Episode Transcript
It is a computer-generated transcript. Whereas our crew has reviewed it, there could also be errors.
Morgan Sung: Hey guys, welcome to Shut All Tabs. We had deliberate to deliver you half two of our Spotify deep dive in the present day. And don’t fear, we’ll get again to that subsequent week. However there have been some developments over the previous week. Mainly, the previous couple of days have been so wild that we have to discuss it. We’re truly following up on three of our earlier episodes in the present day. And becoming a member of me to assist kind via all of it’s our producer, Maya Cueva.
Maya Cueva: Hey Morgan,
Morgan Sung: Hey Maya. So this shall be a little bit of a velocity spherical. Two fast tabs in the present day. And as a facet quest, I’m going to attempt to make the case to you, Maya, for why I’ve stayed on Twitter, or as we now name it, X.
Maya Cueva: Yeah, please make your case, as a result of it’s exhausting for me to get why anybody would wish to keep on X, however I do wish to perceive.
Morgan Sung: I’ll strive my finest. Okay, we’ve acquired a couple of issues to cowl in the present day, together with what’s taking place with Waymos and protest surveillance in LA. However earlier than we get to that, we’ve to speak about one thing that occurred final week. Elon Musk and Donald Trump lastly broke up.
Morgan Sung: That is Shut All Tabs. I’m Morgan Sung, tech journalist, and your chronically on-line pal, right here to open as many browser tabs because it takes that will help you perceive how the digital world impacts our actual lives. Let’s get into it.
Morgan Sung: Maya, are you prepared?
Maya Cueva: Yeah, Morgan. Let’s open a brand new tab.
Morgan Sung: The Nice Elon Crash Out. Again in March, we did a collection on “the Broligarchy,” and extra particularly, the ideology that drives tech titans like Elon Musk as they accumulate political energy.
Maya Cueva: And the way they may use that energy to affect U.S. Coverage.
Information Anchor 1: We’re seeing an increase in what I assume we’ll name the “Broligarchy”.
Information Anchor 2: The “Broligarchs” actually have an specific political agenda.
Information Anchor 3: How do you survive the “Broligarchy”?
Morgan Sung: And nothing embodied the Broligarchy fairly like the connection between Elon Musk and President Donald Trump. And I simply wish to say up entrance, these things is actually critical, proper? Like the truth that these two males management so many levers of energy and the ripple results of their selections have already had huge and generally devastating penalties — that needs to be a supply of concern for us all. However on the identical time, their private relationship, what many have known as a bromance, there’s one thing type of humorous about it. Prefer it has highschool vibes. And social media has actually eaten that up.
Maya Cueva: However it looks like that relationship is over, proper?
Morgan Sung: It’s true. No less than it’s as of after we’re recording this, on Monday afternoon. After lower than a 12 months since Musk publicly endorsed Trump, the bromance is useless. Okay, let’s begin proper after Election Day. They had been nonetheless fairly cozy again then. This was Trump in his victory speech proper after profitable the election.
Donald Trump: Let me let you know, we’ve a brand new star. A star is born, Elon.
Maya Cueva: After which Elon begins overseeing DOGE, proper?
Morgan Sung: Proper. He’s the face of the Division of Authorities Effectivity. And underneath his de facto management, DOGE is slashing authorities businesses left and proper. We see mass layoffs and the dismantling of assist applications. And it’s an accounting and privateness catastrophe. Clearly, Trump and Musk are getting loads of backlash over this. And we begin to see cracks within the relationship.
Maya Cueva: Proper, yeah, and didn’t that weird White Home Tesla showcase occur throughout all of this?
Morgan Sung: Yeah, by March, Tesla inventory was down by like 45%. So whereas Tesla is slumping as an organization, Trump and Musk turned the White Home garden right into a Tesla showroom. They reside stream it on X and Trump makes a present of wanting to purchase one. He actually talks up the Cybertruck.
Donald Trump: Who else however this man would design this, and all people on the highway is taking a look at it. It’s superb, truly. As quickly as I noticed it, I stated, that’s the coolest design.
Morgan Sung: So you know the way there’s at all times that one couple on Instagram that you realize will not be doing properly, however they overcompensate by posting actually, like, lovey-dovey captions and all that?
Maya Cueva: Ugh, sure, it’s like, why are you pretending? You’re not fooling anybody.
Morgan Sung: Okay, so I feel this Tesla showcase is type of like that. That very same month, because the White Home will get warmth for DOGE’s actions, Trump goes on Fact Social and says that the company heads are in control of staffing, not Musk and DOGE. That is when the president begins to rein Musk in.
