Our Digital Futures with Permanent

A podcast that explores the ins and outs of preserving one's legacy in an ever‑changing digital landscape.
Our Digital Futures Podcast Episode 12: Permanent's Mission Unpacked with Dr. Robert Friedman

Permanent's Mission Unpacked

December 11, 2023
In this episode we are joined by Dr. Robert Friedman, the Executive Director of the Permanent Legacy Foundation. Together, we discuss what makes the Permanent Legacy Foundation a unique tech non-profit for social good and how we plan for the future, especially in such uncertain times.

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Our Digital Futures podcast episode eleven: Metadata Fundamentals

Metadata Fundamentals

November 1, 2023
Join host Amanda Meeks in conversation with Rachael Woody, the founder and director of Relicura™ LLC, to learn about the importance of adding metadata to your files. Metadata provides critical context to the items in your collections, context that Rachael works to create when providing services to archives, museums, and cultural heritage organizations. With metadata, you can increase the searchability and accessibility of your archives.

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Our Digital Futures podcast episode ten: Critical Family History

Critical Family History

October 2, 2023
In this episode we are joined by Dr. Christine Sleeter, who shares her expertise on critical family history, which is a framework she developed to help people reckon with the messier and complex parts of history, particularly within their own family lineages. October is Family History Month, which is the perfect time to explore questions you have related to your ancestors’ experiences and legacies.

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Our Digital Futures podcast episode nine: Save your photos!

Save Your Photos!

September 1, 2023
Join host Amanda Meeks in conversation with Cathi Nelson, of the Photo Managers, to learn about the ABCs of photo organizing, when it’s okay to break the rules of photo organizing, and what one can do to prepare their photos for natural disasters. Don’t forget that September is Save Your Photos Month, an international effort to provide free education around photo preservation.

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Our Digital Futures podcast episode eight: The Sustainability of Slowness

The Sustainability of Slowness

August 2, 2023
In this episode we are joined by the Flickr Foundation Executive Director, George Oates, and interdisciplinary scholar and curator, Temi Odumosu, who share about their research and thinking behind the 100 year plan, an effort to design for long term sustainability. We explore this idea from the perspective of cultural heritage organizations concerned with digital collections and preservation.

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Our Digital Futures podcast episode seven: Inheritance

Inheritance

July 7, 2023
Join host Amanda Meeks and Courtney Plaster in a conversation about inheritance. Courtney shares practical tips on how to start downsizing, organizing, and preserving digital or print collections, without the overwhelm, for yourself or others. She also walks us through the more sentimental aspects of both leaving behind and inheriting special memories and heirlooms.

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Our Digital Futures podcast episode six: LGBTQ Family History

LGBTQ Family History

June 9, 2023
Join host Amanda Meeks and Stewart Traiman as they explore what it means to dive into family history as a member of the LGBTQ community, as well as the importance of uncovering and preserving your own LGBTQ ancestors’ life stories that would otherwise be erased or forgotten.

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Our Digital Futures Podcast Episode 2: Data After Death with Myriam Pytell

The Peale: A Museum Model for Community Storytelling

May 10, 2023
Join host Amanda Meeks in conversation with Heather Shelton, the Peale’s digital curator, registrar, and communications specialist, on all things that make a “community museum” and how the Peale supports Baltimore’s storytellers.

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Our Digital Futures Podcast Episode 4: The Free Open Source Stories Digital Archive with Heather Meeker

The Free Open Source Stories Digital Archive

April 8, 2023
Join host Amanda Meeks in a conversation with Heather Meeker, founder of the Free Open Source Stories Digital Archive (FOSSDA), and learn about how and why the project was started. Plus, get a sneak peek into some of the amazing interviews Heather has conducted so far, where she captures the personal stories from the open source movement’s pioneers.

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Our Digital Futures Podcast Episode 3: Open Access Legacies with Myriam Pytell

Open Access Legacies

March 10, 2023
Join host Amanda Meeks in conversation with Miriam Pytell, an interaction and communication designer, in discussing open access platforms and content creators’ digital legacies. They also get into some of the challenges of thanatosensitive design in the digital realm, working at a funeral home as a student, and advice for creatives who are just starting to think about their digital legacies.

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Our Digital Futures Podcast Episode 2: Data After Death with Katie Gach

Data After Death

February 2, 2023
Join host Amanda Meeks in conversation with Katie Gach, a death doula and researcher at Meta, in exploring concepts such as continuing bonds theory and digital legacy planning. They also share thoughts on the interconnectedness of our online data as well as the implications when that data is deleted or inaccessible to those we love after death.

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Our Digital Futures Podcast Episode 1: Preservation to the People with Robert LaRose and Biljana Milenkovic

Preservation to the People

January 16, 2023
Join host Amanda Meeks in conversation with Robert LaRose and Biljana Milenkovic, librarians at the DC Public Library's Memory Lab, to learn how they make digitization and digital archiving accessible to the general public. They also share insight and tips on getting started with your own digital archives or digitization projects. Bonus: Explore the Memory Lab Network map to find a lab near you!

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