Kqed Science News

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 co-founder, was fatally shot last Wednesday during an event at Utah Valley University.  Major news outlets quickly reported that authorities had found bullet casings engraved with a series of seemingly inscrutable messages, including, “Notices bulge, OwO, what’s this?”;  “Hey fascist! Catch!” followed by arrow symbols; “Bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao ciao ciao”; and “If you read this you are gay LMAO.” For most, the phrases seemed bizarre and incomprehensible. But for Aidan Walker, an internet researcher and meme historian, the messages told a clear story which many media outlets had missed. On today’s episode, Aidan joins Morgan to break down what the messages may tell us about the alleged shooter, how a fringe extremist group known as “groypers” might be involved, and what the aftermath of Charlie Kirk's death portends for our political and media lands

When 23andMe filed for bankruptcy earlier this year, it set off alarm bells among privacy experts and consumers alike. According to a 2025 survey, about 1 in 5 Americans has taken a home DNA test. Among those who haven’t, privacy ranks as one of their top concerns. As with so many things having to do with data, there’s a trade-off between confidentiality and the ability to access services that can improve our lives. The fallout from 23andMe’s bankruptcy and an earlier data breach has left consumers more wary than ever and has underscored the need for stronger data privacy laws. In today’s episode, we’ll hear from someone whose life was transformed by a 23andMe test, and from a genetic data and privacy researcher who explains the risks of handing over our DNA to a corporation. Guests:  Trine Gallegos, Media Coordinator and 23andMe user Anya Prince, professor and genetic privacy researcher at the University of Iowa College of Law Further reading/listening:  I Tried to Keep My Pregnancy Secret — Anya Pr

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 Podcast. It’s called The Homework Machine, and it dives deep into how teachers and students are navigating the arrival of generative AI in schools.  Episode one is titled “Buckle Up, Here It Comes.” In late November of 2022, ChatGPT was released to the public as a free research preview. Pretty quickly, students figured out ChatGPT was really good at doing their homework for them. Schools scrambled to figure out what to do: Ban it? Embrace it? Teachers and students found themselves adapting to a new reality.  Hosts Jesse Dukes and Justin Reich share stories of teachers and students reacting to the arrival of an exciting, alarming, and strange new technology. Further reading/listening:  TeachLab Presents: The Homework Machine – TeachLab from MIT Teachers Strike Back Against AI Cheating – Close All Tabs Read the transcript here Want to give us feedback o

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 students are still learning. In this episode, we’ll take a look at three different approaches educators are adopting to deal with AI in their classrooms. First, Morgan sits down with Max Spero, founder of the AI detection company Pangram Labs, to discuss how detection tools should, and should not, be used in the classroom. Then, we hear from KQED reporter Marlena Jackson Retondo about the return of the iconic “blue books,” and the benefits of “analog” learning. Finally, Morgan calls up her cousin, Jeremy Na, who happens to be an English teacher in San Jose. He explains how he adapted his teaching style to focus on the process of learning, rather than a final grade — and why his method has kept AI out of his classroom (for the most part). Guests:  Jeremy Na, Bay Area-based educator Max Spero, CEO of Pangram Labs  Marlena Jackson-Retondo, engagement producer an

Thousands of writers in Kenya make their living ghostwriting academic papers for wealthy Western students.  It’s an industry known as “contract cheating” or “essay mills,” and is the subject of a new documentary, “The Shadow Scholars.” Directed by Eloise King, the film follows Kenyan-born Oxford Professor Patricia Kingori as she investigates this hidden industry and seeks to understand the essay writers working in the shadows of the educational system.  Morgan talks with Patricia and Eloise about the world of academic cheating, and how these writers are adapting to a world in which AI-generated essays are just a click away. Guests:  Patricia Kingori, professor of global health ethics at the University of Oxford Eloise King, director of “The Shadow Scholars” Further reading/listening:  The Shadow Scholars — Directed by Eloise King  Kenya’s “Fake Essay” Writers and the Light they Shine on Assumptions of Shadows in Knowledge Production — Patricia Kingori, Journal of African Cultural Studies  How writ

