Morgan Sung
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internet explainer, yarn hoarder, professional yapper on Close All Tabs from @kqed 💋 msung@kqed dot org
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Articles by Morgan Sung
A Queer History of The Sims
Close All Tabs Home / Podcast / Close All Tabs From the very beginning, The Sims garnered a devoted queer fan base that reshaped what players expected gaming. Jun 17, 2026 A composite image of The Sims avatars on top of a rainbow background. (Composite image by Morgan Sung / Screenshots via Youtube) View the full episode transcript. “Did The Sims make you gay?” is a long-running joke among Sims players.
How To Prove You're Not AI
Close All Tabs Home / Podcast / Close All Tabs In a world where everything looks fake, how do we know what’s real? Jun 10, 2026 A glitchy photograph showing an AI (Artificial Intelligence) logo blended with fake social media accounts showing profile pictures apparently generated by Artificial Intelligence software. (Composite by Maya Cueva; Image by Oliver Morin/AFP via Getty Images) View the full episode transcript.
Escaping the Surveillance Pricing Trap
Close All Tabs Home / Podcast / Close All Tabs Companies use your personal data to determine what you pay — and for the most part, it's legal. Jun 3, 2026 Figures in suits with surveillance cameras for heads overlook a collage of gas stations, grocery shelves and stock tickers. Surveillance pricing is the practice of using consumers' personal data to determine what they'll pay. (Composite by Morgan Sung; Images by Getty Images) View the full episode transcript.
Musk v. Altman Was Peak Silicon Valley Theatrics
Close All Tabs Home / Podcast / Close All Tabs KQED’s Rachael Myrow explains the courtroom theatrics of the Musk v. Altman trial. May 27, 2026 Once co-founders, now courtroom adversaries: sketches of Sam Altman and Elon Musk from the Musk v. Altman trial in Oakland, Calif. (Vicki Behringer for KQED) View the full episode transcript. For three weeks, all eyes were on a salacious courtroom drama unfolding in Oakland, California. The Musk v.
Iran Is Winning The Slopaganda War
Close All Tabs Home / Podcast / Close All Tabs May 20, 2026 The war in Iran has led to the emergence of "slopaganda" — where AI slop meets information warfare. An AI-generated image of President Trump as a LEGO figure is displayed on a vintage TV set — referencing the emergence of “slopaganda,” where AI slop meets information warfare. (Composite by Morgan Sung; Image by beast01/Getty Images) View the full episode transcript. AI-generated LEGO videos have become a tool of war.
How an OnlyFans Model and a Cosplayer Are Fighting Nonconsensual Deepfake Porn
Close All Tabs Home / Podcast / Close All Tabs May 13, 2026 Save Article Failed to save article Please try again Email A woman's face, distorted by digital glitching and overlaid with streams of binary code, reflects the loss of control over one's own image in the age of AI. (Composite by Morgan Sung; Image by Curly_photo/Getty Images) View the full episode transcript. We’re diving into the world of nonconsensual deepfake porn and why this problem reaches far beyond influencers and sex workers.
My Therapist Is a Chatbot (Reload)
Close All Tabs Home / Podcast / Close All Tabs May 6, 2026 Save Article Failed to save article Please try again Email Can AI therapy apps like Rosebud, Therapist GPT and Woebot bridge the gap in mental health care — offering comfort and support in an era of stress, loneliness and anxiety? (Anna Vignet/KQED) View the full episode transcript. What happens when your therapist is… a chatbot? For KQED health reporter Lesley McClurg, it started with a late-night spiral over dating.
Somebody’s Watching Me: The Crackdown on Stalkerware
Close All Tabs Home / Podcast / Close All Tabs Apr 29, 2026 Save Article Failed to save article Please try again Email Illustration featuring a pixelated eye and a silhouetted hand holding a smartphone. (Illustration by Softulka/Getty Images) View the full episode transcript. In 2018, researcher Eva Galperin made a discovery about a colleague.
The H-1B Visa Process But Make It a Video Game
Close All Tabs Home / Podcast / Close All Tabs Apr 22, 2026 Save Article Failed to save article Please try again Email Illustration from the game H1B.Life shows five deity-like figures — including an “orange god” — presiding over a slot machine labeled “let’s play your life.” H1B.Life is a mobile game that simulates life on an H-1B visa. (Composite by Morgan Sung; game images courtesy of Reality Reload) View the full episode transcript.
