today in tabs: where google fails, reddit provides

ALSO: ‼️ ICE is using TSA data this holiday season, Instagram is coming for your TV, whole milk returns to school cafeterias, and more

Dec 16, 2025

Happy Tuesday, December 16th.

FYSA, every Tuesday and Friday, I’ll be in your inbox with the latest in politics, tech & social media, culture, and other relevant topics – and I’ll share some notes and tips on what I’m keeping my eye on.

I’M ALSO LOOKING FOR MORE PEOPLE TO DO MINI INTERVIEWS FOR OPEN TABS :) Tips, thoughts, concerns, good jokes, bad jokes, tea, etc?

And finally, if you enjoy this newsletter and want to share it with your network (and/or your chronically online friends), that would be so appreciated 🙏

Immigration Agents Are Using Air Passenger Data for Deportation Effort

Under the previously undisclosed program, the Transportation Security Administration provides a list multiple times a week to Immigration and Customs Enforcement of travelers who will be coming through airports. ICE can then match the list against its own database of people subject to deportation and send agents to the airport to detain those people. (NYT gift link, 12/12)

The underrated factors limiting the power of a blue wave next year

Next year, Democrats would have to win at least eight seats that Trump won by more than 5 points in 2024, in addition to sweeping every single highly competitive seat to come away with 235 seats as they did in 2018 — and that number could increase with further redistricting. They also have a lower margin for error in the seats that are true swing seats; losing even a few due to flawed candidates or tough opponents could put a solid majority out of reach, or even cost them House control. (POLITICO, 12/16)

Lucy’s note: if the recent elections in Miami and TN-07 are any indication, though…

House clears whole milk for school menus

The bill would allow public schools to serve flavored and unflavored, organic and nonorganic whole and 2 percent milk. The National School Lunch Program currently allows schools to serve only fat-free and low-fat, flavored and unflavored milk. The measure has the backing of House Agriculture Chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson. The Pennsylvania Republican has for years tried to get whole milk back into schools. (Roll Call, 12/15)

Supersized data centers are coming. See how they will transform America.

But some are more skeptical. The independent monitor charged with keeping tabs on the PJM power grid — which serves 65 million customers in the eastern U.S. — is warning that it can’t handle more data centers. It urged federal regulators to indefinitely block more data centers on its grid to protect existing customers. (WaPo, 12/15)

Lucy’s note: and just like that big, energy-sucking, industrial-era factory-types are back… except they aren’t really creating any jobs, so it’s kinda just the worst of both worlds??

Big Tech’s Battle for the Living Room Heats Up As Instagram Launches Reels App for TVs

The launch is a major shift in the entertainment ecosystem, especially when factoring in Meta’s power in the digital advertising space. Consider that Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg told Wall Street analysts in October that Reels now has a $50 billion annual run rate. That is more ad revenue than Warner Bros. Discovery, Paramount, and NBCUniversal combined. (The Hollywood Reporter, 12/16)

PayPal applies to become a bank under Trump’s looser financial rules

Applications to become a bank have popped up left and right this year, with approval odds increasing under the Trump administration. On Friday, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) announced that five cryptocurrency companies, including BitGo, Circle and Ripple, received conditional approval to become federally charted trust banks. (Endgaget, 12/16)

The most outlandish tech CEO quotes from 2025

Alex Karp, CEO of Palantir Technologies, making the “AI revolution” sound like a literal revolution on an earnings call: “We love disruption and whatever is good for America will be good for Americans and very good for Palantir... Disruption, at the end of the day, exposes things that aren’t working. There’ll be ups and down. This is a revolution. Some people can get their heads cut off.” (Sherwood, 12/12)

Why are so many women joining Reddit?

Women’s growing interest in Reddit isn’t happening in a vacuum, says Dr Ysabel Gerrard, Senior Lecturer in Digital Communication at the University of Sheffield. It reflects a broader exhaustion in the commercial internet itself. “A big driver of the shift to Reddit is the deterioration of Google as a search engine and the dominance of sponsored posts,” she says. (DAZED, 12/16)

DVDs and CDs are becoming cool again, thanks mostly to Gen Z

Database users adding CDs to their digital collection on Discogs increased 14 percent over last year and 26 percent compared to 2022, Starr said. And if their “want list” — a tool to track what albums users are looking to buy — is any indication, he expects sales to keep growing: 12.7 million CDs were added this year, a 47 percent increase year over year. Meanwhile, subscribers to the CD_Collectors subreddit have soared more than 820 percent since 2020. (WaPo, 12/14)

Lucy’s note: Ok, I have not personally experienced or noticed this trend… curious if other Gen Zers have?

What’s the story with all these ‘storytelling’ jobs?

In the job context, “storyteller” is like the “rockstar” of what was once known as “media relations manager.” WSJ reported that the number of job listings on LinkedIn that included “storyteller” doubled over the year leading up to Nov. 26. Meanwhile, the terms “storyteller” or “storytelling” were said 469 times on earnings calls this year through Dec. 11, up from 359 during all of last year, per FactSet. (Morning Brew, 12/16)

Welcome to the golden age of employee monitoring

New technology can give employers more opportunities to monitor employee activities, if they so choose. A recent update at Google, for instance, adds to the capabilities that companies have for archiving text messages on employer-owned Android phones. At Microsoft, a coming change to its Teams messaging tool will automatically update your work location when you connect to your employer’s WiFi. (Business Insider, 12/11)

Can Timothée Chalamet Save Indie Film? Inside ‘Marty Supreme’s’ Wild Press Tour

His other big gambit that got people talking was “leaking” an 18-minute Zoom call where he pitched satirical ideas to A24 staffers, like painting the Statue of Liberty a “very specific shade of orange.” (Orange, he told them, is to “Marty Supreme” what pink was to 2023’s blockbuster “Barbie.”) And Chalamet promised to get the original film on everyone’s radar by turning “Marty Supreme. Christmas Day” into a refrain. (Variety, 12/11)