Maya Cueva: Okay, so we’ve heard that Trump and Musk are getting backlash for lots of the actions they’re taking, particularly DOGE, and Musk’s firms are struggling. And all of this appears to be creating pressure, proper? So when did the precise breakup occur?
Morgan Sung: Properly, firstly of final month, Musk says he’s stepping again from DOGE to concentrate on his personal firms like Tesla and SpaceX. A couple of weeks later, Musk goes on CBS and bashes the president’s funds proposal, what Trump calls his “Huge, Stunning Invoice.” Musk says that invoice will increase the funds deficit and undermines DOGE’s work.
Elon Musk: I feel a invoice could be large or it may be lovely, however I don’t know if it may very well be each.
Morgan Sung: And by the top of the month, the White Home broadcasts that Musk’s non permanent position as a particular authorities worker has ended. They host a ceremony, and the president makes this grand gesture of gifting Musk a gold key to the White home.
Donald Trump: I’ve given it to some, but it surely goes to very particular folks, and I believed I’d give it to Elon as a presentation from our nation. Thanks, Elon. Take care. Thanks
Maya Cueva: Okay, so this appears fairly cordial to me.
Morgan Sung: You understand, it’s like that a part of a breakup the place you inform folks you’re nonetheless on good phrases and you want one another the perfect and also you’re going to be in one another’s lives, all that. However like, we all know what occurs.
Maya Cueva: Oh yeah, we’ve all been there earlier than.
Morgan Sung: Proper, besides these are two exceptionally highly effective males. So that is the place it will get actually juicy.
Maya Cueva: Okay, inform me.
Morgan Sung: So a few days in the past, Musk goes on X and begins tearing aside the invoice. He says, maintain on, let me pull it up. “This huge, outrageous, pork-filled congressional spending invoice is a disgusting abomination. Disgrace on those that voted for it. You understand you probably did improper. You KNOW it.” And Trump tells reporters that Musk is upset as a result of the invoice would finish tax credit for electrical automobiles. After which these guys simply begin going at it.
Maya Cueva: Wait, so what occurred? Are you able to break it down for me?
Morgan Sung: Because of this I say I’ll by no means depart the app, as a result of as dangerous because it will get, there are nonetheless days when everybody comes out of hibernation and simply begins posting. And this consists of Elon Musk. So he begins firing off at Trump on X. First, he says that Trump would have misplaced the election with out him. Trump goes to Fact Social, and he says Musk went loopy after he was requested to go away the White Home. He threatens to chop Musk’s authorities subsidies and contracts.
Maya Cueva: And I’m guessing Elon Musk didn’t take that properly.
Morgan Sung: Oh, under no circumstances. Musk goes nuclear. He runs again to X and posts one thing that makes everybody’s jaw drop. He claims that the president is within the Epstein recordsdata.
Maya Cueva: What?
Morgan Sung: Yeah. So it’s value noting that Trump was as soon as publicly mates with the pedophile and intercourse trafficker, Jeffrey Epstein. However he hasn’t been implicated in any of the investigations into Epstein or his accomplices.
Maya Cueva: So it might’t worsen than that, proper?
Morgan Sung: He stored going. In one other submit, Musk says that the tariffs will trigger a recession. After which he reposts another person who says that Trump needs to be impeached and changed with JD Vance. So that is all what individuals are calling a “generational crash out.” Had been you seeing any of this?
Maya Cueva: Truthfully, Morgan, not the complete backwards and forwards. Like I acquired the condensed model from IG Reels, reacting to them preventing. And I noticed some humorous responses like when AOC quoted Azealea Banks.
Reporter: Any fast response on what’s happening with Elon Musk and President Trump on Twitter proper now.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: Oh man, the women are preventing, aren’t they?
Morgan Sung: That is the explanation I’m nonetheless on this hellish app. There have been so many good memes about this breakup. Like there’s this one the place somebody posted an image of Trump and Musk collectively after which captioned it with the lyrics from the Bon Iver track, Skinny Love, basic breakup track. We’ve all been there.
Maya Cueva: Yeah.
Morgan Sung: Or another person posted this edit mashing up a scene from the Diary of a Wimpy Child Film, and Driver’s License by Olivia Rodrigo.
Diary of a Wimpy Child Film: You broke my hand and also you didn’t even appear sorry. That damaged hand was the perfect factor that ever occurred to you.
Morgan Sung: They usually captioned it, “the 2 strongest males within the nation on a random Thursday.”.
Maya Cueva: That’s hilarious.
