Life on an H-1B visa — a visa that lets U.S. companies hire foreign-born workers for specialized jobs — is difficult, unpredictable, and has gotten even harder under the Trump administration. A new gaming studio, Reality Reload, is trying to capture that experience in a mobile game. It’s called H1B.Life, and it simulates the difficult choices, competing priorities, and personal sacrifices visa holders face — complete with chaotic design elements, like all-powerful “gods” who control your fate.

KQED reporter Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman joins Morgan to break down the game’s surprising design choices, the mission behind it, and the stories he heard from people navigating the H1-B process.

Guest: 
Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman, reporter at KQED

Further Reading/Listening:

What Does It Take to Get a H-1B Visa? This Video Game Shows Just How Complicated It Is — Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman, KQED

Meta, Google, and Amazon slash H-1B petitions after Trump's visa crackdown — Geoff Weiss, Melia Russell, Andy Kiersz, and Alex Nicoll, Business Insider 

Faculty Warn Against State Bans on H-1B Visas — Jessica Blake, Inside Higher Ed 

H-1B Visa Restrictions Will Hurt America’s Research Potential, Experts Say — Shelby Bradford, PhD, The Scientist 

US Tech Visa Applications Are Being Put Through the Wringer — Lauren Goode, Wired 

A New Game Turns the H-1B Visa System Into a Surreal Simulation — Zeyi Yang, Wired 

Read the Transcript here

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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.

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In a spring installment of Save or Scroll, Morgan teams up with culture journalist Steffi Cao to dig into the stories they can’t stop thinking about. From looksmaxxing to AI Fruit Love Island, BTS’ new album, and Meta losing a landmark series of lawsuits, they’ve got a lot to discuss.

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?

Guest:

Steffi Cao, culture journalist 

Further Reading/Listening:

More from Steffi Cao — Substack

Inside Clavicular’s Thirsty Tour of New York City — Kieran Press-Reynolds, GQ

Why Steroids Are Now Turning Young Men into Dangerous Incels — Steffi Cao, The Daily Beast  

‘Fruit Love Island’ is TikTok’s most popular AI-generated series. It’s now facing trouble in paradise — Jude Cramer, Fast Company 

There’s Something Very Dark About a Lot of Those Viral AI Fruit Videos — Kat Tenbarge, Wired 

Who Decides If BTS’s Album ‘Arirang’ is ‘Korean Enough’? — Jiye Kim, Teen Vogue 

BTS’s Arirang comeback was supposed to be a triumph. What happened? — Nadira Goffe, Slate 

Meta and YouTube ordered to pay $3 million to young woman in social media addiction trial — Jasmine Mithani, The 19th

What the Verdict Against Meta and Google Says About the Way We Live Now — Jeannie Suk Gersen, The New Yorker 

The Truth About the Social Media Addiction Trial — Taylor Lorenz, Free Speech Friday  

Read the Transcript here

Email us at [email protected]

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⁠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.

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Only 2% of Americans identify as members of the Church of Latter-day Saints — and yet a striking number of American social media influencers are Mormon. Why? The answer lies in a mix of religious doctrine, early internet adoption, and some surprising financial incentives.

In this episode, author and journalist Fortesa Latifi returns to the show to unpack her research for her new book, Like, Follow, Subscribe: Influencer Kids and the Cost of a Childhood Online. She breaks down the hidden industry behind Mormon “momfluencers,” how these creators both uphold and push against a patriarchal system, and why the trad wife fantasy can be damaging far beyond their audience. Plus, she and Morgan tackle the question hanging over reality TV fans everywhere: “Will MomTok survive this?”

Guest:

Fortesa Latifi, journalist and author of Like, Follow, Subscribe: Influencer Kids and the Cost of a Childhood Online.

Further Reading/Listening:

Like, Follow, Subscribe: Influencer Kids and the Cost of a Childhood Online — Fortesa Latifi, Simon & Schuster 

the Mormon Church pays its influencers — Fortesa Latifi, What’s The Vibe

A Refresher on the Mormon MomTok Drama — Danielle Cohen, Olivia Truffaut-Wong, and Julia Reinstein, The Cut 

'The Bachelorette' Cast Taylor Frankie Paul For The Mess. They Got It. So, Who's To Blame?  — Katherine Singh, Refinery 29 

'The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives' Shows the Trad Wife Reality  — Quinci LeGardye, Marie Claire 

Does the LDS Church pay influencers? Well, actually, yes. — Dylan Eubank, The Salt Lake Tribune

Meet the queen of the ‘trad wives’ (and her eight children) — Megan Agnew, The Times 
Tradwife life isn't as good as it looks on TikTok — just ask former tradwives — Isabella Gomez Sarmiento, NPR

Read the Transcript ⁠here⁠

Email us at ⁠[email protected]⁠

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.

