>>> import pickle
>>> a = [1, 3, 8]
>>> s = pickle.dumps(a)
>>> del a
>>> a
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module>
NameError: name 'a' is not defined
>>> # OH NOES!
...
>>> s
'(lp0\nI1\naI3\naI8\na.'
>>> a = pickle.loads(s)
>>> a
[1, 3, 8]
>>> # Yay!