Artifacts: Stories from the Emotional History of the Internet

Enjoying the show? Support it here. I recently discovered This Week in Fandom History, a podcast exploring the history of fandom, internet culture and the communities that grow around the things people love. It felt like such a natural fit for the Artifacts audience that I wanted to introduce you to the show properly. For this bonus episode, they've put together a special 10-minute cut of one of their recent episodes. A quick heads-up: this episode contains some adult language, which is natural to This Week in Fandom History but a little different from what you'll normally hear on Artifacts. If you enjoy it, be sure to check out the full show and its back catalogue. Mentioned in this episode: This Week In Fandom History | Discover Fandom Stories — Listen Now Get Involved If you enjoy Artifacts, you can support it with either a one-off tip, or become a monthly Archivist. No commitment - just a simple way to say thanks. Show your support here. If you enjoy the show, I'd love for you to leave a rating or review on your favourite podcast app! And please let your friends know they can listen for free on Apple Podcasts or their preferred podcast app, or online at Artifacts Podcast. The Archive The sister newsletter to the Artifacts podcast, sharing a story that didn't quite fit into an episode, a forgotten corner of the internet I've stumbled across, or a memory that deserves preserving before it quietly fades away. Get the Artifacts Newsletter Products I Use for Artifacts Note: these may contain affiliate links, so I get a small percentage of any product you buy when using my link. My equipment: RODE NT1-A large diaphragm condenser mic Rodecaster Pro II audio production studio Sony MDR-7506 Studio Monitor Headphones Elgato Wave Mic Arm Low Profile Recommended resources: Captivate.fm podcast hosting, distribution, analytics, and monetization Hindenburg Pro recording and editing Auphonic mastering tool for audio post production Beehiiv email marketing

Enjoying the show? Support it here. Season 2 of Artifacts was an experiment. After a first season built around the objects and technology we remember, I wanted to try something different, starting with the experiences technology changed rather than the artifacts themselves. Looking back, I'm glad I did. Not because I think every experiment worked perfectly, but because it helped me understand what makes Artifacts feel like Artifacts. In this bonus episode, I look back at Season 2, the things I learned along the way, the one-star shareware review that reminded me to keep questioning my research, and why Season 3 is going back to the things themselves. Get Involved If you enjoy Artifacts, you can support it with either a one-off tip, or become a monthly Archivist. No commitment - just a simple way to say thanks. Show your support here. If you enjoy the show, I'd love for you to leave a rating or review on your favourite podcast app! And please let your friends know they can listen for free on Apple Podcasts or their preferred podcast app, or online at Artifacts Podcast. The Archive The sister newsletter to the Artifacts podcast, sharing a story that didn't quite fit into an episode, a forgotten corner of the internet I've stumbled across, or a memory that deserves preserving before it quietly fades away. Get the Artifacts Newsletter Products I Use for Artifacts Note: these may contain affiliate links, so I get a small percentage of any product you buy when using my link. My equipment: RODE NT1-A large diaphragm condenser mic Rodecaster Pro II audio production studio Sony MDR-7506 Studio Monitor Headphones Elgato Wave Mic Arm Low Profile Recommended resources: Captivate.fm podcast hosting, distribution, analytics, and monetization Hindenburg Pro recording and editing Auphonic mastering tool for audio post production Beehiiv email marketing

Enjoying the show? Support it here. There was a time when saving a game meant writing down a password, carefully copying a code from the screen, or trusting a little piece of plastic not to lose your progress. In this episode of Artifacts, I look at how memory cards changed the way we played and what happened when our game saves became something we could carry with us, from the early days of dedicated memory cards to the wonderfully weird Dreamcast VMU. And why, years later, those tiny cards can still take us straight back to the people and places we were when we used them. Get Involved If you enjoy Artifacts, you can support it with either a one-off tip, or become a monthly Archivist. No commitment - just a simple way to say thanks. Show your support here. If you enjoy the show, I'd love for you to leave a rating or review on your favourite podcast app! And please let your friends know they can listen for free on Apple Podcasts or their preferred podcast app, or online at Artifacts Podcast. The Archive The sister newsletter to the Artifacts podcast, sharing a story that didn't quite fit into an episode, a forgotten corner of the internet I've stumbled across, or a memory that deserves preserving before it quietly fades away. Get the Artifacts Newsletter Products I Use for Artifacts Note: these may contain affiliate links, so I get a small percentage of any product you buy when using my link. My equipment: RODE NT1-A large diaphragm condenser mic Rodecaster Pro II audio production studio Sony MDR-7506 Studio Monitor Headphones Elgato Wave Mic Arm Low Profile Recommended resources: Captivate.fm podcast hosting, distribution, analytics, and monetization Hindenburg Pro recording and editing Auphonic mastering tool for audio post production Beehiiv email marketing