Save or Scroll: Looksmaxxing, AI Fruit Love Island, BTS Arirang, and Meta Lawsuits
Close All Tabs Home / Podcast / Close All Tabs Apr 15, 2026 Save Article Failed to save article Please try again Email A look at the viral trends taking over our timelines — from looksmaxxing and AI Fruit Love Island to BTS’ controversial new album and social media addiction lawsuits. (Composite by Morgan Sung; Images from Getty Images and other sources) View the full episode transcript.
The Secret Lives of Mormon Momfluencers
Close All Tabs Home / Podcast / Close All Tabs Apr 8, 2026 Save Article Failed to save article Please try again Email The cast of the "The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives" Season 2 at their Los Angeles premiere at the Paramount Theatre on May 09, 2025, composited over an image of an LDS temple. (Composite by Morgan Sung; original photo by JC Olivera/Variety via Getty Images) View the full episode transcript.
Bee Movie, "We Are Charlie Kirk," and the Enduring Bait-and-Switch Meme
Close All Tabs Home / Podcast / Close All Tabs Apr 1, 2026 Save Article Failed to save article Please try again Email Jerry Seinfeld in a bee costume at a 2007 Bee Movie photocall in Cannes, France. The film’s script became one of the internet’s most enduring bait-and-switch memes. (Composite by Morgan Sung; original photo by George Pimentel/WireImage) View the full episode transcript. According to all known laws of aviation, there is no way a bee should be able to fly.
To Hack a Tractor: How Farmers Won the Right to Repair
Close All Tabs Mar 25, 2026 Save Article Failed to save article Please try again A John Deere tractor plows a barren field for future crops. The company is the target of a Federal Trade Commission lawsuit alleging violations of antitrust and right-to-repair laws. (Composite by Morgan Sung; original image by SDI Productions/Getty Images) View the full episode transcript. What do pissed off farmers and broken McFlurry machines have to do with each other? More than you’d think.
The Fight for Your Right to Repair
Episode Transcript This is a computer-generated transcript. While our team has reviewed it, there may be errors [Audio From Repair Cafe Silicon Valley] A vacuum is it.. Oh, we need to ring the bell, let’s ring the bell. All right everybody, pay attention, uh, we’re going to ring the bell here. Morgan Sung,Host: We’re at a repair cafe. These days, it’s one of the hottest spots in town. [Audio From Repair Cafe Silicon Valley] We just repaired, what did we repair?
'Twitter on a Vape' and The Great E-Waste Crisis
Episode Transcript This is a computer-generated transcript. While our team has reviewed it, there may be errors. Morgan Sung: Hi! You’re listening to Close All Tabs, I’m Morgan Sung. About a year ago, we aired an episode about the great vape e-waste crisis. You know those disposable little bricks that let you puff nicotine clouds that taste like icy candy? Well, so-called “disposable” vapes have gotten pretty advanced, and are increasingly actually complex electronic devices.
'Twitter on a Vape' and The Great E-Waste Crisis
17 hours ago Samsara Eco plans to tailor microscopic organisms to retrieve materials from electronic waste An Australian startup that developed plastic-eating enzymes is looking to raise more than $70 million as it focuses its recycling technology on critical minerals. Since 2021, Samsara Eco has used artificial …
Sex Workers Tried to Warn Us About Age Verification Laws
Morgan SungMaya CuevaChris HambrickChris Egusa Mar 4, 2026 Updated Mar 10, 2026 Failed to save article Please try again A distorted canary layered with glitching code and an android eye in a composite image about sex work, surveillance and age-verification laws. (Composite image by Morgan Sung using images by GeorgePeters and Vito Cangiulli / Getty Images) View the full episode transcript. Requiring internet users to verify their ages before accessing mature content may sound reasonable.
Send Pics? Roblox Wants to Know Your Age
Episode Transcript This is a computer-generated transcript. While our team has reviewed it, there may be errors. Morgan Sung, Host: Hey, a quick heads up: this episode discusses abuse and grooming, which may be triggering for some people, so listen with care. [Audio clip from Youtube User Foxboy12] Now, as a content creator, you can see why all this is really bad because how am I supposed to communicate with my fans if Roblox just doesn’t let me hear what they have to say?