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According to all known laws of aviation, there is no way a bee should be able to fly. Its wings are too small to get its fat little body off the ground. The bee, of course, flies anyway because bees don't care what humans think is impossible.

In 2007, Bee Movie hit theaters with a strange plot and was considered a box office flop. Nearly two decades later, it’s somehow more relevant than ever, not because of the movie itself, but because of what happened next. The script became a meme, then a prank, then, eventually, a tool for protest.

In this episode, host Morgan Sung traces the evolution of bait-and-switch memes, from early internet shock images to the rise of the “Never Gonna Give You Up” rickroll, all the way to TikTok-era pranks that burn out as quickly as they go viral. Along the way, she talks to Bee Movie co-writer Spike Feresten about how the film became an unlikely internet icon, and to digital rhetoric expert Bret Strauch about what makes a meme actually stick.

Guests:

Spike Feresten, screenwriter and comedian

Bret Strauch, assistant professor of digital media, University of Colorado Boulder

Further Reading/Listening:

Behind the scenes content on the making of this episode!

MEMES, Part 3: Gotta make you understand — Endless Thread

A Complete History of Bee Movie’s Many, Many Memes — Paris Martineau, Intelligencer

Why Did Bee Movie Become A Meme? — Joshua Kristian McCoy, GameRant

The Josh Hutcherson ‘Whistle’ edit meme, explained — Ana Diaz, Polygon

‘His courage our own’: This Charlie Kirk tribute song is blowing up on Spotify. Was it made by a human—or AI? — Braden Bjella, The Mary Sue 

Read the Transcript here

Email us at [email protected]

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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.

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What do pissed off farmers and broken McFlurry machines have to do with each other? More than you’d think. Both are part of the story behind the modern right-to-repair movement. In this episode, Jason Koebler, tech journalist and co-founder at 404 Media, explains how an unlikely alliance between Midwestern farmers and electronics repair technicians helped win right-to repair protections across multiple states — and why the farmers’ fight to fix their own tractors is far from over. 

Guest:

Jason Koebler, tech journalist and co-founder of 404 Media

Further Reading/Listening:

It Is Now Legal to Hack McFlurry Machines (and Medical Devices) to Fix Them — Jason Koebler, 404 Media  

The Walls Are Closing in on John Deere’s Tractor Repair Monopoly — Jason Koebler, 404 Media

EPA Affirms Farmers’ Right to Repair — Lisa Held, Civil Eats

The Latest Repair Battlefield Is the Iowa Farmlands—Again — Boone Ashworth, Wired 

How John Deere hijacked copyright law to keep you from tinkering with your tractor — Luke Hogg, Reason Magazine 

Tractor-Hacking Farmers Are Leading a Revolt Against Big Tech's Repair Monopolies — Jason Koebler, Vice 

Why American Farmers Are Hacking Their Tractors With Ukrainian Firmware — Jason Koebler, Vice

Read the Transcript here

Email us at [email protected]

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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 producing support by Gabriela Glueck. 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.

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Today’s culture of overconsumption urges us to simply throw broken items away and buy new ones. But there’s a growing shift to treat non-working devices differently. In this episode, we dig into the “right to repair” movement with Louis Rossmann, a repair technician, YouTuber and consumer rights advocate. Rossmann has spent years pushing back against the companies that make our devices harder, or even impossible, to fix. From parts pairing to “authorized repair” loopholes, we unpack how tech companies maintain control over the products you’ve already paid for. As devices like phones and even cars move toward subscription-based use models, we examine the question ‘do you truly own something if you can’t repair it?’

Guest:

Louis Rossmann, repair technician and advocate at Rossman Repair Group

Further Reading/Listening:

The Gloves Are Off in the Fight for Your Right to Repair — Boone Ashworth, WIRED

Apple founder Steve Wozniak backs right-to-repair movement — BBC

Clippy is back—this time as a mascot for Big Tech protests — Eve Upton-Clark, Fast Company

Wheelchair Users Are Finally Winning the Right to Repair — Julia Métraux, Mother Jones

A Growing ‘Right to Repair’ Culture in California — Azul Dahlstrom-Eckman, KQED’s The Bay

Read the Transcript here

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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 producing support by Gabriela Glueck. 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.

