Mark Graham is a US Air Force veteran and a key figure at the Internet Archive. Brewster Kahle founded the nonprofit in 1996 to preserve the web and humanity’s published works. Mark “Moose” McGrath and I talked with him about what it takes to keep a record of the digital age.
From the web to the Grateful Dead
The Internet Archive started by recording the web. It has grown to hold Grateful Dead bootlegs, Pentagon news clippings and much more. Mark walks us through how that collection came together and who uses it.
Saving what breaks
Digital history is fragile. Formats die and the software to read them disappears. Mark describes the work of emulating lost technology like Flash so that old material still plays. He also talks about where AI could help archivists tackle problems at scale.
Why it matters for orientation
Our conversation opens on military history before the recorder is even running. Mark knew Colonel Frank Burns, who came up with “Be all you can be.” We get into Jim Channon and the First Earth Battalion, and Mark offers to check whether the Archive holds their material.
For us, that is the point of an archive. Orientation draws on previous experience and cultural traditions. A society that loses its record loses part of what it orients from.
What part of your own organization’s history would be gone if one server failed?
Listen and watch:
Apple Podcasts:
Spotify:
No Way Out on YouTube:
https://youtube.com/@nowayoutpodcast