# Palimpsest Podcast Series

**Working Title:** "Layers" — Conversations on Creativity, Consent, and the Machine Age
**Format:** Interview + narrative hybrid
**Target Length:** 30-45 minutes per episode
**Frequency:** Bi-weekly initially

---

## Series Concept

A podcast that explores the intersection of creative work, AI, consent, and cultural memory. Each episode peels back a layer—hence "Layers"—revealing the complex strata of meaning that creative work carries.

The podcast is itself an embodiment of Palimpsest principles: it will be licensed under Palimpsest, with full consent documentation, and will model the practices it advocates.

---

## Season 1: Foundations (12 Episodes)

### Episode 1: "What Is a Palimpsest?"

**Theme:** Introduction to the project and the metaphor

**Content:**
- The original meaning: manuscript scraped and rewritten
- But traces remain—nothing is fully erased
- AI as the ultimate palimpsest machine
- What we're trying to protect and why

**Guests:** Project founders, a manuscript historian

**Segments:**
1. Cold open: A creator discovering their work in an AI dataset
2. The metaphor explained
3. Interview: Medieval manuscript expert
4. The license: What it does
5. Closing: What's at stake

---

### Episode 2: "The Training Data Problem"

**Theme:** How AI systems consume creative work

**Content:**
- What is training data?
- How scraping works
- The scale of extraction
- Legal grey zones
- Why existing licenses don't address this

**Guests:** AI researcher (ethical AI focus), artist affected by AI training

**Segments:**
1. Cold open: Walk through Common Crawl
2. Technical explainer (accessible)
3. Interview: Researcher
4. Artist testimony
5. What can be done

---

### Episode 3: "Consent Is Not a Checkbox"

**Theme:** Rethinking consent for creative work

**Content:**
- Consent as ongoing relationship, not one-time transaction
- Informed consent: what does it mean for AI?
- Community consent vs. individual consent
- Consent that can be withdrawn
- The Palimpsest approach

**Guests:** Bioethicist, Indigenous data sovereignty advocate

**Segments:**
1. Cold open: Terms of service absurdity
2. Consent in other domains (medical, research)
3. Interview: Bioethicist
4. Indigenous perspectives
5. How Palimpsest handles consent

---

### Episode 4: "Emotional Lineage"

**Theme:** The intangible value creative work carries

**Content:**
- What is emotional lineage?
- How meaning travels through influence
- Trauma, healing, and creative expression
- Why metadata alone isn't enough
- Preserving what can't be quantified

**Guests:** Trauma therapist who uses art therapy, musician whose work carries cultural memory

**Segments:**
1. Cold open: A song's journey through generations
2. The concept explained
3. Interview: Art therapist
4. Interview: Musician
5. How to honor what can't be captured

---

### Episode 5: "The Archive and the Algorithm"

**Theme:** Memory institutions in the AI age

**Content:**
- Archives, libraries, museums: keepers of memory
- Digitization created AI training goldmines
- Open access vs. open for AI training
- How institutions are responding
- Integration with professional standards

**Guests:** Archivist, museum curator, librarian

**Segments:**
1. Cold open: A museum's collection in an AI dataset
2. The digitization dilemma
3. Roundtable: Three memory professionals
4. Practical solutions
5. Call to action for institutions

---

### Episode 6: "Whose Voice Gets Heard?"

**Theme:** Marginalized creators and AI extraction

**Content:**
- Whose work is most extracted, least protected?
- Content moderators, data labelers, gig workers
- Minority language communities
- Disabled creators
- Sex workers and consent
- The unseen voices

**Guests:** Content moderator advocate, minority language activist, disabled creator

**Segments:**
1. Cold open: The invisible labor behind AI
2. Who's being extracted
3. Interview: Content moderator experience
4. Interview: Minority language perspective
5. Interview: Disabled creator
6. Solidarity, not saviorism

