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Close All Tabs

Close All Tabs

Written by: KQED
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 Ever wonder where the internet stops and IRL begins? Close All Tabs breaks down how digital culture shapes our world through thoughtful insights and irreverent humor. From internet trends to AI slop to the politics of memes, Close All Tabs covers it all. How will AI change our jobs and lives? Is the government watching what I post? Is there life beyond TikTok? Host Morgan Sung pulls from experts, the audience, and history to add context to the trends and depth to the memes. And she’ll wrestle with as many browser tabs as it takes to explain the cultural moment we’re all collectively living. Morgan Sung is a tech journalist whose work covers the range of absurdity and brilliance that is the internet. Her beat has evolved into an exploration of social platforms and how they shape real-world culture. She has written for TechCrunch, NBC News, Mashable, BuzzFeed News and more. We love listening to shows about technology and culture like Power User with Taylor Lorenz, ICYMI, Wow If True, Hard Fork, There Are No Girls On the Internet, Endless Thread, Uncanny Valley from Wired, It’s Been a Minute, and You’re Wrong About. If you like them too, then trust us–you’ll like Close All Tabs.Copyright © 2025 KQED Inc. All Rights Reserved. Social Sciences
Episodes
  • How an OnlyFans Model and a Cosplayer Are Fighting Nonconsensual Deepfake Porn

    How an OnlyFans Model and a Cosplayer Are Fighting Nonconsensual Deepfake Porn
    May 13 2026
    We’re diving into the world of nonconsensual deepfake porn and why this problem reaches far beyond influencers and sex workers. When users on X started asking Grok to generate explicit images of real women and girls without their consent, Twitch streamer and OnlyFans creator Morgpie watched the harassment spiral in real time. Cosplayer and software engineer Zander Small saw firsthand how nonconsensual images affected his girlfriend, a SFW creator, and her friends. The two decided to team up to build tools that help creators detect leaks, remove deepfakes, and reclaim control over their images online. Note: This episode contains mentions of gender-based violence and nonconsensual intimate imagery, which may be triggering for some listeners. Guests: Morgpie, OnlyFans creator and cofounder of Fanlock Zander Small, content creator and cofounder of Fanlock Further Reading/Listening: Influencers take on AI deepfakes with their own creator protection agency — Virginia Glaze, Dextero Musk’s Grok AI chatbot is still making sexual deepfakes, despite X’s promise to stop it — David Ingram, NBC News The Deepfake Nudes Crisis in Schools Is Much Worse Than You Thought — Matt Burgess, WIRED Take It Down Act: How to use it to remove revenge porn — Jasmine Mithani, The 19th Image-Based Sexual Abuse Laws: Combat Nonconsensual AI Deepfakes — RAINN AI & Tech-Enabled Sexual Abuse: Risk & Prevention — RAINN Deepfake Statistics 2025: AI Fraud Data & Trends — Mohammed Khalil, DeepStrike 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
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    37 mins
  • My Therapist Is a Chatbot (Reload)

    My Therapist Is a Chatbot (Reload)
    May 6 2026
    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
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    32 mins
  • Somebody’s Watching Me: The Crackdown on Stalkerware

    Somebody’s Watching Me: The Crackdown on Stalkerware
    Apr 29 2026
    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
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    31 mins
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