TMI Show Ep 245: “The Digital Dark Ages”

From lectures by Stephen Hawking to letters of British politician Neil Kinnock, archivists are racing against degrading digitalia to rescue irreplaceable knowledge trapped on old floppy disks. Cambridge University Library's “Future Nostalgia” project pieces together rare hardware, delicately removes mould, and deciphers varied formats—from DOS to early Mac—to try to avert a "digital dark age" erasing the past 50 years of historical records. Sourcing eight-inch drives from eBay auctions highlights global efforts preserving treasures.

Plus:

• Teen Carjacking Sentences Ignite Trump Fury: Two 15-year-olds receive probation for the attempted robbery of DOGE protégé Edward “Big Balls” Coristine and a gas station assault, despite President's calls for harsher juvenile penalties. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro calls the decision "shocking.”

• Vatican Library Offers Muslim Prayer Spaces: Father Giacomo Cardinali provides carpeted rooms for visiting Muslim scholars at the 15th-century universal archive that houses ancient Qurans and a rescued medieval Japanese collection saved from atomic devastation. Does this make sense?

• AI Chatfishing: Rachel discovers that her Hinge match's deep online rapport vanishes in person à la Cyrano, suspecting ChatGPT outsourcing after thoughtful texts on attachment styles crumble into flat small talk. While some use AI for quick charm on apps like Bumble, others create dystopian illusions of connection, prompting daters to spot "Chatfished" mismatches.