Send Pics? Roblox Wants to Know Your Age
Spear Training is a Roblox incremental simulator where your goal is to throw your spear as far down a track as possible. While the concept may sound …
Lessons for U.S. Netizens from Behind China’s Great Firewall
The Great Wall of China with distant mountains, overlaid with binary code and semiconductor patterns. (Photos by Cute Kitten Images, Yuichiro Chino, Eugene Mymrin and fotograzia / Getty Images; composite image by Gabriela Glueck / KQED)
Love In The Time Of Doom Scrolling
Episode Transcript This is a computer-generated transcript. While our team has reviewed it, there may be errors. Morgan Sung, Host: Look, covering what we cover on this show, things right now can feel pretty bleak — surveillance culture, environmental injustice, the erosion of constitutional rights, the way algorithms silo and divide us. At a time when it feels like the machines are taking over, we thought we could spend an episode reminding all of you of what makes us most human: Love.
How the AI Data Center Boom Impacts Black Communities
Morgan SungMaya CuevaChris EgusaChris Hambrick Feb 4, 2026 Failed to save article Please try again An aerial view of a large data center is featured in this collage with an image of the King Memorial railroad station in Atlanta, GA. (Photos by Alex Potemkin and Richard Newstead / Getty Images; composite image by Gabriela Glueck / KQED) View the full episode transcript.
The Real Cost of AI Slop
Morgan SungMaya CuevaChris EgusaChris Hambrick Jan 28, 2026 Failed to save article Please try again In an aerial view, high voltage power lines run through a sub-station along the electrical power grid in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Joe Raedle / via Getty Images) View the full episode transcript. 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.
How to Protect Your Information Online in 2026
Jan 21, 2026 Failed to save article Please try again A photo illustration symbolizing personal digital security, showing privacy settings displayed in the shape of a hand against a background of binary code. (Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto via Getty Images) JoseMonkey does this for fun — and also because of his advocacy for online privacy. When he felt like people weren’t taking his concerns about the information they were unknowingly sharing seriously, he took to TikTok for a different approach.
Your Digital Footprint Reveals More Than You Think
Episode Transcript This is a computer-generated transcript. While our team has reviewed it, there may be errors. Morgan Sung, Host: A lot of us might feel pretty confident about our online privacy. But how confident are you, really? Enough to challenge Josemonkey? JoseMonkey, Guest: I’m JoseMonkey and I find people who ask to be found. [Clip 1 from JoseMonkey TikTok video]Hey, JoseMonkey, where am I? [Clip 2 from JoseMonkey TikTok video] Tell me where I am, JoseMonkey.
Are You Allowed to Record ICE?
Episode Transcript This is a computer-generated transcript. While our team has reviewed it, there may be errors. Morgan Sung, Host: Just a note, this episode contains references to violence and strong language. Listen with care. [Audio from 50501_Key_Largo Instagram Account] Border Patrol Officer: If I continue to see you following me around, I’m gonna pull you over and arrest you. Local Observer: For what? What law am I breaking? Border Patrol Officer: You’re impeding one of the investigations, okay?
Save or Scroll: OpenAI’s Head of Preparedness, Global RAM Shortage, AI Artists, and a Manosphere Antidote
Morgan SungChris EgusaChris HambrickMaya Cueva Jan 7, 2026 Failed to save article Please try again An illustrated graphic shows headshots of the Close All Tabs team displayed inside stylized app windows on a smartphone. (Illustration by Morgan Sung and Maya Cueva) View the full episode transcript. 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.
Death, Robotaxis, and a Cat Named KitKat
Episode Transcript This is a computer-generated transcript. While our team has reviewed it, there may be errors. [Crowd Chanting “KitKat! KitKat!” ] Morgan Sung, Host: Last month, KQED reporter Sydney Johnson covered an event in her neighborhood, that was part memorial service, part rally, in San Francisco’s Mission District. Dozens of residents gathered in front of Randa’s Market to remember KitKat, the store’s beloved 9-year-old tabby cat.
