Close All Tabs

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A legal loophole has led to a surge in single-use vapes packed with a surprising amount of electronic components. It’s also a glimpse into how our disposable tech habits are fueling a growing e-waste problem. 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 touchscreen vape with built-in social media. We also hear from environmental philosopher and public health researcher Yogi Hale Hendlin, who explains how flavored vape bans have led to the flood of high-tech disposables — and how tackling the e-waste crisis will take a radical rethink of our relationship with the products we consume. This episode first aired on April 16th, 2025  Guests: Samantha Cole, reporter and co-founder of 404 Media Yogi Hale Hendlin, environmental philosopher and assistant professor at Erasmus University Further Reading: I Tried to Vape the Internet – Samantha Cole, 404 Media  Communities can't recycle or trash disposable e-cigarettes. So what happens to them? – Matthew Perrone, Associated Press How ‘Sour Raspberry Gummy Bear’ — and Other Chinese Vapes — Made Fools of American Lawmakers –  Marc Novicoff, Politico  The right to repair electronics is now law in 3 states. Is Big Tech complying? – Maddie Stone, Grist   Disposable vapes thrown away quadruples to 5 M per week – Material Focus 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. Katie Sprenger is our Director of Content Operations. Ethan Toven-Lindsey is our Editor in Chief. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Requiring internet users to verify their ages before accessing mature content may sound reasonable. Shouldn’t we be doing a better job protecting kids from online vulgarities? But free speech advocates say the push for age verification isn’t really about protecting children — and that bills like the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) would open the door to greater surveillance, censorship and control of what people can do online. Those same free speech advocates say the evidence lies in what happened to sex workers after the passage of the bills known as Allow States and Victims To Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act (FOSTA) and the Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act (SESTA) in 2018.  In this episode, Morgan is joined by writer, researcher and dominatrix Dr. Olivia Snow and Mashable associate editor Anna Iovine to explore the connections between porn, sex work and surveillance — and what age verification laws could mean for the future of the internet.  Guests:  Dr. Olivia Snow, research fellow at UCLA’s Center on Resilience & Digital Justice Anna Iovine, associate editor of features at Mashable Further Reading/Listening: Age verification is going to destroy the entire internet — Anna Iovine, Mashable Are You Ready to Be Surveilled Like A Sex Worker? — Dr. Olivia Snow, WIRED Sex Workers Have Been Banned From Airbnb for Years. Will You Be Next? — Dr. Olivia Snow, The Nation Discord delays age verification measures as it admits what it got 'wrong' — Austin Manchester, Polygon FOSTA-SESTA was supposed to thwart sex trafficking. Instead, it’s sparked a movement — Liz Tung, WHYY  The Internet Loves Sex. Why Does it Hate Sex Workers? — Luna, The Swaddle When social media censorship gets it wrong: The struggle of breast cancer content creators  — Savannah Kuchar, USA Today What would ethical age verification look like online? — Anna Iovine, Mashable Project 2025 Co-Author Caught Admitting Secret Conservative Plan to Ban Porn  — Shawn Musgrave, The Intercept Going Viral vs. Going Dark: Why Extremism Trends and Abortion Content Gets Censored — Kenyatta Thomas, Electronic Frontier Foundation: Stop Censoring Abortion Campaign  FCC finds no violations in Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime show at Levi’s Stadium — Aidin Vaziri, 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 Brendan Willard. Audience engagement support from Maha Sanad. Jen Chien is our Director of Podcasts. Katie Sprenger is our Director of Content Operations. Ethan Toven-Lindsey is our Editor in Chief. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Roblox is one of the most popular gaming platforms for kids, with millions of young gamers playing user-created games. It’s also been heavily criticized for its track record on child safety, and is now facing more than 80 lawsuits alleging child abuse and grooming. In response, the company recently rolled out a new safety measure: AI-powered facial age verification that restricts who players can talk with. The reception from players has been anything but warm. In this episode, host Morgan Sung is joined by youth mental health reporter Rachel Hale, who explains how predators operate on the platform, why everyone seems to hate Roblox’s new AI age verification feature, and the incredible lengths some users are willing to go to get around it. And while Roblox says age verification is about improving safety, questions have emerged about its accuracy, digital privacy and how this move impacts the broader push for age verification across the internet. Guest: Rachel Hale, youth mental health reporter at USA Today Further Reading/Listening: I got an up-close look at Roblox's new safety feature. Here's what I found. — Rachel Hale, USA Today She just wanted to play Roblox with friends. Then the messages from a predator began. — Rachel Hale, USA Today   Can social media age verification really protect kids? — Rina Chandran, Rest Of World  Roblox's age verification system is reportedly a trainwreck — Will Shanklin, Engadget    Read the Transcript here 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. Katie Sprenger is our Director of Content Operations. Ethan Toven-Lindsey is our Editor in Chief. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Are you going through “a very Chinese time in your life”? If so, maybe you’re one of the many American social media users who’ve jumped on the Chinamaxxing trend (or…you’re Chinese). But it’s more than just slippers in the house and hot water at breakfast — as Western netizens experience increased surveillance and censorship across internet platforms, they are ironically turning to one of the most repressive regimes in the world for respite. On today’s episode, Morgan talks to Yi-Ling Liu, author of The Wall Dancers: Searching for Freedom and Connection on the Chinese Internet, about the Chinese government’s history of internet censorship, how online creativity has still flourished inside China’s “walled garden,” and what Americans have to learn from our neighbors in the East.  Guest: Yi-Ling Liu, writer and editor Further Reading/Listening: The Wall Dancers Searching for Freedom and Connection on the Chinese Internet — Yi-Ling Liu How a Dating App Helped a Generation of Chinese Come Out of the Closet — Yi-Ling Liu, The New York Times Magazine Why Everyone Is Suddenly in a ‘Very Chinese Time’ in Their Lives — Zeyi Yang and Louise Matsakis, Wired  TikTok censorship claims spark California probe of app's handling of anti-Trump content —  Kevin Collier and Bruna Horvath, NBC News  Why TikTok’s first week of American ownership was a disaster —  Blake Montgomery, The Guardian China’s biggest gay dating app wants to beat Grindr — Viola Zhou and Andrew Deck, Rest of World Two of China’s most popular gay dating apps have disappeared from app stores — Chris Lau and Steven Jiang, CNN  Read the Transcript here 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. Katie Sprenger is our Director of Content Operations. Ethan Toven-Lindsey is our Editor in Chief. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In honor of Valentine’s Day, we’re bringing you an episode about love. We start with TikTok creator Jojo Manzo, who turned his late-night doomscrolling into a matchmaking experiment when he invited thousands of strangers to flirt in his comment section. Then we talk to Maria Avgitidis, a third-generation matchmaker, about why friction, community, and a little discomfort might actually be the point of dating. And finally, we get to the physical … or, at least, geographical. When you find someone you care about, do you share your location with them? Is it intimacy, convenience, surveillance or all three? We explore what it looks like to find human connection in a deeply digital world. Guests: Maria Avgitidis Pyrgiotakis, matchmaker and CEO of Agapematch Jojo Manzo, musician and content creator Friends of Close All Tabs: Mandy Seiner and Jackson Maxwell,  Anna Iovine, Tanya Chen, Amanda Silberling,  Harriet Weber,  and Taj Weaver Further Reading/Listening: You Don’t Need to Swipe Right. A.I. Is Transforming Dating Apps — Eli Tan, The New York Times To Share or Not to Share? How Location Sharing Is Changing Our Relationships — Modern Love Podcast ‘Perfection without the connection’: How AI is becoming a digital wingman — Hani Richter, Reuters The Doomed Dream of an AI Matchmaker — Faith Hill, The Atlantic Ask A Matchmaker: Matchmaker Maria’s No Nonsense Guide to Finding Love — Maria Avgitidis, Matchmaker Maria Is U-Hauling Real? Here's What's Behind The Lesbian Stereotype — Lea Rose Emery, Bustle What's The Deal With U-Haul Lesbians? — Kira Deshler, Paging Dr. Lesbian Read the transcript here. 