Future Knowledge

Why preserve a cookbook? In the second episode of our special six-part series on Vanishing Culture, host Vida Vojić speaks with Katie Livingston, a doctoral researcher at Stanford University who studies domestic culture and women’s literature. Through the lens of family cookbooks, recipe collections, and food traditions, Katie explores why everyday cultural artifacts deserve preservation and what they can teach us about history, identity, and community.

Read Vanishing Culture for free at the Internet Archive or purchase in print: https://archive.org/details/vanishing-culture-2026

As more of our cultural heritage moves online, a troubling question is emerging: what happens when the things we create, share, and cherish simply disappear? In the first episode of our special six-part series on Vanishing Culture, host Vida Vojić speaks with author and humanities scholar Luca Messarra, author of the Internet Archive’s Vanishing Culture, about the growing threat of cultural loss in the digital age.

Read Vanishing Culture for free at the Internet Archive or purchase in print: https://archive.org/details/vanishing-culture-2026

In Transaction Denied: How Financial Institutions Silence Dissent and Undermine Democracy, author Rainey Reitman examines the growing phenomenon of financial censorship, in which banks, payment processors, and credit card networks can restrict access to financial services based on speech, identity, or perceived risk. From voting rights organizations and educators to adult content creators and cannabis entrepreneurs, Reitman shares stories of individuals and communities who have found themselves excluded from the financial system, and explores what these cases reveal about power, free expression, and democratic participation in the digital age. Joining Reitman in conversation is author and journalist Annalee Newitz.

Grab your copy of Transaction Denied: https://www.betterworldbooks.com/product/detail/transaction-denied-big-finance-s-power-to-punish-speech-9780807019115/new

This conversation was recorded on 6/3/2026.

Check out all of the Future Knowledge episodes at https://archive.org/details/future-knowledge 

In AI Tools, Not Gods, policy researcher Caroline De Cock examines how myths about artificial intelligence—framing it as an all-knowing mind or an unstoppable force—have come to shape public policy and public understanding. By unpacking the narratives that dominate conversations about AI, De Cock argues for a clearer, evidence-based approach that recognizes AI for what it is: a set of human-built tools that must be governed with accountability and care. Tech writer Glyn Moody (Walled Culture) speaks with De Cock about cutting through the hype surrounding AI.

Grab your copy of AI Tools, Not Gods: https://archive.org/details/ai-tools-not-gods-book

This conversation was recorded on 2/10/2026. Watch the full video recording at: https://archive.org/details/ai-tools-not-gods-book-talk

Check out all of the Future Knowledge episodes at https://archive.org/details/future-knowledge 

In Law and Technology, legal scholar Ryan Calo explores one of the defining challenges of our time: how societies can govern rapidly evolving technologies before those technologies reshape laws, rights, and institutions. Rather than treating each new innovation as a completely unique problem, Calo argues for a more durable framework for thinking about technology policy that helps lawmakers, courts, and the public respond thoughtfully to developments ranging from facial recognition to generative AI. Legal scholar Danielle Citron joins Calo for a conversation about regulation, accountability, and what it means to build laws that can keep pace with technological change.

Grab your copy of Law and Technology: https://www.law-and-technology.com

This conversation was recorded on 3/26/2026. Watch the full video recording at: https://archive.org/details/law-and-technology

Check out all of the Future Knowledge episodes at https://archive.org/details/future-knowledge 

As artificial intelligence reshapes how information is created, accessed, and controlled, a quieter crisis is emerging: the potential loss of the web’s historical record.

In this episode, tech writer Mike Masnick, Mark Graham of the Internet Archive, and public interest tech and media lawyer Kendra Albert come together for a timely conversation on what it means to preserve the web in the age of AI.

As publishers move to block AI scraping, they’re also increasingly restricting access to archiving tools like the Wayback Machine, raising urgent questions about who gets to access the past, and whether it will remain accessible at all. If preserving the web is increasingly treated as a threat, what happens to our collective memory? And what will it take to ensure that knowledge remains accessible in an AI-driven world?

This conversation was recorded on 4/28/2026. Watch the full video recording at: https://archive.org/details/preserving-the-web-in-the-age-of-ai

Check out all of the Future Knowledge episodes at https://archive.org/details/future-knowledge

In Vanishing Culture, editors Luca Messarra, Chris Freeland and Juliya Ziskina bring together voices exploring what it means to lose access to our shared cultural record in the digital age. From disappearing websites and delisted music to fragile licensing agreements and platform shutdowns, the book traces how corporate control, technological change, and neglect are reshaping what survives... and what vanishes.

In this episode, Messarra and Freeland are joined by contributor Katie Livingston to discuss the forces driving cultural loss today, the stakes for libraries and public memory, and what it will take to build a more durable, accessible digital future.

Read Vanishing Culture for free at the Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/vanishing-culture-2026
Purchase in print from Better World Books or your favorite local bookstore: https://www.betterworldbooks.com/product/detail/vanishing-culture-a-report-on-our-fragile-cultural-record-9798995425014/new

This conversation was recorded on 4/17/2026.

Check out all of the Future Knowledge episodes at https://archive.org/details/future-knowledge

In Data Cartels, legal scholar Sarah Lamdan exposes the shadowy industry built around collecting, packaging, and selling our personal data. She reveals how powerful companies hoard information and use aggressive tactics to maintain control—turning data into a commodity that can deepen inequality and restrict the democratic flow of knowledge. Heather Joseph, executive director of the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC) speaks with Lamdan about the hidden power structures behind the data economy.

Grab your copy of Data Cartels: https://www.sup.org/books/title/?id=33205

This conversation was recorded on 11/30/2022. Watch the full video recording at: https://archive.org/details/book-talk-data-cartels

Check out all of the Future Knowledge episodes at https://archive.org/details/future-knowledge

In The Secret Life of Data, authors Aram Sinnreich and Jesse Gilbert explore how the information we generate every day—email addresses, phone numbers, browsing habits, even biometric data—circulates through vast digital systems that shape our lives in ways we rarely see. Their book examines the hidden infrastructures of data collection, surveillance, and algorithmic decision-making, revealing how these systems influence culture, power, and identity in a networked world. Internet governance scholar Laura DeNardis speaks with Sinnreich and Gilbert.

Grab your copy of The Secret Life of Data: https://mitpress.mit.edu/9780262048811/the-secret-life-of-data/

This conversation was recorded on 4/18/2024. Watch the full video recording at: https://archive.org/details/the-secret-life-of-data

Check out all of the Future Knowledge episodes at https://archive.org/details/future-knowledge

In The Apple II Age, historian Laine Nooney tells the story of the computer that helped launch Apple, and reshape personal computing. Introduced in 1977, the Apple II became a cultural phenomenon not just because of its hardware, but because of the vibrant software ecosystem that grew around it, from classroom staples like The Print Shop to early games and creative tools that defined a generation’s first encounters with computers. Historian Finn Brunton speaks with Nooney about how the Apple II helped create the culture of personal computing and the broader historical impact of this influential machine.

Grab your copy of The Apple II Age: https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/A/bo195231688.html

This conversation was recorded on 7/13/2023. Watch the full video recording at: https://archive.org/details/the-apple-ii-age

Check out all of the Future Knowledge episodes at https://archive.org/details/future-knowledge