One Year Later, The Internet’s Still Talking About Luigi Mangione
Luigi Mangione holds a fist up in court during a suppression of evidence hearing in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in Manhattan Criminal Court on Dec. 8, 2025, in New York City. (Photo by Sarah Yenesel - Pool/Getty Images; composite created by Morgan Sung)
Teachers Strike Back Against AI Cheating
Adding This 5-Minute Task to My Bedtime Routine Helps Me Fall Asleep in 15 Minutes Plus, a sleep medicine doctor offers expert advice on how to get more quality sleep. Not being able to fall asleep can create a vicious cycle. You find yourself lying in bed, watching the clock and worrying about not getting enough sleep and how it will affect your energy the next day. This then …
SF-Based Internet Archive Is Now a Federal Depository Library. What Does That Mean?
Jul 24 Failed to save article Please try again Various types of electronics sit on a shelf at the Internet Archive offices in San Francisco on March 24, 2023. The Internet Archive, thanks to its designation by California Sen. Alex Padilla, joins a network of over 1,100 libraries that make government documents accessible to the public.
SF-Based Internet Archive Is Now a Federal Depository Library. What Does That Mean?
Failed to save article Please try again Various types of electronics sit on a shelf at the Internet Archive offices in San Francisco on March 24, 2023. The Internet Archive, thanks to its designation by California Sen. Alex Padilla, joins a network of over 1,100 libraries that make government documents accessible to the public.
Elon's Great Crash-Out / Unmasked in LA
18 hours ago The perfect last-minute Father's Day or graduation gift. Still looking for a Father's Day gift? Or maybe a last-minute graduation or wedding present? You can't go wrong with a gift card — you know your giftee will use it, unlike that fancy sous vide machine that's still sitting in their cabinet …
Why Can't Hentai Go Legit?
Episode Transcript This is a computer-generated transcript. While our team has reviewed it, there may be errors. Morgan Sung: Hey, a quick heads up, this episode includes discussion of sexual topics. So listen with care. Drea Ramirez: I really found myself in like high school, college, when I was very open about liking anime because I liked it in secret for so long. Morgan Sung: Drea Ramirez struggled to fit in growing up, and she said other girls bullied her on the playground for liking anime.
The Surveillance Machine, Pt 2: No Opt-Out
Episode Transcript This is a computer-generated transcript. While our team has reviewed it, there may be errors. Morgan Sung: A quick heads up before we start. This is part two of our deep dive on the government surveillance of protest movements. It’ll make more sense if you start with last week’s episode, which explains how we got here. In that episode, we covered the history of American surveillance and how dragnet surveillance became the norm.
The Surveillance Machine, Pt. 1: How We Got Here
Episode Transcript This is a computer-generated transcript. While our team has reviewed it, there may be errors. Jalsa Drinkard: You would wake up at like eight o’clock in the morning. There would be like bagels, people like actually making food for you. It would be students helping students. Morgan Sung: This is Jalsa Drinkard. She’s a student at Columbia University and an organizer for Columbia University Apartheid Divest or CUAD.
Recession Indicator Memes Are Getting Too Real
Episode Transcript This is a computer-generated transcript. While our team has reviewed it, there may be errors. Morgan Sung: Okay. So a few weeks ago, my friend Candice Lim joined us on the show. Candice Lim: Morgan, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I do think we are entering a recession culture era. Morgan Sung: We ended up having to cut some stuff out of that episode, but I wanted to bring this part back because I can’t stop thinking about it.
How Safe is AI Therapy?
Episode Transcript This is a computer-generated transcript. While our team has reviewed it, there may be errors. Morgan Sung: A quick heads up before we start. This episode includes discussions of suicide and mental health conditions, which may be distressing for some listeners. If you or someone you know need support, we’ll have links to resources in the episode description.
How Safe is AI Therapy?
19 hours ago Two undergrads built an AI speech model to rival NotebookLM A pair of undergrads, neither with extensive AI expertise, say that they’ve created an openly available AI model that can generate podcast-style clips similar to Google’s NotebookLM. The market for synthetic speech tools is vast and growing. ElevenLabs is one of the largest players, but there’s no … 21 hours ago You Can Create a PowerPoint Presentation With AI.
Twitter on a Vape: Puff, Post, Pollute
Failed to save article Please try again Tech reporter Samantha Cole holds a SWYPE touchscreen disposable vape in July 2024. She ordered the device after viral posts that summer showed digital vapes with built-in social media apps. 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.
