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” — Jag Bhalla & Nathan J. Robinson, Current Affairs
• ‘Headed for technofascism’: the rightwing roots of Silicon Valley - Becca Lewis, The Guardian
• “Techno-Fascism Comes to America” - Kyle Chayka, The New Yorker 

Read the transcript here

Want to give us feedback on the series? Shoot us an email at CloseAllTabs@KQED.org

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Credits:

This episode was reported and hosted by Morgan Sung. Our Producer is Maya Cueva. Chris Egusa is our Senior Editor. Additional editing by Jen Chien. Sound design by Chris Egusa. Original music by Chris Egusa, with additional music from APM. Mixing and mastering by Brendan Willard, Katherine Monahan, and Chris Egusa. Audience engagement support from Maha Sanad and Alana Walker. Katie Sprenger is our Podcast Operations Manager. Holly Kernan is our Chief Content Officer.

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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 follow us on Instagram

Credits:

This episode was reported and hosted by Morgan Sung. Our Producer is Maya Cueva. Chris Egusa is our Senior Editor. Additional editing by Jen Chien. Sound design by Maya Cueva and Chris Egusa. Original music by Chris Egusa, with additional music from APM. Mixing and mastering by Brendan Willard. Audience engagement support from Maha Sanad and Alana Walker. Katie Sprenger is our Podcast Operations Manager. Holly Kernan is our Chief Content Officer.

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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 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 is our Senior Editor. Additional editing by Jen Chien. Original music and sound design by Chris Egusa, with additional music from APM. Mixing, mastering, and additional sound design by Brendan Willard. Audience engagement support from Maha Sanad and Alana Walker. Katie Sprenger is our Podcast Operations Manager. Holly Kernan is our Chief Content Officer.

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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 AI — Jo Ann Oravec, Professor at the University of Wisconsin

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. It was produced and sound designed by Maya Cueva. Chris Egusa is our Senior Editor. Additional editing by Jen Chien. Original music by Chris Egusa, with additional music from APM. Audience engagement support from Maha Sanad and Alana Walker. Katie Sprenger is our Podcast Operations Manager. Holly Kernan is our Chief Content Officer.

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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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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

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