The Fight for the Public Record (Future Knowledge Podcast)

As the United States approaches July 4th and the nation’s 250th anniversary, a fundamental democratic question is becoming harder to ignore: who is responsible for preserving the public record, and what happens when it disappears?

From scientific datasets and public health information to environmental research and government websites, the infrastructure of open government and open science is under growing pressure. Information can now be altered, removed, or lost at unprecedented speed, while the systems designed to preserve it often remain fragmented, underfunded, or politically vulnerable. At the same time, librarians, archivists, technologists, and policymakers are building new models for safeguarding public knowledge outside traditional government channels.

Featuring Merrilee Proffitt (Democracy’s Library at the Internet Archive), James Jacobs (Stanford University), and Christopher Marcum (Federation of American Scientists), the conversation will examine the growing urgency around digital preservation, the role of libraries and archives as democratic infrastructure, and the challenges of maintaining trustworthy, accessible public information amid political and technological change.