Close All Tabs

When viral stories like the Last Ditch bar masking controversy and the “sickfluencer” debate whipped the internet into a frenzy, disabled people found themselves in the crosshairs. Researcher and creator Jess Rauchberg saw a common driver behind the vitriol: algorithmic ableism.

The term describes how social media platforms and their algorithms suppress disabled creators while amplifying ridicule of them. Jess has seen it first hand as a disabled content creator, and has explored it in a research paper and an upcoming book.

Morgan talks with Jess about the history of disabled people in public life, how some people with disabilities get turned into “lolcows,” how algorithms push ableist rage, and why social media platforms are the ones who come out on top.

Guests:

Dr. Jess Rauchberg, creator culture expert and lecturer at the University of Leeds

Further Reading/Listening:

Greenfield lesbian bar Last Ditch faces mask-rule backlash — Annalisa Quinn, The Boston Globe

The Insidious World of Lolcows — Emily Topping, Current Affairs

An Honest Review of the WorldofTShirts Experience — Steven Asarch, Passionfruit

Illegal to be ’ugly’? The history behind one of America‘s cruelest laws — National Geographic

Articulating algorithmic ableism: the suppression and surveillance of disabled TikTok creators — Jess Rauchberg, Journal of Gender Studies, Volume 34, Issue 8

A Long-Ignored Syndrome Is Drawing Unprecedented Attention — Laurie Tarkan, Medscape

TikTok Told Moderators: Suppress Posts by the “Ugly” and Poor — Sam Biddle, Paulo Victor Ribeiro, Tatiana Dias, The Intercept

No One Should Be Shamed for Using a Mobility Aid — Nicole Clark, TIME

Read the Transcript here

Email us at CloseAllTabs@KQED.org

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Credits: Close All Tabs is hosted by Morgan Sung. This episode was produced by Cayla Mihalovich and Francesca Fenzi. Our team includes producer Maya Cueva, editor Chris Hambrick and senior editor Chris Egusa who also composed our theme song and credits music. Our intern is Lauren Yoon. 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 2020, movie theaters were on their last legs. Lockdowns and years of declining interest had forced historic cinemas to shutter, including an LA icon, the Cinerama Dome. But recently a new generation of cinema-lovers has been using social media to revitalize the culture of in person movie-watching. Internet culture reporter Candice Lim explores the rise of the Gen Z cinephile movement, and heads to Hollywood to meet the young filmmaker and activist who is fighting to bring the Cinerama Dome back from the dead.

Guests:

Candice Lim, internet culture reporter

Ben Steinberg, filmmaker, actor, and founder of Save Your Cinema

Ezgi Eren, founder of 11am Saturday

Further Reading/Listening:

Ben, the Man who Saved the Cinerama Dome — Hear in LA Substack

An Activist Spent Years Pushing for Hollywood’s Cinerama Dome to Reopen. Why Did He Just Stop? — Gary Baum, The Hollywood Reporter

Cinerama Dome Advocates Take Rare Chance to Put Public Pressure on Owners to Reopen — Brian Welk, IndieWire

How 26-Year-Old Ben Steinberg Saved the Cinerama Dome — Ryan Lattanzio & Anne Thompson, IndieWire

Supporters Rally to Save the Cinerama Dome as Future of Hollywood Theater Complex Remains Uncertain — Pat Saperstein & Jazz Tangcay, Variety

In praise of Ben Steinberg, the hero who stood up and demanded the Cinerama Dome not be just one more derelict, abandoned Hollywood landmark — Reddit

Read the Transcript here

Email us at CloseAllTabs@KQED.org

Follow us on ⁠Instagram⁠ and ⁠TikTok⁠

Credits: Close All Tabs is hosted by Morgan Sung. This episode was reported by Candice Lim. Our team includes producer Maya Cueva, editor Chris Hambrick and senior editor Chris Egusa who also composed our theme song and credits music. Additional production by Francesca Fenzi. Our intern is Lauren Yoon. 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.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this special Halloween edition of Close All Tabs, we’re diving into creepypastas: horror stories that spread online until they become urban legends on their own. What happened to the girl who fell into a mirror in 2001? Did Ted the Caver ever come back to the surface? Was the Momo challenge real? And finally, we venture into eBay’s haunted doll marketplace … where we may have ended up with a spirit wreaking havoc on the production of this episode. It’s a ghoulish good time.

