The Secret Life Of Data

Law and Technology

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 [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 [https://archive.org/details/law-and-technology] Check out all of the Future Knowledge episodes at https://archive.org/details/future-knowledge [https://archive.org/details/future-knowledge]

Preserving the Web in the Age of AI

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

Vanishing Culture

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 [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 [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 [https://archive.org/details/future-knowledge]

Data Cartels

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 [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 [https://archive.org/details/book-talk-data-cartels] Check out all of the Future Knowledge episodes at https://archive.org/details/future-knowledge [https://archive.org/details/future-knowledge]

The Secret Life Of Data

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/ [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 [https://archive.org/details/the-secret-life-of-data] Check out all of the Future Knowledge episodes at https://archive.org/details/future-knowledge [https://archive.org/details/future-knowledge]