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. Katie Sprenger is our Director of Content Operations. Ethan Toven-Lindsey is our Editor in Chief. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Picture this… You move to a cozy home in an idyllic neighborhood: fresh air and birdsong in the morning and gorgeous sunsets at night. One day, you wake up to find an AI data center is being built right across the street. Your view of trees turns into piles of dirt, the songbird’s trill replaced by the hum of machinery. That’s the reality for many Atlanta metro area residents right now, facing an explosion of AI data center construction.   In this episode, Morgan is joined by reporters DorMiya Vance and Marlon Hyde from WABE in Atlanta. Vance and Hyde recently looked into why so many companies are targeting the Atlanta suburbs for their builds. They’ll break down what this means for the infrastructure of local energy companies,  how to contextualize this trend within the historical strain placed on predominately Black communities, and what can be done to prepare for “stranded assets” if the bubble bursts.  Guests: DorMiya Vance, Southside reporter at WABE Marlon Hyde, business reporter at WABE Further Reading/Listening: Data centers power our online lives. The business is growing faster in metro Atlanta than anywhere else in the US — Marlon Hyde, WABE South Atlanta residents brace for major data center development — DorMiya Vance, WABE Microsoft vows to cover full power costs for energy-hungry AI data centers — Benj Edwards, Ars Technica   After a White Town Rejected a Data Center, Developers Targeted a Black Area — Adam Mahoney, Capital B A Historic Black Community Takes On the World's Richest Man Over Environmental Racism — Adam Mahoney, Capital B The People Say No: Resisting Data Centers in the South — Media Justice Data centers spark a ‘fight for the soul’ of this mostly Black Maryland county — Lateshia Beachum, The Washington Post Georgia leads push to ban datacenters used to power America’s AI boom — Timothy Pratt, The Guardian Read the transcript here. 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. Katie Sprenger is our Podcast Operations Manager. Ethan Toven-Lindsey is our Editor in Chief. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How much does your own AI use matter? With all the warnings about AI’s adverse impact on the environment, it can be tough to understand what that means at the individual level. In this episode, Morgan breaks down the hidden costs of generative AI into something more relatable: microwave time. She’s joined by MIT Technology Review reporters Casey Crownhart and James O’Donnell, who spent months investigating how much energy and water AI systems actually use. Together, they unpack how AI models are trained and which ones are more resource-intensive, what effect the expansion of AI data centers has on local energy grids and just how much electricity it takes when we ask AI to generate text, images and videos. Guests: Casey Crownhart, senior climate reporter at MIT Technology Review James O'Donnell, senior AI reporter at MIT Technology Review Further Reading: We did the math on AI’s energy footprint. Here’s the story you haven’t heard. — Casey Crownhart and James O’Donnell, MIT Technology Review  AI Energy Score v2: Refreshed Leaderboard, now with Reasoning 🧠 —  Sasha Luccioni and Boris Gamazaychikov, Hugging Face Stop worrying about your AI footprint. Look at the big picture instead. — Casey Crownhart, MIT Technology Review  Google says a typical AI text prompt only uses 5 drops of water — experts say that’s misleading — Justine Calma, The Verge Read the Transcript here Want to give us feedback on the show? Shoot us an email 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. Katie Sprenger is our Podcast Operations Manager. Ethan Toven-Lindsey is our Editor in Chief. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How easy is it to find someone from a single video posted online? To find out, Morgan put her own privacy to the test. She asked TikTok creator JoseMonkey, who’s famous for geolocating people who send him videos asking to be found, to track her down. JoseMonkey started as a geolocation hobbyist who turned to creating videos to bring attention to common mistakes people make when posting online.  