Preserve This Podcast, an Andrew W. Mellon grant-funded awareness campaign (2018-2020), educated independent podcast producers to protect their work against the threats of digital decay, according to digital audio file issues long known to professional archivists, technology obsolescence, digital file decay, file mismanagement, and more.

The project was co-led by Dana Gerber-Margie, Mary Kidd, Molly Schwartz, and Sarah Nguyen. In addition, Mary Kidd created the illustrations associated with the project, Molly Schwartz was the lead producer on the podcast series, Dana Gerber-Margie shaped the workshops, and Sarah Nguyen created the project’s online resources. The PTP team accomplished all major activities stipulated in the Mellon grant, including developing a preservation curriculum in the form of a five-part podcast series, a zine, and in-person workshops, all of which are freely available on their website. The primary goal of the project was to develop an outreach and education campaign to “change the behaviors of both podcast producers and cultural heritage professionals.”

The team produced a zine workbook, a 5-part podcast series, a series of traveling workshops, and online resources. The goal for all was to promote preservation strategies in an approachable, affordable way. A full assessment of project is available for reference.