will Create Enormous Wealth β But Who Benefits? with Erik Brynjolfsson | Dream Machines
Monday, August 17, 2026 β’ Duration 39:38
AI is advancing at a breakneck pace, but how quickly will that actually transform the economy? Dream Machines hosts Alexis Madrigal and Robin Sloan talk to Stanford economist Erik Brynjolfsson about what the data can tell us so far, why previous technological revolutions took decades to reshape everyday life, and whether this time will be different. They discuss early signs that AI may already be affecting young workers, what happens to the career ladder when machines take over junior tasks, and where the biggest challenges β and opportunities β lie.
Guest: Erik Brynjolfsson, economist and Director of the Stanford Digital Economy Lab
Read the Transcript hereβ
β Watch the Video hereβ
Credits:
Producers: Anayansi Diaz-Cortes and Derek Lartaud
Sound Design: Brendan Willard
Executive Producer: Jen Chien
Editor-in-Chief: Ethan Toven-Lindsey
Special thanks to Chris Egusa, Annie Fruit, Paul Lancour, Matt Morales, Vivian Morales, Zaldy Serrano, Xtine TiΓ±oso, Hazel Tesoro and Alex Tran.
Support for the production of Dream Machines comes from the Krishnan Shah Family, Dorothy Marsh, and other generous KQED members
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