Close All Tabs

“Sister, yesss!” What’s Behind the Viral Nun Podcast?

This year’s internet breakout star was an order of Catholic sisters with a podcast. Within weeks of launching, Dominican Sisters Open Mic went mega viral. Clips and fan e

Are Chatbots Harming Our Relationships? | Close All Tabs Presents

Humans are complicated, and relationships can be messy, so it may be no surprise that people are falling in love with chatbots. They are available 24/7, hang on your ever

Influencers Are Peddling Peptides, but Is Tanmaxxing Worth the Risk?

Seems like everywhere you turn these days, influencers are gushing about their peptide use and how it’s done wonders for their appearance and health. One of the more popu

Can We Cool Data Centers With… Pee?

People really seem to hate data centers. And the more people learn about the amount of resources these server-packed buildings need, the bigger the backlash grows. Perhap

AI, Artists, and the Future of Creative Work from Life, Automated | Close All Tabs Presents

While the Close All Tabs team churns out our next few episodes, we bring you this must-listen from Life, Automated. Generative AI is able to conjure new images, stories,

Save or Scroll: Fake NFL Players, Girly Coding, AI Music Scams and Community Garden Drama

Host Morgan Sung and the Close All Tabs team pull up the stories they can’t stop thinking about. From a fake NFL player catfishing women on dating apps, to femme creators

Close All Tabs Presents Snap Judgment: Runaway Car

Close All Tabs is on break this week, but we’re sharing a captivating episode about technology gone wrong from our friends at KQED’s Snap Judgment.  A 19 year old picks

What Happened to the Quantified Self Movement?

Before Apple Watches, Oura Rings and Fitbits delivered mountains of health data to the masses, a group of obsessive self-tracking enthusiasts in Silicon Valley started a

Going Down the AI Music Slop Chute with Camilo Landau | Dream Machines

Can people tell the difference between a song made by human musicians, and one prompted by AI? Oftentimes not, it turns out. But that doesn’t make the distinction any les

AI Agents Are Turning Marxist Under Stress

In an effort to study how AI agents respond to different working conditions, three researchers ran an experiment: one set of AI agents received grinding work to complete

Could AI Transform How Science Gets Done? with Jungwon Byun | Dream Machines

What happens when AI moves beyond answering questions and starts helping scientists decide what to investigate next? Dream Machines hosts Alexis Madrigal and Robin Sloan

The Emily Hart Saga, Part 2: The AI Thirst Trap Grift

Emily Hart, the bikini-wearing right-wing AI influencer, had captured the hearts, minds and more of MAGA men online. But her creator, Sam, had grown sick of the creepy me

AI Will Create Enormous Wealth — But Who Benefits? with Erik Brynjolfsson | Dream Machines

AI is advancing at a breakneck pace, but how quickly will that actually transform the economy? Dream Machines hosts Alexis Madrigal and Robin Sloan talk to Stanford econo

The Emily Hart Saga, Part 1: MAGA’s AI Dream Girl

Emily Hart was a pickup-driving, Trump-supporting blonde bombshell who frequently posted photos on Instagram along with captions about “deporting illegals.” Within a few

Language, Landscapes and Robot Minds with Annalee Newitz | Dream Machines

San Francisco has been at the center of successive waves of technological and cultural change —  from the literal Gold Rush days to the current gold rush-like AI boom. Dr

Why The Ethan Klein Fair Use Lawsuits Are Way More Than Internet Beef

When Twitch streamer Denims made a reaction video about Ethan Klein's nearly two-hour takedown video of Hasan Piker, she wasn’t expecting to be sued for copyright infring

Introducing: Dream Machines from KQED

We’ve got guests in the feed all August — a new series from KQED called Dream Machines! Today Morgan talks to co-hosts Alexis Madrigal and Robin Sloan about this podcast

The Pink Pill Pipeline and the Online War Against Birth Control

It starts with aspirational lifestyle content about “embracing your femininity,” but ends with alt-right ideology and conspiracy theories about reproductive care. This is

How the Furry Fandom Says Goodbye (Reload)

Anthrocon, the largest gathering of furries in the world, just celebrated its 20th anniversary in July — so we’re re-airing one of our favorite episodes yet.  Furries ar

Are We Doomed If The Internet Goes Dark?

What are the chances that the internet could go down forever? How bad for humanity would it be if it did? And what would a shift back to the before-times look like? These