Morgan Sung: I’ll let you know about one instance that actually despatched me. Maya, are you acquainted with previous man yaoi?
Maya Cueva: Wait no, what’s that?
Morgan Sung: So that is a type of very on-line, deep web issues, so simply stick with me right here. Outdated man yaoi is type of like a jokey fan fiction trope. Yaoi is that this Japanese time period that refers to homosexual male relationships in manga and anime. Generally it’s known as BL, or boy’s love, and folks may even tag fan fiction as yaoi.
Outdated man yaoi is that this time period for older male characters, and naturally, As a result of the web is the best way it’s, there’s loads of tongue-in-cheek previous man yaoi about Trump. Wait, actually? Final 12 months, there was loads of enemies-to-lovers previous man yaoi about Trump and former President Joe Biden. And now, there’s previous man yaoi about Trump and Musk. Can I learn you an excerpt that I noticed on X in the course of the nice crash out?
Maya Cueva: I assume. I don’t assume I’ve a selection right here.
Morgan Sung: Sorry, you don’t. Okay. So right here’s a dramatic studying of some previous man yaoi posted by X consumer. Aegonism. Aegonism, thanks for making my day. “Donald, please, let’s simply discuss this,” Elon pleads, trying to catch the opposite man’s eyes. However Donald rolls over in mattress, presenting his again to him. The stress within the bed room is suffocating, and Elon tries to take a deep breath, but it surely looks like he can barely get any air.
“There’s nothing to speak about,” Donald lastly responds, flatly, and Elon is shocked by his tone. He sounds so chilly and distant. He doesn’t wish to struggle. He can really feel tears welling up and he takes a second to wipe his face earlier than persevering with, hoping Donald received’t discover his crimson rimmed eyes. “Don, this invoice is dangerous for Tesla. It’s a must to perceive that.” Donald sighs closely.
Maya Cueva: Oh my God, I actually haven’t any phrases. I do admire the creativity although.
Maya Cueva: Once more, one of many high 10 days on Twitter. This app is horrible, however there’s nothing that’s actually taken its place for me. I get loads of information from Reddit and Bluesky, humorous posts from Tumblr, and Instagram is nice for organizing and sharing assets, and actually, good shitpost accounts. TikTok is up there with good content material too, however there’s nothing that fairly has the identical real-time, tremendous quick memeability like Twitter does, and also you’re undoubtedly not getting the stuff on threads.
Maya Cueva: Okay, I really feel like I’m satisfied now. So what are a few of the different high meme days on Twitter?
Morgan Sung: Okay, only a current years, Luigi.
Speaker 1: I do wish to give a credit score to Luigi Mangione
Morgan Sung: The Will Smith Oscar slap.
Chris Rock: Will Smith simply smacked the shit out of me.
Morgan Sung: You do not forget that time that ship acquired caught within the Suez Canal?
Maya Cueva: Oh yeah.
Information Anchor 4: An enormous container ship ran aground within the Suez Canal after dropping energy.
Morgan Sung: Or when President Biden dropped out of the presidential race.
Maya Cueva: Yeah.
Information Anchor 5: President Joe Biden’s resolution to not run for re-election.
Morgan Sung: Or JD Vance sofa rumors, we do not forget that.
Youtuber It’s possible you’ll be questioning why you’re seeing a ton of memes and posts about Donald Trump’s VP choose, JD vance, and his sectional relationship together with his sofa.
Maya Cueva: I do do not forget that and we did a narrative about it.
Morgan Sung: However my private favourite day is true after the election again in 2020 when Rudy Giuliani hosted a press convention at 4 Seasons Complete Landscaping as an alternative of the 4 Seasons Lodge.
Information Anchor 6: Now, there’s, after all, a thriller that hangs over all this, which is how the press convention got here to be held at 4 Seasons Complete Landscaping within the first place.
Maya Cueva: Oh my God, sure, I bear in mind this! Okay, so I really feel like I type of get it. It’s the immediacy, proper? However let’s get again to the bromance breakup, our Trump and Musk finished for good?
Morgan Sung: Properly, like every good breakup, it’s sophisticated. Musk truly ended up deleting a few of his extra incendiary posts, together with the one concerning the Epstein recordsdata. Over the weekend, Trump advised NBC Information that their relationship was over and that he has no want to restore it.
Maya Cueva: Traditional breakup. However it appears like Elon is the one lacking Trump, however Trump is the one over it. And we’re all watching their actuality TV present.
Morgan Sung: Yeah, precisely. Besides, not like Love Island-.
Love Island: Welcome to Love Island!
