The Misremembered Mall Episode

The Misremembered Mall Episode

Author: Jason Scott September 1, 2026 Duration: 12:41

The Misremembered Mall Episode: The Hudson Valley Explorer, The Running Commentary, An Amnesiac Tour Guide, The Story of IBM and Dutchess County, Tracts of Land, The Lifespan of a Mall, Dutchess Mall, Service Merchandise, The Atari Bug, Why Save Memories, Wrong Memories, A Single Hope.

The fact a TikTok account called The Hudson Valley Explorer went to the dead husk of a remaining portion of the Dutchess Valley Mall and tried to explain it away shouldn't have bothered me, but he was also 5 miles from my childhood home, so let's do this.


There's a certain kind of conversation that feels like being taken down a back alley of the internet, one lined with forgotten hardware, wild anecdotes, and the persistent hum of a dial-up modem. That's the territory covered in Jason Scott Talks His Way Out of It. As a historian with a focus on digital culture, Jason pulls from a deep well of personal experience-years spent on the road making documentaries, diving into retrocomputing rabbit holes, and archiving the ephemeral corners of technology. Each episode is a ride through these decades of research and travel, where a story about filmmaking might suddenly pivot into an obscure technical deep-dive or a tale of general shenanigans from a conference long past. The pace is quick and the direction is often delightfully unpredictable, even to Jason himself. You're not getting a polished lecture here; you're getting a raw, enthusiastic, and deeply knowledgeable monologue that connects the dots between our technological present and its frequently bizarre past. This podcast thrives on the tangents and the points of order most people overlook, offering a unique blend of context and chaos for anyone curious about the how and why behind the machines and cultures that shape our world.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 50

Jason Scott Talks His Way Out of It
Podcast Episodes
The Stacks of Catalogs Episode [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 13:13
The Stacks of Catalogs Episode: A New Round of Sorting Catalogs, The Miracle of the Catalog, Desktop Publishing, Forgotten Labor, The Rise of the Instant Change, The Guided and Adored Catalog Scanning, Treasure.Another r…
The DMZ Episode [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 12:50
The DMZ Episode: Visiting the DMZ in Korea, A Bus Ride With a Passport Count, Burgers, Grenades, Bridge, Mines, Observation, Denial of Visitation, A Very Deep Tunnel, The Spectacle and the History. Plus: Not Forgetting.S…
The Medical Tourism Episode [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 15:09
The Medical Tourism Episode: Signing Up for a Medical Vacation, The Hospital, A Robe and a Keycard, Dozens of Rooms, Minutes and Seconds, Expertise and Experience, A Room of Sleeping People, The Shutoff Switch, The Resul…
The Ending Not Ending Episode [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 9:55
Before getting on a plane, I sometimes wonder if I'm leaving the ground with my life in order. Let's find out.
The Aadam Jacobs Episode [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 10:24
The Aadam Jacobs Episode: A Six Hour Round Trip, A Documentary, Aadam Jacobs, Collections and Curation, Professional Recordings, Melomaniac, A Special Power Outlet, Club Owners and Bands, The Internet Archive Collection,…
The Pile of Badges Episode [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 11:32
The Pile of Badges Episode: A Soft Crash, Gathering, Badges of All Sorts of Shapes and Materials, Attending Conferences, A Late Start, Some Early Predecessors, Keeping the Badges and Keys, Looking Down the Range of Forev…
The Scarecrow Video Episode [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 13:21
The Scarecrow Video Episode: Visiting Seattle, Walking into Scarecrow Video, My Own Mind, The Shelves, The Subjects, The Uniqueness, A Short History, The Scarecrow Video of Internet Archive, Bang, Disgust-o-Meter, Harvar…
The Halo Championship Episode [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 13:50
The Halo Championship Episode: Heading to the Championship, Missing Out, The Layout of the Championship, Missing Out Again, Not Missing Out, Lineups, AARP, Competition, Amazing Staff, The Results, Shotgun.Some experience…
The Final March of the Floppies Episode [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 13:33
The Final March of the Floppies Episode: A Visit with John Morris, The Applesauce, The Imaging of Floppies, An Office Becomes a Battlefield, The Forever Trickle, Images and Analytics, The Final Boss of the Floppies.A cel…
The Mirrorball Episode [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 11:51
The Mirrorball Episode: A Very Intense Machine, The Birth of Mirrorball, What Mirrors Are, Online Culture, Demoscene, The Ebb and Flow of Interest, A Lifetime of Mirrors, The Harvesters of Data, The Mantle of Honor, A Lo…