Vanishing Culture

About this episode

The episode discusses the implications of losing access to our shared cultural record in the digital age.

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

People in this episode

Hosts: Luca Messarra, Chris Freeland

Guest: Katie Livingston

Topics covered

• cultural loss
• digital age
• public memory
• libraries
• corporate control
• technological change

Keywords

• cultural record
• digital future
• disappearing websites
• delisted music
• licensing agreements
• platform shutdowns

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Internet Archive, Authors Alliance

Books & works: Vanishing Culture

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