Press

Sondage is the institutional response to a question the synthetic age has made unavoidable. As generative systems produce biographical content at scale, the formal distinction between an authentic human record and a synthetic one collapses. Sondage credentials practitioners and certifies primary sources on the human side of that line.

The platform was founded in 2025 in Berkeley, California, by Stephen Mucher, Ph.D., a social historian and lifelong recorder of voices, following a five-month walk of the Pacific Crest Trail during which he conducted more than one hundred recorded interviews under the trail name Verbatim. The foundational argument is set out in The Commingled Archive: How Synthetic Content is Rewriting the Future of Oral History (in review, April 2026).

What Sondage Is

A governance platform that credentials independent practitioners (Certified Legacy Scholars, Legacy Sound Producers, Legacy Collection Curators) and certifies the primary sources they produce in partnership with Senior Fellows. Every Sondage-Certified Primary Source is governed by three non-waivable Foundational Commitments. Human Authorship. Embodied Provenance. Non-Custodial Sovereignty.

Press Inquiries

For interviews with Stephen Mucher, written commentary on the Authentication Horizon, or background on the Sondage Standard, write to [press address].

For podcast invitations, conference programming, and editorial partnerships, the same address.

Available Materials

Founder biography, short and long form. Platform background and governance summary. The Commingled Archive (abstract), available on request in advance of publication. High-resolution photography. Verified contact for fact-checking.

Sondage Standard, LLC. Berkeley, California. sondagestandard.com.