author interviewAIethics

Guest Feature Idea: Interview with an Author Who Wrote About the Ethics of AI and Deepfakes

tthebooks

2026-02-14

10 min read

Pitch-ready guide to interviewing authors on AI ethics and deepfakes—questions, outreach templates, and Bluesky/X–aware angles for podcasts.

Hook: Turn urgent platform drama into rich, discussion-ready author features

As students, teachers, and lifelong learners scramble to understand the real-world harms of deepfakes, your book club or podcast can offer what audiences crave: calm expertise, structured conversation, and vetted questions that turn headline drama into sustained learning. The recent late-2025 to early-2026 surge in attention to deepfakes and AI ethics—sparked by the X/Grok controversy and a spike in downloads for Bluesky—makes now the ideal moment to launch a guest interview series with authors who have written about AI ethics and deepfakes. This guide pitches the series, gives outreach and production playbooks, and supplies plug-and-play interview questions tuned to the Bluesky/X events shaping coverage in 2026.

Why this series matters in 2026

Platforms and publishers moved fast in early 2026. Newsrooms covered how X's integrated AI bot Grok was prompting nonconsensual sexualized images of real people; California’s attorney general opened an investigation into xAI; and Bluesky saw a near-50% jump in U.S. installs as users sought alternatives and debated platform governance. Meanwhile, YouTube revised monetization policies for sensitive topics, signaling that platforms are reshaping incentives for creators and journalists. For educators and reading groups, these developments create a need for context, nuance, and expert voices.

Authors who have written books on AI ethics, misinformation, visual manipulation, or digital harm are uniquely positioned to translate technical issues into classroom-ready lessons and powerful discussion prompts. A focused guest feature series does three things at once: it boosts your authority as a curator, strengthens your community by giving members expert access, and produces content that is timely, shareable, and evergreen.

Series concept: what to produce and why it works

Pick one primary format or mix formats:

Podcast interviews (30–50 minutes): conversational, ideal for author storytelling and audience Q&A.
Written Q&As (1,200–2,000 words): easier to index for SEO and perfect for classrooms and reading guides.
Live panel events (60–90 minutes): use Bluesky LIVE badge integrations or Twitch stream embeds to build real-time interaction.

Choose a clear editorial lens for every episode: ethics & policy, the technology behind deepfakes, the human impact (nonconsensual imagery), implications for journalism, or how educators can teach media literacy. Tie each episode to a book pick and a discussion kit that includes quotes, reading schedules, and classroom activities.

How to pitch and book authors — a practical outreach playbook

Authors get a lot of requests. Make your pitch stand out by offering value and being specific.

Identify target authors: Sorted by book recency, topic fit (AI ethics, visual misinformation, platform governance), and public-facing activity (recent op-eds, prior interviews).
Personalize your outreach: reference the author’s book, a specific chapter or datapoint, and why your audience is ideal.
Offer clear logistics and value: time commitment, audience size or community profile, distribution channels (distribution channels) (podcast, newsletter, Bluesky thread), and what you’ll promote.
Provide prep materials: episode outline, sample questions, safety brief (for sensitive topics), and media kit specs for audio/video assets.

Tip: Approach through the author’s publicist or publisher, and follow up politely. Provide multiple date options and a clear recording window (e.g., 45-minute recording for a 30–40 minute episode). Offer an optional pre-interview conversation so the author can set boundaries—especially important when discussing nonconsensual deepfakes.

Interview structure: a repeatable episode blueprint

Consistency helps your audience and your guests prepare. Here’s a simple structure that works for both podcasts and written features:

Intro (2–3 minutes / 150–300 words): One-sentence hook, why this book matters now, tie to recent Bluesky/X developments.
Author story (8–12 minutes / 400–700 words): How they got to this subject, research surprises, real-world cases from the book.
Deep dive (15–20 minutes / 700–1,000 words): Focused questions on ethics, platforms, and journalism. Use a specific Bluesky/X event as a prompt.
Practical takeaway (5–7 minutes / 300–500 words): Concrete steps for readers, teachers, or journalists.
Audience Q&A & close (variable): Pre-submitted questions or live moderation; end with resources and next steps.

Always include a content warning when discussing sexualized deepfakes and nonconsensual imagery. Offer resources (hotlines, legal clinics, content-flagging guides) in the show notes and transcript.