---

### Episode 7: "The Law Is Not Enough"

**Theme:** Legal frameworks and their limits

**Content:**
- Copyright: designed for a different era
- Fair use/fair dealing and AI
- GDPR and data rights
- Why legal compliance isn't ethical compliance
- The symbolic beyond the legal

**Guests:** IP lawyer, legal scholar, creator who's been through litigation

**Segments:**
1. Cold open: A lawsuit that went nowhere
2. Legal explainer (accessible)
3. Interview: IP lawyer
4. Interview: Legal scholar on limits
5. Beyond law: ethics and norms

---

### Episode 8: "Building the Technical Layer"

**Theme:** How Palimpsest works technically

**Content:**
- Metadata that travels with work
- Consent registries
- Verification systems
- Integration with existing standards
- Open source and community-built

**Guests:** Technical lead, standards body representative, developer who's integrated Palimpsest

**Segments:**
1. Cold open: A piece of metadata's journey
2. Technical explainer (accessible)
3. Interview: Technical lead
4. Interview: Standards perspective
5. How to implement

---

### Episode 9: "The Neurosymbolic Future"

**Theme:** AI that respects consent by design

**Content:**
- Current AI: trained on everything, constrained by nothing
- Neurosymbolic approach: neural muzzled by symbolic
- Building consent into the architecture
- "I don't know" as a feature
- The apophatic layer

**Guests:** Neurosymbolic AI researcher, philosopher of AI

**Segments:**
1. Cold open: An AI that refuses to answer
2. The problem with current AI
3. Interview: Researcher
4. Interview: Philosopher
5. What we're building

---

### Episode 10: "Community, Governance, and the DAO"

**Theme:** How Palimpsest governs itself

**Content:**
- The Stewardship Council
- Community participation
- DAO possibilities
- Avoiding capture by any interest
- Long-term sustainability

**Guests:** Council member, DAO expert, community contributor

**Segments:**
1. Cold open: A governance decision being made
2. The structure explained
3. Interview: Council member
4. Interview: DAO perspective
5. How to get involved

---

### Episode 11: "Education and the Next Generation"

**Theme:** Teaching AI ethics and creative rights

**Content:**
- What are we teaching young creators?
- Curriculum integration
- University research opportunities
- Building a generation that demands consent
- The educators' role

**Guests:** K-12 teacher who teaches AI ethics, university professor, student creator

**Segments:**
1. Cold open: A classroom discussion about AI art
2. The educational gap
3. Interview: Teacher
4. Interview: Professor
5. Interview: Student
6. Resources for educators

---

### Episode 12: "What Comes Next"

**Theme:** Season finale, looking forward

**Content:**
- What we've learned
- The road to v1.0
- Upcoming challenges
- How listeners can help
- The last ditch chance

**Guests:** Roundtable with key contributors, surprise guest

**Segments:**
1. Cold open: Montage from the season
2. Reflections
3. Roundtable discussion
4. Listener questions/comments
5. Call to action
6. Teaser for Season 2

---

## Season 2 Concepts (Future)

### Potential Themes:
- **Deep Dives:** Single-topic episodes on specific issues
- **Case Studies:** Real implementations of Palimpsest
- **Global Perspectives:** Different cultural approaches to consent
- **Technical Tutorials:** How-to for implementers
- **Creator Spotlights:** Stories from Palimpsest users
- **Policy Watch:** Regulatory developments

### Potential Episodes:
- "The Photographer and the Deepfake"
- "When Your Grandmother's Recipe Becomes Training Data"
- "Sign Language and AI: A Deaf Perspective"
- "The Translator's Dilemma"
- "Indigenous Data Sovereignty"
- "The Emotional Lineage of Protest Music"
- "AI Art: Friend or Foe?"
- "Platform Power and Creator Rights"

