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.
All content for Close All Tabs is the property of KQED and is served directly from their servers
with no modification, redirects, or rehosting. The podcast is not affiliated with or endorsed by Podjoint in any way.
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.
The Broligarchy Pt 1: Chronicles of the PayPal Mafia
Close All Tabs
38 minutes
3 months ago
The Broligarchy Pt 1: Chronicles of the PayPal Mafia
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.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Close All Tabs
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.