Enjoying the show? Support it here. Before the Web became the Internet as we know it, there were other ways of finding your way around. Gopher was one of them - a menu-driven system that made it easier to explore information across the early Internet. For a while, Gopher was a genuine competitor to the World Wide Web. Then the Web became free, Mosaic arrived, and the Internet took a very different path. In this episode of Artifacts, I look at Gopher, what it was like to explore the early Internet through menus and directories, and what its disappearance tells us about the futures technology leaves behind. Mentioned in this episode: Networking & The Web | Timeline of Computer History | Computer History Museum RFC 1436 - The Internet Gopher Protocol (a distributed document search and retrieval protocol) Internet Gopher — NSFNET The Cutting Edge: Computing / Technology / Innovation : POSTCARDS FROM CYBERSPACE : Exploring the Depths of the Internet - Los Angeles Times Get Involved If you enjoy Artifacts, you can support it with either a one-off tip, or become a monthly Archivist. No commitment - just a simple way to say thanks. Show your support here. If you enjoy the show, I'd love for you to leave a rating or review on your favourite podcast app! And please let your friends know they can listen for free on Apple Podcasts or their preferred podcast app, or online at Artifacts Podcast. The Archive The sister newsletter to the Artifacts podcast, sharing a story that didn't quite fit into an episode, a forgotten corner of the internet I've stumbled across, or a memory that deserves preserving before it quietly fades away. Get the Artifacts Newsletter Products I Use for Artifacts Note: these may contain affiliate links, so I get a small percentage of any product you buy when using my link. My equipment: RODE NT1-A large diaphragm condenser mic Rodecaster Pro II audio production studio Sony MDR-7506 Studio Monitor Headphones Elgato Wave Mic Arm Low Profile Recommended resources: Captivate.fm podcast hosting, distribution, analytics, and monetization Hindenburg Pro recording and editing Auphonic mastering tool for audio post production Beehiiv email marketing

Enjoying the show? Support it here. Before app stores, digital storefronts and endless in-game purchases, there was shareware. You could get a game for free, play it, and decide whether it was worth sending money to the person who made it. In this episode of Artifacts, I look back at shareware games, registration cards, and the surprisingly personal relationship between creators and players, and how that compares with today's world of DLC, premium editions, and paying to unlock more of what you've already bought. Get Involved If you enjoy Artifacts, you can support it with either a one-off tip, or become a monthly Archivist. No commitment - just a simple way to say thanks. Show your support here. If you enjoy the show, I'd love for you to leave a rating or review on your favourite podcast app! And please let your friends know they can listen for free on Apple Podcasts or their preferred podcast app, or online at Artifacts Podcast. The Archive The sister newsletter to the Artifacts podcast, sharing a story that didn't quite fit into an episode, a forgotten corner of the internet I've stumbled across, or a memory that deserves preserving before it quietly fades away. Get the Artifacts Newsletter Products I Use for Artifacts Note: these may contain affiliate links, so I get a small percentage of any product you buy when using my link. My equipment: RODE NT1-A large diaphragm condenser mic Rodecaster Pro II audio production studio Sony MDR-7506 Studio Monitor Headphones Elgato Wave Mic Arm Low Profile Recommended resources: Captivate.fm podcast hosting, distribution, analytics, and monetization Hindenburg Pro recording and editing Auphonic mastering tool for audio post production Beehiiv email marketing