I’m excited to co-host a new podcast, Save As, that glimpses the future of heritage conservation through the innovative work of grad students at the University of Southern California (USC).

I love this project for many reasons, not the least of which is the stellar team: co-host Trudi Sandmeier (director of USC’s Heritage Conservation Program), producer Willa Seidenberg, and some really fantastic students. (More about the Dream Team here.)

I love that these students are doing such innovative work, researching topics like:

• Sites of violence against people of color

• Recording studios and acoustic heritage

• Complexities in designating LGBTQ heritage

• Heritage conservation’s role in urban resilience

And I love that the podcast takes student research off the shelf (or server) and brings it out into the universe.

Master’s theses are gold mines of content, and most end up fading into obscurity. It feels great to give this extraordinary work at least some of the exposure it so richly deserves.

Which leads me to ask: What gold mine of content are you sitting on?

If you work with historic places, I imagine you have:

• Landmark nominations

• Tour/event research and publications

• Historic structures reports

• Advocacy issue files

• Press clips

• Past newsletters

• File cabinets filled with photos

• Volunteers with great memories to share

• Funky artifacts like doorknobs, models, tiles

Your archive is bursting with stories of magical places, dramatic rescues (or losses), and most of all, you: your people, your triumphs, your struggles—your impact.

These stories can serve endless purposes, from a quick #ThrowbackThursday post to a prompt for new conversations. Would you approach such-and-such issue the same way today? What did you learn from that hard-fought win (or tough loss)? Where’s that former intern now, and how did working with you help shape their career?

Your treasure trove awaits. In the meantime, back to the shameless plug.

The first two episodes of Save As are available now, and we’ll release new ones every other week.

• Episode One: A Glimpse into the Future (preview with Trudi and me)

• Episode Two: Traces of Violence in the City of Angels (recent grad Jackson Loop on sites of racial conflict in L.A.)

You can listen and subscribe through the site or directly on Apple, Google, Stitcher, and Spotify.

I’d love to know what you think of the podcast—and how you’re mining your own gold.

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