Kqed Science News

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 economic doom. But with the stock market sinking and tariffs piling up, the jokes are starting to hit closer to home. In this episode, KQED community reporter Carlos Cabrera-Lomelí joins Morgan to unpack how the memes might be fueling the very recession they joke about. We also hear from USC public policy professor Elizabeth Currid-Halkett on the links between culture, consumption, and the economy. Guests: Candice Lim, co-host of ICYMI from SlateCarlos Cabrera-Lomelí, community reporter at KQED Elizabeth Currid-Halkett, professor of public policy at the University of Southern California Further reading: ‘Recession Indicator’: What Memes Tell Us About How We Experience the Economy - Carlos Cabrera-Lomelí, KQED The 'recession indicator' meme, explained - Christianna Silva, Mashable  Can Strippers Really Forecast a Financial Crisis?  - Jenny Singer, Glamo

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 emotional support — and found herself unexpectedly comforted. That experience launched her investigation into the fast-growing world of AI therapy. In this episode, Lesley joins Morgan to explore the promise and pitfalls of mental health chatbots — and what users should know before sharing their deepest feelings with an algorithm.  Guests: Lesley McClurg, KQED Health Correspondent Further reading: 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 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 Sun

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 says these high-tech disposables are made possible by a legal loophole — and that tackling the e-waste crisis will take a radical rethink of our relationship with the products we consume. 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?

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 Scroll comes in: our series where we team up with a guest for a rapid-fire roundup.  In this episode, Morgan is joined by ICYMI co-host Candice Lim to dig into the stories they haven’t been able to stop thinking about. From the viral Hailey Bieber 7-part series to alpha bro “get ready with me” videos, Reddit’s restrictions on Luigi Mangione discourse, and more — they’ve got plenty to scroll through.  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: Candice Lim, Co-Host of ICYMI from Slate Further reading: Should I Be Taking Notes From This Viral Alpha Male Morning Routine? - Annabel Iwegbue, Cosmopolitan  Hailey Bieber is seeking legal action against people who slate her - Claudia Cox, The Tab  Section 230 May Finally Get Changed as Lawmakers Prep New Bill - Paris Martineau, The

The ”broligarchy” didn’t come together in a vacuum — this combination of extreme wealth, right wing leanings, and an anti-establishment point of view has been brewing  for decades. There are lots of names for this ideology coming up in the news: techno-fascism, techno-feudalism, tech oligarchy, cyber-populism, authoritarian technocracy. What does it all mean? As tech business leaders align with the president, and Elon Musk leads the dismantling of federal agencies, what is the best way to describe what is going on in our country right now? In the second part of our two-parter on the “broligarchy,” Morgan speaks with historian and University of Washington professor,  Margaret O’Mara, to discuss techno-fascism and other terms to see what really fits to describe our current reality.  Guest: Margaret O’Mara, Historian and Professor at the University of Washington  Further reading: “The Rise of Techno-authoritarianism” — Adrienne LaFrance, The Atlantic  “‘Techno-Optimism’ is Not Something You Should Believe In”

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 fol

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 se

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

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

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

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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

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

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

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