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A legal loophole has led to a surge in single-use vapes packed with a surprising amount of electronic components. It’s also a glimpse into how our disposable tech habits are fueling a growing e-waste problem. 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. We also hear from environmental philosopher and public health researcher Yogi Hale Hendlin, who explains how flavored vape bans have led to the flood of high-tech disposables — and how tackling the e-waste crisis will take a radical rethink of our relationship with the products we consume.

This episode first aired on April 16th, 2025 

Guests:

Samantha Cole, reporter and co-founder of 404 Media

Yogi Hale Hendlin, environmental philosopher and assistant professor at Erasmus University

Further Reading:

I Tried to Vape the Internet – Samantha Cole, 404 Media 

Communities can't recycle or trash disposable e-cigarettes. So what happens to them? – Matthew Perrone, Associated Press

How ‘Sour Raspberry Gummy Bear’ — and Other Chinese Vapes — Made Fools of American Lawmakers –  Marc Novicoff, Politico 

The right to repair electronics is now law in 3 states. Is Big Tech complying? – Maddie Stone, Grist  

Disposable vapes thrown away quadruples to 5 M per week – Material Focus

Read the transcript here

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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. Katie Sprenger is our Director of Content Operations. Ethan Toven-Lindsey is our Editor in Chief.

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Requiring internet users to verify their ages before accessing mature content may sound reasonable. Shouldn’t we be doing a better job protecting kids from online vulgarities? But free speech advocates say the push for age verification isn’t really about protecting children — and that bills like the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) would open the door to greater surveillance, censorship and control of what people can do online. Those same free speech advocates say the evidence lies in what happened to sex workers after the passage of the bills known as Allow States and Victims To Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act (FOSTA) and the Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act (SESTA) in 2018. 

In this episode, Morgan is joined by writer, researcher and dominatrix Dr. Olivia Snow and Mashable associate editor Anna Iovine to explore the connections between porn, sex work and surveillance — and what age verification laws could mean for the future of the internet. 

Guests: 

Dr. Olivia Snow, research fellow at UCLA’s Center on Resilience & Digital Justice

Anna Iovine, associate editor of features at Mashable

Further Reading/Listening:

Age verification is going to destroy the entire internet — Anna Iovine, Mashable

Are You Ready to Be Surveilled Like A Sex Worker? — Dr. Olivia Snow, WIRED

Sex Workers Have Been Banned From Airbnb for Years. Will You Be Next? — Dr. Olivia Snow, The Nation

Discord delays age verification measures as it admits what it got 'wrong' — Austin Manchester, Polygon

FOSTA-SESTA was supposed to thwart sex trafficking. Instead, it’s sparked a movement — Liz Tung, WHYY 

The Internet Loves Sex. Why Does it Hate Sex Workers? — Luna, The Swaddle

When social media censorship gets it wrong: The struggle of breast cancer content creators  — Savannah Kuchar, USA Today

What would ethical age verification look like online? — Anna Iovine, Mashable

Project 2025 Co-Author Caught Admitting Secret Conservative Plan to Ban Porn  — Shawn Musgrave, The Intercept

Going Viral vs. Going Dark: Why Extremism Trends and Abortion Content Gets Censored — Kenyatta Thomas, Electronic Frontier Foundation: Stop Censoring Abortion Campaign 

FCC finds no violations in Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime show at Levi’s Stadium — Aidin Vaziri, San Francisco Chronicle 

Read the Transcript here

Email us at [email protected]

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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. Katie Sprenger is our Director of Content Operations. Ethan Toven-Lindsey is our Editor in Chief.

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Roblox is one of the most popular gaming platforms for kids, with millions of young gamers playing user-created games. It’s also been heavily criticized for its track record on child safety, and is now facing more than 80 lawsuits alleging child abuse and grooming. In response, the company recently rolled out a new safety measure: AI-powered facial age verification that restricts who players can talk with. The reception from players has been anything but warm.

In this episode, host Morgan Sung is joined by youth mental health reporter Rachel Hale, who explains how predators operate on the platform, why everyone seems to hate Roblox’s new AI age verification feature, and the incredible lengths some users are willing to go to get around it. And while Roblox says age verification is about improving safety, questions have emerged about its accuracy, digital privacy and how this move impacts the broader push for age verification across the internet.