Guests:

Hallie Tut, visual effects artist, and digital content creator

Craig Groshek, horror author and founder of Chilling Tales for Dark Nights

Ted Hegemann, author of "Ted the Caver”

Rena Lee, social media manager

Sophia Bruno, educational nonprofit coordinator

Paranormal Teej, haunted doll collector & paranormal investigator

Further Reading/Listening:

How She Creates VFX Shots That Break Your Brain — Hallie Tut, Youtube

Ted the Caver — Ted Hegemann

Momo (Creepypasta) — Villains Wiki

Momo Challenge Is Everything That’s Wrong with the Internet — Lance Ulanoff, Medium

Ubume — Yokai.com

How 'Momo', a global social media hoax about a paranormal threat to kids, morphed into a U.S. viral phenomenon — Ben Collins and Shoshana Wodinsky, NBC News

Finally, the truth behind the 'haunted' Dybbuk Box can be revealed — Inverse

The witches of eBay: Inside the industry selling haunted items online — Daniella Scott, Cosmopolitan

The Backrooms: How Kane Parsons turned creepypasta into cinema — Jack Mills, Dazed

The Eerie Backstory Behind Backrooms — Nadira Goffe, Slate

Revisiting Creepypasta, the Social Horror Craze That Launched Slenderman — Zac Thompson, VICE

Read the Transcript here

Email us at CloseAllTabs@KQED.org

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 production by Cayla Mihalovich. Our intern is Lauren Yoon. Additional music from APM. Audio engineering by Brendan Willard and Chris Egusa. Audience engagement support from Maha Sanad. Jen Chien is our Director of Podcasts. Ethan Toven-Lindsey is our Editor in Chief.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 edits of host Sister Miriam saying “Sister, yesss!” spread across social media. Secular women’s magazines and Catholic media alike dubbed this year a “nun girl summer.” At the same time, some have criticized the order behind the podcast for the conservative ideology baked into its educational content. In this episode, we explore how the Dominican Sisters of Mary rose to viral fame, the beliefs behind their easy charm and infectious laughter, and what it all says about the cultural moment we’re in.

Guests:

Paul Dailey, director of marketing at Openlight Media

Sister Thu T. Do, Sister of the Lovers of the Holy Cross of Hanoi and Research Associate at the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate, Georgetown University

Dr. Tricia Bruce, Sociology of Religion and Director of Social Science Research, Institute for Advanced Catholic Studies

Matthew Remski, religion and politics journalist, co-host of Conspirituality and author of Antifascist Dad: Urgent Conversations with Young People in Chaotic Times

Further Reading/Listening:

Don’t Call Them Nuns. They’re Podcasters. — Madison Malone Kircher, NYT

Why Are So Many People Listening to a Podcast About Living in a Convent? — Luis Parrales, The Atlantic

The TikTok Nuns Have Everyone in a Chokehold — Christen A. Johnson, Cosmopolitan

The Next Hot Trend Might Just Be ‘Nun Girl Summer’ — Amy Glover, Huffington Post

Read the Transcript here

Email us at CloseAllTabs@KQED.org

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 production by Cayla Mihalovich. Our intern is Lauren Yoon. 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.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 every word and never ask anything of you. Amelia Miller, a human-AI relationship coach, sees danger in our reliance on bots for intimacy and companionship.

Guest:

Amelia Miller, human-AI relationship coach; fellow, Harvard University’s Berkman Klein Center

Further Reading/Listening:

Are Chatbots Harming Our Relationships? — Lesley McClurg, KQED

Read the Transcript here

Email us at CloseAllTabs@KQED.org

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 production by Cayla Mihalovich. Our intern is Lauren Yoon. 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.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices