MXD Podcast

Mixed Signals
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A Design and Technology Podcast covering all things impacting our visual culture. Design, Architecture, movies, video games, fashion. It’s all on the table as we connect the dots between cultural hype, politics, technology and more.

  1. 1d ago

    Data Centers Are the Only Thing America’s Building, AI Influencers & Gen Z Cyberdecks | MXD News Ep. 41

    We open with a striking construction stat: data centers are drawing around $725 billion in capital while home building and factory construction decline. We talk about what that means for architects and students entering the job market, whether “I won’t build data centers” is a meaningful ethical line, and why so much capital is now flowing into buildings almost nobody will experience.Then we get into the weirdness of the modern internet: Higgsfield AI’s push to mass-produce AI influencers, dead internet theory, OpenAI’s Dots campaign for 24/7 agents, and Meta’s Muse wearable, which people are calling the 2026 Tamagotchi. Plus a break from the screens with BuildFest at Bethel Woods, where architecture students designed and built timber projects around the theme “Acts of Construction.”We also look at Gen Z’s cyberdeck trend (genuine counterculture or just aesthetics?), a $60,000 castle for sale in Hokkaido and what it reveals about Japan’s attitude toward old buildings, a viral “meeting titles as YouTube titles” bit, and why subcultures are multiplying while going viral gets harder than ever. Instagram - @mxd_signalTiktok - @mxd_signalYoutube - @MXDSignal

    Data Centers Are the Only Thing America’s Building, AI Influencers & Gen Z Cyberdecks | MXD News Ep. 41

  2. Oct 2

    Gaza's Devastation In New Images, Amazon's Drone Chaos & SpaceX's Starship Breakthrough _ MXD News

    This week we start with a heavier topic: newly updated Google Earth satellite imagery exposing the scale of destruction in Gaza, paired with on-the-ground photos of a makeshift football pitch built where the main stadium once stood. We talk about the role images play in making distant devastation real, the practice of forensic architecture, and how communities rebuild function and daily life amid ruins.Then we lighten up with Amazon's new delivery drones — loud, clumsy, camera-equipped, and in desperate need of a personality upgrade — before diving into SpaceX's Starship reaching orbit and what that means for the economics of space travel, satellite deployment, and design in spacecraft interiors.We also cover the "Stools" furniture exhibition in NYC featuring architect-designed stools from firms like Norman Kelly and OMA, Costco's plan to build mixed-use housing on a former hospital site in LA, and the ongoing fight over Trump's threat to shut down or demolish the Kennedy Center.Make sure to follow us on our socials!Instagram - @mxd_signalTiktok - @mxd_signal

    Gaza's Devastation In New Images, Amazon's Drone Chaos & SpaceX's Starship Breakthrough _ MXD News

  3. Sep 25

    Lexus x MISCHIEF's Viral Collab, Trump's Arch & a Deep Dive on AI News w/Casey Rehm | MXD News Ep.39

    This week we start with the viral Lexus x MSCHF collaboration — two "twisted" concept cars that spark a bigger conversation about car-deformation art history, brand collaborations, and whether corporate partnerships can still produce legitimate fine art. Then we dig into the escalating saga of Trump's DC Arch, which has evolved from a monument concept into a proposed military complex with drone launch capabilities and sniper positions — and what that says about the optics of power in public space. We also cover the leaked "I am the code" sketches from the ongoing ballroom architect dispute, the Supreme Court's ruling on the East Wing demolition, and the very online debate over whether the minimalist "bro home" aesthetic is actually the future of design. The back half of the episode features an extended conversation with Casey Rehm, Director of the Architectural Intelligence program at SCI-Arc, unpacking the Hugging Face rogue agent story, OpenAI's Astra model, predictions about AGI timelines, Jensen Huang's "it's just software" framing, and what AI actually means for the architecture labor market. Compiled Show Notes: Segment 1:  Lexus MSCHF Collab Mschf Art Collective mschf.com Chris Labrooy chrislabrooy.com Lars Fisk larsfisk.com Segment 3: Trump Arc https://www.instagram.com/p/DdmAZIIlzPJ/ Segment 4: Trump Ballroom Sketches Supreme Court Allows Construction of Ballroom to Continue: .scotusblog.com/2026/08/supreme-court-allows-construction-on-white-house-ballroom-to-continue/ Segment 5: “Bro Home” Aesthetic Aegment 6: Casey Rehm on AI Threats The Diary of a CEO: ChatGPT Whistleblower Daniel Kokotajlo https://youtu.be/_g4l7YkDQwA?si=kRNAI0bPtynirxIb Jensen Huang Susiness.com/technology/nvidias-jensen-huang-rejects-ai-doomsday-fears-2030-not-going-end-world SciArc _ Masters of Science in Architectural Intellegence sciarc.edu/academics/postgraduate/architectural-intelligence Make sure to follow us on our socials!Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/mxd_signalTiktok - https://www.tiktok.com/@mxd_signalYouTube - @mxdSignal

    Lexus x MISCHIEF's Viral Collab, Trump's Arch & a Deep Dive on AI News w/Casey Rehm | MXD News Ep.39

  4. Sep 18

    Universities Ban Tech, Space Force's Sci-Fi Uniforms & is Nike Collapsing? | MXD News Podcast

    This week we open with the University of Chicago pulling laptops and phones from its core social science classrooms — and New York City banning AI in elementary and middle schools. Is going analog the right call, or are blanket tech bans just fear of an unknown future? We get into how we handle it in our own studios and seminars. Then: the US Space Force unveiled new uniforms, and the sci-fi references are doing a lot of work. We unpack the Starship Troopers connection, the uncomfortable fashion history underneath it, and why military design references are never really neutral. Also on the docket — MOS Architects' new pavilion opening at Art OMI, Nike getting booted from the S&P 100 after a brutal run, IKEA's free Skyrim mod that turns the Kallax shelf into your companion, a suspicious "most climate resilient cities" ranking, Ye's unsettling new stage look, Boys Firm's dead-on "six types of architecture thesis" post, and a return to the 9/11 light memorial with a much darker reference point.

