Introducing The Last Archive

The erosion of objective truth in American society stems from a century-long historical shift in how evidence and facts are perceived. Jill Lepore, a Harvard historian and New Yorker staff writer, investigates this "truth problem" by examining archival records ranging from mid-century congressional debates on vaccine socialization to the forgotten origins of the National Data Center. These historical fragments reveal that current anxieties regarding misinformation and institutional distrust are not modern anomalies but the culmination of long-standing arguments over who defines reality. By tracing ten specific stories from the last hundred years, the inquiry seeks to identify the historical "killer" of truth, utilizing primary sources like old horror films, bird song recordings, and early computer punch cards to reconstruct the evolution of American epistemology and its impact on contemporary moral dilemmas.