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 skirmish in a years-long generation war between Gen Z and Millennials. Internet culture researcher Aidan Walker joins Morgan to trace the origins of this rivalry, unpack what behavioral quirks like “the Gen Z stare” and “the Millennial pause” reveal about each generation’s relationship with technology, and explore why everyone seems to forget about Gen X. Guests:  Aidan Walker, independent writer, content creator, and internet culture researcher Further reading/listening:  Is the ‘Gen Z stare’ just a call to look inward?  — Manuela López Restrepo and Mia Venkat, NPR Have you been a victim of the ‘gen Z stare’? It’s got nothing on the gen X look of dread — Emma Beddington, The Guardian Gen Z is staring at you. It may be more than just a quirk. — Kalhan Rosenblatt, NBC News Read the transcript here Want to give us feedback on the series? Shoot us an

Social media creators started using words like “unalive” and “seggs” to dodge algorithmic filters that might suppress “inappropriate” content. But these workarounds aren’t staying online. They’re leaking into real life — like last year, when the Seattle Museum of Pop Culture explained on a placard that Kurt Cobain “unalived” himself.  In his new book Algospeak, linguist and online creator Adam Aleksic argues that algorithms are shaping language in unprecedented ways, and it’s happening quicker than ever. He joins Morgan to explain why euphemisms keep transforming, how “all words are now metadata,” and what his social media persona says about the power of the algorithm to shape the way we speak. Guests:  Adam Aleksic, linguist, creator and author of Algospeak Further reading/listening:  Algospeak — Adam Aleksic The resurgence of the r-word — Constance Grady, Vox How Sign Language Evolves as Our World Does — Amanda Morris, The New York Times The Harvard-Educated Linguist Breaking Down ‘Skibidi’ and

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 they can’t stop thinking about. From people calling ICE on influencers, to Grindr’s new age verification, to the Labubu matcha Dubai chocolate craze (yes, you heard that correctly), the three of them have plenty to scroll through.  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:  Daysia Tolentino,  Yap Year founder and writer at Entertainment Weekly Moises Mendez II,  writer at Out Magazine Further reading/listening:  5 reasons 'Love Island USA' went completely off the rails this year — Daysia Tolentino, Entertainment Weekly  The Obsessive Fans Playing God on ‘Love Island’—and Living for the Crash-Outs — Jason Parham, WIRED Grindr i

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 archive government documents and make them accessible to the public — even as ongoing legal challenges pose an existential threat to the organization. Some of the organization’s critics even argue that the Internet Archive is not a library at all.  In this special update to our deep dive on the Internet Archive, we get into what this designation really means. Morgan talks to Internet Archive founder Brewster Kahle about what federal depository libraries do, whether this affects the Internet Archive’s copyright lawsuit, and why preserving information is more important than ever.  Guests:  Brewster Kahle, founder and digital librarian of The Internet Archive Further reading/listening:  SF-Based Internet Archive Is Now a Federal Depository Library. What Does That Mean? — Morgan Sung, KQED What Happens if the Internet Archive Goes Dark? — Close All Tabs Read

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 the billionaires to spotlight the often-overlooked innovators who helped build the digital world we live in today. One of these OGs is Felidoro Cueva, who grew up in a rural village in the Andes mountains of Peru, and immigrated to the US in 1964 — during the height of the Civil Rights Movement and the Vietnam War. He went on to become one of the first Latino engineers in Silicon Valley.  And he’s also our producer Maya Cueva’s dad. Maya takes us through Feli’s journey — from how counterculture experimentation influenced his fascination with technology to the discrimination he faced in a startup world where Latino representation was nearly nonexistent. Guests:  Felidoro Cueva, a pioneering Latino engineer in Silicon Valley Further reading:  Only The Moon/Solamente La Luna — directed by Maya Cueva and animated by Leah Nichols  Meshugganismo — Maya Cueva