---

## Production Notes

### Format Structure

```
EPISODE STRUCTURE (40 minutes)
──────────────────────────────

00:00 - 02:00  Cold Open
               [Narrative hook, story that draws in]

02:00 - 05:00  Theme Introduction
               [Host explains episode focus]

05:00 - 15:00  Explainer Segment
               [Accessible explanation of concept]

15:00 - 30:00  Interview(s)
               [Conversation with guests]

30:00 - 35:00  Practical Takeaways
               [What listeners can do]

35:00 - 38:00  Community Spotlight
               [Highlight a contributor, use case]

38:00 - 40:00  Closing
               [Summary, next episode teaser, credits]
```

### Production Values

- **Audio quality:** Professional but warm, not over-produced
- **Music:** Original, licensed under Palimpsest (meta!)
- **Accessibility:** Full transcripts, described audio elements
- **Languages:** English primary, translations for key episodes
- **Distribution:** All major platforms, RSS, website

### Licensing

The podcast itself is licensed under Palimpsest v0.4:
- AI training: Prohibited without explicit consent
- Transcription: Human-verified, AI-assisted permitted
- Clips: Fair use for commentary, full episodes require consent
- Translations: Community translations welcome with consent

---

## Guest Wishlist

### Creators
- Visual artists affected by AI
- Musicians whose work was scraped
- Writers concerned about LLMs
- Photographers dealing with deepfakes
- Indigenous artists

### Technologists
- Ethical AI researchers
- AI safety advocates
- Open source maintainers
- Standards body representatives
- Neurosymbolic AI researchers

### Legal/Policy
- IP lawyers (sympathetic)
- Legal scholars
- Policy advocates
- Regulatory experts
- International perspectives

### Memory Institutions
- Archivists
- Librarians
- Museum curators
- Digital preservationists
- Cultural heritage advocates

### Marginalized Voices
- Content moderators
- Data labelers
- Minority language advocates
- Disabled creators
- Sex workers (consent experts)
- Refugees/migrants with creative practices

### Academics
- Ethicists
- Anthropologists
- Psychologists
- Economists
- Women's/Gender studies scholars
- Critical studies scholars

### Philosophers
- Philosophy of mind
- Ethics of technology
- Phenomenology
- Philosophy of art

---

## Distribution Strategy

### Platforms
- Apple Podcasts
- Spotify
- Google Podcasts
- Pocket Casts
- Overcast
- Direct RSS
- YouTube (video versions for select episodes)
- Website with transcripts

### Promotion
- Cross-promotion with aligned podcasts
- Social media clips
- Conference mentions
- Newsletter integration
- Academic networks
- Creator communities

### Community Integration
- Listener Q&A episodes
- Call for stories
- Community episode suggestions
- Palimpsest Discord/Matrix discussion
- Follow-up resources per episode

---

## Resources Needed

### Team
- Host(s)
- Producer
- Audio engineer
- Researcher/booker
- Transcript editor
- Social media manager

### Equipment
- Recording setup (remote-capable)
- Editing software
- Hosting platform
- Website integration
- Transcript tools

### Budget Categories
- Production
- Guest honoraria (where appropriate)
- Transcription
- Music licensing (or commission)
- Promotion
- Platform fees

---

## Metrics

### Success Indicators
- Downloads per episode
- Listener retention
- Geographic distribution
- Listener feedback quality
- Guest referrals (guests recommend other guests)
- Community growth
- Media mentions
- Academic citations

### Goals (Season 1)
- 1,000 downloads per episode by episode 6
- 5,000 downloads per episode by episode 12
- 50+ listener comments/messages
- 10+ media mentions
- 3+ academic references
- Active community discussion

---

## Timeline

### Pre-Production (8 weeks)
- Finalize format and branding
- Book first 6 guests
- Commission music
- Set up infrastructure
- Create templates

### Production (ongoing)
- Record 2-3 weeks ahead
- Edit within 1 week of recording
- Publish bi-weekly

### Launch
- Trailer 2 weeks before Episode 1
- Episodes 1-3 released together (binge start)
- Then bi-weekly

---

## Document Review Log

| Date | Reviewer | Status | Notes |
|------|----------|--------|-------|
| 2025-12-08 | AI | Current | Initial creation |

**Next Review Due:** 2026-01-08

