Jason Scott Talks His Way Out of It

Latest Episodes:

Everything Is Great Except the Burning: A Fireside Chat Dec 22, 2025

Show notes

I was invited to Banff, Alberta to give a keynote presentation to a group of educators and security people. They don't record their talks, but I do. Here is my recording of the talk. I ran it through a transcription and then summarization if you just want that:

Jason Scott shares a journey of personal and professional growth intertwined with themes of archiving, technological preservation, community building, and the values of empathy and passion for ones work. He explores the interplay between historical preservation and the evolving nature of technology while emphasizing the impact of individual agency in creating cultural legacy. Jason Scott introduces himself as a "free-range archivist" and recounts a childhood shaped by instability, which fostered an early awareness of impermanence. This perspective fueled his commitment to documenting and preserving ephemeral technological and cultural moments. From collecting bulletin board data on floppy disks as a teenager to founding TEXTFILES.COM, Jason highlights the value of archiving transient digital content to ensure its survival for future generations. Jason discusses his transition from IT work to becoming a documentarian and archivist, eventually joining the Internet Archive. He candidly recounts navigating corporate bureaucracy, experiencing job dissatisfaction, and grappling with the loss of professional alignment. These struggles culminated in his finding purpose at the Internet Archive, where he embraced a multifaceted role contributing to cultural preservation. The Internet Archive, notably the Wayback Machine, embodies Jasons ethos: capturing the impermanence of the web and transforming it into a lasting resource. He describes collaborative efforts like Archive Team, which rescues endangered digital content from disappearing websites, reflecting a commitment to grassroots digital preservation. Jason underscores the importance of recognizing both small, informal communities and vast, historical forces as equally deserving of preservation. Through anecdotes about the Internet Archive's founder, Brewster Kahle, Jason illustrates a vision of wealth deployed for societal benefit. Kahles ventures, from preserving cultural artifacts to advocating for digital accessibility, underscore a dedication to altruism and innovation. Jason critiques corporate apathy toward users emotional and cultural investments in digital platforms and champions empathy as a guiding principle for both archival and technological practices. Jason Scott concludes with a powerful call to value human connection and cultural memory. Archiving is framed not merely as a technical endeavor but as a moral imperative that honors the lived experiences and legacies of individuals. He advocates for empathy, emphasizing its role in fostering meaningful interactions and preserving shared histories. This approach, Jason argues, can reconcile profitability with societal enrichment, leaving the world improved in the process.

The Game Company Employment Episode Dec 19, 2025

Show notes

The Game Company Employment Episode: That Time I Worked for Psygnosis, The US Outpost, Temp Job, The Small and Tiny Firm, Deliveries and 800 Numbers, What People Did, The Temptations of Valor, The Wonders That Were Real, An Expanse of Time, The Dreams Yet To Live.A small rumination of my time working for Psygnosis putting some realistic boundaries on what I did while I was there, in reference to people sometimes overplaying their hands as to proximity to greatness.

The Sinistar at Extremes Episode Dec 15, 2025

Show notes

The Sinistar at Extremes Episode: Synamax and Sinistar, Source Code, Experiments, Sinistar Research, Sinistar Upgrade, California Extreme, A Panel of Legends, An Excellent Evening, Drinks and Chats, The True Meaning, Our Vanishing Opportunity. To watch Synamax's excellent documentary on Sinistar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCuoUSDBVac

The Seagull Painting Episode Dec 12, 2025

Show notes

The Seagull Painting Episode: A Very Large Painting, a Suburban Life, a Gargantuan Campus, Divorce and Time, Aunts and Couches, Smaller Than I Remember, The Painting for Money, Customers, An Office Wall, a Regret of No Better Memory.An episode about a very large painting that lives in my office, and the story (and life) behind it.

The Audio Engineering Lessons Episode Dec 08, 2025

Show notes

The Audio Engineering Lessons Episode: Bovine Ignition Systems, They Might Be Giants, Mixing, Equipment, Future Plans, Why Audio Engineering, Going to Class, Learning the Lessons, A Part of the Chain, Lessons Learned, Jason and Jeremy Forever.The lessons learned one summer for audio engineering in a college course that still helped Jeremy and Jason even when they stopped making music (together).

The Book Release Episode: Dec 05, 2025

Show notes

The Book Release Episode: A Moment of Pride, Chris and Alexas Orcutt, The Books of Chris Orcutt, The Nine-Book Series, To Hold In One's Hands, Luck and Opportunity, The Years to Come....in which, like some sort of errant fellow at a ceremony, I raise a toast to Chris Orcutt getting review copies of his first book of his new series out. He's at https://orcutt.net/weblog/ and worth every amount of attention I can bang pans to get.

The Catalogs of False Promise Episode Dec 01, 2025

Show notes

The Catalogs of False Promise Episode: The Meanings of Catalogs, The Promises, The Possibilities, Assistants and Artists, Apps, Crashed TestFlight, Computer Stores, Collections, Walking Among the Stacks, Lost Players, Lost Makers, The Guideposts to What Was.A rumination on computer software catalogs and what they might be, what they matter for, and what might happen.

The Regretted Moment of Decision Episode Nov 28, 2025

Show notes

The Regretted Moment of Decision Episode: Bootleg, The Bootlegger, Stone Cold Hustler, House Flipping 1970s Style, Crank, Apple II Basement, Grey Market, Lost Floppies, Decisions Made, No Regrets.I've mentioned Bootleg before, but it's time once again to talk about the uniqueness of him and an unexpected life lesson he provided me in his basement.

The Couch Episode Nov 24, 2025

Show notes

The Couch Episode: Staying Overnight, The Glow and The Sounds, Previous Spaces, The Draw of an Overnight, Dreams of A Hacker Goblin, Welcome Changes. I thought I'd stay overnight in the office.

The Bob Lardine Tapes Episode Nov 21, 2025

Show notes

The Bob Lardine Tapes Episode: A Series of Events, A Pipeline Emerges, Bob Lardine's Career, The Process of Interviews, The Project of Digitization, The Dreams and Hopes, Destiny Laughs.The Bob Lardine Collection is a lovely place to visit. It's at: https://archive.org/details/boblardinetapes