Morgan Sung: This actuality present additionally has huge actual world ripple results, that are affecting actual folks. The state of democracy type of rests on the whims of those two very highly effective, very egotistical guys. However I’ll say that the tone has modified not too long ago. Musk is screenshotting a few of Trump’s Fact Social posts and reposting them on X, showing to agree with him. So it looks like he’s making an attempt to make amends.
Maya Cueva: Yeah, I feel I did see that he was agreeing with Trump’s submit condemning the protests towards ICE raids in LA. I really feel like we should always get into that Morgan, proper? In a brand new tab?
Morgan Sung: We undoubtedly will. However earlier than we try this, let’s take a fast break.
Morgan Sung: Okay, we’re again. New tab.
Morgan Sung: What’s taking place in LA ??
Maya Cueva: Okay, so final month we did a two-part episode on the Surveillance State and the way protesters and organizers are being recognized and focused.
Information Anchor 1: 30-12 months-old Rumeysa Ozturk was on her option to break her Ramadan quick when six plain-clothed officers approached her.
Maya Cueva: However Morgan, what’s happening the place you might be in Los Angeles?
Morgan Sung: For those who hear any background noise proper now, it’s most likely the helicopters flying over my residence. I’m not too removed from the protests, and LAPD has been circling over town all weekend. We’re recording this on Monday night, and the protests are nonetheless going sturdy. However other than the place these demonstrations are taking place, at the very least within the neighborhood I’m in, LA is unsettlingly quiet. It’s like individuals are afraid to go exterior, particularly as ICE continues to patrol town. However once more, because of this I’m nonetheless on Twitter. There’s a reasonably well-established community of mutual assist teams and organizers sharing assets and data over there. Numerous it’s on Instagram, however real-time updates are coming from Twitter.
Maya Cueva: Yeah, I’m seeing it throughout my IG feed as properly, however when did this all begin?
Morgan Sung: So, it began with a string of immigration raids on Friday, from a House Depot to a clothes retailer downtown. After which individuals who appeared for his or her immigration check-ins had been detained and brought to unknown places.
Information Anchor 2: The FBI, Homeland Safety, and ICE brokers carried out a raid a few hours in the past. We’re simply now seeing some folks which are being detained.
Morgan Sung: And bear in mind, Los Angeles is a sanctuary metropolis. Metropolis assets can’t be used for federal immigration enforcement, and town is prohibited from sharing knowledge with immigration authorities. It’s additionally value noting that Los Angeles is a metropolis of immigrants, one thing that loads of the group takes satisfaction in. So protests began that evening, one exterior an immigration detention heart downtown and one other within the trend district the place one of many ICE raids occurred. Sooner or later, they converged.
Protesters: Allow them to free, allow them to keep!
Morgan Sung: Legislation enforcement confirmed up in riot gear to disperse the crowds. However the protests unfold on Saturday throughout downtown LA, Compton, and Paramount. Trump deployed at the very least 2,000 Nationwide Guard troops in Los Angeles, which Governor Newsom has known as illegal and a critical breach of state sovereignty. Legislation enforcement has used tear gasoline and pepper spray and flashbang grenades to attempt to disperse the crowds.
Information Anchor 3: You advised me you bought caught up within the tear gasoline as properly? Describe what occurred to you.
Man on the road: Oh, simply, uh, tasted somewhat tear gasoline. Tasted like fascism.
Morgan Sung: However it all actually escalated on Sunday afternoon, which coincided with LA Delight. Individuals had been actually going straight from Delight occasions to the protests, demanding an finish to ICE raids.
Protesters: Who’s acquired the facility? We’ve acquired the facility! What sort of energy? Individuals Energy!
Morgan Sung: They even managed to close down the freeway.
Protesters: Weirdo! Weirdos! Weirdo!
Morgan Sung: So the LAPD has deployed rubber bullets and surveillance drones along with the tear gasoline and flashbang grenades.
Information Anchor 1: I feel they’re going to push in from this facet of the highway.
Morgan Sung: After which there’s every thing with Waymos.
Maya Cueva: Proper, like a couple of months in the past, we did an episode on the current uptick in Waymo vandalism. And as a reminder, Waymos are the autonomous self-driving vehicles that function in a couple of cities like San Francisco and Los Angeles. However Morgan, why don’t you stroll us via what Waymos should do with the protests?
Morgan Sung: Properly, a bunch of Waymos occurred to be close by in the course of the protests downtown. And amid the confrontation between regulation enforcement and protestors, these Waymos had been tagged with anti-ICE messages after which set on hearth, which went tremendous viral. So there’s been loads of discourse round Waymo vandalism and property injury throughout these protests. However I feel it’s essential to do not forget that Waymos have turn out to be consultant of encroaching large tech, particularly right here in LA. There’s loads of anger on the manner that tech firms like Palantir are serving to immigration enforcement.
Maya Cueva: Proper, and plus there’s hypothesis that Waymos could be used as surveillance instruments.
Morgan Sung: Precisely. 404 media not too long ago reported that the LAPD has used footage obtained from a Waymo to research crimes. So quite a bit individuals are suspicious of autonomous automobiles proper now.
Maya Cueva: Yeah, so what else is occurring in LA?
Morgan Sung: Properly, now the most recent escalation is that the Trump administration is sending Marines to LA?
Maya Cueva: Yeah, I noticed that. It actually appears like a warfare zone.
Morgan Sung: Yeah, solely round sure elements of L.A. However the president is posting via it on Fact Social. He’s known as the protests “a riot.”
Maya Cueva: Wow, I haven’t seen any of that as a result of I’m not on Fact Social, however does this deliver us again to Elon Musk?
Morgan Sung: Additionally not on Fact Social, however I did see screenshots on Twitter. And sure, one of many posts that Musk shared on Twitter, or X, requires a ban on masks at protests.
Maya Cueva: And like we talked about in our surveillance collection a couple of weeks in the past, masks have turn out to be a staple at protests to keep away from facial recognition.
Maya Cueva: That and likewise to cut back publicity to tear gasoline, pepper spray, and airborne viruses like COVID.
Maya Cueva: Yeah, however like we’ve seen within the scholar protests for Palestine over the past 12 months, there’s been an effort to make protesters simpler to determine.
Morgan Sung: Precisely. On Fact Social, Trump has additionally known as for the arrest of anybody sporting a masks. So masking has turn out to be an actual level of competition in these protests as activists demand that ICE brokers and LAPD and different regulation enforcement officers additionally unmask when displaying as much as protests. It is a factor in Los Angeles particularly. Activists have made an effort to determine ICE brokers and publicize their names and faces in order that anybody vulnerable to deportation is aware of who to keep away from.
However now some conservative lawmakers try to penalize anybody who identifies a regulation enforcement officer. Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn not too long ago proposed laws that might punish folks with as much as 5 years in jail for figuring out ICE brokers. However, we’ll should see how the protests unfold all through the remainder of the month. ICE operations in LA are presupposed to proceed for the following 30 days. However it’s value noting that the president’s social media posts aren’t like authorized powers enshrined within the Structure. They will’t implement a masks ban simply because he posted about it.
Maya Cueva: They will’t legally implement that. However we’ve seen this administration do loads of issues they’re not presupposed to do.
Morgan Sung: So true.
Maya Cueva: Proper. Govt orders are fast to enact, and the justice system is actually gradual. And people issues have actual penalties for all of us. So, whereas Twitter memes are a pleasant distraction, let’s bear in mind how critical that is.
Morgan Sung: Completely. I imply, I’m making an attempt to curb my Twitter habit, however between the memes and the essential protest data, it’s simply actually exhausting to go away. Anyway, these had been all our updates.
Morgan Sung: Thanks for becoming a member of, Maya.
Maya Cueva: Anytime Morgan, as a result of I actually work right here.
Morgan Sung: Talking of protest data, in case you do end up in a protest zone, keep secure. We’ll depart some hyperlinks about defending your digital privateness within the present notes. And it could be value going again and listening to our two-part collection known as The Surveillance Machine. We’ll be again subsequent week with half two of our collection on Spotify. For now, let’s shut all these tabs.
Morgan Sung: Shut All Tabs is a manufacturing of KQED Studios and is reported and hosted by me, Morgan Sung. Our producer is Maya Cueva. Chris Egusa is our Senior Editor. Jen Chien is KQED’s Director of Podcasts and helps edit the present. Sound design by Maya Cueva. Authentic music by Chris Egusa. Further music by APM. Mixing and mastering by Brendan Willard.
Viewers engagement assist from Maha Sanad and Alana Walker. Katie Sprenger is our Podcast Operations Supervisor. And Holly Kernan is our Chief Content material Officer. Help for this program comes from Birong Hu and supporters of the KQED Studios Fund. Some members of the KQED podcast crew are represented by the Display screen Actors Guild, American Federation of Tv and Radio Artists, San Francisco Northern California Native.
Keyboard sounds had been recorded on my purple and pink Dustsilver Ok-84 wired mechanical keyboard with Gateron Purple switches.
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Thanks for listening!