Young people are increasingly turning to AI “companion chatbots” to meet their emotional needs. But a new study shows that these chatbots, which are designed to mimic real social relationships, can carry serious risks. In this episode, Morgan and her sister put one chatbot's safety guardrails to the test — and get more than they bargained for. Then, KQED Silicon Valley senior editor Rachael Myrow explains why teens are especially vulnerable, what lawmakers are doing about it, and how parents can talk to their kids about AI. Guests:  Rachael Myrow, senior editor, Silicon Valley News Desk at KQED Further reading:  Kids Are Talking to AI Companion Chatbots. Stanford Researchers Say That’s a Bad Idea — Rachael Myrow, KQED How to Talk With Your Kids About AI Companion Bots — Rachael Myrow, KQED Social AI Companions — AI Risk Assessment Team, Commons Sense Media 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 Instag

Furries are often known for wearing full-body animal suits at conventions — but the characters they inhabit, called “fursonas,” are much more than costumes. They’re deeply personal expressions of identity and creativity. So when someone in the furry fandom dies, how does the community say goodbye? In this episode, Morgan explores a virtual memorial created by a furry named Changa Husky, where mourners gather in VR to remember those they’ve lost — and the fursonas they leave behind. Editor's note: In this episode, we refer to some individuals only by their “fursona” names. We’ve chosen to use these names because members of the furry community are frequently subject to harassment, bullying, and doxxing, and many participants use online handles to maintain their safety and privacy. Guests:  Changa Husky, furry Vtuber and video producer Patch O’Furr, founder and writer, Dogpatch Press Further reading:  Who runs the internet? Furries — Dylan Reeve, The Spinoff  Remembering Mark Merlino (1952-2024), a fo

The animation industry has long struggled to get Black hair right — from the infamous “Killmonger locs,” named after the Black Panther character and copied across video games, to the stiff, oversized afros of The Sims 4. As it turns out, hair animation tools were built almost exclusively with straight hair in mind. Two researchers, A.M. Darke and Theodore Kim, recently published a landmark paper about the physics of animating curly, coiled, and afro-textured hair. Morgan sits down with A.M. and Theodore as they discuss the surprising pushback they encountered in the animation industry, the findings of their paper, and the uphill battle they faced in getting this field of study recognized within academia.  Guests:  A.M. Darke, artist, game designer, and an associate professor of Performance, Play, & Design at UC Santa Cruz Theodore Kim, Professor of Computer Science at Yale University  Further reading:  Lifted Curls: A Model for Tightly Coiled Hair Simulation - Alvin Shi, Haomiao Wu, A.M. Darke, and T

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 thrust into the spotlight at age 15 as one of the breakout faces of Spotify’s meteoric Hyperpop playlist.. Then, music journalist Kieran Press-Reynolds breaks down how Spotify’s made-up micro-genres—like Goblincore, Anime Drill, and Bubblegrunge—are reshaping music discovery and putting pressure on artists to conform. Guests: Quinn, independent producer and rapper Kieran Press-Reynolds, independent reporter covering music and internet culture Further reading: How to break free of Spotify's algorithm — Tiffany Ng, MIT Technology Review The Lost Promises of Hyperpoptimism — Kieran Press-Reynolds, Pitchfork 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 i

Elon Musk and President Trump breaking up? LA protesters clashing with law enforcement? Waymos on fire (again)? Things have been moving fast the last few days — and like you, our feeds are on overload. Today, we’re bringing you a quick reaction episode to catch you up on a couple stories we’ve covered before that are suddenly back in the news. Close All Tabs producer Maya Cueva joins Morgan to break it all down. We’ve talked about a few of these stories before — if you want to go deeper, here are some past episodes to check out: The Broligarchy Pt 1: Chronicles of the PayPal Mafia | KQED The Surveillance Machine, Pt. 1: How We Got Here | KQED Waymo Robotaxis - Uneasiness and Vandalism | KQED Further reading: A timeline of the twists and turns in the Trump-Musk relationship — Nnamdi Egwuonwu, NBC News  Immigration Protests Threaten to Boil Over in Los Angeles — E. Tammy Kim, The New Yorker ICE raids tried to split LA apart, but might have made it stronger — Michael Lozano, LA Public Press  How Way

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 optimize your time on the platform.  In this episode, Morgan is joined by music journalist and author Liz Pelly to break down how Spotify built its playlist empire, the rise of so-called “ghost artists” on the platform, and how its algorithmic approach is changing our relationship to music, artists, and the culture around them. Plus, Morgan tries to solve a personal mystery:  “Am I being haunted by Sabrina Carpenter?” Guests: Liz Pelly, independent music journalist and author of Mood Machine: The Rise of Spotify and the Costs of the Perfect Playlist Further reading: Mood Machine: The Rise of Spotify and the Costs of the Perfect Playlist — Liz Pelly The Spotify conspiracy theories about “Espresso,” explained — Rebecca Jennings, Vox  ‘Algorithm fatigue:’ Spotify Fans Say It’s Going Downhill. Company Insiders Agree. — John Paul Titlow, Business Insider  

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 just right for the 3D image to pop out?  It turns out it's not just our eyes that can be fooled. Our ears can play tricks on us too. There's a whole world of auditory illusions that seem to say one thing when they're really saying something else, and that matters, especially in our age of digital misinformation. In today’s episode, Morgan talks to KQED Digital Community Producer Francesca Fenzi about why we hear  what we think we hear, and how understanding the limits of our perception might actually make us better at spotting dis- and misinformation online. Guest: Francesa Fenzi, KQED Digital Community Producer  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 Egu

Hentai, sexually explicit Japanese animation (anime) and comics (manga), is a genre that’s been criticized for depicting violent or ethically questionable scenarios. But some fans also see it as a space for expanding the boundaries of art, culture, and sexuality in a way that reverberates beyond its status as a niche subculture. In this episode, Morgan talks with anime marketer Drea Ramirez about how discovering hentai helped her explore her own sexual identity — and how today’s streaming platforms are stifling weirder, more experimental forms of animation. We’ll also hear from Jacob Grady, CEO of the hentai manga site Fakku, about the challenges of running a licensed and legal business in the face of content piracy, and how anti-trafficking laws like SESTA and FOSTA can make it harder forhentai artists to make a living. This episode is part of a collaboration with our friends at the podcast Never Post. While we’re digging into the culture and industry behind hentai, they’re coming at it from a completely d

Think you can opt out of surveillance? Think again. Our locations, behaviors, and images are being tracked at unprecedented levels — and private tech companies are at the center, selling that information directly to the government. In this episode, Morgan talks with Nicol Turner Lee, Director of the Center for Technology Innovation at The Brookings Institution, about why avoiding identification in public spaces is almost impossible, and how civilians are now helping do the government’s work by surveilling each other. Guests: Jalsa Drinkard, Columbia University student and an organizer for Columbia University Apartheid Divest, CUAD Don Bell, policy counsel at The Constitution Project at The Project On Government Oversight, POGO Nicol Turner Lee, Director of the Center for Technology Innovation at The Brookings Institution Further reading: This pro-Israel group keeps a blacklist. Now it’s taking credit for deportations. — Zack Beauchamp, Vox  Privacy on the Map: How States Are Fighting Location Surve

The tools of high tech surveillance are increasingly all around us: security cameras in public and embedded in doorbells, location data on your phone, online ad tracking. A lot of this has become normalized, utterly mundane. But in the year since nationwide student protests for Palestine, heightened scrutiny of and retaliation against activists in the U.S. have raised new concerns. Government surveillance, particularly on social media, has grown exponentially since the massive Black Lives Matter protests of 2020, but the precedent in this country stretches much further back. In this episode, Columbia University student organizer Jalsa Drinkard shares her experience protecting other students from invasive surveillance and targeting, and Don Bell, policy counsel for The Constitution Project at the Project On Government Oversight, walks us through the long history of government surveillance in American protest movements, and why today’s moment feels different. Guests: Jalsa Drinkard, Columbia University stud