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Machine Gods Media launch

AI & tech · Heat 1.0 / 10 · 2 shows · 10m airtime

On June 1, 2026, Kevin Roose and Casey Newton announced they were leaving The New York Times and Hard Fork to launch Machine Gods Media and its Machine Gods podcast. The show is published in partnership with NPR under a deal that leaves the pair owning it, and Roose has disputed Bloomberg's reported $5 million figure for that arrangement. The Tarbell Center for AI Journalism has since given Machine Gods a $480,000 grant. What remains open is the deal's actual terms and how the company's output beyond the podcast takes shape.

How 2 podcasts covered it

  1. Uncanny Valley | WIRED, 2026-10-06 (2:04 to 4:48)
    Interviews Roose on leaving the Times
    Opens the interview with Roose's departure from The New York Times and Hard Fork and the launch of Machine Gods Media, then moves into his critique of existing AI coverage.
    New angle: Roose and Newton left The New York Times and Hard Fork to launch Machine Gods Media and its Machine Gods podcast.
  2. Uncanny Valley | WIRED, 2026-10-06 (4:48 to 5:51)
    Explains the NPR partnership and creative control
    Roose explains the business arrangement behind Machine Gods: it is published in partnership with NPR, a distribution deal that lets the pair own the show and keep creative control rather than a full acquisition.
    New angle: Machine Gods is published in partnership with NPR, a distribution deal that leaves Roose and Newton owning the show.
  3. Uncanny Valley | WIRED, 2026-10-06 (5:51 to 7:26)
    Puts the Bloomberg deal figures on the record
    Puts the Bloomberg report on the record: Roose and Newton fielded offers up to $5 million for the show, and Roose says the NPR deal is not $5 million while declining to give the figure.
    New angle: Roose says the NPR deal is not the $5 million figure Bloomberg reported.
  4. Big Technology Podcast, 2026-10-14 (50:41 to 55:37)
    Adds the Tarbell grant figure
    Roose answers the funding question directly: the Tarbell Center for AI Journalism gave Machine Gods a $480,000 grant, Casey Newton has had a Tarbell Fellow for years, and the center has no editorial control. A new funder and figure the card did not have.
    New angle: The Tarbell Center for AI Journalism gave Machine Gods a $480,000 grant.
Unpacking...