How to prepare authors and hosts for sensitive scenes

Discuss boundaries ahead of time. Many authors will have experienced survivors, journalists, or legal sources in their research—ask if any examples should be anonymized. Offer authors the option to decline specific questions. For live call-ins, screen participants and brief moderators on triage paths if a conversation becomes triggering or legally sensitive.

Production & promotion: maximize reach and learning

Make every episode a multiplatform asset:

Transcripts: publish full transcripts for accessibility and SEO.
Clips: create 60–90 second audiograms for social; pair with quote cards quoting the author.
Show notes: include timestamps, book purchase links, classroom guides, and resources on reporting and support for victims of nonconsensual imagery.
Cross-posting: use Bluesky for community posts—try threads highlighting timestamps and questions. If you run live events, leverage Bluesky’s LIVE badge integrations to signal livestreams and invite live audience participation.
SEO: optimize episode titles and descriptions with target keywords like author interview, AI ethics, deepfakes, Bluesky, and journalism.

Given YouTube’s January 2026 policy changes on monetization for sensitive topics, consider repurposing episodes into non-graphic, monetizable video explainers to reach teacher and student audiences who rely on YouTube for curriculum resources. See how to pitch your channel to YouTube like a public broadcaster to improve reach and monetization odds.

Moderation, safety, and community follow-through

Host a private post-episode discussion for members—this helps maintain momentum beyond the release. Train moderators to

remove doxxing or victim-identifying details;
escalate harmful content to platform reporting tools;
flag and contextualize misinformation linked in comments.

Include a curated resource list after every episode: links to legal clinics, academic papers, fact-checking guides, and reporting tools on X/Bluesky. That builds trust and positions your platform as a responsible curator.

Measure impact and build an editorial funnel

Track both audience and educational outcomes:

Downloads, listens, reads, and time-on-page.
Community engagement: follow-up discussion attendance and number of classroom adoptions (teachers emailing you for guides).
Lead gen: newsletter signups tied to episode-specific landing pages and downloadable discussion kits.

Repurpose strong clips into a “Best of AI Ethics” series for a mini-course or paid workshop—authors often welcome the opportunity to lead a paid masterclass for your community.

Example outreach template (short & actionable)

Hi [Author Name] — I’m [Your Name], editor of [Your Publication/Podcast]. We’re launching a short guest feature series interviewing authors who write about AI ethics and deepfakes. Given your chapter on [specific topic or case], we’d love to record a 45-minute conversation about how platform decisions (like the recent X/Grok incident and Bluesky’s surge) change how we teach and report on these harms. We’ll promote the episode to our [audience size] and provide a transcript, classroom guide, and social clips. Would you be available for a pre-interview call next week? Thanks — [Your Name]

Sample 6-week timeline to launch an episode

Week 1: Identify author + initial outreach.
Week 2: Schedule and collect pre-interview notes; design episode outline.
Week 3: Record + start editing; prepare show notes and resource list.
Week 4: Finalize audio, create clips and transcript; prepare social assets.
Week 5: Publish episode; launch newsletter + Bluesky thread with LIVE badge or event link.
Week 6: Host community discussion and collect feedback for episode 2.

Examples & quick wins you can implement this week

Pick one author whose book includes a chapter on nonconsensual imagery or platform design and send the outreach template today.
Create a single episode landing page now—with a sign-up form for the episode’s discussion kit—to capture early interest.
Plan a live watch party or post-release class tied to the episode for educators in your network.

Final notes on credibility and ethics

Lean on the E-E-A-T principles: show your experience with examples, demonstrate expertise by referencing current investigations and platform changes (for example, the California AG’s early-2026 probe into xAI and the Bluesky install surge reported by Appfigures), and build trust by linking to primary sources and offering balanced, fair questions. When dealing with deeply personal harms—sexualized deepfakes, nonconsensual imagery—centering dignity and consent is not optional; it’s editorial responsibility.

Call-to-action: start the series now

If you’re ready to convert headlines into learning, start by booking one author interview this quarter. Send one outreach today, create a short landing page, and plan a live or recorded conversation that links their book to the Bluesky/X developments everyone’s still talking about. Want a done-for-you kit? Reply to this post to get our episode checklist, outreach templates, and a curated list of authors writing on AI ethics and deepfakes who are actively accepting interviews in 2026. Let’s turn platform drama into meaningful dialogue.

thebooks

Contributor

Senior editor and content strategist. Writing about technology, design, and the future of digital media. Follow along for deep dives into the industry's moving parts.