Save or Scroll: Manosphere Mornings, Luigi Sex Tape Rumors, and the Art of the Hard Launch
Episode Transcript This is a computer-generated transcript. While our team has reviewed it, there may be errors. Morgan Sung: Hey guys, this is Close All Tabs. I’m Morgan Sung, tech journalist and your chronically online friend, here to open as many browser tabs as it takes to help you understand how the digital world affects our real lives. Except today, we aren’t opening any tabs. We’re doing something a little different.
The Broligarchy Pt 2: Is this Techno-Fascism?
Episode Transcript This is a computer-generated transcript. While our team has reviewed it, there may be errors. Morgan Sung: So there’s this bit in Silicon Valley, the HBO show I mean, where one of the characters, Jared, gets into a self-driving car owned by this billionaire named Peter Gregory. Automated Voice: Buckle up, please. Okay. Enjoy your ride. Morgan Sung: But then, things go off the rails. Automated Voice: Destination override. New destination, 1 Gregory Drive, Arallon.
The Broligarchy Pt 1: Chronicles of the PayPal Mafia
Episode Transcript This is a computer-generated transcript. While our team has reviewed it, there may be errors. Morgan Sung: Guys, I think we need to talk about the broligarchy. News Anchor 1 We’re seeing a rise in what I guess we’ll call the broligarchy. News Anchor 2 The broligarchs really have an explicit political agenda. News Anchor 3 How do you survive the broligarchy?
Waymo Problems | Flipboard
2 hours ago From Amazon to Pinterest: The 40 tech companies that file the most H-1B immigrant work visas 1. Amazon Total certified H-1B filings: 14,783 (including 23 for Whole Foods). Total employees worldwide: 1,556,000 as of the end of 2024. 2. Microsoft Total certified H-1B filings: 5,695 flings (including 970 from LinkedIn). Total employees worldwide: 228,000 as of the second quarter of 2024. 3.
Waymo Problems | KQED
Episode Transcript Harri Weber: Do we look like influencers right now? Is this embarrassing to be walking up to a Waymo? Morgan Sung: This is me and my friend Harri Weber booking my first ride in a Waymo. It’s a self -driving car service. Some people also call them robo-taxis. Wait, I think I have to unlock it. Harri Weber: Oh, there we go. Morgan Sung: For Morgan? No one’s going to respond. Waymo’s are, again, totally self -driving. There’s no human in the front seat. Hello from Waymo.
Children of the Vlog
Episode Transcript Caymi Barrett: I think when I first started to notice that like, hey, this is kind of really weird and like we need to kind of tone it down is when I was hit by a drunk driver. Like immediately my mom pulled out her camera. The first responders were there. I was being strapped down to a stretcher because I had like a spinal injury and I was really scared.
TikTok's Vibe Shift
Episode Transcript Morgan Sung: Let me set the scene for you. January 18th, 2025. It’s been a long day, and you plop down on the couch to relax. It’s two days till the second inauguration of Donald J. Trump, and you have no idea what chaos is on the other side of that date. The Supreme Court has just decided to uphold the law banning TikTok. But there’s no way the app will actually go down, right? So you and your phone settle in on the couch for your early evening scroll.
Influencer Endorsements Gone Wild
Episode Transcript Morgan Sung: Okay, guys, I know we’re deep in fall now. We’re putting away the Halloween pumpkins, it’s getting a little chilly. And Election Day is right around the corner. But let me take you back to this summer. To the Democratic National Convention. It’s a chance for Democrats to seize the moment and present a fresh version of the party, under the leadership of for the first time in history, a woman of color.
Stan Wars, The Fandom Menace
Episode Transcript Jake Tapper: The singer Charli XCX tweeted last night, Kamala is Brat. Charlie XCX: 360. When you’re in the mirror do you know what you see. Kamala Harris: You think you just fell out of a coconut tree. Charlie XCX: I ‘m everywhere I’m so Julia. Morgan Sung: What you’re hearing is a TikTok video. It’s different clips of Kamala Harris dancing and they’re all colored this bright lime green. If you’ve been online this year, you might recognize it as bright green.
Couch F***** Memes vs The Truth
Episode Transcript Morgan Sung: Please note that this episode contains explicit language and adult themes, so listen with care. The way disinformation spreads online can lead to pretty horrifying real world consequences. We saw that in September when false claims about immigrants eating pets in Springfield, Ohio, led to widespread disruptions and bomb threats. Now, the people spreading those claims face legal action.
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