    Universities Ban Tech, Space Force's Sci-Fi Uniforms & is Nike Collapsing? | MXD News Podcast

  5. Sep 11

    First look inside the George Lucas Museum, 9/11 Toxic Air Cover-Up & Brad Pitt's Architecture Movie

    This week we get our first real look inside MAD Architects' long-awaited Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, opening September 22nd in LA after a wild history that started in Chicago. We compare the polished press photos to the more candid, "banal" behind-the-scenes shots making the rounds — and talk about what actually happens when hype meets reality on a capital-A architecture project. We also mark 9/11 with a look at a moving drone memorial over the NYC skyline, the debate over how younger generations relate to the day, and the bombshell records released by Mayor Mamdani confirming officials — including Giuliani — knew about toxic ground zero air and worked to cover it up. From there: Brad Pitt is producing a film about Peter Zumthor directed by Wim Wenders (plus the real story on Brad's architecture background), the Empire State Building's surprisingly massive TikTok following, Archtober events to watch, Archisource's Drawing of the Year winners and what even counts as a "drawing" anymore, and why the architecture subreddit is full of people asking if the profession is dying.

    First look inside the George Lucas Museum, 9/11 Toxic Air Cover-Up & Brad Pitt's Architecture Movie

  6. Sep 7

    Academia in Crisis, AI "Takeover" Fears & the Death of the Starchitect

    We start with the shakeup happening across higher education — starting with The New School's mass faculty cuts and what it says about the future of architecture and design programs everywhere. We talk tenure, underenrolled humanities departments, and why architecture school recruitment is struggling. Then we shift to AI: the Hugging Face "rogue agent" incident that's got security experts calling it a potential milestone in AI autonomy, why ChatGPT and Claude gave us wildly different answers about it, and Elon Musk's prediction that AI will outcode humans within two years — plus what that means for the already-brutal entry-level coding job market. We close out with a look at BIG's new Suzhou Museum of Contemporary Art, why iconic "starchitect" buildings don't hit the way they used to, and a tribute to OMA co-founder Elias Zenghelis, who passed away at 89. Make sure to follow us on our socials! Instagram - mxd_signal Tiktok - mxd_signal YouTube - MXDSignal

  7. Jun 4

    The Drawings We Make for Ourselves | Narrative, Identity & Storytelling in Architecture

    What stories do architects tell themselves—and how do those stories shape the work they create?This week on Mixed Signals, the MXD crew is joined by Kristen Mimms Scavnicky and Adrienne Economos-Miller, educators, artists, and designers whose work explores the powerful relationship between narrative, identity, and representation in architecture. We begin with a round of Cold Crits featuring student work from Texas A&M and the University of Pennsylvania before turning our attention to a curious trend in contemporary culture: the increasing tendency to flatten complexity into aesthetics. From the MET Gala's relationship to art and spectacle to the extraordinary mosaic-clad churches and sacred spaces built by German immigrant communities across the Midwest, we explore how meaning, authorship, and cultural memory become embedded in the things we make. The heart of the episode centers on Kristen and Adrienne's research initiative, Narrative Terrains, a symposium and growing conversation dedicated to the role of storytelling in design. Together we unpack how architects construct identities through drawings, images, texts, and projects, and why narrative may be one of the most important—and overlooked—tools in architectural practice. What is a drawing actually doing? How do personal histories shape design decisions? And can architecture ever be separated from the stories we tell about ourselves?A wide-ranging conversation about architecture, representation, memory, authorship, and the drawings we make for ourselves. Make sure to follow us on our socials!Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/mxd_signalTiktok - https://www.tiktok.com/@mxd_signalYouTube - @MXDSignal

    The Drawings We Make for Ourselves | Narrative, Identity & Storytelling in Architecture

  8. May 27

    Ep. 34 Image and Storytelling in Architecture with Dr Rebecca McConnell.

    The MXD crew welcomes Dr. Rebecca McConnell to the podcast! We discuss the evolving role of the rendering in Architecture in light of new Artificial Intelligence image generation techniques.We then move into a special edition of Cold Crits, featuring speculative Architectural projects from Artist Ismail Seleit. We then discuss some of the differences between education and Academia in the United States and the United Kingdom. We also discuss Crit Bay, the platform that Rebecca and Cathal founded to provide easy access to Architectural portfolio or even project feedback. Make sure to follow us on our socials!Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/mxd_signalTiktok - https://www.tiktok.com/@mxd_signal

    Ep. 34 Image and Storytelling in Architecture with Dr Rebecca McConnell.
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About

A Design and Technology Podcast covering all things impacting our visual culture. Design, Architecture, movies, video games, fashion. It’s all on the table as we connect the dots between cultural hype, politics, technology and more.

Information

  • Creator
    Mixed Signals
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    41
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Mixed Signals
  • Show Website
    MXD Podcast

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