In this episode, Morgan breaks down why personal operational security matters and what digital hygiene actually looks like in practice. JoseMonkey walks through how he finds people using the smallest scraps of information, and the steps you can take to make sure you aren’t exposing too much in your posts. And Eva Galperin, cybersecurity director of Electronic Frontier Foundation, explains how to use a process called “threat modeling” to protect your online privacy in a way that’s practical rather than paranoid. Guests: Jose Monkey, content creator and online privacy advocate Eva Galperin, director of cybersecurity at the Electronic Frontier Foundation Further Reading/Listening: We partnered with KQED’s audience news team on a companion guide that breaks down online privacy in a clear, shareable format. You can find it, along with other explainers and guides, on KQED’s explainers page. ⁠Have LLMs Finally Mastered Geolocation? — Foeke Postma and Nathan Patin, BellingcatSurveillance Self-Defense  — The Electronic Frontier Foundation How micro-online posting can be a macro privacy risk — JoseMonkey, TedX Talks Read the transcript ⁠here⁠ Want to give us feedback on the show? Shoot us an email 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. Katie Sprenger is our Podcast Operations Manager. Ethan Toven-Lindsey is our Editor in Chief. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer Jonathan Ross shot and killed Renee Good in Minneapolis, it became an instant flashpoint in the ongoing escalation of federal law enforcement violence. It also put a spotlight on the U.S. government’s efforts to prevent people from documenting federal agents in public. In this episode, we dig into a simple but important question: do you have the right to record ICE? Criminal justice reporter C.J. Ciaramella explains how the Trump administration is working to create a chilling effect around filming law enforcement, why legal challenges are intensifying, and how courts are increasingly pushing back. Guests: C.J. Ciaramella, Criminal Justice Reporter at Reason Further Reading/Listening: ICE officer fatally shoots driver through car window in Minneapolis — Max Nesterak, Madison McVan and Alyssa Chen, The Minnesota Reformer  The Trump administration says it's illegal to record videos of ICE. Here's what the law says. — C.J. Ciaramella, Reason  DHS says recording or following law enforcement 'sure sounds like obstruction of justice' —  C.J. Ciaramella, Reason   Recording the Police: Tips for Safety and Awareness — Carly Severn and Mina Kim, KQED DHS Claims Videotaping ICE Raids Is ‘Violence’ — Matthew Cunningham-Cook, The American Prospect ICE detains U.S. citizen for 7 hours after she photographed agents in Oregon — Yesenia Amaro, The Oregonian  Dozens of felony cases crumble in DOJ push to punish protesters — Michael Biesecker, Jamie Ding, Christine Fernando, Claire Rush, and Ryan J. Foley, The Associated Press  What Happens When Federal Officers Use Force — Miranda Jeyaretnam, TIME  California is banning masks for federal agents. Here’s why it could lose in court —  Nigel Duara, CalMatters Read the transcript here Want to give us feedback on the show? Shoot us an email 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. Katie Sprenger is our Podcast Operations Manager. Ethan Toven-Lindsey is our Editor in Chief. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In a holiday installment of Save or Scroll, Morgan and the Close All Tabs team get together to talk over the stories they can’t stop thinking about. From OpenAI’s concerning new job posting, to a major RAM shortage, AI artists on the come up, and an antidote to the Manosphere, they’ve got a lot to chew on. 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? Guests: Morgan Sung, Host of Close All Tabs Chris Egusa, Senior Editor of Close All Tabs Maya Cueva, Producer of Close All Tabs Chris Hambrick, Editor of Close All Tabs Further Reading/Listening: Sam Altman is hiring someone to worry about the dangers of AI — Terrence O'Brien, The Verge Why OpenAI's $555,000 Head of Preparedness Role May Be Hard to Fill — Sarah E. Needleman, Business Insider Memory loss: As AI gobbles up chips, prices for devices may rise — John Ruwitch, NPR Why is RAM so expensive right now? It's way more complicated than you think — Wayne Williams, TechRadar AI Singer Xania Monet Just Charted On Billboard, Signed $3 Million Deal. Is This The Future Of Music? — Doug Melville, Forbes How Many AI Artists Have Debuted on Billboard’s Charts? — Xander Zellner, Billboard The ‘Manosphere’? It’s Planet Earth. — Joseph Bernstein, The New York Times “2024 self interviewing my 2025 self” — @seanjaye1988, Instagram Reel Read the transcript here Want to give us feedback on the show? Shoot us an email 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. Katie Sprenger is our Podcast Operations Manager. Ethan Toven-Lindsey is our Editor in Chief. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