Guest: Rachel Hale, youth mental health reporter at USA Today

Further Reading/Listening:

I got an up-close look at Roblox's new safety feature. Here's what I found. — Rachel Hale, USA Today

She just wanted to play Roblox with friends. Then the messages from a predator began. — Rachel Hale, USA Today  

Can social media age verification really protect kids? — Rina Chandran, Rest Of World 

Roblox's age verification system is reportedly a trainwreck — Will Shanklin, Engadget   

Read the Transcript here

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 producing support by Gabriela Glueck. Additional music from APM. Audio engineering by Brendan Willard. Audience engagement support from Maha Sanad. Jen Chien is our Director of Podcasts. Katie Sprenger is our Director of Content Operations. Ethan Toven-Lindsey is our Editor in Chief.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Are you going through “a very Chinese time in your life”? If so, maybe you’re one of the many American social media users who’ve jumped on the Chinamaxxing trend (or…you’re Chinese). But it’s more than just slippers in the house and hot water at breakfast — as Western netizens experience increased surveillance and censorship across internet platforms, they are ironically turning to one of the most repressive regimes in the world for respite. On today’s episode, Morgan talks to Yi-Ling Liu, author of The Wall Dancers: Searching for Freedom and Connection on the Chinese Internet, about the Chinese government’s history of internet censorship, how online creativity has still flourished inside China’s “walled garden,” and what Americans have to learn from our neighbors in the East. 

Guest: Yi-Ling Liu, writer and editor

Further Reading/Listening:

The Wall Dancers Searching for Freedom and Connection on the Chinese Internet — Yi-Ling Liu

How a Dating App Helped a Generation of Chinese Come Out of the Closet — Yi-Ling Liu, The New York Times Magazine

Why Everyone Is Suddenly in a ‘Very Chinese Time’ in Their Lives — Zeyi Yang and Louise Matsakis, Wired 

TikTok censorship claims spark California probe of app's handling of anti-Trump content —  Kevin Collier and Bruna Horvath, NBC News 

Why TikTok’s first week of American ownership was a disaster —  Blake Montgomery, The Guardian

China’s biggest gay dating app wants to beat Grindr — Viola Zhou and Andrew Deck, Rest of World

Two of China’s most popular gay dating apps have disappeared from app stores — Chris Lau and Steven Jiang, CNN 

Read the Transcript here

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 producing support by Gabriela Glueck. Additional music from APM. Audio engineering by Brendan Willard. Audience engagement support from Maha Sanad. Jen Chien is our Director of Podcasts. Katie Sprenger is our Director of Content Operations. Ethan Toven-Lindsey is our Editor in Chief.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In honor of Valentine’s Day, we’re bringing you an episode about love. We start with TikTok creator Jojo Manzo, who turned his late-night doomscrolling into a matchmaking experiment when he invited thousands of strangers to flirt in his comment section. Then we talk to Maria Avgitidis, a third-generation matchmaker, about why friction, community, and a little discomfort might actually be the point of dating. And finally, we get to the physical … or, at least, geographical. When you find someone you care about, do you share your location with them? Is it intimacy, convenience, surveillance or all three? We explore what it looks like to find human connection in a deeply digital world.

Guests:

Maria Avgitidis Pyrgiotakis, matchmaker and CEO of Agapematch

Jojo Manzo, musician and content creator

Friends of Close All Tabs: Mandy Seiner and Jackson Maxwell,  Anna Iovine, Tanya Chen, Amanda Silberling,  Harriet Weber,  and Taj Weaver

Further Reading/Listening:

You Don’t Need to Swipe Right. A.I. Is Transforming Dating Apps — Eli Tan, The New York Times

To Share or Not to Share? How Location Sharing Is Changing Our Relationships — Modern Love Podcast

‘Perfection without the connection’: How AI is becoming a digital wingman — Hani Richter, Reuters

The Doomed Dream of an AI Matchmaker — Faith Hill, The Atlantic

Ask A Matchmaker: Matchmaker Maria’s No Nonsense Guide to Finding Love — Maria Avgitidis, Matchmaker Maria

Is U-Hauling Real? Here's What's Behind The Lesbian Stereotype — Lea Rose Emery, Bustle

What's The Deal With U-Haul Lesbians? — Kira Deshler, Paging Dr. Lesbian

Read the transcript here.

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 producing support by Gabriela Glueck. Additional music from APM. Audio engineering by Brendan Willard. Audience engagement support from Maha Sanad. Jen Chien is our Director of Podcasts. Katie Sprenger is our Director of Content Operations. Ethan Toven-Lindsey is our Editor in Chief.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices