In the first segment of tonight’s episode of The Daily Show (6/24/14), Jon Stewart covered the ongoing House investigation of whether the IRS inappropriately targeted certain political associations. A major obstacle: the emails that the House committee is seeking were only preserved for six months before deletion. What does it take to preserve information, Stewart asked. Microfiche? Stone tablets? Or…the process of oral transmission scholars believe was used to preserve the Homeric epics for centuries?