When KitKat, a beloved bodega cat, was killed by a Waymo in San Francisco in late October of this year, the incident quickly went viral. It ignited grief and outrage. It also renewed scrutiny of autonomous vehicles. But in a city where hundreds of animals are hit by vehicles each year, why did this incident — and this particular cat — hit such a nerve? We hear from Oscar Palma, the first reporter on the scene, about what unfolded the night KitKat was killed. Then, Mission Local managing editor Joe Eskenazi and KQED reporter Sydney Johnson explore the limits of autonomous vehicles and why one cat’s death resonated so deeply in a rapidly gentrifying San Francisco. Guests: Sydney Johnson, reporter at KQED Oscar Palma, reporter at Mission Local Joe Eskenazi, managing editor at Mission Local Further Reading/ Listening: KitKat, liquor store mascot and ‘16th St. ambassador,’ killed — allegedly by Waymo — Oscar Palma, Mission Local  San Francisco Supervisor Calls for Robotaxi Reform After Waymo Kills Neighborhood Cat — Sydney Johnson, KQED How Kit Kat Was Killed: Video Shows What a Waymo Couldn’t See — Heather Knight, The New York Times  Driverless car startup Cruise's no good, terrible year — Dara Kerr, NPR Cruise admits lying to feds about dragging woman in San Francisco — Kevin Truong, The San Francisco Standard Waymo hits dog in S.F. weeks after killing Mission bodega cat — Kelly Waldron, Mission Local Dog hit by Waymo in SF put down by family after suffering 'severe pelvic trauma' — Alex Baker, KRON4 The self-driving taxi revolution begins at last — The Economist  Read the transcript here Email: ⁠CloseAllTabs@KQED.org⁠ Follow us on ⁠Instagram⁠ and ⁠TikTok Credits: Close All Tabs is hosted by Morgan Sung. This episode was produced by Maya Cueva and edited by 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. Katie Sprenger is our Podcast Operations Manager. Ethan Toven-Lindsey is our Editor in Chief. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On December 4, 2024, United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson was shot and killed outside a Midtown New York hotel. The subsequent arrest of 26-year-old Luigi Mangione set off a frenzy far beyond a typical breaking news story. Almost immediately, supporters emerged, detractors pushed back and then something stranger took hold: a devoted fandom that treated Mangione not just as a suspect, but as a symbol. One year later, we look at how a single crime became a cultural flashpoint and how narratives built around Magione are shaping public perception. Investigative journalist Melkorka Licea unpacks the different factions of Mangione’s online supporters. Then, legal expert Daniel Medwed helps Morgan understand the challenges of selecting a fair jury in an era when high-profile cases unfold in real time across millions of screens. Guests: Melkorka Licea, investigative journalist  Daniel Medwed, professor of law at Northeastern University Further Reading/Listening: Inside the Contentious World of Luigi Mangione Supporters —  Melkorka Licea, WIRED Luigi Mangione Hearing Hits on 3D Gun, Never-Before-Heard 911 Call, Comparisons to the Unabomber — Lorena O’Neil, Rolling Stone Slain UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson's tenure was marked by rocketing profits—and accusations of insider trading and coverage denial  — Sasha Rogelberg, Fortune Luigi is Currently Reading: What Can We Really Learn About the UHC CEO’s Alleged Killer Based on the Books He’s Read? — James Folta, Literary Hub Luigi Mangione’s ‘Loafers,’ ‘Outfit’ and ‘Ankles’ Go Viral as His Unexpected Fashion Influence Persists After Latest Court Appearance — Renan Botelho, WWD Meet the ‘Cougars for Luigi Mangione’ — and new fans of the alleged killer — Josie Ensor, The Times What is jury nullification and what does it mean for Luigi Mangione’s defense? — Eric Levenson, CNN Grand jury declines to indict the 88-year-old white woman whose false accusations led to Emmett Till's death in 1955 — Haven Orecchio-Egresitz, Business Insider Read the transcript here Email: CloseAllTabs@KQED.org Follow us on Instagram and TikTok Credits: Close All Tabs is hosted by Morgan Sung. This episode was produced by Chris Egusa and edited by Jen Chien. 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. Katie Sprenger is our Podcast Operations Manager. Ethan Toven-Lindsey is our Editor in Chief. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices