New York Times veteran and "AGI Chronicles" author Kevin Roose joins Mixed Signals to talk about what it was like to be patient zero for the AI media moment (a Valentine's Day evening where he stayed up chatting with a Microsoft chatbot that told him to leave his wife). Max and Ben ask Kevin how he used AI aggressively to write his book without letting it actually write a word, and whether taking a grant from an AI safety–linked nonprofit is a problem. They also get into his new show at NPR, and why he decided to leave the New York Times.

Sign up for Semafor Media’s Sunday newsletter: https://www.semafor.com/newsletters/media 

For more from Think with Google, check out ThinkwithGoogle.com.

Find us on X: @semaforben, @maxwelltani

If you have a tip or a comment, please email us [email protected]

Documentary filmmaker Alex Gibney joins Mixed Signals to talk about his four-hour film on Elon Musk. Max and Ben ask Gibney how he built an AI avatar of Musk using only his actual words when Musk refused to participate, what Elon’s first wife, Justine Musk, taught him about “gaslighting” as a management strategy, and why he thinks Musk’s political turn was less ideological than it was transactional and childlike.

Sign up for Semafor Media’s Sunday newsletter: https://www.semafor.com/newsletters/media 

For more from Think with Google, check out ThinkwithGoogle.com.

Find us on X: @semaforben, @maxwelltani

If you have a tip or a comment, please email us [email protected]

Actor and producer Kasey Esser joins Mixed Signals to explain the multi-billion dollar "microdrama" industry, and why he's become one of its biggest stars. Max and Ben ask Kasey how a werewolf Romeo-and-Juliet show that shot in just a week for a hundred thousand dollars became a global hit, what it's like to translate Chinese scripts for American audiences in real time on set, and how microdramas make all of their money.

Sign up for Semafor Media’s Sunday newsletter: https://www.semafor.com/newsletters/media 

For more from Think with Google, check out ThinkwithGoogle.com.

Find us on X: @semaforben, @maxwelltani

If you have a tip or a comment, please email us [email protected]

Liquid Death founder and CEO Mike Cessario joins Mixed Signals (with Semafor business editor Liz Hoffman filling in for Max) to explain how he built a billion-dollar water company by treating his ads like SNL sketches. Ben and Liz ask Mike why he thinks comedy is a more durable marketing genre than celebrity testimonials, why big companies almost never win when they sue smaller ones, and whether Liquid Death will fizzle out into the graveyard of buzzy consumer brands that came before it.

Sign up for Semafor Media’s Sunday newsletter: https://www.semafor.com/newsletters/media 

For more from Think with Google, check out ThinkwithGoogle.com.

Find us on X: @semaforben, @maxwelltani

If you have a tip or a comment, please email us [email protected]

Pangram founder and CEO Max Spero joins Mixed Signals to explain how his AI detection tool actually works, and why he thinks the escalating cat-and-mouse game between AI detectors and "humanizers" is a fight worth having. Max and Ben ask Spero about how Pangram can already distinguish Claude from ChatGPT, why he built a humanizer internally and refuses to release it, and what it would actually take for a fine-tuned personal AI to fool his model.

Sign up for Semafor Media’s Sunday newsletter: https://www.semafor.com/newsletters/media 

For more from Think with Google, check out ThinkwithGoogle.com.

Find us on X: @semaforben, @maxwelltani

If you have a tip or a comment, please email us [email protected]

Author Sir Salman Rushdie joins Mixed Signals to talk about why he made a documentary about the attack that nearly killed him, and why he's ambivalent about having done it. Max and Ben ask Salman how he and director Alex Gibney divided authorship of the film, and what he felt watching footage of the attack for the first time. They also get into what he's learned from decades of being both subject and strategist in his own media coverage, and why he's trying very hard to pretend AI doesn't exist. Sign up for Semafor Media’s Sunday newsletter: https://www.semafor.com/newsletters/media 

For more from Think with Google, check out ThinkwithGoogle.com.

Find us on X: @semaforben, @maxwelltani

If you have a tip or a comment, please email us [email protected]

Jessica Tarlov is the co-host of both Fox News' The Five and the Raging Moderates podcast. She joins Mixed Signals to talk about what it's like to be outnumbered four-to-one on the most-watched show in cable news — and why she thinks most of her liberal friends are missing what's really happening there. Max and Ben ask Jessica how she navigates on-air conflict without making it personal, what she knew about Pete Hegseth before he became Defense Secretary, and why she finds herself defending her Fox colleagues to New York liberals almost as often as she defends Democrats on air. Sign up for Semafor Media’s Sunday newsletter: https://www.semafor.com/newsletters/media 

For more from Think with Google, check out ThinkwithGoogle.com.

Find us on X: @semaforben, @maxwelltani

If you have a tip or a comment, please email us [email protected]

Internet reporter and YouTuber Taylor Lorenz joins Mixed Signals to make the case that the bipartisan push to get kids off social media is less about child safety than it looks. Max and Ben ask Taylor where the actual line is between moral panic and legitimate concern, why she thinks the academic consensus on social media and youth mental health is being drowned out, and her at times surprising anti-anti-AI stance.

Sign up for Semafor Media’s Sunday newsletter: https://www.semafor.com/newsletters/media 

Find us on X: @semaforben, @maxwelltani

If you have a tip or a comment, please email us [email protected]

Social media consultant and “Link in Bio” newsletter author Rachel Karten joins Mixed Signals to explain what social media actually is in 2026. Max and Ben ask Rachel how the shift from follower-based to algorithm-driven distribution broke the contract between platforms and creators, why brands are quietly building their own shows without telling anyone they’re behind them, and what the regulatory gap around paid content is actually doing to the feed.

Sign up for Semafor Media’s Sunday newsletter: https://www.semafor.com/newsletters/media 

For more from Think with Google, check out ThinkwithGoogle.com.

Find us on X: @semaforben, @maxwelltani

If you have a tip or a comment, please email us [email protected]

Warner Music Group CEO Robert Kyncl joins Mixed Signals — with Semafor business editor Liz Hoffman filling in for Ben — to explain what a record label actually does in a world where anyone can upload a song to Spotify. Max and Liz ask Robert why Warner struck a deal with AI music company Suno while Sony and Universal are still suing it, how he thinks about the nuclear-weapons-style leverage labels hold over streaming platforms, and why he thinks Netflix is leaving a massive opportunity on the table by ignoring music.

Sign up for Semafor Media’s Sunday newsletter: https://www.semafor.com/newsletters/media 

For more from Think with Google, check out ThinkwithGoogle.com.

Find us on X: @semaforben, @maxwelltani

If you have a tip or a comment, please email us [email protected]

Subway Takes creator and host Kareem Rahma joins Mixed Signals to talk about reinventing the talk show for the vertical video era, and just how much it costs. Max and Ben ask Kareem about how he built a show that feels spontaneous but runs like a TV production, why his Kamala Harris episode never aired, and his new show, Keep the Meter Running. They also get into his business model, what he learned from watching VICE go bankrupt, and much more.

Sign up for Semafor Media’s Sunday newsletter: https://www.semafor.com/newsletters/media 

For more from Think with Google, check out ThinkwithGoogle.com.

Find us on X: @semaforben, @maxwelltani

If you have a tip or a comment, please email us [email protected]