Image by Simon Steinberger from Pixabay
Online discussions document history as it is lived, functioning as digital primary source artifacts. As Verizon prepared to delete archives of Yahoo Groups, among the earliest online discussions on the internet, some people were upset. They argued that these online discussions offered a valuable record of life in the early 2000s that should be preserved. Verizon said that maintaining the archives required resources that they wanted to use for other priorities. Listen to hear more about the dispute over Yahoo Groups and then debate: Should online discussions be preserved as historical records?
Update: Verizon deleted all content from Yahoo Groups on January 31st 2020, allowing users to archive their data before that date.
Story Length: 2:23
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December 18, 2019
4:06
Many years ago, poor children known as “mudlarks” used to dig through garbage along the Thames River in London. One modern English woman has been mudlarking for years, but for a very different reason: she searches for ancient relics of everyday life in years past. It is dirty work, but rewarding. She has discovered all sorts of artifacts from periods throughout history. Listen to hear a modern mudlark describe the excitement of digging for buried treasure and what she has uncovered in the process.
Read MoreDecember 12, 2019
5:08
Can a first-day-of-school dress or a pair of mismatched cleats reveal anything important about history? The author of a new book argues that examining clothing from the past helps us remember historical moments and view them in a new light. Listen to hear a fashion historian explain how a belt from the Holocaust and an outfit worn by Princess Diana in a minefield can make history come alive.
Read MoreJanuary 4, 2019
3:32
Technology giant Google is facing pushback from its employees who are accusing the company of collaborating with the Chinese government to develop a search engine that would violate users’ privacy and allow government censorship. Experts say that Chinese residents would be unable to search for information using keywords related to human rights. The search engine would also provide the Chinese government access to the search history of users. Listen to learn more about this issue and debate: Should Google agree to let China censor online searches?
Read MoreJune 1, 2016
2:39
When Christopher Columbus was on his way back to Spain, he wrote a letter to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella describing his voyage to the new world. Copies of this letter were made to spread the word of his discoveries. At some point before 1992, one copy of the letter was stolen from Florence, Italy and replaced by a forged copy. Then that copy of the letter ended up in the Library of Congress. The United States has now returned the letter to its place in Italy. Listen to hear more about what happened to this historic document.
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